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00:00I was afraid of the sea but I listened to the people who said take the new
00:16Titanic she cannot come to any harm new inventions have made a safe
00:30he told me that apparently we'd struck something
00:50I didn't become alarmed there was no danger they said
01:04I told her to come at once we were sinking
01:11you can imagine the chaos and the fear and the terror of finding water in your cabin and your
01:19in the bowels of the ship it makes me panic just thinking about it the story of the Titanic is
01:26the human condition spread out pinned on a board for us to examine then came the terrible cry
01:35women and children women and children two men lifted me up and put me in a boat
01:42it's these small decisions these little butterfly effect moments that change the outcome
01:48it really was every man for himself
02:04my heart stood still
02:08if we're gonna die that's to die gripping something
02:25it's a split-second decision what would you do what would I do
02:31it was a terrible sight men swimming and sinking
02:43had been brought up to believe in a hell after death
02:56for now I think I went through a hell that night
03:05what would I do
03:07and I don't know
03:07what would I do
03:10I think I can do
03:16what would I do
03:20I think I'm probably not
03:22what would I do
03:24but I think I'm really glad
03:26I think I'm really glad
03:58Mr. Harvey ordered me to fetch some men down.
04:13I got between 15 and 20.
04:22The engineers put the pumps on.
04:28But also, we'd have gone off to UT Stazan.
04:33Right now on the Titanic, there's a red alert emergency.
04:37Down below in the boiler room, all the crew, the firemen that would normally be down there have been called back on ship to try to pump out the water that is flooding into the compartments.
04:53Imagine it, there's steam everywhere.
04:57There's the groaning, creaking, splitting sounds of the ship itself.
05:03It's terrifying.
05:04They are like soldiers going into battle.
05:10With five compartments flooded, the Titanic is going to sink.
05:16They have around an hour and a half until it's going to disappear below the waves.
05:20They're never going to get all of the water out of the ship.
05:23But can they hold it back just a little bit longer in order to try and save everybody on board?
05:28What I think is unfortunate in Titanic is that the captain had not established a mechanism whereby he was getting information about what the ship was going to do.
05:58What the actual damage was in various parts of the ship.
06:02This is something that there should have been being worked on much earlier.
06:06As a result, time was lost.
06:10Once you begin to understand that you are really up against it in terms of time, it goes from, we can't save the ship, but can we get the passengers from the Titanic to a rescue ship before the Titanic sinks?
06:24The captain knows that the decisions that are made in the coming minutes, hours, ultimately, that will be the decider on how many people will make it off of the ship alive.
06:34Send a call for assistance, ordered the captain.
06:36Which call should I send?
06:40The regulation international call for help.
06:45Just that.
06:47And the captain was gone.
06:48The next moment we sent an urgent distress call.
06:55So in the radio room right now, it's a race against time.
07:02The operators must send out the distress signal.
07:09It's the standard Morse code signal that will tell shipping in the area that the Titanic is in trouble and needs help.
07:16These two young men, they're in their twenties, are now responsible for seeking rescue for the unsinkable ship Titanic.
07:23The captain is in the room, right now, it's a race against time.
07:26The operators must send out the distress signal.
07:29The operators must send out the distress signal.
07:31It's the standard Morse code signal that will tell shipping in the area that the Titanic is in trouble and needs help.
07:36These two young men, they're in their twenties, and now responsible for seeking rescue for the unsinkable ship Titanic.
07:46Here we go.
08:05My boat were along the port side.
08:09My idea was that I'd lower the boats and transfer passengers.
08:14They would be perfectly safe in that smooth sea until another ship picked them up.
08:19All right, gentlemen. You know what to do.
08:21Up to this time, we hadn't had a chance for a boat drill,
08:24beyond just lowering some of the boats in Southampton.
08:30The crew of the Titanic had been put through a fine sieve,
08:34and care taken that there were no misfits.
08:38A tap on the shoulder and indication with the hand
08:41was quite sufficient to set the men about the different jobs.
08:45Clearing away boat covers, hauling tight the falls, ready for lowering.
08:52We're not going to see hysteria.
08:54We're not even going to see anxiety at this point.
08:56Not least because the information is distorted and fragmented.
09:01Nobody is thinking that the ship is going to sink.
09:04Only Captain Smith really knows the extent of what is happening.
09:11The water having reached F deck showed me she'd been badly hulled.
09:18Although I knew it was serious,
09:20I had not a thought that it was likely to prove fatal.
09:23I figured that she'd go so far,
09:26until she balanced her buoyancy and there she would remain.
09:31The captain doesn't share the information he has with all the officers
09:36that the ship is going down.
09:38And precisely why he hasn't shared it remains a mystery.
09:42It may be a strategy he doesn't want them to panic.
09:45It maybe reflects an internal chaos.
09:48He doesn't know who to tell or when.
09:50The reality is, for the crew in the Titanic at this moment,
09:54they have no idea what level of catastrophe they're in.
09:58They just know they have a job to do.
10:00Let me do something else.
10:10Let me do something else.
10:15And in the того moment and in the back of thearta
10:19There are 2,208 passengers on board, they won't all fit in the lifeboats, so the lifeboats
10:37will have to do shuttle runs, take passengers to the rescue ship, come back and then take
10:42the next lot of passengers.
10:45It's physically possible for them to save all the passengers, but they have to do it
10:50in an orderly fashion.
10:52And the people who are going to go first are those whose rooms are closest to the boat deck,
10:55and those are the first-class passengers.
10:58In this emergency plan, the wealthy and the powerful have an innate advantage.
11:03They are top of the list.
11:10Suddenly orders came down, everybody to the boats.
11:19All stewards and stewardesses were on duty in their sections to assist and direct people.
11:27I continued through my section, trying to reassure, reminding people to put on warm clothing,
11:36take blankets and valuables.
11:41Violet Jessup is a first-class stewardess.
11:44She's 24 years old.
11:45She's the youngest stewardess on board.
11:48The first-class stewards and stewardesses really are the ones who are responsible for making
11:52this evacuation process happen.
11:55They have to demonstrate extraordinary self-control and put these other people first.
12:06Of course, we reiterated from room to room that it was just precautionary measure.
12:13Everywhere I found extraordinary calmness.
12:19People who'd been asleep were dressing, fumbling, sleepy-eyed with buttons.
12:28They were unemotional, probably thinking as I did, that it was all too fantastic.
12:43The first-class passengers have invested financially, they've spent a lot on their tickets, they've
12:48invested psychologically in this being safe and luxurious.
12:53They, therefore, cannot believe that it can be anything but that.
13:00It's such a leap of imagination to go against everything they've internalised about this
13:06experience and start to believe that something might be going wrong.
13:15Steward knocked at the door.
13:19Sorry to alarm you, madam, but the captain's orders are that all passengers should put on
13:25lifebelts.
13:26He laughed and joked as he helped us.
13:31Wrap up warmly, for you may have a little trip for an hour or so in one of the lifeboats.
13:36What very fetching colour is that?
13:38Cosmo was so brave to try and keep us in good spirits, making a bad jest as to how unappetising
13:45we both looked in those sickly white life preservers.
13:53Lucy Lady Duff Gordon is one of the most prominent people on board.
14:00After divorcing her previous husband, she managed to build up her business, which is a fashion
14:05design house, into a multi-million pound enterprise.
14:09And this is a time when many women don't even have bank accounts.
14:13So she's obviously extraordinary.
14:16She's very resourceful.
14:18And that will come to be important.
14:20I put on a heavy crepe scarf.
14:24I wore the big squirrel coat.
14:26Bought my little velveteen ring bag.
14:30It all looked so pretty.
14:33Just like a bedroom on land.
14:35It didn't seem possible.
14:37There could be any danger.
14:39Bit of vase of flowers on the washstand slid off and fell to the floor.
14:46To the floor.
15:16Yes, yes, this way.
15:21Slowly, people started.
15:24Some joking, taking their time about it.
15:27This way, sir.
15:29To those few who showed concern, a reassuring answer was,
15:34there are plenty of boats in the vicinity.
15:36They'll be with us any moment now.
15:39I heard the crow's nest report a light on the bow.
15:55I went on the bridge right away and found this light.
16:00It was two masthead lights of a steamer just below the horizon.
16:15You could not only see her lights with the naked eye.
16:18You could see the lights of her portals.
16:21So Boxall can see the nearest ship to the Titanic,
16:25which is the Californian.
16:27She's very close by.
16:29About 14 miles.
16:31The Californian had already communicated with the Titanic
16:36earlier that evening.
16:38That she was going to spend the night in the ice flow
16:40because it was too dangerous to continue.
16:43But the Californian would be able to reach Titanic before she sinks.
16:49Captain Smith, we've spotted a steamer on the horizon.
16:56I told the captain about this ship.
16:58He said, tell them to come at once.
17:01We are sinking.
17:19After the signal had been sent out, the ether seemed to be dead.
17:40No reply came through.
17:43Californian isn't picking up any signals.
17:49The radio operator has gone to bed.
17:51Not because he's negligent, but because he's allowed to go to bed.
17:54There's no duty to stay in the radio room all night.
17:56And many ships did not ask this of their operators.
18:00But then, suddenly, a chance message comes in from a wireless operator
18:12on another ship, the Carpathia.
18:14I was about to retire.
18:20I'd taken my coat off.
18:22I should have been turning in in about ten minutes.
18:26Called the Titanic.
18:28And his only answer was, struck a berg.
18:37Come at once.
18:41We told her our position and said we were sinking by the head.
18:45I asked him if he intended me to go get the ship turned round immediately.
18:52And he said yes.
18:54Quick.
18:57The operator went to tell his captain.
19:02The Carpathia is a transatlantic steamship.
19:05She's fast, but she's going in the other direction.
19:08Jack Phillips hears that the radio operator is going to tell the captain
19:13that Titanic is in trouble.
19:16The captain of a Carpathia will then make the decision about what to do.
19:21And that usually means to turn your vessel towards the ship that is in distress.
19:26That's the rule of the sea.
19:28So here is a chance of rescue.
19:33As long as Carpathia is able to get there in time.
19:43As long as Carpathia was at a two-throw- Ag powerful shocking-
19:50SILVER- haciendo battle-
19:58Though we'd been warned by the stewards to be going away in a boat,
20:10it didn't seem possible that all this could actually be happening.
20:17It was the strangest scene.
20:22People bundled up in old clothes, boarding lifeboats in the night.
20:28Pugh seemed to have wanted to brave the dark sea in an open boat.
20:36Any more? Any more women?
20:38And it was only after considerable coaxing that many went at all.
20:44People don't want to get in.
20:46Why would you want to get out of your warm bed
20:48and go in a lifeboat into the freezing water when there's no problem?
20:51You wouldn't.
20:52This is like a really annoying fire drill at school,
20:56and everybody says, you know what, I'll just stay here until it's finished.
21:01At that point in time, the general public weren't really trusted.
21:05Keeping people in ignorance was considered better,
21:07and we know today that actually people will respond much more sensibly in an emergency
21:12if they do have some information.
21:14That information was completely lacking at this point on Titanic.
21:18We were just walking forward when a sailor tried to drag me away from Cosmo.
21:46The officers called for women and children.
21:52So Captain Smith has ordered that women and children should be evacuated,
21:57and they should be prioritized.
21:58On the port side, the second officer, Officer Lightoller,
22:05interprets it as women and children only.
22:09The consequence of this is that if you are a family turning up on the port side,
22:16you will be separated, and the men will not be allowed on the lifeboats.
22:21Saving the lives of women and children comes from deep in the Edwardian mindset.
22:30Women at the time are seen as having a kind of childish status.
22:34I mean, this is before they've been allowed to vote,
22:36and they are perceived to have a physical and mental weakness
22:42that means that men have to be their protectors.
22:45Please step back, sir. Please step back.
22:47I had no such ideas about my husband.
22:53It would have been too awful to have been alone.
22:58Every time Officer Lightoller prevents a man from getting into a lifeboat,
23:02there is the possibility that his wife won't go,
23:06that they will stay on board the ship.
23:08So he's actually potentially endangering the lives of the precise people
23:12he's been told to prioritise to save.
23:17Get the gun!
23:18In a great emergency like that, where there were limited facilities,
23:41could you not have put more people into boats?
23:44I did not know it was urgent then.
23:51I had no idea it was urgent.
23:54You did not know it was urgent?
23:57Nothing like it.
24:08Lightoller wants to do a good job, clearly.
24:10Maybe if he'd known the ship was sinking,
24:14he would have allowed men in to fill up the spaces in the lifeboats.
24:19But because the captain is withholding information,
24:22people like Lightoller can't do their job properly,
24:25and this will have disastrous consequences.
24:27What one wants is to have a very good relationship, a band of brothers,
24:36and when you've got that, you must keep them informed of what's going on,
24:40and what we call nowadays mission command.
24:42In other words, you let them know what you want to achieve overall,
24:45you tell them all the facts, and then you let them get on with it.
24:49I think that Captain Smith was overwhelmed by the enormity of what was happening
24:54and was not really grasping it and taking charge.
24:58Let's go!
24:59Everybody take a chair!
25:00The head chair will help me!
25:01Many seats have her standing in the back!
25:04Coming to bed, we're the only the king!
25:07Let's go!
25:09separating his school,
25:11the kitchen and the wood packed full.
25:20Is this a big part of the building and is VMOKA measures?
25:26The operator returned and told us the Carpathia was putting about and heading for us.
25:40Our captain had left us at this time.
25:42Phillips told me to run and tell him what the Carpathia had answered.
25:50I went through an awful mass of people to his cabin.
25:54The decks were full.
26:01I came back and heard Phillips giving the Carpathia full of directions.
26:05He told me to put my clothes on.
26:11Until that moment I forgot I wasn't dressed.
26:16I went to my cabin and dressed and brought an overcoat to Phillips.
26:21It was very cold. I slipped the overcoat on him while it worked.
26:28Imagine the relief in the radio room. Carpathia has answered the distress call, is coming their way.
26:36But, although she's going as fast as she can, she's having to go through the same ice field where Titanic has floundered.
26:49She's four hours away and Titanic isn't going to stay afloat that long.
27:04The nearest ship to Titanic is the Californian.
27:08But the radio operator's still asleep. Nobody is aware of any problem on the Titanic.
27:17The crew of the Titanic have to think on their feet.
27:20So they start to use Morse lamps and send a signal using light rather than a sound.
27:29The ship was close enough, I thought, to read our electric Morse signal.
27:33So I signalled her.
27:39I told her to come at once. We were sinking.
27:43The captain was with me most of the time we were signalling.
27:47I would signal with the Morse and then go back and look at the ship.
27:50I cannot say I saw any reply.
28:07In a crisis, you just have to increase your chances of survival.
28:11Survival is all about probability.
28:13You know, throwing as much muck at the wall as possible and seeing what sticks.
28:20Then we started sending off these distressed rockets.
28:23The quartermaster and I on the bridge.
28:30They go right up into the air and throw stars.
28:50I don't know.
28:51CHIRPTON
29:00Sheriff yourself.
29:0328
29:07COOMS
29:09right now the water is rising up through the body of the ship
29:20the waterproof bulkheads only went up to a certain level
29:25and by this stage water was tipping over bulkheads and cascading into the next
29:30compartment so compartment after compartment was being filled by water
29:39and as this mass of water breaches the bulkheads it starts flowing back on
29:45itself making cascades and waterfalls coming down the narrow staircases
30:06third-class passengers in the bowels of the ship are at most risk they were
30:10really left in the dark they are wading through water they're not aware of what's
30:18going on the rescue mission going on in the upper decks had to work it out
30:22themselves
30:25my husband had left some money in our cabin and there were all our clothes and things
30:34that we were taking to america
30:43salini is from hardin which was in lebanon and she's a newlywed bride and her older husband is taking her
30:53to live with him in america they are caught between going up to the higher decks and the desire to keep
31:01their belongings it's easy to underestimate just how important things are to a migrant to someone
31:10who's leaving home forever do you want to arrive in in new york destitute with nothing to your name
31:17um nothing to pay for a room of course not
31:27we returned to try and get our clothes money and jewelry we started down for them
31:36but the water on our deck was waist deep we never got there
31:59depending on where you are in the ship right now you're going to start seeing a lot of water
32:04the third class passengers in particular water in any quantity is terrifying because you can't push
32:12it away you can't fight it people are now seeing evidence with their own eyes it's not rumor it's not
32:19gossip it's not even that they're waiting to be told they can see feel that there is a problem
32:33that they can't be told by this time the ship seemed to have tilted forward a little
32:43and we heard queer noises as if the ship was being pulled about
32:48and the big bridge did not see it before they got stuck and on the ship so one of the most
32:52of the ships is not a campfire which is there is a lot of the inhabitants that we have released
32:54in this ship that we have found a current ship that's being put into a wilderness
32:56and a boat that's being put on the boat that's being put together
32:57in the boat and that's being played together
32:58Charlotte Collier is a second-class passenger.
33:00She's travelling with her husband, Harvey,
33:02and her eight-year-old daughter, Marjorie.
33:04Charlotte has health issues, she has tuberculosis,
33:07so she's eager to find a new climate for her health,
33:10as well as whatever economic benefit
33:13they might get from migrating.
33:19Whilst this whole hour has passed
33:22in which the first-class passengers are being evacuated,
33:26they were told to stay in their cabin.
33:31They are sitting there and worrying,
33:34and no-one is telling them anything.
33:40Suddenly, we heard people running
33:43along the passageway in front of our door.
33:51Their feet reminded me of rats
33:54scurrying.
33:56I could see my face had grown very white.
34:02My husband stammered when he spoke to me.
34:05He said we had better go on deck and see what's wrong.
34:09For anyone that was feeling confused or was just following the rules,
34:21it's very clear something major is now happening.
34:26It's going to be terrifying,
34:28especially if you're a parent with a young child.
34:32When we went on board the Titanic, every possession was with us.
34:44Neither of us took any belongings from the cabin.
34:48My husband even left his watch lying on his pillow.
34:51I had a big dolly that I got two Christmases before.
34:59And we were in such a hurry that I left it behind.
35:05I cried for my dolly, but we couldn't go back.
35:08I couldn't go back.
35:18When we reached the deck, there was a great many people.
35:23Some of them were crying.
35:35I was crying for my doll, but nobody could go back and get her.
35:41An officer said, you should put on life preservers.
35:51So, mother put one on me and then fastened one around herself.
35:57Papa put one on too.
36:04My husband stepped over to an officer and asked him a question.
36:09Excuse me. Yes, sir. What's going on?
36:11I heard him shout back.
36:14Keep calm. There's no danger.
36:20Nobody's telling anybody what's going on.
36:23The captain knows. A few of the officers know.
36:26But it's important to keep this away because of panic.
36:30But now, because of the noise, the tilt,
36:33people are realising that something is wrong.
36:39All the water that had been thrown on the furnaces,
36:54just making the stock all thick, was steam.
36:59Mr Shepherds was walking across in a hurry to do something.
37:01And he fell down the hole and broke his leg.
37:10He lifted him up and carried him.
37:14There was a knock and noise.
37:15All at once, I saw a wave of green foam tearing between the boilers.
37:19A rush of water came through.
37:20I never stopped to look. I just jumped for the escape ladder.
37:22I never stopped to look. I just jumped for the escape ladder.
37:23I never stopped to look. I just jumped for the escape ladder.
37:27I never stopped to look. I just jumped for the escape ladder.
37:28I never stopped to look. I just jumped for the escape ladder.
37:32A huge wave of green water coming through.
37:35All at once, I saw a wave of green foam tearing between the boilers.
37:37A rush of water came through.
37:39I never stopped to look. I just jumped for the escape ladder.
37:45A huge wave of green water comes flying through into the room
38:04because the coal bunker has been gradually filling up and filling up and filling up with the pressure.
38:10And then it bursts and suddenly it's all over them.
38:13Another engineer, Jonathan Shepherd, has already slipped and broken his leg,
38:19so he can't escape this wall of water.
38:27And he's the first casualty to die on the Titanic.
38:38I went off the escape and into the main alleyway.
38:41The Titanic was sloping down by the head.
38:44Water was coming down the alleyway from forward.
38:45Now that boiler room five is filled with water,
38:49the engineers realise that all their efforts are futile.
38:53There's no point pumping it out any more.
38:54It's coming in faster than anything.
38:59The Titanic was sloping down by the head.
39:00The Titanic was sloping down by the head.
39:03Water was coming down the alleyway from forward.
39:05Now that boiler room five is filled with water, the engineers realise that all their efforts are futile.
39:18There's no point pumping it out any more.
39:21It's coming in faster than anyone can manage it.
39:24This is a moment of terror and certainty.
39:34Perhaps this is the first moment where these brave men realise that the ship is going to go down.
39:41All passengers upstairs, at last.
40:00I returned to my room.
40:13I began tidying up, folding my nightgown, putting everything in its place.
40:18There was, there was no sound.
40:24Titanic might have been in dock and all the crew gone home.
40:39I saw Stanley at the door, watching me.
40:42And he, he almost shouted at me as he seized my arm.
40:50My God, don't you realise this ship will sink?
40:54You have to follow the rest upstairs as quickly as possible.
41:02Sinking.
41:03The word repeated itself without fully, fully entering my understanding.
41:19My mind could not accept that the super perfect creation was to do so futile a thing as sink.
41:28Of course, Titanic couldn't be sinking.
41:50Suddenly, there was a commotion near one of the gangways.
41:54And we saw a stoker come up from below.
42:02All the fingers of one hand had been cut off.
42:09Blood was running from the stumps and was spattered on his face and clothes.
42:16It brought up a picture of smashed engines and mangled human bodies.
42:28I went over to speak to him.
42:30I asked him.
42:31I asked him if there was any danger.
42:33Danger?
42:38I should say so.
42:40It's hell down below.
42:44This ship will sink like a stone.
42:46At this moment, I got my first grip of fear.
43:00This ship will sink.
43:14Those in charge herded us towards the nearest boat.
43:21Then, above the clamour came the terrible cry.
43:25Lower the boat, women and children.
43:28A boat, women and children only, that's women and children only.
43:32Someone was shouting these last few words over and over again.
43:36Women and children only, that's women and children only.
43:40Women and children only, women and children only.
43:42Women and children only.
43:44Women and children only.
43:46Women and children only.
43:51It might be that Lightoller has this kind of rigid view of the world.
43:55He's come in with a set of rules.
43:57It might be that under this stressful situation,
44:00it's the only way he can function.
44:02He can't cope with more information and more decision-making,
44:05so he just sticks to this one option.
44:09Women and children only.
44:12Cosmo pleaded with me.
44:25Well, three or four boats were launched, but I refused.
44:29I only said, promise me that whatever you do,
44:33you will not let them separate us.
44:36And I clung to him.
44:38He saw that there was no use resisting me.
44:41Women and children only.
44:47We'll go round to the starboard side.
44:49Cosmo said it might be better there.
44:51One of the pivotal facts about the loading of the lifeboats is this.
45:06There are different protocols on each side of the ship.
45:12On the starboard side, Officer Murdoch's approach is more pragmatic.
45:18It's more flexible.
45:23It was better.
45:24For although there were crowds, there was no confusion.
45:27The lifeboats were being quietly filled.
45:28If you emerge on the starboard side, then Officer Murdoch might well allow the men to join the women and their children if there are spaces left.
45:44So there's Murdoch allowing men to fill up the spare places. Why not? Murdoch doesn't want to split families up.
45:59Murdoch, I think, probably had a sense of wanting to preserve life.
46:05And Light Hollow had a stricter, more patriarchal view, perhaps, of men should sacrifice themselves for women and children.
46:15But the fact that it was happening on the same ship at the same time shows just how vague this policy was.
46:21So it matters very much which side of the ship you're on if you're a man.
46:51I was walking up and down the bridge.
47:05Saw white lights in the sky in the direction of this other steamer.
47:10I thought perhaps the ship was in communication with some other ship.
47:18Or possibly signalling to us to tell us she had big icebergs around her.
47:23Didn't occur to me the ship was in distress.
47:26I just thought there were white rockets, that's all. It might have been anything.
47:34We called her up repeatedly on the Morse lamp and received no answer whatsoever.
47:39Some people say she replied to our rockets and our signals, but I didn't see any of them.
47:52We'll never know why there was miscommunication between the Californian and Titanic.
47:58There seems to have been some confusion about the colour of these rockets.
48:03Were they distress signals?
48:05It's also possible that Boxall didn't see Californian's Morse lamp reply,
48:10because there's something strange about the atmospheric conditions that night.
48:15You've got this weird effect of warm air underneath and colder air on top,
48:21which is creating a kind of mirage effect.
48:24Shapes are being distorted in the darkness.
48:28What a chance her captain missed.
48:41He could have laid his ship right alongside the Titanic
48:43and taken practically every soul on board.
48:50However, he didn't.
48:58This must be the bitterest blow for those people who could see the ship nearby.
49:06I don't think it was bad faith, I don't think it was negligence.
49:09I think everything conspired that night
49:11to go against Titanic's chances of safety and salvation.
49:28The Dante's
49:57Since the early lifeboats went out half full, there are now only about 900 places left on
50:04the lifeboats and more than 2,000 people on board the ship.
50:09If people don't get onto a lifeboat, they will go down with the Titanic.
50:17Suddenly, we saw some sailors who were launching a little boat.
50:25It was the captain's special boat.
50:31Lucy Duff Gordon knows that she needs to get off the ship.
50:38This is the moment to take one of those spaces.
50:45My husband asked the officer if we might get into it.
50:52We were helped in, followed by two American men who came up at the last minute.
51:07There is something here about being in the right place in the right time, but also seizing
51:12the opportunity and having the confidence to do so.
51:21I think that class probably had a huge impact on people's sense of entitlement to safety,
51:26to rescue.
51:29You probably did assume that if you bought a first class ticket, that would buy you survival.
51:36They are people who are important in the world.
51:39They see themselves as having more value than people in steerage.
51:45And there they are as a couple sitting safely in a lifeboat.
51:56I shall never forget how black and deep the water looked below us.
52:04Men standing nearby joked with us because we were going out on the ocean.
52:08You'll get your death of cold out there amid the ice.
52:33I found myself clinging to my husband's arm with little Marjorie beside me.
52:54I did not want to leave him.
52:56Charlotte knows she'll be separated from her husband.
53:01Not knowing if and when they'd be reunited, I think she probably was just thinking, please
53:04no, not this.
53:06I want to survive, but not at this cost.
53:09Dilemmas that you just have to accept in that moment, those are, yeah, those are heavy.
53:19Officer Lytle, you know, the man's been at sea since he was 13.
53:30He doesn't have that understanding of what it means when a woman is clinging to her husband,
53:34when a child is crying for their father.
53:38He just goes ahead with what he believes to be right.
53:43But it's not objectively right.
53:46From what you have said, you discriminated entirely in the interest of the women and children
53:52in filling those lifeboats.
53:53Yes.
53:54Why did you do that?
53:58Because of the captain's orders or because of the rule of the sea?
54:02The rule of human nature.
54:06The deck seemed to be slipping under my feet.
54:13I hung onto my husband's arm.
54:19And although he was very brave and not trembling, I saw his face was white as paper.
54:33That all-star board, that sliding doors moment will determine who survives and who doesn't.
54:40Keep moving on with the deck.
54:42We are coming to lifeboats.
54:43Women and children only.
54:44That's women and children only.
54:46Women and children.
54:47Women and children.
54:48Women and children.
54:51They struck utter terror into my heart and now they'll ring in my ears till I die.
54:58And it's very true.
55:19There was a lot of confusion.
55:46People crying, swearing and praying.
55:51There's a really stark disadvantage facing third-class passengers.
55:56Chief officer shoved one of the revolvers into my hands.
56:00Chekov said you can't put a gun in the room and not use it.
56:05All of the order has been lost.
56:07I called out, don't shoot!
56:16A new ghost story for Christmas from the macabre mind of Margatis.
56:24Press red to watch The Room in the Tower on BBC iPlayer.
56:28Music by Kevin MacLeod
56:40Music by Kevin MacLeod
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