by Brad Matsen
Each of Titanic’s matched pair of four-cylinder, reciprocating engines was as high as a three-story house and weighed a thousand tons. When the engines were running, steam drove a piston down, released its pressure through the exhaust valve, and the piston came back up. Six-foot-long steel rods connected the pistons to a cam that turned the propeller shaft. Together, the two reciprocating engines produced 30,000 horsepower to turn their propellers at 75 revolutions per minute when the ship was at cruising speed.
The third engine was a turbine that was something like a windmill. Instead of the five or six blades of the farmer’s tool, it had hundreds of polished steel blades in a steel housing. After the steam drove the pistons of the reciprocating engines, it would travel through pipes to the turbine, turn its blades at 165 revolutions per minute, and produce 16,000 horsepower. The turbine could run in only one direction. It was stopped when the reciprocating engines were reversed.
“Yamsi” was the way Ismay always signed telegrams, as confirmed by Paul Louden-Brown in correspondence in June 2007. Ismay’s famous telegrams after the Titanic disaster were not the first time he used “Yamsi”; nor did he use that signature to deceive anyone. Variations on a person’s name were then in vogue as telegram signatures.
The collision between RMS Olympic and HMS Hawke is documented by Simon Mills in his RMS Olympic, pp. 15–29; and Chirnside, pp. 65–77.
Captain E. J. Smith’s comments on the collision and his assessment of the strength of Olympic are from Charles Pellegrino’s Her Name Titanic, p. 246; and a conversation with Smith reported by a passenger on Olympic in the New York Times on April 17, 1912, two days after Titanic sank.
The discovery of cracks in the forward section of Olympic in November 1911 is deduced from the location of the additional steel Andrews and Pirrie put into Titanic. They reinforced the seam above the bottom in the bow by simply doubling the plates—a questionable repair by modern shipbuilding standards because it allowed a space between the plates where corrosion could form. They also enclosed Titanic’s upper promenade from the bridge back to the middle of the ship, which would have stiffened the superstructure and the bow section. Evidence of these differences between Titanic and Olympic are from Harland and Wolff photographs held at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum; and from surveyors’ reports on Olympic that led to the installation of additional steel, held at the British National Archives. Whether or not these weaknesses contributed to the breakup of Titanic is not certain, but they do indicate that Pirrie and Andrews were not sure of the strength of the Olympic-class hulls. Later, they would finish Britannic with a full double hull, instead of just a double bottom.
This surveyor’s note on Titanic, from the British National Archives, dated February 13, 1912, confirms that Olympic’s hull was cracking and had been reinforced:
In connection with the scantlings of this vessel now in dry dock here, I beg to report that the builders are fitting a strap 1˝ thick over the landings at the upper turn of the bilge, at both sides in the following positions: Forward. In way of No. 6 boiler room & extending three frame spaces forward of the W.T. bulkhead at the forward end of the boiler room, viz: from frame 63 to 81 at the landing of J & K strakes. Aft. In way of the turbine room & extending two frame spaces into the reciprocating room, viz: from frame 50 to 73 at the landing of K & L strakes. An extra row of holes has been drilled in the plate above the landing, making it a quadruple riveted landing. I am informed that this strengthening is in consequence of observation made on board the Olympic during a recent heavy passage across the Atlantic.
The order, keel-laying date, and changes to the original plans for Olympic and Titanic are confirmed in Harland and Wolff archives, held at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, and the White Star papers at the British National Archives.
Olympic’s second trip into the dry dock, in March 1912, after losing a propeller blade, is reported in Mills’s RMS Olympic, p. 23, and confirmed in the White Star papers at the British National Archives.
The surveyor’s note, dated March 6, 1912, is from the British National Archives:
This vessel has been in dry dock here for the purpose of having a propeller blade fitted, and the opportunity was taken for making an inspection of the hull, upon which I now beg to submit the following report. No signs of undue stress were found in the upper parts of the vessel, from the water line upwards, excepting in the side plating of the deck houses on the Bridge deck, where there are a number of fractures starting from the edges of the windows. Below the water line. Starboard side forward in way of No. 6 Boiler room in the shell landing of J and K strakes from frame 63 to 74 about 160 rivets were slack and were drilled out and removed. About 4 ft. below this landing in the tank bar, from frame 71 to 75, about 50 loose rivets were drilled and replaced. Port side fwd in the tank bar from about frame 71 to 78, about 90 rivets were showing a little slack and caulked.
The work on Olympic’s bow plates is also confirmed in a diagram of damaged shell plating submitted by Harland and Wolff and reproduced in Hall and Beveridge, p. 21.
CHAPTER TEN. MILLIONAIRE’S CAPTAIN
Smith’s quips about retiring are from an interview he gave to the Shipbuilder in March 1912, when he left Olympic in Southampton to take command of Titanic.
That Edward J. Smith was known as “the Millionaire’s Captain” was confirmed in an interview with White Star historian Paul Louden-Brown in February 2007.
Captain Smith’s remarks after RMS Adriatic’s maiden voyage are quoted in Chirnside, p. 46, from an article in the Shipbuilder in May 1907.
The details, timing, and crew for the sea trials on April 2, 1912, are confirmed in Chirnside, pp. 135–36; McCaughan, pp. 152–58; and Green, pp. 121–24.
Andrews’s note to his wife on the evening of April 2, 1912, is from the papers of Helen Andrews, quoted in Bullock, pp. 56–57.
Miners voted to end the coal strike on April 6, 1912. Coal started flowing to the docks a week later but was not up to prestrike supplies for a month. Details are confirmed in the New York Times, April 7, 1912, April 12, 1912, and April 23, 1912.
The details about provisioning and loading of cargo are from McCaughan, pp. 158–65; Tom McCluskie’s The Wall Chart of the Titanic; and the Manifest and Cargo records from the White Star papers at the British National Archives.
The details about the reorganization of the senior officers and the thoughts of Lightoller and Wilde before sailing are from Chirnside, pp. 136–37.
Violet Jessop’s biography and her thoughts on arrival aboard Titanic are from her book, Titanic Survivor, pp. 56–68, and pp. 116–18.
The composition of Titanic’s string band is from the White Star papers at the British National Archives.
The observations of the reporters on sailing day are from the Shipbuilder and the London Standard, April 1912. The Shipbuilder devoted forty pages to Titanic that month.
The newspaper headlines and observations of monster ships in the Economist and Engineering News are reported in Wade, p. 16.
Jean Strouse explains J. P. Morgan’s absence from Titanic’s maiden voyage in Strouse, pp. 642–44.
The timing of the surgery to ease Pirrie’s prostate disease and Margaret Pirrie’s suggestion that he recuperate aboard Valiant are confirmed in Jefferson, pp. 88–89. The symptoms of the disease and the comparative risk of prostate surgery in 1912 were confirmed in correspondence with Harry W. Herr, M.D., Department of Urology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Cornell University Medical College, and in Dr. Herr’s article “The Enlarged Prostate: A Brief History of Its Surgical Treatment,” British Journal of Urology International, vol. 5 (1998), pp. 947–52.
The description of the steam yacht Valiant is from Jefferson, pp. 248–51; Moss and Hume, pp. 154–55; and photographs in the Harland and Wolff archive at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
The quotes from the Master’s Report and the Report of Survey are from Chirnside, p. 139, and from the British Wreck Commission’
s inquiry into the Titanic disaster, available as a searchable database at http://titanicinquiry.org.
The SS New York incident is well reported in many sources, including books by Chirnside; Wade; and McCluskie.
CHAPTER ELEVEN. 410° 46' NORTH, 500° 14' WEST
The chronology of events on the night of April 14–15, 1912, is the work of historian and mariner David G. Brown, author of many articles on Titanic and of the book The Last Log of the Titanic, for all of which I am grateful. Brown cites work by another highly regarded Titanic historian, Sam Halpern, as having contributed to the chronology. The chronology in this book is also informed by John Eaton and Charles Haas in Titanic: A Journey Through Time.
Ismay’s stateroom, his dinner with Dr. O’Loughlin, and his leaving his bed when he heard the engines change pitch are confirmed in his testimony at the American and British inquiries.
Violet Jessop describes her reaction to the iceberg impact in her book, Titanic Survivor, pp. 125–28. The book was compiled from Jessop’s notes twenty-six years after she died by editor John Maxtone-Graham. In her manuscript, for unknown reasons, Jessop obscured the identities of Titanic’s passengers and crew with pseudonyms, many of which Maxtone-Graham was able to decipher. In the book, Jessop’s cabin companion is named Ann Turnbull; according to Maxtone-Graham, she was probably stewardess Elizabeth Leather, who escaped in the same lifeboat as Jessop.
Anna Turja’s experience on Titanic is chronicled by her grandson, John Randolph; presented at http://www.webcom.com/jrudolph/turja/mumma.html; and confirmed in the records of survivors in the reports of the American and British inquiries.
Olaus Abelseth told his story to the American inquiry, from which this account is taken. More detail came from “Olaus Jorgensen Abelseth” by Terry Newton, which appeared in the Titanic Commutator, fall 2006.
The medley of reactions of passengers to the moment of impact is drawn from the transcripts of the American and British inquiries.
The whereabouts of Thomas Andrews were constructed using accounts by surviving crew members who saw him at various times around the ship, as reported in the transcripts of the American and British inquiries.
Andrews selected a guarantee party of eight men to sail on Titanic’s maiden voyage and inspect and repair the ship under way: Roderick Chisholm, ship’s draftsman; Anthony Frost, outside foreman engineer; Robert Knight, leading hand engineer; William Campbell, joiner apprentice; Alfred Cunningham, fitter apprentice; Frank Parkes, plumber apprentice; Ennis Watson, electrician apprentice; and William Parr, electrician. None survived.
The descriptions of the boiler rooms and of the life of stokers, trimmers, and engineers is from Art Braunschweiger’s article “Feeding the Fires: Boilers, Firemen, and Trimmers,” for the Titanic Research and Modeling Association, August 2005.
The location of Barrett and Hesketh in either Boiler Room 6 or the forward coal bunker at the moment of impact is a matter of debate and is the subject of some of the investigation of this book. The descriptions of the alarms, doors closing, and water rushing in are from Barrett’s testimony at the American and British inquiries. Hesketh, along with all twenty other engineers, died on Titanic.
The telegrams warning about ice are well documented in both the American and the British inquiries; here, they are taken from reproductions in Eaton and Haas’s Titanic: A Journey Through Time, pp. 55–60; and McCaughan, p. 171.
Murdoch’s reply to Smith is from testimony given by Lightoller and others on the bridge, from “British Wreck Commissioner’s Inquiry: Report of the Loss of the Titanic,” July 30, 1912, found at http://ti tanicinquiry.org.
The Marconi transmissions to and from Titanic are documented in the transcripts of the American inquiry, including the testimony of telegrapher Harold Bride, who survived the sinking.
The names of passengers in the various lifeboats are from the White Star papers at the British National Archives, reported by Tom McCluskie in his The Wall Chart of the Titanic. The order of departure of the lifeboats from the ship is from David G. Brown’s unpublished chronology; and Eaton and Haas, Titanic:A Journey Through Time, pp. 64–73.
CHAPTER TWELVE. YAMSI
Ismay was in shock when he boarded Carpathia, as confirmed by testimony in the transcripts of the American and British inquiries. Ismay’s conversation with the ship’s doctor upon boarding Carpathia is from his own recollection given as testimony in Washington, D.C., on April 30, 1912.
The New York Times coverage of Titanic is from several daily editions throughout April and May. Carr Van Anda told his story many times in the months following the disaster. However, according to investigation by historian Patrick Leary and filmmaker Rushmore DeNooyer, it is unlikely that the headline appeared anywhere except on the bulletin board in Times Square.
The record of the wireless transmissions after Titanic sank, David Sarnoff’s receipt of the first confirmation of the sinking from Olympic, and the subsequent confusion about the names of survivors are documented in many places, including the papers of the White Star Line in the British National Archives; the reports of the American and British inquiries; Eaton and Haas, Titanic: A Journey Through Time, pp. 86–103; and Wade, pp. 28–58. Sarnoff went on to found the Radio Corporation of America, and the National Broadcasting Company.
For the chronicle of events that revolved around Senator William Alden Smith, his biography, and the formation of his investigative committee, I am indebted to the research and reporting of Wyn Craig Wade and his book The Titanic:End of a Dream, which is required reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the Titanic disaster.
The members of Smith’s investigative committee were: Senators George Perkins, of California; Jonathan Bourne Jr., of Oregon; Theodore Burton, of Ohio; Furnifold Simmons, of North Carolina; Francis Newlands, of Nevada; and Duncan Fletcher of Florida. Secretary of Commerce Nagel and steamship inspector George Uhler heard testimony and gave advice to the committee.
J. P. Morgan’s reaction to the Titanic disaster and the cable from his son are from Strouse, p. 643.
The Harland and Wolff board of directors meeting on the morning of April 16 is confirmed by the original minutes of that meeting, held at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland in Belfast.
Margaret Pirrie’s withholding the news about Titanic until April 20 is confirmed in Jefferson, p. 78.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN. INVESTIGATION
The account of Senator Smith’s meeting in Ismay’s cabin aboard Carpathia and his observations of the joy and sorrow in the crowd below the ship as survivors debarked were recounted by Smith in several newspaper interviews and reported in Wade, pp. 98–100.
The quoted dialogue in this chapter is from the transcripts of The Titanic Disaster Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Commerce, Pursuant to Senate Resolution 283 Directing the Committee on Commerce to Investigate the Causes Leading to the Wreck of the White Star Liner Titanic, U.S. Senate, 62nd Congress, 2nd session (Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1918). In certain cases, I left some questions and answers out of a line of inquiry, without diminishing the accuracy of the witness’s testimony. The details of the hearing room, the audience, and the textures of the testimony are from newspaper accounts and photographs.
Smith’s actions during the hearings in New York, including his work with Sheriff Joe Bayliss to stop the steamship Lapland at Sandy Hook, are from Wyn Craig Wade’s research and from his book, pp. 134–35.
Pirrie’s note to his sister, Thomas Andrews’s mother, is from Bullock, p. 78. His cable to Wilding is not verbatim but was drawn from the May 1912 minutes of the Harland and Wolff board of directors meeting and from letters in the company archive that indicate that Wilding began an internal investigation into the Titanic disaster within a week after it occurred.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN. ROGER WRONG, ROGER RIGHT
The description of Roger Long’s analysis of Titanic’s bottom pieces with the help of Ken Marschall’s drawings is from interviews with Long in
2006 and 2007.
Roger Long spent hours explaining to me his low-angle, top-down breakup theory and its implications for what the world understands about the Titanic disaster. He reviewed this manuscript many times, offering suggestions for accuracy and clarity.
The paper to which Roger Long referred is “The Titanic and Lusitania: A Final Forensic Analysis, by William H. Garzke Jr., David K. Brown, Arthur D. Sandiford, John Woodward, and Peter K. Hsu, published in Marine Technology, a journal of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, October 1996, pp. 241–89.
The account of the December 2005 meeting at Woods Hole is from interviews with the participants and audio and video recordings.
The Associated Press story on the new evidence and Long’s theory appeared in hundreds of newspapers around the world, beginning with the afternoon editions of East Coast American papers on December 5. It contained errors of fact and nuance but initiated discussions on Internet forums and among Titanic theorists, as well as clarifications in several publications.
The New York Times editorial celebrating the new evidence and criticizing Robert Ballard’s reaction to it appeared in all editions of the paper on December 8, 2005. Ballard responded to the criticism in a letter to the members of the Titanic Historical Society, which appeared in the winter 2005 edition of the Titanic Commutator.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN. WEE MAN
The biographical details of Tom McCluskie’s life at Harland and Wolff are from interviews with him in February 2007, his many generous e-mail responses to my lists of questions, and his own account of his career at Harland and Wolff in his book No Place for a Boy.
The quote by Per Nielsen after he canceled McCluskie’s gala at the shipyard following the screening of Titanic is from the Belfast Telegraph, July 17, 2006.