100 Years Ago Today-April 14, 1912-2012

100 years ago today was Titanic's last glimpse of daylight. It was the 16th birthday of 3rd class passenger Alfred Rush who got trousers for the occasion. Later the next morning, the sailors would try and get Alfred Rush into one of the last lifeboats on the ship. Alfred pulled back and said, "No! I'm staying here with the men!" Alfred stayed with the men and died like a man that night. It was Sunday, so the passengers had church services. 1st class passengers had services in the 1st class Dining Saloon officiated by Captain E.J. Smith. 2nd and 3rd class had their services in their Dining Saloons and officiated by priests and preachers who were passengers and had volunteered. That afternoon was lovely for a stroll and other recreational activities like exercise. At 5:50, Captain Smith heeded the ice warnings and changed the course to a more southerly route. Little did anyone realize that this decision would prove fatal. In the Marconi Room, Jack Phillips having fixed the machine with Harold Bride was back at the key, sending messages and receiving messages, some of them ice warnings from ships ahead. Suddenly, the Californian's ice warning came blasting through Phillips' headset. Phillips replied, "Shut up, shut up, I am working Cape Race." The Californian would play a large and shameful role in the sinking later. Dinner in 1st class was interesting. The Wideners had a party in honor Captain Smith whose voyage was to be his last before retiring. The party held the creme of the crop of American and British society including the Thayers, Astors, Strauses, J. Bruce Ismay, and some other notable people.

At 11:40 P.M., the Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee high in the crow's nest spotted an enormous iceberg looming in the distance. Fleet saw it first and rang the bell 3 times. He then proceeded to call the Bridge. 6th Officer James Paul Moody answered the phone and said, "What do you see?" Frederick Fleet replied, "Iceberg dead ahead sir!" and Moody said, "Thank you." 1st Officer Murdoch now saw the iceberg and ordered Quartermaster Robert Hichens who was at the wheel to turn the wheel Hard a Starboard. Then he told the bridge to reverse the engines. The Titanic kept going slowly towards the iceberg. Then, she slowly but surely turned. The iceberg was too close and the iceberg scraped the side of the Titanic. She could float with 2-4 of her compartments flooded, but the iceberg opened up 5. The water came rushing into the Boiler Rooms and Mail Room. The mail clerks worked to get the mail to the next decks, trying to beat the rising water. Neither the mail nor the clerks survived the disaster. Captain Smith came onto the Bridge right after the iceberg struck and asked Murdoch, "What have we struck?" Murdoch answered, "An iceberg, sir." In the passenger areas, the men enjoying some last card games or cigars felt or heard what was going on, and came out on deck to see an enormous iceberg just behind them. Those inside that felt it said that it was a bump, a shudder, or a heave of the engines. Captain Smith sent for Thomas Andrews, the ship's chief designer and told the wireless operators to get ready to send the call for assistance. When Andrews got there, the two of them explored the damaged part of the ship. Thomas Andrews told Captain Smith that the ship would sink in an hour or two. Captain Smith then told the wireless operators to send the international call for help which was C.Q.D. Then Captain Smith told the stewards to arouse the passengers, get them to put on the lifebelts, and get them on deck. He then told the officers to ready the lifeboats for lowering. The 1st class passengers began congregating in the Lounge where it was warmer while the band assembled and started playing cheery ragtime music to keep the passengers calm. In the Marconi Room Jack Phillips at 12:07 contacted the Carpathia. The operator on the Carpathia rushed to the Bridge with the news. The officer thought he was joking and proceeded to force him off the bridge. The operator opened the door to the Captain's room and then the officer realized it was serious. The Captain, Rostron, made all possible speed for the Titanic. They would reach the site 4 hours later, too late for over 1,500 people. 5th Officer Harold Lowe had readied some of them and waited for orders to lower. Ismay came out and asked why the boats weren't being loaded and lowered. Lowe, not recognizing him, said that he hadn't been ordered to. Ismay went to the Bridge and asked Smith about it. The order then came to load and lower the lifeboats. The first lifeboat that was lowered had 12 where there was room for 40. Among these first survivors were the Duff Gordons whose behavior was wrongly subjected to criticism later. At 12:55 A.M., 4th Officer Boxhall launched the first white rocket which was supposed to be a call to those that could see them that they needed assistance. Several miles away, the Californian saw a big steamer firing rockets but did nothing. The Wireless Operator was asleep. At the time the first rocket was launched, Margaret Brown who helped put other women into the lifeboats was going to stay and see what was going on when a sailor picked her up and placed her into a lifeboat. Later, Hichens who was at the wheel when the iceberg and was now in charge of the lifeboat used fear like the possibility of the ship sucking them down to motivate the rowers. Later, he wouldn't go back to the people in the water because he feared that those in the water would capsize the boat. Brown tried to get them to go back, but most of those in the boat wouldn't.

The Refuge of Few

(Here's an example of what it would have looked like)

Click HERE to see footage from the 1997 video on what happened to Collapsibles A and B

Collapsible A was one of the collapsible lifeboats that was on top of the Officer's Quarters towards the bow just behind the Bridge on the Starboard side. It was in fact, one of the 4 lifeboats that weren't supposed to be there but since it was the outdated rule that a steamer of 10,000 tons and over should carry 16 lifeboats. However, the rule didn't change and the steam ships got bigger. The Titanic was so big, that with the addition of 4 Collapsibles, the was only enough for half. Collapsibles A and B were placed on the roof of the Officer's Quarters to provide more room for the passengers on the Boat Deck. The reason it was called a collapsible lifeboat, was because half of the sides were actual wood while the other half could be raised because it was made of canvas. The Titanic struck an iceberg of April 14, 1912. The damage was so great, that it began to sink. All the lifeboats were lowered and the water was creeping closer to the boat deck. Officers Murdoch and Moody worked and freed Collapsible A from the roof using oars as a ramp (since they were there to ease the passengers and no one thought that they would be taken down). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl50X86kgMU reached the Boat Deck, but the crewmen started to put the lifeboat on the davits. Then, the Titanic surged downward causing Collapsible A to drift off. After a cutting the ropes, it drifted away. The side canvases were not drawn up, so the rushing sea swamped the lifeboat half full of water. Just as Collapsible A clears the Titanic, the forward funnel collapsed and caused the dozen people rough seas. Famed tennis player R. Norris Williams gave his account, of what happened in his experience. He said that he and his father were swimming towards Collapsible A when the forward funnel collapsed, killing his father and narrowly missing him. He was on the side of A for several minutes until he was able to be pulled aboard. The water was 28-29 degrees F, so not many people survived. Out of the dozen men, few survived. It was in fact, the lifeboat with the fewest survivors. One thing that helped R. Norris Williams from dying of exposure like most of his companions, was his now waterlogged fur coat. Later, 5th Officer Lowe picked up those that were left and left three bodies in the boat. It then set out alone, to be picked up a few weeks later by the Oceanic with the bodies still in there. One was identified as Thompson Beatie. The others were unrecognizable and didn't have any identity on them. Nothing is currently known about what happened to Collapsible A nor the other lifeboats after they were returned to England and disappeared.

Starved on Collapsible B

Collapsible B was the abandoned around 4:00 A.M. by 4th officer Harold Lowe on April 15, 1912. It was capsized, but it saved the lives of 20 men, and 1 woman from the icy waters. After the passengers were placed in another boat, Collapsible B was abandoned, still overturned. On April 17, 1912, the Oceanic came to the wreck-site. There, they found the Collapsible B. However, on top of it were 3 men. Thinking that these men were possibly alive, they got to the men by lifeboat. However, when they got there they found the men dead. They had pieces of cork in their mouths which meant they had tried to eat the lifejackets on them. They were bloated, and disfigured, and unrecognizable. They were able to identify one body, because of initials on his handkerchief. His name was Thomas Beattie. The bodies were buried at sea, and Collapsible B was taken to New York, where it and the other lifeboats disappeared from all records.

James Moody

James Paul Moody was born on August 21, 1887 in Yorkshire, England. The Moody famly was well-known in their town seeing as James' grand-father was the town clerk and his father was on the town council. He started his sea career like all other officers and sea-men. As an apprentice. He was on the H.M.S. Conway and attended the nautical Birkenhead training school.

Moody joined the White Star Line in 1911 and his first ship was the R.M.S. Oceanic (Charles Lightoller was aboard the Oceanic also. His residence was in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. He was staying with an uncle and his family was known there too because one of his ancestors was the town's first coroner. At the age of 24 in 1912, he was transferred to the TITANIC where he became 6th officer. He was paid $36 a month and was given his own cabin as compensation. During the voyage, Moody would assist all the other officers with any needed help and add to the ship's log. His service time was 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. and was on bridge duty from 4-5:00. On the night of April 14, 1912, the ship was headed SW and it was around 11:20 when the lookout Fredrick Fleet had rung the bell three times and the phone was ringing. 1st officer Murdoch and 6th officer Moody were on bridge duty. Moody answered the phone and said "What do you see?" Fleet replied "iceberg dead ahead sir!" Moody relayed the message to Murdoch and he gave the necessary orders. It was too late however and the ship struck the iceberg. After the inspections were made and the doom of the ship was proven inevitable, Moody assisted Lowe with loading and lowering boats 15 and 14. Violet Jessop was more than likely put into a lifeboat and said this in her memoirs:

"My arm was suddenly jerked, and I turned to see young Mason (who was probably Moody) who had been busy filling a boat. His face looked weary and tired, but he gave a bright smile as he ordered my group into the boat, calling out "Good luck!" as we stepped in, helped by his willing, guiding hand. Before I could do anything, young Mason hailed me and held up something, calling as he prepared to throw it, "Look after this, will you?" I reached out to receive someone's forgotten baby in my arms."

While loading 14, Lowe said that an officer should command this boat and Moody talked Lowe into getting in by saying "You go and I'll get into another one." He then loaded and lowered boat No. 16 with Chief Officer Wilde. He and Wilde maintained order as the passengers began to realize that their fates were sealed. He was last seen getting Collapsible A down off the roof. Moody died on that tragic night and was the only junior officer to do so. His body was never recovered but there is a monument to him in Woodland Cemetery.

5th Officer Lowe

Harold Godfrey Lowe was born on November 21, 1882 in Cowny, North Wales, England. His father was a respectable business man and had high hopes for him and his other five brothers and their hoped his two sisters would marry respectable husbands. Instead, Harold went to sea at age 14.

He was cabin boy on a vessel traveling around South Africa and slowly rose in rank. He passed his second mate test in 1906 and first mate test in 1908. Then, in 1911, got his master. He joined the White Star Line in 1911 and was 3rd officer on the Belgic and the Tropic.

He was demoted to 5th officer on the TITANIC. He was asleep when the iceberg struck and when defending himself before the inquiry, he said, "We officers do not have any too much sleep, and therefore when we sleep, we die." He woke up half an hour later. While loading the lifeboats, Mr. Ismay was encouraging others to get into the lifeboats when he got in the way of Lowe and Lowe blessed him out. He took charge of Boat No. 14 when it was being lowered, he fired shots into the air because he saw some men whom looked like they were about to jump. After the great ship went down, Lowe waited until the cries for help died down and then he went towards the people where most of them were dead already.

He picked up 4 survivors and then saw a man on a door that was Japanese. He later said : "A little further on, we saw a floating door that must have been torn loose when the ship went down. Lying upon it, face downward, was a small Japanese. He had lashed himself with a rope to his frail raft, using the broken hinges to make the knots secure. As far as we could see, he was dead. The sea washed over him every time the door bobbed up and down, and he was frozen stiff. He did not answer when he was hailed, and the officer hesitated about trying to save him.
"What's the use?" said Mr Lowe. He's dead, likely, and if he isn't there's others better worth saving than a Jap!"
He had actually turned our boat around; but he changed his mind and went back. The Japanese was hauled on board, and one of the women rubbed his chest, while others chafed his hands and feet. In less time than it takes to tell, he opened his eyes. He spoke to us in his own tongue; then, seeing that we did not understand, he struggled to his feet, stretched his arms above his head, stamped his feet, and in five minutes or so had almost recovered his strength. One of the sailors near to him was so tired that he could hardly pull his oar. The Japanese bustled over, pushed him from his seat, took the oar and worked like a hero until we were finally picked up. I saw Mr Lowe watching him in open-mouthed surprise.
"By Jove!" muttered the officer. "I'm ashamed of what I said about the little blighter. I'd save the likes o' him six times over, if I got the chance." He cried out to the guy but he didn't respond. He hauled him on and after reviving him, the man grabbed an oar and stayed there until they reached the Carpathia. One of the men that he rescued, died of exposure during the boat ride and did not survive the night.

Officer Lowe later married Emily White House and they had two children, Harold and Florence. He served as commander during WW1 and then retired from the sea. He died in 1944.