Titanic survivors
And the relatives who waited in suspense
Alex Q. Arbuckle
1912
At 11:39 p.m. on April 14, 1912, lookout Frederick Fleet spotted an iceberg dead ahead of the Titanic, which was steaming at near full speed on her maiden voyage to New York.Two hours and 40 minutes later, she slipped beneath the waves. Of the 2,224 people on board the supposedly unsinkable ship, only about 700 made it to the lifeboats. The remaining 1,500 were trapped in the belly of the sinking ship or died within minutes of leaping into the frigid North Atlantic water.Just before dawn on April 15, the flotilla of survivors was spotted by the RMS Carpathia. By 9 a.m. all the survivors were aboard.
When day broke, I saw the ice I had steamed through during the night. I shuddered, and could only think that some other hand than mine was on that helm during the night. - Captain Arthur H. Rostron, Commander of Carpathia
Titanic foundered about 2:30 AM April 15. About 675 crew and passengers picked up... Names of those saved will be posted as soon as received. - Bulletin at White Star offices, Southampton
As the Carpathia steamed toward New York, she dispatched radio messages to spread the news of the tragedy. The public was shocked, and relatives of passengers were thrown into panic as they searched for information on their loved ones. The offices of the White Star Line were swarmed in New York, as well as in Southampton, where most of the crew hailed.Some of the rich and famous survivors and victims were identified before the Carpathia arrived, but friends and family of lower class passengers and crew had to wait in agonizing suspense. After a treacherous journey, Carpathia arrived in New York Harbor on the rainy evening of April 18. The ship was surrounded by more than 50 tugboats carrying journalists, who shouted up to the survivors, offering money for firsthand accounts. A Hearst reporter who had been traveling aboard the Carpathia and had already interviewed survivors placed his notes in a buoyant cigar box and tossed them into the water for his editor to retrieve.After dropping off the empty lifeboats at the White Star Line’s Pier 59, the ship docked at Pier 54. She was greeted by an anxious crowd of 40,000 waiting in the pouring rain.
Stop. Say nothing. Hold your story for dollars in four figures. - Guglielmo Marconi to wireless operator Harold Bride
...The white light from the arc lamps flickered on hundreds of faces which were wan and grey by anxiety. The crowd was very dense around the entrance to the Company's offices, but frequently a gap was formed to allow some grief-stricken relative to pass in and inquire if any more news was to hand. But each time the answer was the same, and the inquirer turned once more towards the street with head bowed. - Hampshire Independent, April 1912
Disembarking survivors were swarmed by the press, the bereaved and autograph-seekers. Some moved on to relatives in New York and other cities, while the less fortunate were sheltered by charities. The next day, the U.S. Senate convened a special hearing on the disaster at the old Waldorf-Astoria hotel. On April 29, the surviving Southampton crew returned to their homes in the south of England. Of the 724 crew who hailed from that one city, at least 549 did not make it back.
Late in the afternoon hope died out. The waiting crowds thinned, and silent men and women sought their homes. In the humbler homes of Southampton there is scarcely a family who has not lost a relative or friend. Children returning from school appreciated something of tragedy, and woeful little faces were turned to the darkened, fatherless homes. - Daily Mail, April 23, 1912
