THE LOSS OF THE S. S. TITANIC
ITS STORY AND ITS LESSONS
BY
LAWRENCE BEESLEY
B. A. (_Cantab_.)
Scholar of Gonville and Caius College
ONE OF THE SURVIVORS
PREFACE
The circumstances in which this book came to be written are as follows. Some five weeks after the survivors from the Titanic landed in New York, I was the guest at luncheon of Hon. Samuel J. Elder and Hon. Charles T. Gallagher, both well-known lawyers in Boston. After luncheon I was asked to relate to those present the experiences of the survivors in leaving the Titanic and reaching the Carpathia.
When I had done so, Mr. Robert Lincoln O'Brien, the editor of the _Boston Herald_, urged me as a matter of public interest to write a correct history of the Titanic disaster, his reason being that he knew several publications were in preparation by people who had not been present at the disaster, but from newspaper accounts were piecing together a description of it. He said that these publications would probably be erroneous, full of highly coloured details, and generally calculated to disturb public thought on the matter. He was supported in his request by all present, and under this general pressure I accompanied him to Messrs. Houghton Mifflin Company, where we discussed the question of publication.
Messrs. Houghton Mifflin Company took at that time exactly the same view that I did, that it was probably not advisable to put on record the incidents connected with the Titanic's sinking: it seemed better to forget details as rapidly as possible.
However, we decided to take a few days to think about it. At our next meeting we found ourselves in agreement again,--but this time on the common ground that it would probably be a wise thing to write a history of the Titanic disaster as correctly as possible. I was supported in this decision by the fact that a short account, which I wrote at intervals on board the Carpathia, in the hope that it would calm public opinion by stating the truth of what happened as nearly as I could recollect it, appeared in all the American, English, and Colonial papers and had exactly the effect it was intended to have. This encourages me to hope that the effect of this work will be the same.
Another matter aided me in coming to a decision,--the duty that we, as survivors of the disaster, owe to those who went down with the ship, to see that the reforms so urgently needed are not allowed to be forgotten.
Whoever reads the account of the cries that came to us afloat on the sea from those sinking in the ice-cold water must remember that they were addressed to him just as much as to those who heard them, and that the duty, of seeing that reforms are carried out devolves on every one who knows that such cries were heard in utter helplessness the night the Titanic sank.
CONTENTS
I. CONSTRUCTION AND PREPARATIONS FOR THE FIRST VOYAGE
II. FROM SOUTHAMPTON TO THE NIGHT OF THE COLLISION
III. THE COLLISION AND EMBARKATION IN LIFEBOATS
IV. THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC, SEEN FROM A LIFEBOAT
V. THE RESCUE
VI. THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC, SEEN FROM HER DECK
VII. THE CARPATHIA'S RETURN TO NEW YORK
VIII. THE LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE LOSS OF THE TITANIC
IX. SOME IMPRESSIONS
ILLUSTRATIONS
THE TITANIC From a photograph taken in Belfast Harbour. Copyrighted by Underwood and Underwood, New York.
VIEW OF FOUR DECKS OF THE OLYMPIC, SISTER SHIP OF THE TITANIC From a photograph published in the "Sphere," May 4,1918 TRANSVERSE (amidship) SECTION THROUGH THE TITANIC After a drawing furnished by the White Star Line.
LONGITUDINAL SECTIONS AND DECK PLAN OF THE TITANIC After plans published in the "Shipbuilder."
THE CARPATHIA From a photograph furnished by the Cunard Steamship Co.