A Night to Remember

by Walter Lord

  20. All day on 15 April, anxious crowds besieged the White Star offices in New York. They were assured that the Titanic was practically unsinkable (Brown Brothers)

  21. A one-word telegram told steward Fred Hartnell’s family all they wanted to know (photo John Webb)

  22. Southampton crowds scan the lists of lost and saved posted outside the White Star offices. Many of the crew lived here; in one street twenty families were bereaved (Illustrated London News)

  23. Memorial pictures, heavily bordered in black, were eagerly bought from street vendors, as were souvenir napkins, postcards, buttons and bits of pottery. Columns of incredibly poor poetry emerged, and at last eight different pieces of commemorative sheet music appeared on the stands (author)

  Acknowledgements

  This book is really about the last night of a small town. The Titanic was that big and carried that many people. To tell everything that happened is impossible; to piece even part of the picture together has required the help of literally hundreds of people.

  Many of them were there. Some sixty-three survivors were located, and most of these came through handsomely. They are a stimulating mixture of rich and poor, passengers and crew. But all seem to have two qualities in common. First, they look marvellous. It is almost as though, having come through this supreme ordeal, they easily surmounted everything else and are now growing old with calm, tranquil grace. Second, they are wonderfully thoughtful. It seems almost as if, having witnessed man at his most generous, they scorn any trace of selfishness themselves.

  Nothing seems to be too much trouble. Many of the survivors have contributed far beyond the scope of the book, just to help me get a better feeling of what it all was like.

  For instance, Mrs Noël MacFie (then the Countess of Rothes) tells how – while dining out with friends a year after the disaster – she suddenly experienced the awful feeling of cold and intense horror she always associated with the Titanic. For an instant she couldn’t imagine why. Then she realized the orchestra was playing ‘The Tales of Hoffmann’, the last piece of after-dinner music played that fateful Sunday night.

  Mrs George Darby, then Elizabeth Nye, similarly contributes an appealing extra touch when she tells how – as it grew bitterly cold early Sunday evening – she and some other second-class passengers gathered in the dining room for a hymn-sing, ending with ‘For Those in Peril on the Sea’.

  And Mrs Katherine Manning – then Kathy Gilnagh – vividly conveys the carefree spirit of the young people in third class when she talks about the gay party in steerage that same last night. At one point a rat scurried across the room; the boys gave chase; and the girls squealed with excitement. Then the party was on again. Mrs Manning’s lovely eyes still glow as she recalls the bagpipes, the laughter, the fun of being a pretty colleen setting out for America.

  Most of the survivors, in fact, give glimpses of shipboard life that have an almost haunting quality. You feel it when Mrs G. J. Mercherle (then Mrs Albert Caldwell) recalls the bustle of departing from Southampton … when Victorine Perkins (then Chandowson) tells of the Ryersons’ sixteen trunks … when Mr Spencer Silverthorne remembers his pleasant dinner with the other buyers on Sunday night … when Marguerite Schwarzenbach (then Frolicher) describes a quieter supper in her parents’ stateroom – she had been sea-sick and this was her first gingerly attempt to eat again.

  The crew’s recollections have this haunting quality too. You feel it when fireman George Kemish describes the gruff camaraderie of the boiler rooms … and when masseuse Maud Slocombe tells of her desperate efforts to get the Turkish bath in apple-pie order. Apparently there was a half-eaten sandwich or empty beer bottle in every nook and corner. ‘The builders were Belfast men,’ she explains cheerfully.

  The atmosphere conveyed by these people somehow contributes as much as the facts and incidents they describe. I appreciate their help enormously.

  Other survivors deserve all my thanks for the way they painstakingly reconstructed their thoughts and feelings as the ship was going down. Jack Ryerson searched his mind to recall how he felt as he stood to one side, while his father argued to get him into boat 4. Did he realize his life was hanging in the balance? No, he didn’t think very much about it. He was an authentic thirteen-year-old boy.

  Washington Dodge Jr’s chief impression was the earsplitting roar of steam escaping from the Titanic’s huge funnels. He was an authentic five-year-old.

  Third-class passengers Anna Kincaid (then Sjoblom), Celiney Decker (then Yasbeck) and Gus Cohen have also contributed far more than interesting narratives. They have been especially helpful in recreating the atmosphere that prevailed in steerage – a long-neglected side of the story.

  The crew too have provided much more than accounts of their experiences. The deep feeling in baker Charles Burgess’s voice, whenever he discusses the Titanic, reveals the intense pride of the men who sailed her. The gracious courtesy of stewards James Witter, F. Dent Ray, Alfred Pugh and Leo James Hyland points up the matchless service enjoyed by the passengers. And the thoroughness of men like Quartermaster George Thomas Rowe, baker Walter Belford and greaser Walter Hurst confirms fireman Kemish’s boast that the crew were ‘the pick of Southampton’.

  To these and many other Titanic survivors – like Mrs Jacques Futrelle, Mrs Henry B. Harris, Mrs H. A. Cassebeer, Mrs M. V. Mann, Mrs A. C. Williams, Harry Giles, Charles Joughin and Herbert J. Pitman – go my heartfelt thanks for their time and trouble.

  The relatives of people on the Titanic have been equally cooperative. One letter recently made available by the descendant of a survivor illustrates how far they’ve gone. It is a letter written to the survivor himself, shortly after the accident. I have left out all names, but the act of making this data available shows a courage and honesty that effectively rebut the charge made in the letter:

  Dear –: I have before me information stating that you attempted to force your way into one of the lifeboats … and that when ordered back by Major Butt, you slipped from the crowd, disappeared, and after a few moments were seen coming from your stateroom dressed in women’s clothing which was recognized as garments worn by your wife en route.

  I can’t understand how you can hold your head up and call yourself a man among men, knowing that every breath you draw is a lie. If your conscience continues to bother you after reading this, you had better come forward. There is no truer saying than the old one, ‘Confession is good for the soul.’

  Yours truly,—

  Besides making letters available, many of the relatives have supplied fascinating information themselves. Especially, I want to thank Captain Smith’s daughter, Mrs M. R. Cooke, for the charming recollection of her gallant father … Mrs Sylvia Lightoller for her kindness in writing to me about her late husband, Commander Charles Lightoller, who distinguished himself in 1940 by taking his own boat over to Dunkirk … Mrs Alfred Hess for making available the family papers of Mr and Mrs Isidor Straus … Mrs Cynthia Fletcher for a copy of the letter written by her father, Hugh Woolner, on board the Carpathia … Mr Fred G. Crosby and his son John for help in obtaining information on Captain Edward Gifford Crosby … and Mrs Victor I. Minahan, for the interesting details about Dr and Mrs William Minahan and their daughter Daisy.

  Where survivors and relatives couldn’t be found, I have relied on published material. The official transcripts of the Senate’s investigation and the British Court of Inquiry of course provide several thousand pages of fascinating testimony. Jack Thayer’s privately published reminiscences are an engagingly frank account. Dr Washington Dodge’s privately printed speech to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco is equally interesting. Lawrence Beesley’s book, The Loss of the SS Titanic (Houghton Mifflin, 1912), contains a classic description worth anybody’s time. Archibald Gracie’s The Truth about the Titanic (Mitchell Kennerley, 1913) is invaluable for chasing up who went in what boat – Colonel Gracie was an indefatigable detective. Commander Lig
htoller’s Titanic and other Ships (Ivor Nicholson & Watson, 1935) mirrors his fine mixture of humour and bravery. Shan Bullock’s A ‘Titanic’ Hero: Thomas Andrews, Shipbuilder (Norman-Remington, 1913) is a labour of love, piecing together the last hours of this wonderful man.

  Good accounts by some survivors have also appeared from time to time in magazines and newspapers – the anniversary is apparently a godsend to the city desk. Typical – Jack Thayer’s story in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin on 14 April 1932 … fireman Louis Michelsen’s interview in the Cedar Rapids Gazette on 15 May 1955 … the engaging and lively account by Mrs René Harris in the 23 April 1932 issue of Liberty magazine.

  The contemporary Press is less satisfactory. The New York Times of course did a brilliant job, but most of the New York papers were extremely unreliable. Better work was done by newspapers in towns where local citizens were involved – for instance, the Milwaukee papers on the Crosbys and Minahans … the San Francisco papers on the Dodges … the Cedar Rapids Gazette on the Douglases. Abroad, the London Times was thorough if dull. Most fascinating, perhaps, were the papers in Belfast, where the Titanic was built, and those in Southampton, where so many of the crew lived. These were seafaring towns, and the coverage had to be good.

  The contemporary popular magazines – Harper’s, Sphere, Illustrated London News – are mostly a rehash of Press stories, but an occasional gem pops up, like Henry Sleeper Harper’s description in the 27 April 1912 Harper’s, or Mrs Charlotte Collyer’s fine account in the 26 May 1912 Semi-Monthly Magazine. The technical journals of the time offer better pickings – the 1911 special edition of the British magazine Shipbuilder, giving complete data on the Titanic’s construction; and similar material in the 26 May 1911 issue of Engineering and the 1 July 1911 issue of Scientific American.

  The other actors in the drama – the people on the rescue ship Carpathia – have been as generous and cooperative as those on the Titanic. Mr Robert H. Vaughan has been invaluable in helping to piece together the details of that wild dash through the night. Sir James Bisset and Mr R. Purvis have been especially helpful in recalling the names of various Carpathia officers. Mrs Louis M. Ogden has supplied a treasury of anecdotes – all the more valuable because she was one of the first on deck. Mrs Diego Suarez (then Miss Evelyn Marshall) contributed a vivid picture of the scene as the Titanic’s boats edged alongside.

  There is not much published material about the Carpathia, but Captain Sir Arthur H. Rostron’s book, Home from the Sea (Macmillan, 1931), contains an excellent account. His testimony at the United States and British hearings is also valuable, and the same goes for the testimony of wireless operator Harold Thomas Cottam.

  In addition to the people on the Titanic and Carpathia, certain others contributed valuable help in preparing this book. Captain Charles Victor Groves has aided me greatly in piecing together the story of the Californian, on which he served as Third Officer. Charles Dienz, who at the time was maître of the Ritz Carlton on the Amerika, has given valuable information on how these ocean-going à la carte restaurants operated – data especially useful since only one of the Titanic’s restaurant staff was saved. The Marconi Company has supplied extremely interesting information on wireless installations of the time and Helen Hernandez of Twentieth Century Fox has been a gold mine of useful leads.

  Finally, people much closer to me personally deserve a special word of thanks. Mr Ralph Whitney has suggested many useful sources. Mr Harold Daw has contributed important research. Miss Virginia Martin has deciphered and typed reams of scribbled foolscap. My mother has done the kind of painful indexing and cross-checking that only a mother would be willing to do.

  W. L., 1956

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  First published by Longmans Green & Co. 1956

  Large-format revised and illustrated edition first published by Allen Lane 1976

  Published in Penguin Books 1978

  Reissued in this edition with a new Foreword and a new Introduction in Penguin Books 2012

  Text copyright © Walter Lord, 1956, 1976, 1981, 2012

  Foreword copyright © Julian Fellowes, 2012

  Introduction copyright © Brian Lavery, 2012

  Cover design by wearesuperfantastic.com

  All rights reserved

  The moral right of the authors has been asserted

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  Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

  ISBN: 978-0-241-96236-7

 

 

 
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