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THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
BY COLONEL ARCHIBALD GRACIE AUTHOR OF THE TRUTH ABOUT CHICKAMAUGA SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK MITCHELL KENNERLEY 1913 Copyright 1913 by Mitchell Kennerley Press of J. J. Little & Ives Company East Twenty-fourth Street New York COLONEL ARCHIBALD GRACIE...
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CHAPTER I THE LAST DAY ABOARD SHIP
CHAPTER I THE LAST DAY ABOARD SHIP
“There is that Leviathan.”—Ps. 104:26. A S the sole survivor of all the men passengers of the Titanic stationed during the loading of six or more lifeboats with women and children on the port side of the ship, forward on the glass-sheltered Deck A, and later on the Boat Deck above, it is my duty to bear testimony to the heroism on the part of all concerned. First, to my men companions who calmly stood by until the lifeboats had departed loaded with women and the available complement of crew, and
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CHAPTER II STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG
CHAPTER II STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG
“Watchman, what of the night?”—Isaiah 21:11. M Y stateroom was an outside one on Deck C on the starboard quarter, somewhat abaft amidships. It was No. C, 51. I was enjoying a good night’s rest when I was aroused by a sudden shock and noise forward on the starboard side, which I at once concluded was caused by a collision, with some other ship perhaps. I jumped from my bed, turned on the electric light, glanced at my watch nearby on the dresser, which I had changed to agree with ship’s time on th
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CHAPTER III THE FOUNDERING OF THE “TITANIC”
CHAPTER III THE FOUNDERING OF THE “TITANIC”
“There is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.”—Jeremiah 49:23. B EFORE I resume the story of my personal escape it is pertinent that I should, at this juncture, discuss certain points wherein the statements of survivors are strangely at variance. First: Was there an explosion of the ship’s boilers? I am of opinion that there was none, because I should have been conscious of it. When aboard ship I should have heard it and felt it, but I did not. As my senses were on the lookout for every dange
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CHAPTER IV STRUGGLING IN THE WATER FOR LIFE
CHAPTER IV STRUGGLING IN THE WATER FOR LIFE
“Out of the deep have I called unto Thee, O Lord.”—Ps. 130:1. I NOW resume the narrative description of my miraculous escape, and it is with considerable diffidence that I do so, for the personal equation monopolizes more attention than may be pleasing to my readers who are not relatives or intimate friends. As may be noticed in Chapter II , it was Clinch Smith’s suggestion and on his initiative that we left that point on the starboard side of the Boat Deck where the crew, under Chief Officer Wi
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CHAPTER V ALL NIGHT ON BOTTOM OF HALF SUBMERGED UPTURNED BOAT
CHAPTER V ALL NIGHT ON BOTTOM OF HALF SUBMERGED UPTURNED BOAT
“O God of our salvation, Thou who art the hope of them that remain in the broad sea....”—Ps. 65:5, 7. A LL my companions in shipwreck who made their escape with me on top of the bottom-side-up Engelhardt boat, must recall the anxious moment after the limit was reached when “about 30 men had clambered out of the water on to the boat.” The weight of each additional body submerged our lifecraft more and more beneath the surface. There were men swimming in the water all about us. One more clambering
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Foreword
Foreword
T HE previous chapters, describing my personal experience on board the Titanic and remarkable escape from death in the icy waters of the middle Atlantic, were written some months ago. In the interim I have received the pamphlets, printed in convenient form, containing the hearings of both the American and British Courts of Inquiry, and have given them considerable study. These official sources of information have added materially to my store of knowledge concerning the shipwreck, and corroborate
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BOAT NO. 6.[6]
BOAT NO. 6.[6]
[6] British Report (p. 38) puts this boat first to leave port side at 12.55. Lightoller’s testimony shows it could not have been the first. No male passengers. Passengers: Miss Bowerman, Mrs. J. J. Brown, Mrs. Candee, Mrs. Cavendish and her maid (Miss Barber), Mrs. Meyer, Miss Norton, Mrs. Rothschild, Mrs. L. P. Smith, Mrs. Stone and her maid (Miss Icard). Ordered in to supply lack of crew: Major A. G. Peuchen. Said good-bye to wives and sank with ship: Messrs. Cavendish, Meyer, Rothschild and L
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BOAT NO. 8.[8]
BOAT NO. 8.[8]
[8] British Report (p. 38) puts this boat second on port side at 1.10. Notwithstanding Seaman Fleet’s testimony (Am. Inq., p. 363), I think she must have preceded No. 6. No male passengers in this boat. Passengers: Mrs. Bucknell and her maid (Albina Bazzani); Miss Cherry, Mrs. Kenyon, Miss Leader, Mrs. Pears, Mrs. Penasco and her maid (Mlle. Olivia); Countess Rothes and her maid (Miss Maloney); Mrs. Swift, Mrs. Taussig, Miss Taussig, Mrs. White and her maid (Amelia Bessetti); Mrs. Wick, Miss Wic
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BOAT NO. 12.[11]
BOAT NO. 12.[11]
[11] British Report (p. 38) says this was the fourth boat lowered on port side at 1.25 A. M. No male passengers in this boat. Passengers: Miss Phillips. Women and children, 40. Bade good-bye to his daughter and sank with the ship: Mr. Phillips. Crew: Seamen Poigndestre (in charge), F. Clench. Later, Lucas and two firemen were transferred from boat “D.” Jumped from deck below as boat was lowered: 1 Frenchman. Total: 43. Transfers were made to this boat first from Engelhardt “D” and second , from
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BOAT NO. 14.[12]
BOAT NO. 14.[12]
[12] British Report (p. 38) says this was the fifth boat on the port side, lowered at 1.30. No male passengers in this boat. Passengers: Mrs. Compton, Miss Compton, Mrs. Minahan, Miss Minahan, Mrs. Collyer, Miss Collyer. Picked up out of sea: W. F. Hoyt (who died), Steward J. Stewart, and a plucky Japanese. Women: 50. Volunteer when crew was short: C. Williams. Crew: Fifth Officer Lowe, Seaman Scarrot, 2 firemen, Stewards Crowe and Morris. Stowaway: 1 Italian. Bade good-bye and sank with ship: D
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BOAT NO. 16.[14]
BOAT NO. 16.[14]
[14] British Report (p. 38) gives this as the sixth boat lowered from the port side at 1.35 A. M. No male passengers. Passengers: Fifty women and children—second and third-class. Crew: Master-at-arms Bailey in charge. Seaman Archer, Steward Andrews, Stewardess Leather, and two others. Total: 56. E. Archer, A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 645): I assisted in getting Nos. 12, 14 and 16 out—getting the falls and everything ready and passengers into No. 14. Then I went to No. 16. I saw that the plug was in tigh
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BOAT NO. 2.[15]
BOAT NO. 2.[15]
[15] British Report (p. 38) gives this as the seventh boat lowered on the port side at 1.45 A. M. Only one old man, third-class, a foreigner in this boat. Passengers: Miss Allen (now Mrs. J. B. Mennell), Mrs. Appleton, Mrs. Cornell, Mrs. Douglas and maid (Miss Le Roy), Miss Madill, Mrs. Robert and maid (Amelia Kenchen). One old man, third-class, foreigner, and family: Brahim Youssef, Hanne Youssef, and children Marian and Georges. The rest second and third-class. Bade good-bye to wife and sank w
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BOAT NO. 4.[17]
BOAT NO. 4.[17]
[17] British Report (p. 38) says this was the eighth and last lifeboat that left the ship and lowered at 1.55 A. M. No male passengers in this boat. Passengers: Mrs. Astor and maid (Miss Bidois), Miss Bowen, Mrs. Carter and maid (Miss Serepeca), Mrs. Clark, Mrs. Cummings, Miss Eustis, Mrs. Ryerson and children, Miss S. R., Miss E. and Master J. B. and maid (Chandowson), Mrs. Stephenson, Mrs. Thayer and maid, Mrs. Widener and maid. Women and children: 36. (Br. Rpt.) Crew: Perkis, Q. M., in charge
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ENGELHARDT BOAT “D.”[19]
ENGELHARDT BOAT “D.”[19]
[19] British Report (p. 38) puts this as the last boat lowered at 2.05. No male passengers in this boat. Passengers: Mrs. J. M. Brown, Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Frederick Hoyt, the Navratil children. Picked up from the sea: Frederick Hoyt. Bade good-bye to wife and sank with ship: Mr. Harris. Crew: Bright, Q. M., in charge; Seaman Lucas; Steward Hardy. Stowaway: One steerage foreigner, Joseph Dugemin. Jumped from deck below as boat was lowered: H. B. Steffanson (Swede), and H. Woolner (Englishman). Tota
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ENGELHARDT BOAT “B.”
ENGELHARDT BOAT “B.”
[ The Upset Boat ] Passengers: A. H. Barkworth, Archibald Gracie, John B. Thayer, Jr., first cabin. Crew: Second Officer Lightoller, Junior Marconi Operator Bride; Firemen: McGann, Senior; Chief Baker Joughin; Cooks: Collins, Maynard; Steward Whiteley, “J. Hagan.” Seaman J. McGough (possibly). Two men died on boat. Body of one transferred to No. 12 and finally to Carpathia . He was a fireman probably, but Cunard Co. preserved no record of him or his burial. C. H. Lightoller, Second Officer (Am.
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BOAT NO. 7.[21]
BOAT NO. 7.[21]
[21] First to leave ship starboard side at 12.45 [Br. Rpt., p. 38.] No disorder in loading or lowering this boat. Passengers: Mesdames Bishop, Earnshaw, Gibson, Greenfield, Potter, Snyder, and Misses Gibson and Hays, Messrs. Bishop, Chevré, Daniel, Greenfield, McGough, Maréchal, Seward, Sloper, Snyder, Tucker. Transferred from Boat No. 5: Mrs. Dodge and her boy; Messrs. Calderhead and Flynn. Crew: Seamen: Hogg (in charge), Jewell, Weller. Total: 28. Archie Jewell, L. O. (Br. Inq.): Was awakened
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BOAT NO. 5.[22]
BOAT NO. 5.[22]
[22] Second boat lowered on the starboard side at 12.55 (Br. Rpt., p. 38.) No disorder in loading or lowering this boat. Passengers: Mesdames Cassebeer, Chambers, Crosby, Dodge and her boy, Frauenthal, Goldenberg, Harder, Kimball, Stehli, Stengel, Taylor, Warren, and Misses Crosby, Newson, Ostby and Frolicher Stehli. Messrs. Beckwith, Behr, Calderhead, Chambers, Flynn, Goldenberg, Harder, Kimball, Stehli, Taylor. Bade good-bye to wives and daughters and sank with ship: Captain Crosby, Mr. Ostby
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BOAT NO. 3.[24]
BOAT NO. 3.[24]
[24] Third boat lowered on starboard side 1.00 (Br. Rpt., p. 38). No disorder in loading or lowering this boat. Passengers: Mesdames Cardeza and maid (Anna Hard), Davidson, Dick, Graham, Harper, Hays and maid (Miss Pericault), Spedden and maid (Helen Wilson) and son Douglas and his trained nurse, Miss Burns, and Misses Graham and Shutes. Men: Messrs. Cardeza and man-servant (Lesneur), Dick, Harper and man-servant (Hamad Hassah) and Spedden. Men who helped load women and children in this boat and
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EMERGENCY BOAT NO. 1.[29]
EMERGENCY BOAT NO. 1.[29]
[29] This was the fourth boat to leave the starboard side. No disorder in loading or lowering this boat. Passengers: Lady Duff Gordon and maid (Miss Francatelli). Men: Lord Duff Gordon and Messrs. Solomon and Stengel. Total: 5. Crew: Seamen: Symons (in charge), Horswell. Firemen: Collins, Hendrickson, Pusey, Shee, Taylor. Total: 7. Grand Total: 12. G. Symons, A. B. (Br. Inq.): Witness assisted in putting passengers in Nos. 5 and 3 under Mr. Murdoch’s orders, women and children first. He saw 5 an
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BOAT NO. 9.[31]
BOAT NO. 9.[31]
[31] The fifth boat lowered on starboard side, 1.20 (Br. Rpt., p. 38). No disorder when this boat was loaded and lowered. Passengers: Mesdames Aubert and maid (Mlle. Segesser), Futrelle, Lines; Miss Lines, and second and third-class. Men: Two or three. Said good-bye to wife and sank with ship: Mr. Futrelle. Crew: Seamen: Haines (in charge), Wynne, Q. M., McGough, Peters; Stewards: Ward, Widgery and others. Total: 56. A. Haines, boatswain’s mate (Am. Inq., p. 755): Officer Murdoch and witness fil
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BOAT NO. 11.[33]
BOAT NO. 11.[33]
[33] Sixth boat lowered on starboard side, 1.25 (Br. Rpt., p. 38). No disorder when this boat was loaded and lowered. Passengers: Women: Mrs. Schabert and two others of first cabin; all the rest second and third class. Fifty-eight women and children in all. Men: Mr. Mock, first cabin, and two others. Crew: Seamen: Humphreys (in charge), Brice; Stewards: Wheate, MacKay, McMicken, Thessinger, Wheelton; Fireman: ——; Stewardess: Mrs. Robinson. Total: 70. W. Brice, A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 648): This boat
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BOAT NO. 13.[34]
BOAT NO. 13.[34]
[34] Seventh boat lowered on starboard side, 1.25 (Br. Rpt., p. 38). No disorder when this boat was loaded and lowered. Passengers: Women: Second cabin, including Mrs. Caldwell and her child Alden. All the rest second and third-class women. Men: Dr. Dodge only first cabin passenger. Second cabin, Messrs. Beasley and Caldwell. One Japanese. Crew: Firemen: Barrett (in charge), Beauchamp, Major and two others. Stewards: Ray, Wright and another; also baker ——. Total: 64. Mr. Lawrence Beesley’s book,
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BOAT NO. 15.[35]
BOAT NO. 15.[35]
[35] Br. Rpt., p. 38, places this next to last lowered on starboard side at 1.35. No disorder in loading or lowering this boat. Passengers: All third-class women and children (53) and Men: Mr. Haven (first-class) and three others (third-class) only. Total: 4. Crew: Firemen: Diamond (in charge), Cavell, Taylor; Stewards: Rule, Hart. Total: 13. Grand Total (Br. Rpt., p. 38): 70. G. Cavell, trimmer (Br. Inq.): The officer ordered five of us in the boat. We took on all the women and children and the
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ENGELHARDT BOAT “C.”[36]
ENGELHARDT BOAT “C.”[36]
[36] Br. Rpt., p. 38, makes this last boat lowered on starboard side at 1.40. No disorder in loading or lowering this boat. Passengers: President Ismay, Mr. Carter. Balance women and children. Crew: Quartermaster Rowe (in charge). Steward Pearce. Barber Weikman. Firemen, three. Stowaways: Four Chinamen, or Filipinos. Total: 39. G. T. Rowe, Q. M. (Am. Inq., p. 519, and Br. Inq.): To avoid repetition, the testimony of this witness before the two Courts of Inquiry is consolidated: He assisted the o
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ENGELHARDT BOAT “A.”
ENGELHARDT BOAT “A.”
Floated off the ship. Passengers: T. Beattie,* P. D. Daly,† G. Rheims, R. N. Williams, Jr., first-class; O. Abelseth,† W. J. Mellers, second-class; and Mrs. Rosa Abbott,† Edward Lindley,‡ third-class. Crew: Steward: E. Brown. Firemen: J. Thompson, one unidentified body.* Seaman: one unidentified body.* * Body found in boat by Oceanic . † Pulled into boat out of sea. ‡ Died in boat. An extraordinary story pertains to this boat. At the outset of my research it was called a “boat of mystery,” occas
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CONCLUDING NOTE By Charles Vale
CONCLUDING NOTE By Charles Vale
C OLONEL GRACIE died on the fourth of December, 1912. He had been in feeble health all through the summer, but had no definite physical complaint. He felt ill and weak, and ascribed his condition to the exposure and strain through which he went in the Titanic disaster. Mrs. Gracie and his daughter were with him up to the end, which he knew was coming, for the day before he died he had the minister of the Church of the Incarnation brought to his bedside, and Holy Communion was administered. On th
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