RMS Titanic: The Rescue Mission

By Oliver Hayes

While the RMS Titanic was sinking more than a dozen ships were racing to the rescue. This is the story of the rescue mission, including the search for bodies that followed.
The story of the tragic sinking of RMS Titanic is well known, but less well known today are the frantic efforts made by more than a dozen ships to get to her to rescue her passengers and crew. Although the Cunard liner “Carpathia” was first on the scene, she was joined by three other ships within a couple of hours, and others were on their way.
We read about the Russian cook preparing vast gallons of vegetable soup for survivors, the rescue ship that nearly hit an iceberg itself and the confusion over the radio waves as messages were sent, lost or misinterpreted. Above all we read of the gallant efforts of hundreds of seamen desperate to obey the rules of the sea and go to the rescue.
Oliver Hayes has gone back to contemporary newspaper reports, personal letters and the official inquiries held on both sides of the Atlantic to research this book. The result is a meticulously researched volume detailing the exciting story of the rescue mission to save the Titanic.
The original painting “Carpathia to the Rescue” featured on the cover is available as a print signed by the artist.

CONTENTS
11pm
Midnight
1am
2am
3am
5am
7am
Following Days
The Search for Bodies

About the Author
Oliver Hayes is an experienced writer of history with a large number of books and magazine articles to his name. He previously worked in local newspapers, but is now concentrating on writing books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bretwalda Books
• Release date: Oct 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781909698581

Oliver Hayes

Oliver Hayes studied the Dark Ages and early Medieval periods. He has since earned a living in publishing and is now writing freelance to bring some of his research to press in an entertaining and user-friendly format.

Book preview

Titanic - The Rescue Mission

by

Oliver Hayes

The original painting Carpathia to the Rescue specially commissioned for this book from award-winning Scottish artist Leanne Goodall is available as a signed print (framed or unframed) from the artist's website www.lgoodall.co.uk. Prints can be posted worldwide.

Published by Bretwalda Books at Smashwords

Website : Facebook : Twitter

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

First Published 2013

Copyright © Oliver Hayes 2013

Oliver Hayes asserts his moral rights to be regarded as the author of this book.

ISBN 978-1-909698-58-1

CONTENTS

11pm

Midnight

1am

2am

3am

5am

7am

Following Days

The Search for Bodies

Chapter 1

11pm

At 11pm on the night of 14 April 1912 the North Atlantic was a quiet place. The sea was a dead calm with barely a ripple to mark the surface, the air was still and the sky a cloudless dome of brilliant stars.

There were several ships plying the North Atlantic that night, their crews going about their usual business with no inkling of the terrible drama that was about to unfold. Several crews would pass the entire night in ignorance of what was happening for not all ships had radios at this date, especially the sailing craft that still travelled the oceans in large numbers. But for many ships the night would be one of high drama, excitement and tragedy.

The ship most involved was RMS Titanic, the magnificent luxury liner and flagship of the White Star Line, that was on her maiden voyage. She would sink with massive loss of life before dawn came. At 52,310 tons displacement, Titanic was the largest ship in the world. She could in theory steam at around 24 knots, making her one of the fastest ships on the North Atlantic run. However, since this was her maiden voyage and the engines were not yet run in, Titanic had a maximum speed of 21 knots. Her maximum capacity was for 2,435 passengers with 892 crew, a total of 3,327, but due to changes in the date of sailing there were only 1,317 passengers and 885 crew on board that night.

The Titanic

The commanding officer, Captain Edward Smith, was a highly experienced and well regarded officer of passenger liners. Aged 62 at the time, Smith had been due to retire but had agreed to command the Titanic’s maiden voyage as his final duty to the White Star Line. He had gone to sea aged 17 on sailing merchant ships, transferring to steam passenger ships when he joined the White Star Line in 1880.

Captain Smith of the Titanic

Seven years later he was given command of a ship and soon afterwards was commissioned into the Royal Navy Reserve. This latter did not involve military command but did mean that he was considered fit to command transport or troop ships on active service - and allowed him to fly the coveted blue ensign from his ship. In 1904, Smith became Commodore, or senior captain, of the White Star Line. His crews adored him, his fellow captains respected him and his passengers admired him.

At 11pm, Titanic was steaming almost directly due west. She had previously been steaming approximately southwest along the accepted winter route for crossing the North Atlantic from Ireland to New York. This route followed a line known as the great arc from Ireland to a location southeast of Newfoundland. Ships then would turn at a point around 42o North and 47o West. They would then steam on a direct route to their destination. This route was designed to keep the ships on as short a route as possible while keeping well away from the area where field ice was to be found. The route was inside the area where isolated icebergs were sometimes to be found, but by April these were generally rare. However, the spring of 1912 saw icebergs and field ice come considerably further south than had ever been known before.

Throughout the day, Titanic had been receiving ice reports from other ships. These revealed that icebergs and even field ice were further south than expected. Smith delayed making the turn to a westerly course, presumably because of the ice reports. The new route was to the south of the intended route and outside the area of reported ice. However, ice was known to be in the vicinity, so Smith increased the number of lookouts and gave firm orders that they were to keep a keen eye open for ice.

As is well known, an iceberg was sighted dead ahead at 11.40pm by lookout Frederick Fleet in the crow’s nest on the fore mast. First Officer Murdoch ordered the helm to be put over, but it was too late. Titanic hit the iceberg and Murdoch ordered the ship to stop. At first it was not clear if the damage was serious or not. Captain Smith was on the bridge within a few seconds. He ordered Fourth Officer Boxhall to go below to inspect the damage. He also ordered that the ship’s location be calculated in case it proved necessary to radio for assistance.

The position of the Titanic when she struck the iceberg was to prove to be one of the most contentious issues that night, and had a serious impact on the rescue mission. It has never been clear who worked out the position, but it was probably either Smith or First Officer Murdoch. Whoever it was, located the Titanic at 41.44 North 50.24 West.

In these days of satellite navigation it is easy to discover a ship’s position. Even an untrained person can look at the computer read out. But in 1912, marine navigation was not much changed from the days when Nelson fought the Battle of Trafalgar. By using a sextant to take sightings on the sun at noon a skilled navigator could calculate the position of his ship to within a mile or so. At night it was more difficult. Latitude could be calculated to within two miles