The survivors of the Titanic are still alive today. The rescue of the passengers of the Titanic, which became a separate tragedy. Relatives await survivors in Southampton
Stories to be told!
When the Titanic left Southampton on April 10, 1912 for her maiden voyage, she was the largest and most luxurious ship in the world. It is tragic that the liner of the shipping company " white star never made it to New York. She collided with an iceberg on April 14, 1912 at 11:40 pm and sank in the North Atlantic at 2:20 am on April 15. Then more than 1,500 passengers and crew members died, and only 705 people managed to survive this terrible maritime disaster.
This event stunned the whole world, because many people initially believed that the luxury liner was unsinkable. This tragedy still attracts attention, many are interested in how the passengers and crew acted on that fateful night. Most of us know the fictional story of Jack and Rose or have heard of The Unsinkable Molly Brown, but there are also some intriguing but little-known stories.
1. Alex McKenzie
Alex McKenzie, 24, never set foot on board the Titanic, despite having already packed his luggage and queued up to board the luxury liner. His parents bought him a ticket for the first voyage of the ship as a gift. Suddenly, Alex heard a voice that warned him that he would die if he went on a journey on an advertised ship.
The voice sounded so clear that Alex looked around to see who was speaking, but no one was around. Deciding that he misheard, Mackenzie continued to move towards the gangway, but suddenly he heard this message again. He ignored him again, only to hear the voice again, much louder this time. Then Alex obeyed and refused the trip, deciding to return to his hometown Glasgow, where he had to explain to his parents why he refused to board the greatest ship in the world.
2. Edith Russell
Many people dreamed of being a first-class passenger aboard the Titanic, but not Edith Rosenbaum (later known as Edith Russell). She couldn't shake the bad feeling. Edith boarded the Titanic on her first stop in Cherbourg, France, returning from a French fashion show in Paris. In a letter to her secretary, Edith wrote: “We are going to Queenstown. I just hate leaving Paris and would love to come back here again. I was going to rest on this trip, but I can't get rid of the depression and foreboding. How I wish all this would be over as soon as possible!
When the Titanic hit an iceberg, Edith asked the steward to bring a pig-shaped music box from her first-class cabin. She stood on the boat deck with her hand on that music box and refused to get into the lifeboat until all the women and children had been put in. Suddenly, someone grabbed a box wrapped in a blanket, thinking it was a child, and threw it into the boat. Not wanting to part with such a beloved thing, Edith jumped into the boat. The music box saved her life.
3. Two homeless children in the sea
Since adult male passengers during the sinking of the Titanic in lifeboats not planted, the father was forced to put his two sons in the boat, while he himself remained on board the ship. The kids could only speak French and did not have any personal items with them, so the rescue ship "Carpathia" could not identify them in any way. In order to find a family of boys in France, newspapers printed articles about two "marine homeless children" and published their photographs.
Meanwhile, the mother desperately searched for her two sons, who disappeared without a trace. The story of two homeless children caught up with her in Nice, France. After the woman described the signs of her children to the rescue service, the boys were identified as four-year-old Michel and two-year-old Edmond. The boys were abducted by their father, Michel Navratil, who traveled on a ship under the alias "Mr. Hoffman" and hoped to start in the US new life with own children.
4. Edward and Ethel Beane
Second class passengers Edward and Ethel Beane were about to celebrate their recent marriage aboard the Titanic. When the Titanic hit an iceberg, the newlyweds from England weren't bothered, as they, like many, thought the ship was unsinkable. They weren't worried until a passenger from the next cabin warned them twice about the seriousness of the situation.
Ethel reluctantly boarded the lifeboat, leaving Edward aboard the ship. While Ethel was swimming to safety, her husband had to jump overboard to be reunited with his wife. Edward swam away from the sinking ship until he found salvation on a boat. Fortunately, the happy couple is reunited to continue their married life.
5. Thomas Millar
After the death of his wife and three months before the Titanic's maiden voyage, Thomas Millar decided to take a job as a deck mechanic's assistant on the White Star luxury liner. He did this to secure the future of his two sons, Thomas and Ruddick.
Millar left his children in the care of an aunt in a village near Belfast. He hoped that he would be able to start a new life in the United States, which his sons would later join. Before leaving for America, Thomas gave each of his sons one penny and told them that they should not spend it until he returned. Thomas Millar never returned to his sons because he lost his life aboard the ship. While Thomas Jr. spent his penny, the Ruddick coin is still kept by the Millar family as a symbol of a father's love for his children.
6. Father Francis Brown
Father Francis Brown was a first class passenger on board the Titanic. He was one of those people who had many rare photographs of life on board the ship. The Jesuit priest was a passionate photographer; he received a ticket for the first flight of the Titanic as a gift from his uncle. Excited that he was on board a luxurious vessel, and aware that he was present on historical event, Father Brown took many photographs, which were published in printed publications Worldwide.
While most of the Titanic's passengers were bound for New York, Father Brown was one of eight passengers who left the ship as it called at Queenstown (now known as Coba) in Ireland, the last port before the Atlantic voyage. Despite the fact that the rich couple offered to pay for the remaining part of the trip to New York, the priest was called off the ship by his leadership. Therefore, Father Brown survived the disaster, as did the photographs he took, which now give us a glimpse of life on that ill-fated ship.
7. Two cousins
There were two cousins aboard the Titanic, but neither of them was aware of the presence of their distant relative. William Edwy Ryerson was the steward who served the first-class saloon dining room. He knew little about his second cousin, Arthur Ryerson, who was also on board the ship as a first class passenger along with his wife, Emily, and their three children.
Arthur's family was on their way to their hometown of Cooperstown, New York, after they were informed that Arthur's son had passed away. William and Arthur had a common great-great-grandfather, but they were from completely different circles. William was born into a working-class family in Port Dover, Ontario, Canada, while Arthur lived a prosperous life.
While William was seating passengers on the lifeboats, Arthur negotiated with the crew members to place his 13-year-old son John in the lifeboat along with his wife and daughters. Arthur was the only member of the family who died during maritime disaster, while William escaped the sinking ship in a lifeboat.
8. Countess of Rothes
On a journey through North Atlantic The Titanic also included some of the richest people in the world, and one of the honored passengers on board was Lucy Noelle Martha, Countess of Rotes. She traveled to the US with her cousin Gladys Cherry and her maid, Roberta Mayoni. Her goal was to meet her husband and two children to start a new life in the USA.
The Countess and her cousin were awakened when the ship collided with an iceberg. Captain Smith instructed everyone to return to their quarters and put on life jackets. At about 1:00 a.m., the Countess, along with her cousin and maid, embarked on boat No. 8, which was the first to be launched. Tom Jones, a lifeboat sailor, quickly recognized the countess as a strict leader and ordered her to steer the boat. She sat at the helm of the boat and steered it for more than an hour, after which she switched places with her cousin to try to calm a Spanish bride who had lost her fiancé on the ship.
The Countess rowed the oars throughout the night and morally supported the passengers until the Carpathia arrived at the crash site.
She provided assistance not only during the journey on the boat. The Countess remained aboard the Carpathia after the ship docked in New York, helping those passengers who had lost everything in the crash. On her return to Scotland, the Countess of Rothes purchased a silver watch inscribed with "April 15, 1912, Countess of Rothes", which she sent to Tom Jones as a gift and in gratitude for his efforts on board the lifeboat. He responded to her gift with a letter, thanking her for her kindness and courage, and sent her a brass plaque from the lifeboat. The sailor and the countess corresponded until her death in 1956.
9. James Moody
Another hero aboard the ship was 6th Officer James Moody, who decided to stay on board despite being offered a place on the lifeboat. The 24-year-old junior officer received a small salary of $37 for his service on the ship and his own cabin while on board the Titanic.
Before the Titanic set off on its first transatlantic voyage, Moody unwittingly saved the lives of six crew members who were not allowed to board the gangplank because they were late. When the ship hit the iceberg, a young officer was on duty and answered Lukut's call to Frederick Fleet, asking him, "What do you see?" Fleet replied: "Iceberg, right in front of us!".
When the captain announced that the ship would sink within a few hours, Officer Moody launched lifeboats 12, 14, and 16. Fifth Officer Harold Lowe suggested that Moody steer lifeboat 14, which was normal for lower-ranking officers. But Moody turned down Lowe's offer. Despite his low rank, Moody remained on the ship and helped First Officer Murdoch until the water began to flood the boat deck. Moody was repeatedly offered to become the commander of the boat, but every time he courageously decided to stay on the ship in order to save as much as possible more lives and watch the disaster until the very end. Second Officer Lightoller was the last person to see Moody alive at 2:18 a.m., when he was trying to launch collapsible lifeboats.
10 Jack Phillips
Jack Phillips was the senior radio operator aboard the Titanic and was paired with junior operator Harold Bride. Two men were engaged in receiving and sending messages from passengers using Morse code, and also received weather warnings for the captain.
Before the disaster, Phillips received numerous iceberg warnings from other ships, Bride delivered many of them to the captain. However, due to a large number passenger communications Phillips was unable to deliver all the warnings to Captain Smith; he believed that the captain had already received enough warnings about the danger of icebergs. When another report of the iceberg came from the steamer Californian, Phillips replied: “Shut up! I have negotiations with Cape Race! Subsequently, Phillips began to be called one of the perpetrators of the crash.
However, when the ship hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles off Newfoundland, Phillips did everything he could to send out distress calls to ensure the rescue of passengers and crew. The 25-year-old telegraph operator remained at his post even when the captain relieved him of his duties. He relentlessly sent messages to nearby ships until 2:17 a.m., when the ship was already sinking to the bottom of the ocean.
His connection to the Carpathia helped save 705 passengers. Many ships later reported that Phillips' messages were absolutely clear, despite the chaos that was going on around him. Unfortunately, despite having a collapsible lifeboat, Jack Phillips died in a sea disaster.
Of the 2224 people on board ocean liner Titanic, only 706 people survived. Among them were self-sacrificing heroes, and those who cared only about their own salvation, and survived by a miracle, and those who could not live on, remembering the hundreds of dead. The tragedy turned the fate of not only those who were on the ship, but also those who were forced to wait on land for their loved ones.
The boat problem
Available on the liner life-saving appliances could only accommodate 1178 people. The Titanic had 20 lifeboats - four collapsible boats for 47 people each were added to the standard set of 16 boats of two types of capacity (for 65 and 40 people).
Joseph Bruce Ismay, managing director of the White Star Line steamship company, was responsible for the design of the Titanic. It was he who decided not to place extra lifeboats on board the ship for reasons of economy. Money. These boats could save 1,500 lives - almost everyone who died.
This circumstance is aggravated by the fact that Ismay, despite the order of the captain "women and children first", took his place in the boat on time and was able to survive the disaster. On the Carpathia, which carried 706 people, Ismay settled into a private cabin while the rest slept on the floor and tables.
However, the crew members did not even manage to launch all the boats that were on the ship. One boat was washed overboard, the other floated upside down. Striking is the fact that most of the boats were no more than two-thirds full. This happened for many reasons.
At first, the passengers didn't want to take their seats on the boats because they thought it was safer to stay on the Titanic. Later, when it became obvious that the death of the steamer was imminent, the boats filled up better.
In one of the boats, designed for 65 people, only 12 were saved. Disputes do not subside about this case. Wealthy passenger Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon and his wife Lucille, the fashion designer who coined the word chic, escaped by paying seven crew members £5 each to get in the boat and row. According to Gordon, it was an act of generosity. But some believe that he hired sailors to get away from the sinking ship as quickly as possible, thereby depriving the rest of the chance of salvation.
Among the passengers were those whose heroism was not questioned. 17-year-old Jack Thayer helped others into the lifeboats, but refused to get on himself. When the ship sank, the boy dived into the icy water. He survived by climbing onto an overturned boat. He returned home as a celebrity, the whole country was talking about him. Thayer was one of ten people who took their own lives after the tragedy.
The price of salvation
Another circumstance of the tragedy is that the bulk of the surviving passengers traveled first and second class. So, out of 143 women who traveled in first class (tickets for 875 pounds), four died. At the same time, the three ladies themselves refused to leave the ship. Of those who paid £12 for a ticket to third-class cabins, more than half of the passengers died. Of the crew members, no more than 25% of the people could survive. Signs of similar social stratification were observed after their death. The ship, which was sent by the White Star Line to search for the dead, picked up the bodies of only those who sailed first class. The rest were buried right in the sea.
During the investigation into the death of the Titanic, it turned out that many third-class passengers died due to their own indecision and ignorance in English. So, some were afraid to go up to the boat deck, considering it unsafe; others argued with each other and could not decide what to do.
The language barrier played an important role in this - many passengers did not speak English, and therefore could not understand each other or at least read the inscriptions on the signs leading to the upper decks.
When some did manage to get out onto the boat deck, almost all of the Titanic's boats had already been launched. There were only a few collapsible boats left on deck, which the crew was going to launch last. It was in them that the third-class passengers who managed to get out of the holds were saved. Those who were in the water died from hypothermia almost instantly, since the water temperature did not exceed minus two degrees Celsius.
Arrival in New York
On the night of April 14-15, 1912, the radio operators of the Carpathia received a distress signal from the Titanic. Other ships either did not respond to calls for help or were too far away. Upon learning of the situation on the Titanic, the captain of the Carpathia, Arthur Rostron, immediately gave the order to follow to the site of the sinking liner. To develop top speed, had to turn off the heating throughout the ship.
On the morning of April 15, after the last surviving passenger of the Titanic boarded the Carpathia, the ship headed for New York. Three days passed before the ship reached its destination. During this time, a message was transmitted from the ship about what happened. As a result, the press began to publish rumors that the Titanic was being towed to the New York pier. When it became clear that most of people who were on the Titanic died, crowds of people began to come to the offices of the White Star Line company all over the world, hoping to find out the details. It was not until April 17 that an unspecified list of the dead and missing was announced. And the final list was published only four days after the arrival of the Carpathia in New York.
About 40,000 people met the Carpathia in the port of New York. Many charitable organizations supplied people descending on the pier with warm clothes, medicines, and offered to help them get to their homes, hospitals or hotels. Many went home to relatives. Wealthy passengers rented entire trains. And the crew members were placed in the passenger cabins of another ship owned by the White Star Line.
Of course, among the crowd that met the Carpathia were reporters who were eager to tell the stories of the surviving passengers. Some even managed to board the Carpathia before it docked.
There are countless stories of people who, during the sinking of the Titanic, sacrificed themselves to save other passengers. So, for example, men let women and children go ahead so that they could be the first to leave the sinking ship in boats. However, there are other stories about the Titanic that I don’t really want to talk about. Some of them can hardly be called heroic, others, frankly, are simply ridiculous.
1. Katherine Gilna thought the Titanic was sinking on purpose
After the Titanic sank, a journalist asked Catherine Gilne, one of the passengers on the cruise ship, about the moment she realized how serious the situation was. “To tell the truth, I thought it was an essential part of our journey,” Gilna said. “I didn’t realize any danger.” Katherine Gilna was asleep when the ship began to sink. She was awakened and taken to the lifeboat. Other passengers informed her that they were going to sail to another ship. She had never sailed on a cruise ship before, so she thought everything was going as it should. Gilna remembers how the ship exploded, and the wreckage of the ship scattered in different directions. There were many people in the water. Some of them were helped by a woman into a lifeboat. But, even looking at how the Titanic was sinking, Katherine was not fully aware of what was happening. "I didn't realize how serious it was until I got here in the US," she told a reporter.
2. Dickinson Bishop said he accidentally ended up in a lifeboat
When the Titanic began to sink, the men had to let the women and children go ahead. During the crash, 1,352 brave and noble men died, who helped their wives and children to stay alive.
When the Titanic began to sink, the men had to let the women and children go ahead. During the crash, 1,352 brave and noble men died, who helped their wives and children to stay alive. Dickinson Bishop was not one of these men. When asked about how he ended up in a lifeboat with women and children, he came up with the perfect story. Bishop said he accidentally tripped, fell and landed right in the lifeboat.
However, during the interrogation that followed the death of the Titanic, Bishop almost "got burned" in a lie. He was asked: “Who told you to get into the lifeboat?” "One of the officers," Bishop replied kindly. “He helped me into the boat.” After a few seconds, Bishop realized that he had let it slip, and immediately hurried to add, backtracking: "Or ... rather ... ". He hesitated for a moment. When his thoughts returned to normal, he explained that he meant something completely different. Bishop said, "To be precise, I fell into a lifeboat." width="400">
Dickinson Bishop was not one of these men. When asked about how he ended up in a lifeboat with women and children, he came up with the perfect story. Bishop said he accidentally tripped, fell and landed right in the lifeboat. However, during the interrogation that followed the death of the Titanic, Bishop almost "got burned" in a lie. He was asked: “Who told you to get into the lifeboat?” "One of the officers," Bishop replied kindly. “He helped me into the boat.” After a few seconds, Bishop realized that he had let it slip, and immediately hurried to add, backtracking: "Or ... rather ... ". He hesitated for a moment. When his thoughts returned to normal, he explained that he meant something completely different. Bishop said, "To be more precise, I fell into a lifeboat."
3. Dorothy Gibson made a film about how she managed to survive the sinking of the Titanic, twenty-nine days after the cruise ship sank.
Movie star Dorothy Gibson was one of those lucky enough to escape the sinking Titanic and return home. Once in New York, she immediately went to her manager's office and said that she must make a film about her rescue. Gibson wrote the screenplay for the film herself in just a few days.
Convinced that this would add "authenticity" to the film, she even wore the dress she wore when the Titanic sank to the set. The film premiered less than a month after it happened.
ship wreck. Unfortunately, none of his copies have survived to this day. However, judging by the reviews, the film turned out to be quite good. Some people said that they liked the picture, others were more strict in their assessments and called it "a deplorable tragedy."
4. Masabumi Hosono was fired for surviving the sinking of the Titanic.
Masabumi Hosono was the only Japanese on the Titanic. He worked for the Ministry of Transport and 
went to Russia to study the country's railway system. His long journey included a short stay in England and a cruise on the Titanic. As the ship began to sink, Hosono was prepared to sacrifice his own life in order to save others. However, at that moment he saw another man getting into the lifeboat. If the others weren't going to be noble, then, Hosono thought, there was no point in being the only fool who refused to get on the boat. However, because of his cowardly act, Hosono himself suffered. The Japanese press called him a coward who "betrayed the samurai spirit of self-sacrifice". Hosono even lost his job due to the fact that he survived the crash of the Titanic.
5. Daniel Buckley dressed up as a woman to get into a lifeboat
Sailor H. G. Lowe left the sinking Titanic in a lifeboat overflowing with people. When he saw that there were still places in other boats, he transplanted passengers into them, and he returned to the ship to save as many people as possible.
On the sinking cruise ship he noticed a rather large woman who was dressed in a skirt and wrapped in a shawl. She brazenly pushed the panicked passengers aside and instantly jumped into the lifeboat. Low hurried to look under the shawl and saw that it was in fact a man in disguise. His name was Daniel Buckley. According to him, he was wearing trousers, not a skirt. However, Buckley did not deny that he decided to throw a shawl over his head.
6The Millionaire Five Bribed The Crew To Get Their Own Boat
When Abraham Saloman realized that the Titanic was sinking, he immediately found a way out of the current situation.
situations. First of all, he grabbed the menu, because he wanted to at least keep something for himself after the trip. Then Saloman and four other millionaires made their way to the lifeboats and saw a boat for forty people. They even wanted to escape from a sinking ship in complete comfort. One of the millionaires, Cosmo Duff-Gordon, bribed crew members who provided a separate, large lifeboat especially for them. However, once on the water, the crew offered to return and rescue the others. However, Mrs. Duff-Gordon was very worried about the fact that the boat would be crowded. They could have saved at least twenty-eight people, but they didn't.
7. William Carter left his wife and children to die
When the Carters reached New York safely, they told the press a story in which William
Carter, the head of the family, acted like a hero. However, the truth surfaced only after the couple divorced. During the divorce proceedings, Mrs. Carter said that William broke into the cabin when the Titanic was wrecked and said: “Get up! Dress yourself and the children!” After that, he ran out of the room without saying anything. He had to return. However, when William saw that there was room in one of the lifeboats, he jumped into it, leaving his wife and children on the sinking ship. Mrs. Carter had to fight her way to the lifeboat herself. Moreover, there were no men in it, so she had to row the oars herself. When Mrs. Carter finally reached the steamship Carpathia, she saw William on board, leaning on the ship's rail. He waved to his wife and said, “I thought you couldn't do it! You know, I just had a very tasty breakfast.”
Source 8Women Who Saved Their Dogs
There was little room in the lifeboats, but Elizabeth Rothschild could not allow her beloved to 
both died. She hid the animal under her cloak and jumped into the boat with him. When the dog was spotted, Elizabeth refused to let her go. However, she was not the only one who did the same. Margaret Hayes wrapped her pet in a blanket to carry it into the lifeboat, while the Harper family did it out in the open. Subsequently, Mr. Harper stated: "There was still plenty of room in the boat." Some passengers were more categorical. One woman reportedly said she would go down with the ship if she was not allowed to board the lifeboat with her beloved dog.
Source 9Robert Hichens, the man at the helm when the Titanic hit the iceberg
The man who was at the helm when the Titanic sank was named Robert Hichens. 
He was a simple helmsman. After the start of the evacuation from the sinking ship, he was put in charge of one of the lifeboats. Hichens filled it halfway with people and hurried off to without dangerous place. Some of the boat's passengers began to resent and say that they could have saved many more lives. “Now we only have to take care of ourselves,” Hichens said. “Pay no attention to those dead people.” One of the passengers on the boat was Molly Brown, who would later become the hero of the Titanic. She became very angry when she heard Hitchens' words and threatened to throw him overboard if he did not give her an oar. She and several other women took over the lifeboat, returned to the sinking ship, and saved several more people from certain death.
10. Charles Joughin did not get cold thanks to the huge amount of alcohol he drank.
Charles Jowin was a baker. When the Titanic began to sink, he knew perfectly well that he would not succeed. 
save. Charles helped the wealthy into lifeboats and gave them food. After that, he went to his cabin and drank as much whiskey as he could, preparing to face death. Jowyn didn't remember how he got to the top of the ship. Charles held on tightly to the railing, hanging in the air, and when the ship sank, he jumped into the icy water. In it, he spent more than three hours before he was rescued. The baker didn't freeze because he had a lot of alcohol in his blood.
Charlotte Collier was 30 years old when she boarded the Titanic with her husband and young daughter. They sold everything to start a new and happier life in the USA. But that life never came. And her story of salvation, which is still creepy, reminds us that the Titanic disaster is grief and the collapse of the destinies of real people.
“From all that I remember about the Titanic disaster, one impression will never leave me. This is the irony of hope that I felt on the ship. “He is unsinkable,” they told me. "He is the safest ship in the world."
I had never traveled by sea, and therefore I was afraid of it. But I listened to people who said, “Get on the new Titanic. It doesn't threaten you with anything. New technical achievements make it safe, and the officers on the maiden voyage will be very careful.” It all sounded beautiful and true. So I, Harvey, my husband, and our eight-year-old daughter Marjorie decided to go to America in this way. Marjorie and I are here now, safe, but there are only two of us left. My husband drowned, and with the Titanic, everything we ever had went to the bottom of the Atlantic.
Our history before the Titanic
Harvey, Marjorie and Charlotte Collier
First I want to tell you why we decided to leave England. We lived in Bishopstoke, in small village near Southampton, Hampshire. My husband ran a grocery store. At 35, he was the main businessman in the village, and he was loved by all the neighbors. He was also a church clerk, helping fill out birth certificates, marriage contracts, and so on. He was also the local bell ringer on the main belfry, which is over a hundred years old and is considered one of the finest in England.
One day some of our friends left the village for the Payet Valley in US state Idaho. They bought a fruit farm and ran it quite successfully. In their letters to us they told us what a wonderful climate there was and invited us to join them. We didn't think we would go there until my health deteriorated - I have very weak lungs. In the end, we decided to sell our business and buy a small farm in the same place as our friends. I understood that it was done only for me and for Marjorie. If not for us, Harvey would never have left England.
The day before we sailed, our neighbors in Bishopstoke did not leave our house. It seemed that then hundreds of people came to say goodbye to us. And in the afternoon, the clergy arranged a surprise for us: for our sake they sang old songs, cheerful and sad, arranged a small feast. It was a real farewell ceremony with old friends. Why should people arrange such events? So that those who leave their homes and everything acquired feel so sad and unpleasant? I ask myself this question often.
The next morning we set off for Southampton. Here my husband withdrew all our money from the bank, including what we got from the sale of our shop. Thus, we received the amount of several thousand American dollars in cash. My husband put all this in the largest pocket of his jacket. Before that, we had already sent our small luggage to the ship, and therefore, when we boarded the Titanic, the greatest wealth was with us.
We traveled second class and from our cabin we saw the scope with which the ship was seen off. I don't think there has ever been such a large crowd in Southampton.
The majestic Titanic
Titanic was beautiful, much more beautiful than I could have imagined. Other ships looked like nutshells next to it, and I assure you they were considered huge a few years ago. I remember a friend saying to me, just before everyone was asked to leave, "Aren't you afraid to travel by sea?" But now I was sure: “What, on this ship? Not even the worst storm can harm him.”
Before leaving the bay, I saw the incident with the New York, a liner that was pulled away from the pier right across from us. But this did not frighten anyone, on the contrary, it only assured us that the Titanic was powerful.
I remember little of the first days of the journey. I suffered a bit from seasickness, so I spent almost all the time in the cabin. But on Sunday, April 14, 1912, my health improved. I dined in the salon, enjoyed the food, which was even too much and it was too tasty. On Sunday, even second-class service was spared no effort, it was the best dinner. After I had eaten, I listened to the orchestra for a while, and at about nine or half-past ten in the evening I went to my cabin.
I had just gone to bed when the stewardess came in. She was a pleasant woman and very kind to me. I want to take this opportunity to thank her because I will never see her again. She sank along with the Titanic.
"Do you know where we are now?" she asked politely. “We are in a place called the Devil's Hole.
"What does it mean?" I asked.
"It's a dangerous place in the ocean," she replied. “Many accidents have happened near this place. Icebergs are said to swim even further than this point. It’s getting very cold on deck, which means there’s ice somewhere nearby!”
She left the cabin and I fell asleep again. Her talk about icebergs didn't scare me, but it did mean the crew was worried about them. As far as I remember, we did not slow down at all.
Somewhere around ten my husband came and woke me up. He told me something, I do not remember how long. Then he started getting ready for bed.
And then - blow!
It seemed to me that someone took the ship big hand and shook it once, twice, and then everything was silent. I didn't fall off the bed, and my husband, still on his feet, only swayed a little. We didn't hear any strange noises, no scraping of metal or wood, but we did notice that the engines had stopped. They started up again a few minutes later, but after some rattling, there was silence again. Our cabin was positioned so that we could hear it all clearly.
Neither I nor my husband were concerned. He said that something must have happened in the engine room, and at first he didn't even want to go on deck. Then he changed his mind, put on his coat and left me. I lay quietly in bed with my little girl and almost fell asleep again.
A few moments later, it seemed to me, my husband returned. He really was a little excited.
"Just think!" he exclaimed. “We hit an iceberg, quite a big one. But there is no danger. The officer told me so."
I heard the footsteps of people on the deck above me. Some blows, noises, creaks were heard, as if someone was pulling the ship's tackle.
"Are people scared?" I asked softly.
"No," he replied. “I don't think the impact woke up anyone in second class, and the few that were in the saloons didn't even go on deck. I saw five professional cheats playing with the passengers when I went out. Their cards were scattered on the table when the clash happened, and now the players were hastily picking them up.
This story convinced me. If these card-playing people aren't worried, then why should I be? I think my husband would have gone back to sleep, no longer interested in the incident, when we heard hundreds of people running outside our door. They didn't scream, but the sound of their feet reminded me of rats running through an empty room.
I saw my face in the reflection of the mirror and it became very pale. My husband also turned pale. Stuttering, he told me: "We'd better go up on deck and see what's the matter."
I jumped out of bed, put on my evening dress and coat. My hair was loose, but I hurriedly gathered it up. By this time, although there was no sign of a collision, the ship seemed to lean forward a little. I grabbed my daughter, Marjorie, in her pajamas, wrapped her in a White Star blanket, and rushed out the door. My husband followed us. None of us took anything from the cabin, I even remember my husband left his watch on the pillow. We did not doubt for a second that we would return here.
When we got to the second-class promenade deck, we saw a large crowd of people. Some officers were walking back and forth, shouting, "There is no danger!" It was a clear starry night, but very cold. The ocean was motionless. Some passengers stood at the railing and looked down, but it is worth noting that at that time no one was afraid of anything.
My husband went up to an officer—either Fifth Officer Lowe or First Officer Murdoch—and asked him something. I heard him yell back, “No, we don't have searchlights, but we do have missiles on board. Keep calm! There is no danger!”
The three of us stuck together. I didn't recognize the faces around me, maybe because of the excitement. I never went to the first class rooms, so I didn't see any famous people.
Danger
Suddenly, a crowd near one of the ladders roared, and we saw a stoker rising from below. He stopped a few meters from us. The fingers of one of his hands were cut off. Blood gushed from the stumps, spattering his clothes and face. The blood marks were very clear on his sooty black skin.
I decided to ask him if there was any danger.
"Danger?!" he yelled. - "Well maybe! Down there is hell! Look at me! This ship will sink in ten minutes!”
Then he stumbled and fell into a pile of ropes, losing consciousness. At that moment, I felt my first jolt of fear—terrible, sickening fear. The sight of this poor fellow with a bleeding hand and a spattered face conjured up a picture of destroyed engines and mutilated human bodies. I grabbed my husband's hand, and although he was very courageous and did not tremble with fear, I saw his face, white as a sheet of paper. We realized that the incident was much more serious than we expected. But even then, neither I nor anyone around me believed that the Titanic could sink.
Officers rushed from one place to another, issuing orders. I don't remember exactly what happened for the next quarter of an hour, the time seemed much shorter. But about ten or fifteen minutes later, I saw First Officer Murdoch, who posted guards at the ladders to keep other wounded stokers out on deck.
I don't know how many men were cut off from their chance of salvation. But Mr. Murdoch was probably right. He was an experienced man, amazingly brave and cold-blooded. I met him the day before the crash when he was checking the second class rooms, and I thought that he looked like a bulldog - he was not afraid of anything. This turned out to be true - he followed orders to the very end and died at his post. They say he shot himself. I don't know.
We must have been directed to the boat deck, because after a while I realized that I was there. I still held my husband's hand and held Marjorie close to me. Many women were standing here with their husbands, there was no confusion or confusion.
Suddenly, over the crowd of people, asking each other about what is happening, a terrible cry resounded: “Lower the boats! Women and children first! Someone repeated the last words over and over: “Women and children first! Women and children first! They planted a deep terror in my heart, and they will resound in my head until my death. They meant I was safe. But they also meant the biggest loss of my life - the loss of my husband.
The first boat quickly filled up and went down into the water. Only a few men got into it, and they were six members of the team. The male passengers made no attempt to escape. I have never seen such courage and did not think that such a thing was even possible. I don’t know how people behaved in the first or third grades, but our men were real heroes. I want all readers of this story to know this.
The launch of the second boat took longer. It seems to me that all the women who were truly afraid and wanted to be saved have already done so in the first boat. The remaining women were mostly either wives who did not want to leave their husbands, or daughters who did not want to leave their parents. The officer in charge here on deck was Harold Lowe, while First Officer Murdoch had gone to another part of the deck. I never saw him again.
Mr. Lowe was very, very young, but somehow he managed to convince people to follow his orders. He went into the crowd and ordered the women to get into the boats. Many of them followed him as if hypnotized, but some did not move, remaining with their men. I could have taken the second boat, but I refused. Finally it was filled, and it disappeared into the darkness.
There were still two boats left in this part of the deck. A man in light-coloured clothes fussed beside him, yelling instructions. I saw Fifth Officer Low order him to get out. I didn't recognize him, but then I read in the newspaper that he was Mr. Bruce Ismay, the company's chief operating officer.
The third boat was half full when the sailor grabbed Marjorie, my daughter, snatched her from me and threw her into the boat. She wasn't even given a chance to say goodbye to her father!
"You too!" the man shouted in my ear. - "You are a woman. Take a seat on the boat, or it will be too late."
The deck seemed to be moving out from under my feet. The ship leaned quite a bit, as it was already sinking faster. In desperation, I rushed to my husband. I don't remember what I said, but I'll always be glad to think that I didn't want to leave him.
The man pulled my hand. Then another grabbed my waist and pulled me with all his might. I heard my husband say, “Go Lottie! For God's sake, be brave and go! I'll find a place in another boat."
The men holding me dragged me across the deck and roughly threw me into the boat. I fell on my shoulder and hurt it. Other women crowded around me, but I jumped to my feet to see my husband over their heads. He had already turned away and was walking slowly down the deck until he disappeared among the men. I never saw him again, but I know that he walked towards his death without fear. 
His last words about being will find a place in another boat, encouraged me until the last moment, until the last hope was lost. Many women were promised the same by their husbands, otherwise they would jump into the water and sink to the bottom. I only let myself be saved because I believed he would be saved too. But sometimes I envy those women whom no force could tear them away from their husbands. There were several of them, and they stood with their loved ones until the very end. And when the next day the roll call of the passengers on the Carpathia was arranged, they did not respond.
The boat was almost full, there were no women left when Mr. Lowe jumped into it and ordered it to be lowered. The sailors on deck began to follow the order when one sad incident happened. A young red-cheeked fellow, not much older than a schoolboy, young enough to be considered a boy, was standing near the railings. He made no attempt to save himself, although his eyes constantly pierced the officer. Now, when he realized that he really could stay on the ship, his courage left him. With a cry, he climbed the railing and jumped into the boat. He got into the midst of us women and hid under a bench. Me and the other women covered him with our skirts. We wanted to give the poor fellow a chance, but the officer pulled him by the leg and ordered him back to the ship.
The poor fellow begged for a chance. I remember him saying that it wouldn't take up much space, but the officer took out his revolver and put it to the guy's face. "I'm giving you ten seconds to get back on the ship before I blow your brains out!" The poor fellow begged even harder, and I thought that the officer would shoot him now. But Officer Low suddenly softened his tone. He lowered the revolver and looked the boy straight in the eyes: “For God's sake, be a man! We still have to save women and children. We will stop at the lower decks and take them on board.
The boy averted his eyes and climbed onto the deck without saying a word. He took a few hesitant steps, then lay down on the deck and sobbed. He didn't escape.
All the women next to me were sobbing, and I saw my little Marjorie take the officer's hand: “Uncle officer, don't shoot! Please don't shoot this poor fellow!" The officer nodded in response and even smiled. He gave the order to continue the descent. But as we were descending, a third-class passenger, an Italian, I think, rushed across the deck towards us and jumped into the boat. He fell on a child who hit hard.
The officer pulled him by the collar and threw him with all his might back at the Titanic. While we were going down to the water, I last time looked at the crowd. This Italian was in the hands of about twelve men of the second class. They hit him in the face, and blood flowed from his mouth and nose.
As it turned out, we did not stop at any decks to pick up women and children. It was impossible, I think. When we touched the water, we were shaken with incredible force, almost throwing us overboard. We were splashed with icy water, but we held on, and the men took the oars and began to row quickly from the crash site.
Soon I saw the very iceberg that caused so much damage. It towered against the bright night sky, a huge blue-white mountain near us. The other two icebergs were side by side, like the peaks of a mountain. Later, I think I saw three or four more, but I'm not sure. Small ice floated in the water. It was very cold.
We had gone a mile or so when the officer ordered the men to stop paddling. There were no boats around, and we didn't even have a rocket to signal. We stopped here - in the middle of the ocean in silence and complete darkness.
I will never forget the terrifying beauty of the Titanic at that moment. He leaned forward, stern in the air, the first pipe half in the water. To me, it looked like a huge glowing worm. Everything was lit - every cabin, every deck and the lights on the masts. No sounds reached us, except for the music of the orchestra, which, strange to say, I first became worried about. Oh, those brave musicians! How wonderful they were! They played fun tunes, ragtime, and continued to do so until the very end. Only the advancing ocean could submerge them into silence.
From a distance it was impossible to make out anyone on board, but I could see groups of men on every deck. They stood with their arms folded and their heads bowed. I'm sure they were praying. On the boat deck about fifty men gathered together. In the midst of their crowd, a figure towered. This man climbed onto a chair so that he could be seen. His hands were outstretched as if he was saying a prayer. On the Titanic, I met Father Biles, who led church services in the second grade, and now it must be he who said a prayer among these poor men. The orchestra was playing "Closer to You, Lord," I heard it distinctly.
The end was near
I heard a sound that deafened me. Something in the bowels of the Titanic exploded, and millions of sparks shot into the sky like fireworks during summer evening. These sparks scattered in all directions like a fountain. Then came two more explosions, distant and muffled, as if underwater.
The Titanic broke in two right in front of me. The front part was partially in the water, and after the break, it quickly sank and disappeared instantly. The stern reared up and stood in this way for a very long time, it seemed to me that it lasted minutes.
Only after that the light turned off on the ship. Before darkness fell, I saw hundreds of human techs climbing the ship or falling into the water. The Titanic seemed like a swarm of bees, but instead of bees there were men, and now they have ceased to be silent. I heard the most terrible screams I could ever hear. I turned away, but the next moment I turned back and saw the back of the ship disappear under the water, like a stone thrown into a pond. I will always remember this moment as the most horrific in the crash.
Many cries for help were heard from the crash site, but Officer Lowe told the women who asked him to return that it would sink everyone in the lifeboat. I think some boats were picking up survivors at this time. Later, I was told by a person whom I trust that Captain Smith was washed into the water, but then swam up at the collapsible boat and held on to it for some time. A member of the crew assured me that he tried to lift him on board, but he shook his head, broke away from the boat and disappeared from view.
As for us, we went in search of other boats. We found four or five, and Mr. Lowe took command of this little "fleet." He ordered the boats to be connected to each other with ropes so that none could detach and get lost in the darkness. This plan turned out to be very useful, especially when the Carpathia came to rescue us.
Then Low, with great difficulty, redistributed the women from our boat to others, which took about half an hour. The boat became almost empty, and the officer, cutting off the ropes, went in search of survivors.
I have no idea how time went by that night. Someone gave me a blanket to keep me warm from the terrible cold, and Marjorie sat in the blanket that I wrapped her around. But our feet were a few centimeters from the icy water.
The salt spray made us incredibly thirsty, and there was no fresh water nearby, let alone food. The suffering of women from all this was unimaginable. The worst thing that happened to me happened when, half-passing, I lay down on one of the men with an oar. My loose hair got caught in an oarlock and half of it was uprooted.
I know we rescued many people from the crash site, but I only remember two clearly. Not far from where the Titanic sank under water, we found a lifeboat floating upside down. There were about 20 men on it. They clung to each other, trying to hold on to the boat with all their might, but even the strongest were so cold that it seemed that in a few moments they should have slipped into the ocean. We took them all on board and found that four were already dead. The dead men disappeared under the water. The survivors trembled at the bottom of our boat, some muttering as if possessed.
A little further on we saw a floating door that must have come off as the ship was sinking. On it, face down, lay a Japanese. He tied himself to his frail raft with a rope, making knots on the hinges of the door. We thought he was already dead. The sea rolled over it every time the door was lowered or raised by the waves. He did not move when he was called, and the officer doubted whether he was worth lifting or rescuing:
"What is the point?" Mr Lowe said. - "He died, most likely, and if not, then it is better to save others, and not this Japanese!"
He even turned the boat away from this place, but then changed his mind and returned. The Japanese was dragged into the boat, and one of the women began to rub his chest, while others rubbed his arms and legs. In less time than I say this, he opened his eyes. He spoke to us in his own language, but seeing that we did not understand, he jumped to his feet, stretched his arms, raising them up, and after five minutes or so, he almost completely regained his strength. One of the sailors next to him was so exhausted that he could barely hold the oar. The Japanese pushed him away, took the oar from him, and rowed like a hero until we were rescued. I saw Mr. Low watching him with his mouth open.
"Damn it!" the officer muttered. “I am ashamed of what I said about this little thing. If I could, I would have saved six more of these.”
After rescuing this Japanese until the arrival of Carpathia at dawn, I remember everything as a blur. The Carpathia stopped four miles from us, and the task of rowing to her became the most difficult for the poor frozen men and women. One by one the boats approached the side of the waiting liner. They lowered the ropes for us, but the women were so weak that they almost fell off the stairs into the water.
When it was time to save the babies, there was another great danger, because no one had the strength to lift babies with them, a living burden. One of the postal workers on the Carpathia solved this problem by dropping one of the mailbags down. The little ones were placed in them, the bags were closed, and in this way they were dragged to a safe place.
And finally we were on board the Carpathia. There were more than seven hundred of us, and the tragedy that we experienced could not be described in words. There was hardly anyone here who hadn't lost a husband, a child, or a friend. People wandered from one group of people to another, looking into the haggard faces of the survivors, calling out names and asking endless questions.
I was looking for a husband, who, as I believed until the very last moment, would be found in one of the boats.
He wasn't here. And with these words, it is best to end my story about the Titanic.
Friends in America have treated us well, and I hope to follow the original plan. I'll go to Idaho and try to build new house in the new world. For a while I thought about returning back to England, but it is unlikely that I will ever be able to look at the ocean again. Moreover, I have to take Marjorie to wherever her father so desired to send the two of us. That's all I care about right now, to do what he hoped to do.
Charlotte and Marjorie in the US after being rescued. On my knees - the same blanket from the Titanic
How did it turn out further fate Charlotte and her daughters?
Charlotte and Marjorie did go to Idaho after the disaster. However, it soon turned out that without a husband it was impossible to organize a farm or other household in an unfamiliar land. With money received from numerous readers of the newspaper where the article was published, Charlotte and Marjorie returned to England. Unfortunately, their failures did not end. Charlotte contracted tuberculosis in 1914 and died. Marjorie grew up and married, but before her death in 1965 at the age of 61, she was widowed and her only child died in childhood. In 1955, she wrote about life after the Titanic, and in her memoirs there was this phrase: “From that time I lived in the shadow of misfortune, and I always wondered if it would ever end. But it seems to me that this is my destiny ... "
Translation: Maxim Polishchuk (
