Titanic's Last Secrets by Brad Matsen

Author:Brad Matsen
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: HIS000000
ISBN: 9780446543392
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2008-10-01T04:30:00+00:00

WESTBOUND STEAMERS REPORT BERGS, GROWLERS, AND FIELD ICE IN 42° N FROM 49° TO 51° W, 12 APRIL. COMPLIMENTS, BARR.

Shortly after noon, from Baltic:

HAVE HAD MODERATE, VARIABLE WINDS AND CLEAR, FINE WEATHER SINCE LEAVING. GREEK STEAMER ATHENAI REPORTS PASSING ICEBERGS AND LARGE QUANTITIES OF FIELD ICE TODAY AT LAT. 41° 51' N, LONG. 49° 52' W.

An overheard transmission from Amerika right after Baltic:

AMERIKA PASSED TWO LARGE ICEBERGS, 41° 27' N, 50° 8' W, ON 14 APRIL.

In the chartroom, Smith felt Titanic shiver under his feet. In five strides, he was on the bridge.

What is it, Murdoch? he asked.

“An iceberg, Sir,” Murdoch answered. “I hard-a-starboarded and reversed the engines. I was going to hard-a-port round it but she was too close. I could not do any more. I have closed the watertight doors.”

Five minutes after Ismay’s shuddering bed woke him, he walked quickly along the corridor in the officers’ quarters, past the Marconi room, and out into the chilly air of the navigation bridge. There were many more men than usual on watch, which alone told him that something was very wrong.

Ismay pulled Smith out of earshot of the others. They stood face-to-face for a few long seconds; then Ismay pivoted and rushed out the open door onto the bridge wing. Ismay was still in his pajamas, slippers, and overcoat, and even with the ship sitting still, the frigid air knifed into him as he ran aft on the boat deck. In a minute, he was in the engineers’ smoking hut, then clacking down the metal staircase through six decks. At the bottom, he emerged on the catwalk in the hideously silent cavern of the engine room. Just then, the engines came to life.

After Ismay left the bridge, Smith had ordered all ahead half. Whatever had happened to his ship was not going to sink it, but there was little doubt that he had to make landfall as quickly as possible. He sent a seaman to wake up Wilde and Lightoller, and went to the Marconi room. Smith told Harold Bride to try to get a message through to Cape Race, Newfoundland. Bride said he was barely in range but he would try. Have Cape Race relay a message by transatlantic cable to White Star in London, Smith said. Tell them that Titanic is damaged and heading for Halifax. Repairs at Harland and Wolff might be necessary.

The carpenter arrived on the bridge and told Smith that the ship had water in the three forward compartments but he wasn’t sure how fast it was coming in. Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall, who had also been inspecting the damage, told him the mailroom on the starboard side, ten feet above the bottom, was knee-deep in water. Chief Engineer Bell reported that the firemen were working in waist-deep water, damping their furnaces in Boiler Room 6 to prevent a boiler explosion.

Smith ordered all stop. A minute later the engines were still. Two minutes after that, slowed more quickly than usual by the wounds in its bow, Titanic was dead in the water.

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