Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 6 hours ago

Category

📺
TV
Transcript
00:00I fell into a mass of people.
00:30Everything I touched seemed to be woman's hair.
00:40Children crying, women screaming, their hair in my face.
00:49My God, if only I could forget those hands and faces.
01:00He told me that apparently we'd struck something.
01:21I didn't become alarmed.
01:27There was no danger, they said.
01:30I told her to come at once, we were sinking.
01:36You can imagine the chaos and the fear and the terror of finding water in your cabin and
01:45you're in the bowels of the ship.
01:47It makes me panic just thinking about it.
01:49The story of the Titanic is the human condition spread out, pinned on a board for us to examine.
01:58Then came the terrible cry, women and children, women and children.
02:04Two men lifted me up and put me in a boat.
02:09It's these small decisions, these little butterfly effect moments that change the outcome.
02:28It really was every man for himself.
02:31My heart stood still.
02:35If we're gonna die, best to die gripping something.
02:53It's a split second decision.
02:55What would you do?
02:56What would I do?
03:00It was a terrible sight.
03:06Men swimming and sinking.
03:08I've been brought up to believe in a hell after death.
03:22For now, I think I went through a hell that night.
03:31And...
03:46do...
03:50I don't know.
04:19Titanic. Largest ship the world had ever known. The last word in luxury. The ship, palatial. The food, delicious. The rudder alone weighed 100 tons. I sailed, first class, from Southampton. We called at Cherbourg, and from there to Queenstown.
04:44Everyone was counting the days till we'd see the Statue of Liberty. My father and mother were invited to dinner that night, so I dined alone. Afterward, I took a few turns around the deck.
05:02Being 17 years old, I was all over the ship.
05:13The Titanic is a ship of dreams. The epitome of modern technology, of luxury and opulence.
05:22It looks like a cross between the Ritz and an English grand country house.
05:32Titanic was the showpiece for the shipping line. Built by Harlan and Wolfe, the famous shipyard in Belfast. She is absolutely huge. 10 decks, 840 cabins.
05:44An absolute masterpiece of human engineering.
05:50I had never been on an ocean voyage. I was afraid of the sea.
06:17But Harvey, my husband, and our eight-year-old daughter, Marjorie, and I decided to go to America that way.
06:28The first few days, I was a bit seasick and kept to my cabin most of the time.
06:45But on Sunday, April 14th, I was up and about. After I'd eaten, I listened to the orchestra for a little while, then I went back to my cabin.
06:56There was no moon. A brilliant, starry night. I'd never seen the sea smoother. It had become much colder.
07:14It was indeed a night for bed, warmth and cozy thoughts. How good it was to be in my bunk at last, devouring magazines.
07:32At 23, I was the youngest stewardess on the ship. I was enjoying the trip tremendously.
07:54The first three days were very calm. We were another three days before we would reach New York.
08:04It was a pleasure to go to bed. My pretty little cabin with its electric heater and pink curtains.
08:16I hadn't meant to sail on the Titanic. Urgent business in New York forced me to take the first available boat.
08:28But everything aboard this lovely ship reassured me.
08:42It's a Sunday. First class passengers have probably spent the day enjoying themselves.
08:48They had eaten roast duckling and sirloin of beef and foie gras and truffles and lamb with mint sauce and stuffed zucchini and chocolate eclairs.
08:59Maybe they've gone to the sauna in the Turkish baths. Or they've played a round of squash or gone to the gym.
09:08Perhaps the men had gone to the smoking room. They'd had a cigar, a pipe. They'd played a round of cards.
09:15Maybe the women had gone to the reading and writing room to have a moment of quiet.
09:20They've had a joyful, relaxing day. They're full of anticipation that they're going to be arriving in New York in two or three days' time.
09:30It's been the perfect day.
09:33It's been the perfect day.
09:54It's been the perfect day to have a good day at night.
09:58My name is Selene Yazbeck.
10:01My husband and I were on our way to America to make our home.
10:08He'd been to America before where he had a business.
10:19It's a misconception that Titanic was first and foremost a luxury ship.
10:24Titanic was primarily an emigrant ship.
10:26And it was to ferry people, working people, from Europe to America.
10:34About three quarters of the Titanic's passengers are in second or third class.
10:39And it's really not surprising that people do not want to go to bed.
10:43This might be the first time they've been away from home.
10:47And maybe it's the first taste of freedom from very oppressive environments.
10:52They are young people embarking on a new life to a new world.
10:59It would have been wonderful.
11:04I was a bride of 50 days.
11:07By collating all of these memories from different parts of the ship, memories that could easily have been lost to history.
11:20That's the way in.
11:22That's how we understand the story of the Titanic.
11:25But it doesn't seem to be what happens, already.
11:45I don't know what to do.
12:15I joined her in Belfast while she was still in the builder's hands.
12:45It's the biggest and finest ship in the world.
12:53On that night of April 14th, the first officer took over from me.
12:58We both remarked on the ship's steadiness, how comfortably she was slipping along.
13:07We knew perfectly well we were entering the region where ice might be sighted, and had
13:13taken precautions.
13:16As none of these bergs lay on our course, well, they didn't directly concern us.
13:24I passed on the course, speed, weather conditions, wished him joy of a few perishing cold hours
13:31and went below.
13:33It doesn't matter whether it's a ship, all the way down to a section of marines in my circumstance.
13:40There is a system and command structure.
13:42Everyone had a job to do, and this is the point where the ship just begins to tick over.
13:49The navigation crew that are at the top of the ship are settling into their evening routine.
13:56The engineers that are down in the boiler room are working on a four-hour shift to just keep
14:01the ship moving.
14:03The captain is retired to his cabin, you know, comfortable that his crew that ultimately have
14:07been at work since the ship left Belfast are very much in control.
14:12Really, it's the beginning of what should be another calm night on the Titanic.
14:16I joined the Marconi staff last July and was transferred to the Titanic at Belfast.
14:36I didn't have much to do about it except to relieve Philips, a senior operator.
14:41I went to bed.
15:03I was conscious of waking up and hearing Philips sending telegrams.
15:07From leaving Southampton, we got through about 250 telegrams.
15:14My brother, we got this, is a great day.
15:19Right!
15:21I woke up all night.
15:23I was close to the sea.
15:24We got deep in this ship.
15:26Provelling and natural to wind.
15:29We got to be a birthday party.
15:31We got to be a birthday party.
15:32I was close to the lake.
15:33We got to be a birthday party!
15:35We got to be a birthday party!
15:37I was close to the sea.
15:39We got to be a birthday party.
15:43It's a tense situation in the wireless room
16:02because the equipment broke down the day before.
16:04And so he's got this great backlog of work to do.
16:08And he's focused on it, he's concentrating on it.
16:10The last thing he wants is new information.
16:13I'm coming in.
16:36It came out that vital messages received in the wireless room
16:40that night had never been delivered to the bridge,
16:43hauling all ships of heavy ice in an area right ahead of the Titanic.
16:49And what was still worse, not far away.
16:54Light on us trying to say, I knew this was important.
17:03It should have gone to the bridge and it didn't.
17:05And it's the wireless operator's fault.
17:07But that's not true because the message didn't have the crucial prefix of MSG Master Service Gram,
17:13which would have meant that Jack Phillips would immediately have prioritized it and sent it up to the bridge.
17:21That didn't happen.
17:22We have this unique opportunity to understand the sinking of the Titanic from the perspective of those who were actually there.
17:31We're starting to piece things together, but we're working with people's memories.
17:35In reality, memories are going to distort and there might be a bit of a bias where people will try and make sense of what was going on.
17:44There are people who will deliberately distort and mislead.
17:49But mostly, you know, it's just that people do remember things differently.
17:54You're not looking for the stone-cold truths.
17:58We need to bring together all of those memories, see what seems to be consistent through it all,
18:05but also to recognize that every individual has a different experience.
18:10We have to respect that.
18:28Frederick Fleet, sailor, lookout man, Southampton, England, 25 next October.
18:35We are there to report anything we see.
18:43A ship or anything.
18:47Watch was nearly over.
18:50I had done the best part of two hours.
19:05It was now very large when I first saw it.
19:27A black mass.
19:29It kept getting larger as we were getting nearer there.
19:44I was fourth officer.
19:46I was just coming along the deck and almost abreast of the captain's quarters when I heard the report of three bells.
19:56That signifies something's been seen ahead.
20:00I struck three bells first.
20:01Then I went straight to the telephone.
20:04And rang them up on the bridge.
20:06Iceberg!
20:09Get ahead!
20:11Then I heard the first officer give the order.
20:14Host off!
20:17The wheel was put to starboard.
20:20She started to go to port whilst I was on the telephone.
20:26My mate saw it and he told me he could see the bow coming round.
20:30They swung the ship's bow away from the object.
20:36Yes.
20:39Because we were making straight for it.
20:45What do you do if you're trained at sea?
20:47You try to avoid the obstacle.
20:50It's a split second decision.
20:52And this is just a cliche, isn't there, in the way we talk about trying to turn the Titanic.
20:56You can't turn this giant boat in time.
21:19And a red light goes up when the ship is supposed to stop.
21:27This red light came up.
21:31Shut all dampers!
21:33And I'm the man in charge of the watch, so I shouted,
21:36Shut all dampers!
21:38To shut the wind off the fires.
21:39Shut all dampers!
21:41Shut all dampers!
21:51The crash came before we had them all shut.
21:56I didn't even feel the shock.
22:06I hardly knew what had happened.
22:08There was no jolt whatsoever.
22:12I was about to step into bed when I seemed to sway slightly.
22:17If I'd had a brimful glass of water in my hand, not a drop would have spilled.
22:21I was soon awakened by a long, grinding shock.
22:22There was a backward jerk, followed by a shorter one.
22:26And the ship started to back, like a train.
22:27And the ship started to back, like a train.
22:28And the ship started to back, like a train.
22:29And the ship started to back, like a train.
22:31Then, uh...
22:32Then, uh...
22:33Then, uh...
22:34a low...
22:35crunching.
22:36There was a backward jerk, followed by a shorter one.
22:37There was a backward jerk, followed by a shorter one.
22:41And the ship started to back, like a train.
22:58Then, uh, a low, crunching, ripping sound...
23:05...as Titanic shivered.
23:15I was fast asleep.
23:20It almost threw me off the bed.
23:28Suddenly, I heard a tremendous noise.
23:36Immediately, I knew the ship had been hit hard.
23:53When we were alongside it, it was...
23:57...a bit higher than the forecast of Leeds.
24:00Like 50 feet, I should say.
24:05Was there much of a jar to the ship?
24:10No.
24:12Just a slight grinding noise.
24:15Did it alarm you when it struck?
24:18I thought it was a narrow shave.
24:21You thought it was a narrow shave?
24:24Yes.
24:25You know, up on the top deck, people are thinking to themselves...
24:33...whoa, that was close, but we got away with it.
24:35You know, it's just a near-miss that somebody writes down in a log.
24:39But they don't know that this iceberg had a very large section jutting out of it...
24:44...underneath the water.
24:45The water came pouring in about two feet from where I was standing.
25:08The ship's side was torn...
25:12...from the third stockhold to the forward's end.
25:19Open the door!
25:20Open the door!
25:32The doors dropped...
25:34...instantly, automatically.
25:38Hurry up!
25:40We got through into the next section.
25:43Then the watertight compartment closed up.
25:45As the iceberg strikes, the rivets give way.
26:03And the water starts pouring into boiler room number six.
26:06That's on the starboard side of the ship.
26:09But Titanic is designed to have watertight compartments in the event of an emergency.
26:15There's 16 compartments, and the doors do what they're supposed to do.
26:21Come down, seal off the compartments, and protect the rest of the ship.
26:26Fred Barrett and his boys escape this wall of water.
26:32At the moment, they are safe.
26:34But the thing about the Titanic is nobody had thought to put in a direct communication system between the boiler rooms, which could flood, and the bridge.
26:51But equally, it's not just a case of sending somebody up quickly.
26:56A lowly boiler operator or stoker goes up and tells the captain what's happened.
27:00There is a chain of command.
27:03So there was no way that Fred Barrett could tell the captain straight away what was happening.
27:12And that lost time.
27:13The captain said, what have we struck?
27:14Mr. Murdoch, the first officer, said,
27:16we have struck an iceberg.
27:17The captain said, what have we struck?
27:19Mr. Murdoch, the first officer, said, we have struck an iceberg.
27:20I put her hard to starboard.
27:21It was too close.
27:22It was too close.
27:23She hit it.
27:24The captain said, what have we struck?
27:41Mr. Murdoch, the first officer, said, we have struck an iceberg.
27:47I put her hard to starboard, but it was too close, she hit it.
27:50He also said, I intended to port around it, but she hit before I could do any more.
27:58We walked out onto the bridge to take a look at the iceberg.
28:11It seemed to be a small black mass, not rising very high out of the water.
28:18The ship was past it then.
28:20It couldn't have extended above the ship's rail.
28:29Captain Smith, the captain of the Titanic, was a very experienced seaman, a very highly respected seaman.
28:36He'd served in the Royal Naval Reserve as well as in the Merchant Navy.
28:40He was coming to the end of his career, and he must have been very, very proud that he was taking Titanic, this world-beating ship across the Atlantic.
28:49And that would be a wonderful end to what was a glittering career.
28:55And suddenly, of course, there's a collision.
28:58It's the last thing you want.
29:00He would have been annoyed as well as keen to solve the problem as quickly as he could.
29:06The engine stopped.
29:19When there's that sudden cut of the engines, it's going to be really noticeable.
29:33Something's going on.
29:35Something's not right.
29:36Something's not as it should be.
29:38I lay still.
29:39I waited for Anne, my cabin mate, to speak for... I knew she was awake.
29:47I looked over the side of my bunk at her, and she returned by saying in her calm way,
29:56sounds as if something has happened.
30:01Passengers were really left in the dark.
30:03There was no tunneling system or announcement of what was going on, of what to do.
30:08They had to work it out themselves.
30:10I could hear the footsteps of people on the deck above my head.
30:24There was some stamping and queer noises, as though the ship's tackle was being pulled about.
30:32My husband said, there must have been some slight accident in the engine room.
30:42He put on his coat and left me.
30:48Different people will react to this situation in different ways,
30:51but a number of passengers have no qualms at all about going up onto the boat deck
30:55and finding someone to inquire what's going on.
31:02It was bitterly cold.
31:13I moved around the deck, trying to discover what had happened.
31:19There were quite a few people standing around,
31:23questioning each other in a dazed kind of way.
31:26We're just...
31:28There were many prominent people on the passenger list.
31:36Because it was for Maiden Voyage, those responsible for building the ship.
31:41Tommy Andrews.
31:44Designer for Harland & Wolfe.
31:47He was respected by everyone.
31:50A great shipbuilder and a real gentleman.
31:58A perfectionist.
32:04Thomas Andrews was a highly respected, in fact, probably the most respected ship designer in the UK at this time.
32:12Titanic was the pinnacle of Andrews' career.
32:16You know, he'd been building up to this moment, this amazing liner that was going to win all these different prizes,
32:21that was the queen of the seas, really.
32:26He knew a great deal about ship design.
32:29He understood buoyancy, stability, all of these issues.
32:35He's got 16 watertight compartments.
32:37That's far more than most of the liners that were steaming around.
32:41And of those 16, four of them could be flooded, and the ship was still stable and would stay afloat.
32:47And that's why Titanic had been billed as an unsinkable ship.
32:55She was a fabricated steel vessel of gigantic dimensions.
33:01We're just stopping, precautionary, just making a few checks, and we'll be on our way to New York here.
33:08Please, you know.
33:10She was a wonderfully safe vessel.
33:16It's just, it's just precautionary, we're just...
33:19In answer to many questions, Mr. Andrews assured everybody that we were absolutely safe.
33:25Checking a few things, then we all have to make it.
33:28She would stay afloat indefinitely.
33:31The ship is unsickly.
33:35Is it time?
33:36Thank you, sir.
33:39This one man had a piece of ice, and I took it out of his hands, wondering where he'd got it from.
33:45Tried to make him understand that there was nothing the matter.
33:47Go down to bed and go to sleep again.
33:50I didn't take it very seriously.
33:52After what seemed a few moments, my husband returned, and he was quite excited.
34:04He exclaimed,
34:06And we have struck an iceberg, a big one.
34:09But there's no danger.
34:11An officer just told me so.
34:14This story reassured me.
34:16If these people weren't worried, why should I be?
34:26At that particular time, we know in England, certainly, there's a strong, very hierarchical class system.
34:33I'm getting the message from authority figures that everything's okay.
34:37Even though the ship is stationary, and they're out at sea, and it's dark, and it's cold, for most people, that's enough.
34:43There had been an accident, a collision, and yet there was a sense of complacency, rather than a sense of urgency, to discover what exactly has gone wrong.
34:58Thomas Andrews was saying to people, everything's fine, it's all safe, when he didn't have any data about what the damage to the ship was.
35:07And that was not a clever thing to do.
35:13There are eight firemen in the number six section.
35:32The second engineer shouts is, all hands, stand by your stations.
35:37That's for the men that stand by the fires.
35:39For Fred Barrett and his crew, they need to manage the fire in boiler room six.
35:48And he's worried that there's going to be a minor explosion, because the freezing water is hitting the hot coals.
35:55Fred Barrett is in the boiler room next door.
35:59And the only way to assess the damage is to climb out of boiler room five, to this overhead gangway that's above boiler room six.
36:09He went up and escaped, and down to the boiler room.
36:17But, he couldn't get in.
36:25There was eight feet of water in it.
36:26When he tries to get back down into boiler room six, he can't, because there's eight feet of water in there, and the whole place is already filled with steam.
36:41But, I think when Fred Barrett saw the situation, he would have been still feeling that everything could be contained.
36:48You know, this is how the ship was sold, to passengers and crew alike.
37:22Captain Smith looked at the inclinometer, which is a sort of spirit-level type gauge, which shows whether the ship is stable or not, and realized there was a five-degree list in the ship to starboard.
37:45We're taking on water.
37:47Captain Smith knows that property is water. The problem is, where is this water coming from, and what the hell is going on?
37:57The Titanic, of course, was a massive ship with a huge number of compartments. Therefore, finding out what's happened is a difficult and complex task, because the ability to communicate between parts of the ship was very, very poor indeed.
38:15Therefore, you have to send a person, a runner, to go down and look, and then come all the way back to the bridge to tell you what on earth is going on.
38:24I went right down below.
38:37Into the lowest steerage, as far as I could go, without going into the cargo portion of the ship.
38:48And I inspected all the decks as I came up, in the vicinity where I thought she'd struck.
38:53I couldn't hear any noise.
39:00I couldn't see any damage.
39:04Remember, the mindset is, this ship is unsinkable.
39:09If you believe a ship is unsinkable, you're not looking for trouble.
39:15Imagine it, wandering about this vast ship, looking for water.
39:23He's not going to find it, because he doesn't go down to the boiler rooms.
39:27I boarded a Titanic in Queenstown.
39:46I'm 21 years old.
39:48I wanted to come to America to make some money.
39:52There were three other boys from the same place, sleeping in the same room with me.
39:57I jumped on the floor.
40:13First thing I knew, my feet were getting wet.
40:17I told the other fellas to get up, that there was something wrong.
40:21Get back to bed.
40:24They only laughed.
40:25One of them says, get back to bed, you're not in Ireland now.
40:32Go back to bed, Daniel.
40:33I really understand where that voice is coming from.
40:37Something that I hear from immigrants nowadays is this belief that you've entered a world of order and protection and security.
40:47So you don't have to worry about anything.
40:50This is the safest ship in the world that's ever been built, but it's so wrong in this context.
41:01I turned on the lights.
41:02To my surprise, there was a stream of water running along the floor.
41:10The fact that water was seen on the deck at the level where Daniel Butney had a cabin
41:30was seen to indicate that a second water site compartment had actually gone as well as the boiler room.
41:37And the water was rising up the bulkhead in that compartment.
41:41And that, of course, is extremely worrying.
41:43But who exactly knew that is a different issue?
41:47But who exactly knew that is a different issue?
41:47I met the carpenter coming up.
42:14Absolutely out of breath.
42:17And he said, she is evidently making water fast.
42:20Number one tarpaulin is ballooning.
42:23Go tell the captain.
42:29At last, Boxall gets himself some concrete information.
42:34The carpenter he meets is talking about one of the tarpaulins up on G-deck that's covering a cargo hold.
42:41The air in there is being pushed out at speed, at pressure, by the volume of water coming in.
42:52In the cargo hold, there's all the passengers' luggage.
42:57There's goods that are being shipped from companies across the Atlantic.
43:01There's a Renault car all boxed up belonging to one of the first-class passengers.
43:06There's cases of feather boas.
43:07There's all kinds of crazy things in there.
43:11But it is the entirety of everyone's possessions.
43:20Then, on his way to investigate, Boxall gets some more news.
43:25I met the mail clerk coming up.
43:33And he said, Mr. Boxall, the mail room is filling.
43:36I got back to the boat deck and I saw the captain.
44:05The mail room is filling, sir.
44:06And I said, the mail room is filling, sir.
44:10What did he say?
44:15He walked away and left me.
44:20He went off the bridge as far as I remember.
44:24He didn't say anything to you?
44:27No.
44:27The captain goes down to inspect, accompanied by Thomas Andrews.
44:39Here, they can see with their own eyes, the mail room has been flooded.
44:44And that means another compartment is gone.
44:46The Titanic was a ship designed to carry mail from Great Britain, and there are about three and a half thousand sacks of mail on board.
45:03Already, these mail bags are beginning to float away.
45:06The mail clerks have tried to salvage some of them, but they can't, because the water is everywhere.
45:13This doesn't look good for Royal Britannia.
45:17Seeing the speed with which the water levels were rising must have been quite a sobering moment for both of them.
45:24And, of course, this was not what the captain had hoped would be his final crowning glory in command of this splendid ship.
45:34This was going to be the ultimate test for him.
45:37He was going to have to prove himself as the sort of captain that he thought he was, and that other people thought he was.
45:43The captain knows that this is a terrible circumstance, but equally, Titanic was built to endure that.
46:05There are 16 compartments. Four of them could be fully flooded, and the ship was still stable and wouldn't sink.
46:14If another one, a fifth compartment, started to be flooded, then that changed the equation completely.
46:23The captain is sitting right at the moment of what is known as event horizon.
46:27You know, once you tip over that precipice, the ship is going to sink.
46:32Any captain worth their salt is ultimately going to prepare for the worst, and actually not even expect the best.
46:40You have to be preparing for things to continue to worsen.
46:51Then came the order to clear the lifeboats.
47:02There was the frightful noise of escaping steam.
47:21Many first-class passengers report this unearthly scream that comes out of the funnels.
47:27It's the steam, which has been diverted from the engines, now emerging from the funnels.
47:41For those who have their rooms closest to the boat deck, suddenly this is very alarming indeed.
47:49It's a moment where they realize that things are not as they should be, and maybe they should be worrying.
47:54I was uneasy.
47:59I rushed to the husband.
48:02Go up on deck and see what has happened.
48:04He got out of his bed rather unwillingly.
48:06On board the Titanic, in first class, are American millionaires.
48:26There are people like Colonel John Jacob Astor IV, who is an American business magnate.
48:31He's one of the richest men in the world, and Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon sees Astor stride over to Captain Smith and have a private little word with him.
48:41I'm exactly how you say, Borman.
48:44I would advise you to go and get your family into the lifeboats.
48:47The first class passengers know Captain Smith, they are able to mix with the senior crew, they have exclusive access.
48:55It means that they're part of the inner circle and other people are not.
48:58From the get-go, first class passengers are in a kind of chumocracy with the senior crew, and that means that they get the information immediately when others don't.
49:09But they have a distinct advantage from the word go.
49:14Yes, my wife.
49:15What is your second?
49:16I would appeal to you, Vic, it's sure.
49:24My husband was back, looking rather grave.
49:29I've been up to the bridge, and I've seen Colonel Astor, he said.
49:33He told me that he was going to ask his wife to dress, and I think you'd better do the same.
49:41I hurriedly put on the warmest clothes I could find.
49:45As I was dressing, my secretary, Miss Francatelli, came into the room very agitated.
50:03I woke up of my own accord.
50:22I promised to relieve Phillips early than usual.
50:27I asked him how he was getting on.
50:30I think we struck something.
50:31He told me that he'd felt the ship tremble and stop.
50:37He thought she'd got damaged in some way.
50:42Suddenly, the captain put his head in the cabin.
50:47Struck an iceberg.
50:50We've struck an iceberg, the captain said, and I'm having an inspection made to tell what he's done.
50:56He'd better get ready to send a call for assistance.
50:59But don't send them to my tent.
51:00But don't send it until I tell you.
51:06The captain went away.
51:09Phillips resumed the phones.
51:10And then, I'll see you guys.
51:10Go ahead.
51:11Go ahead.
51:13Thanks.
51:28It's kind of good.
51:28Because there's no instant communications between large parts of the ship, Captain Smith
51:46and others still did not know fully what the damage was to the ship.
51:53During his inspection, Andrews must have learned that a fourth compartment had flooded.
52:01But problems in the boiler room, he was still completely unaware of.
52:10When Andrews went down into the boiler room, he was horrified, horror-struck.
52:16Water was rising, and it was rising in spaces that they had not realized it would be in.
52:28Earlier on, Andrews had said about Titanic that she was nearly as perfect as human brains
52:34could achieve.
52:37He'd put all of his knowledge into Titanic to make her as safe as she could be.
52:46But unfortunately, the ship was doomed.
52:51You're now at a point where it is mathematically certain that this ship is going to sink.
52:59Now that the front five compartments are flooded, the water will start pouring over the top
53:05of the bulkheads.
53:10Picture an ice tray.
53:11You start filling it at one end, and eventually it will rise up over the line in the next compartment
53:16and the next compartment, and it just continues to fill and fill.
53:21And that is ultimately what is going to draw this ship to the bottom of the ocean.
53:43My husband and I jumped up and ran out to see what had happened.
53:48We were still wearing our night clothes.
54:03I can imagine them in my mind.
54:04Middle of the night, they wake up, and then suddenly there's the terror of finding water,
54:10and you're in the bowels of the ship.
54:13You are not being told anything.
54:15There's no announcements.
54:17You're left to work out what's going on and how that impacts on your own safety.
54:22It's such a jarring break from this very beautiful experience I think they must have been having
54:29up until this point.
54:34We walked around to the port side, and the ship had then a fair list.
54:45We stayed there looking over the side for about five minutes.
54:51The list seemed very slowly to be increasing.
55:01Thomas Andrews was seen by another passenger running up the bridge with a look of terror on
55:06his face.
55:09No doubt he realized the first time, my god, we can't save the ship.
55:15His unsinkable ship was going to sink.
55:26When I saw the captain, it was then I realized it was serious.
55:34Captain looked over and he said, we are sinking.
55:38Can't go outside the ship can survive.
55:40You are sinking, would you please take a look at the ship?
55:42Oh, no.
55:43I am.
55:44I am.
55:45I am.
55:46I am.
55:47I am.
55:48It's just a precaution, I'm going to turn it over.
56:18Everybody to the boats.
56:21We sent an urgent distress call and said we were sinking by the head.
56:27If you are a family, you will be separated.
56:31Nobody's telling anybody what's going on.
56:35Husband stepped over to an officer and asked him a question.
56:40What's going on?
56:41I heard him shout back, keep calm, there's no danger.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment

Recommended