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- [00:00]
Rocket Money Advertiser
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- [01:08]
Podcast Host
Though we cover a lot of world history on the show, as an American with a largely American audience, it's no surprise that I feature a preponderance of American history. But I wonder if that isn't a personal betrayal. Because while I am an American born right here in Texas, my parents are Australian. I'm a first generation American, and I know a whole lot more about the country I was born in than the one my parents left. I mean, I'm ashamed to admit, but I don't even know who the Prime Minister of Australia is at the moment. I looked it up. It's Anthony Albanese. But shouldn't I know that? Shouldn't I have more of an understanding of the land of my forefathers? Luckily, there's a podcast for that. So on today's Saturday matinee, we are sharing an episode from Forgotten Australia, one that proves that anywhere you need courage you can find in Australia, even on the deck of the Titanic, I hope you enjoy. While you're listening, be sure to search for and follow Forgotten Australia. We put a link in the show notes to make it easy for you.
- [02:11]
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Michael Adams (Narrator)
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Michael Adams (Narrator)
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- [04:17]
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- [04:18]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Flawless pour, perfectly timed. Just beautiful. Big league reliability for any business. That's genius. It's 6am on 2nd April 1912 on the River Lagon in Belfast Island. Australian Albert Nichols is at the peak of his maritime career. The 47 year old cuts a commanding figure with his solid build, neat moustache, blue navy cap and a blue jacket with six company buttons and an anchor on the left sleeve. Albert's trousers are perfectly pressed and his black leather shoes are polished to a parade gloss.
- [05:03]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
If you didn't recognise Albert as a white star lined bosun by his splendidly turned out uniform, you might buy his bosun's pipe.
- [05:13]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
This long brass whistle's high pitched sounds can cut through the noise of a big steamer on the windswept ocean and are immediately understood as specific orders by the 30 or so able seamen under his command.
- [05:27]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
While the bosun's birth name is Albert.
- [05:29]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
He's called Alfred by family, friends and his crew, but he's further known as Bertie Mech and by the affectionate nickname Big Neck, which refers to his stout build. By any name, Albert inspires confidence.
- [05:44]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
He has to, because as this ship's boson, he's in charge of deck operations.
- [05:50]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
At this moment, Albert and his men are all busy ensuring that the four tugboats, 75ft below the main deck, smoothly help this grandest of new ships and into the open water of Belfast Lock. With excited crowds on shore watching, the tugs guide the liner until it's about two miles off the coast in the Irish Sea. Then they let her go. The big ship's huge boilers are fired up one after the other. Her triple propellers turn. For the first time, a flag signifying that sea trials are to commence is hoisted and the ship gives three long blasts from its siren. Albert Nicholls is part of a crew that's making history. The biggest and most luxurious ocean liner ever built, the White Star Lions Titanic is moving under her own steam for the very first time. For the rest of the day, Titanic's speed, manoeuvrability, stopping distance and other capabilities will come under scrutiny. The trial's successful. Early that evening, back in Belfast, Titanic is approved as seaworthy. But there's no rest for Albert or for the rest of the skeleton crew of 41 officers and seamen and the further 78 stokers, trimmers and greasers, all under the command of Captain E.J. smith. That's because at 8pm, Titanic is steaming again through the Irish Sea, this time bound for Southampton, from where she will, in just over a week, make her maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City. Out on the deck, the black sky above, the salt air in his lungs, his men going about their deck work, Albert Nicholls is in his element. All his life, he's been surrounded by boats and the sea. Now he's a man with much responsibility aboard Titanic, the greatest ship ever built. The sinking of Titanic has been recounted in thousands of books and commemorated in everything from musicals, exhibitions and model kits to Lego sets, video games and even recipe books. The most popular recreations, though, have been the dozen or more movies about the epic tragedy. The first of these films, saved from the Titanic, was released just 29 days after the ship sank on 15 April 1912, and it starred actress Dorothy Gibson as herself, because she'd actually survived the disaster. Sadly, that film is lost. But just about everyone has seen James Cameron's mighty 1997 blockbuster Titanic, which won 11 Oscars and even 20 years after release, remains the second biggest grossing movie of all time. We all know the fictional story of Jack and Rose. Maybe you've even debated whether she could have made room for him on that day. Damn door.
- [08:46]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Yet barely anyone knows the story of Australia's real life Titanic hero, Boson Albert Nichols, and about the mystery that swirls around him to this day.
- [08:57]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
To understand how Albert Nichols came to be on the Titanic, we need to understand where he came from. One of Australia's most beautiful, most remote and least visited places, lord Howe Island. 780 kilometres northeast of Sydney and 600 kilometres directly east of Port Macquarie. Crescent shaped, Lord Howe island is a 7 million year old volcanic peak that rises out of the South Pacific's Tasman Sea.
- [09:26]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
It's a place of towering mountains that stand half a mile straight up from the ocean. Yet it's just 10 kilometres long and.
- [09:34]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
About 2 kilometres across at its widest point. Its subtropical forest and jungle teem with birds and insects that are found nowhere else on earth. Lord Howe island is ringed by pristine beaches whose clear emerald waters and coral reefs are home to an abundance of fish and sea turtles. The night sky glitters with so many stars, it's possible to see yourself by their distant light. While Lord Howe island is officially part of Australia, it's also very far apart from the mainland.
- [10:05]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
You'll see giant stick insects, until recently thought extinct, flightless wood hens that are related to New Zealand's birds, and the soaring red tailed tropic bird, also known as the boson bird. What you won't see are kangaroos, koalas, wombats, emus or any of the other animals for which Australia is famous.
- [10:26]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Nor will you see a snake, for the island has none. And its spiders aren't deadly as they can be on the mainland. Lord Howe island is often, and with great justification, spoken of as an idyllic paradise that's among the world's most beautiful places. Lord Howe island was discovered in mid February 1788, just three weeks after the settlement that would become Sydney started at Port Jackson. Unlike mainland Australia, the island was uninhabited and for nearly half a century it would remain unsettled. Sometimes visited by colonial ships, Lord Howe island was used chiefly as a place to stock up on sea turtles, whose meat helped prevent scurvy. Any men going ashore could also easily help themselves to the island's birds, who, free from predators since time began, showed no fear of humans. Within 50 years, two species were eaten into extinction. From the 1820s, Lord Howe island would have a new class of visiting mariner whalers from as far away as London, San Francisco and Nantucket, whose three or four year voyages brought them to southern waters in search of sperm and southern right whales. In 1834, the first settlers arrived on Lord Howe island to take advantage of this opportunity. A trio of Englishmen from New Zealand and their Maori wives. This small group was employed to set up a supply station for whaling ships. They farmed the land and bred pigs and goats from feral stocks that whalers had released. Seven years later, in September 1842, retired British officer Captain Owen Poole bought out these original settlers and ramped up the whaling supply operation. Among his first employees were Thomas and Margaret Andrews, who signed on as servants. For one year Thomas had been a mate on the ship James paterson, which in 1832 brought Irish immigrant Margaret to Sydney. They fell in love and married in 1836. Thomas and Margaret worked for a time as floating lighthouse keepers in Sydney Harbour and then tried to get their own maritime freight business going. But that failed and in 1842 one of Thomas old shipmates introduced the couple to Captain Poole who offered them 12 months work as servants on Lord Howe Island. Once their contract was over, Thomas and Margaret returned to Sydney with their savings and bought 400 acres of land to try their hand at farming. Falling victim to an economic slump, they had to sell up, getting just ten pounds for their land on which now stands North Sydney Railway Station. Thomas and Mary went back to Lord Howe island in 1844 to work again for Captain Poole. That same year, Captain Poole sold half his share of the business to a Dr. John Foulis, who came to live on the island. Finishing their second contract as servants, Thomas and Margaret Andrews decided to stay on Lord Howe Island. They lived in a house made from palm thatch and went into partnership with with other workers to farm about 44 acres of land. On New Year's Eve 1846, Thomas and Margaret had their first and only child, a daughter named Mary. In 1847-1848, when Captain Poole and Dr. Foulis failed to secure leaseholds from the New South Wales government, they decided to return to the mainland, most of their employees going with them. By consent, the Andrews family took possession of their holdings and property that included Captain Poole's homestead, the Pines, which they bought from him for two tons of potatoes. 180 years later, the pines is still in the family, but it is now known as the award winning tourist destination Pine Trees Lodge. In 1849, Lord Howe island was home to just 11 people, but they were an industrious bunch. Finding red onions washed up on a Beach in 1848, Margaret Andrews cultivated them and created a valuable export industry. Other crops included pumpkin, carrots, maize, watermelon, grapes and even coffee. Living in a cashless society, the Lord Howe Islanders bartered their produce for goods brought by whalers. One import that Lord Howe island managed to avoid was convicts. The New South Wales government did consider establishing a penal colony, but nothing ever came of it, sparing Lord Howe Island a brutal history like that of Norfolk island. During the 1850s, whaling increased and the island was visited more frequently by ships. Lord Howe island was remote, but the population was growing gradually as other families settled and it was proving to be a viable community. Thomas Andrews died in 1860, but the family soon had a new patriarch. This was Captain Thomas Nicholls, commander of the whaling ship Aladdin out of Hobart. Captain Nicholls arrived on Lord Howe island in July 1862 and was quite taken by Thomas and Margaret Andrews only daughter, Mary, who is now a few months short shy of 16. After a month long courtship, Thomas and Mary were married. Captain Thomas and Mary lived at the Pines with her mother. Though Captain Nicholls spent much of his time at sea hunting whales, he'd returned from these long voyages long enough to do his husbandly duty. And on 16 July 1864, the couple welcomed their first son, Albert William Stanley Nicholls. Captain Nicholls and Mary would go on to have eight more surviving children, establishing themselves as a pioneering family dynasty. Though Lord Howe island is spectacular, the handful of families who lived there had to work hard, producing everything they consumed or traded. For young Albert Nicholls in the early 1870s, growing up on Lord Howe island must have been a combination of heaven and and hell. He could climb the ancient banyan trees, explore the hills and mountains where the island's giant stick insects could be caught as bait for fishing. The salmon in particular provided good sport, pulling and struggling like roped calves at George's Bay.
- [16:54]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
He could imagine finding the treasure 5,000 gold sovereigns that had been buried there by shipwreck sailors in 1830. And there were remains undiscovered to this.
- [17:04]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Day in the clear waters of the lagoon. Albert could swim with fearless fish and sea turtles, while similarly tame mutton birds and wood hens were found all over the island. The islanders also liked to go pig hunting and enjoyed playing cricket and card games. But what they really loved was to get together for a night of singing and dancing with most members of the community, known for belting up their favorite ballads. Albert's favourites aren't recorded, but his uncle William loved the American Civil War song Kingdom Coming. George, Albert's younger brother, liked to sing the Red, White and Blue and Little Brown Jug. Though there was plenty of fun to be had as a child on Lord Howe Island, Albert would also have experienced plenty of drudgery. With his father at sea for months on end and his grandfather died dying before he was born, Albert had many daily chores around the house and farm. He would also have had to look after his younger brothers and sisters in between doing this work and taking whatever lessons in reading and writing his mother gave him, for Lord Howe island had no school. Young Albert surely dreamed of the adventures to be had in the far off whaling grounds his father worked and of exploring the world that lay beyond the endless horizon encircling his island home.
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- [19:26]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
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- [20:29]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Whaling went into decline in the late 1860s and far fewer ships visited Lord Howe island in the early 1870s, until barely any came at all. That left Lord Lord Howe Island's residents reliant on the regular trading vessel that took their major export red onions, back to the mainland. But a destructive fungus destroyed that crop in 1878, giving the trading boat no reason to continue making the trip. After that, Lord Howe Islanders were cut off from the rest of the world for months at a time and agriculture declined because there was no one to trade with. As a remote self sufficient community, Lord Howe Islanders, though under the control of New South Wales, were self governing. This arrangement was tested when retired naval officer Captain Richard Armstrong was appointed to the island in 1878 and the following year was made its Resident Magistrate. As part of the deal he got a handsome 300 pound annual salary and a 100 acre lease hold of prime island land for just 5 shillings rent per year. Captain Armstrong brought with him to Lord Howe island some worthy changes, including introducing more efficient farming methods, building the first road and hiring the first schoolmaster. But Lord Howe Islanders had been running their own affairs for more than 30 years and it's no surprise some of them resented his presence. Captain Thomas Nicholls particularly was aggrieved that Captain Armstrong shut down the scene. Still, he used to make fiery rotgut liquor. Adding insult to injury, the New South Wales government now only vaguely confirmed the Lord Howe Islanders own leases. Between them they were allowed just 32 acres for cultivation. Just one third of the land area that Captain Armstrong had. In December 1881, Captain Armstrong negotiated the first sale of the island's now famous Kentia palm. Lord Howe Islanders thought the deal was all in his favour and they petitioned the New South Wales government to recall him for this and other serious transgressions. But the petition was ignored until a month later in Sydney when two separate government officials accused Captain Armstrong of financial misconduct. Then the petition was re examined and an inquiry was held on Lord Howe Island. Nine islanders testified against Captain Armstrong, though they weren't put under oath. Nor was he allowed to cross examine these hostile witnesses. Under these circumstances, the most serious charges against Captain Armstrong. That he'd failed to prosecute one of his workers who sexually assaulted a child, that he'd monopolised island trade, that he'd illegally sold liquor to islanders were found likely true. During the inquiry, Captain Armstrong vehemently protested his innocence In a secret memo that became public, he also savagely criticised every islander who'd signed the petition. And he was particularly vicious in his denunciations of Captain Thomas and Mary Nicholls. Thomas, he said, was a lazy, troublesome man who claimed the island and as his birthright, who denied government authority, who was a drunk and who deliberately wrecked a ship in Noumea. Mary, meanwhile, was a very vindictive woman who hated authority and who had been carrying on behind her husband's back with another whaling captain. Further, while Captain Armstrong said the Nicholls children were a fine character, he said they were also the most backward on the island because their parents had kept them away from the school he'd established. That there was truth on both sides was best illustrated by Captain Armstrong branding Thomas Nicholls a drunk while also admitting he had extended him credit so he could buy dozens of bottles of wine and spirits for so called medicinal purposes. This justification seemed hardly believable. But Captain Armstrong had the most unlikely witness to back him up. Albert Nicholls. Albert's defence of Captain Armstrong set him on a collision course with his parents and with an iceberg. Almost exactly 30 years later, on 12 April 1882, Albert wrote a letter supporting Captain Armstrong. In it, he professed to have no quarrel or disagreement with his parents. But, he wrote, hearing of certain accusations made by them, I consider you have been most grossly maligned and I now wish out of justice to you to make this statement that on every occasion I have been sent by my parents to you for wine or spirits, that they have told me to ask for it medicinally on account of illness in the family, more especially by my father. Albert also also accused his parents of not repaying money they had loaned from Captain Armstrong. I may state, he wrote, that I have never known you to act in any way but most gentlemanly and honourably towards all of us on the island. And you have at all times given us the very best of advice and counsel, especially to young people. While your manner has been kind and considerate to all, I regret to say that I am perfectly ashamed of the conduct of my parents of late towards you. Albert continued, accusing his parents of conspiracy. In my presence. They have on many occasions stated that they will do their utmost to have you removed off the island. He then added, I feel sure, indeed I know that they have influenced the feeling of others against you in every way, to your detriment. Then Albert delivered a final kick in the guts to his parents. P.S. i have four frequently known by father to distil spirits from bananas in large quantities Comparing the language of this letter to a later one written in Albert's own hand is to see that he was, at the very least, given help to write these eloquent words. Despite Albert's letter, in May 1882, the inquiry ruled against Captain Armstrong, whose removal from the island was confirmed and whose public service was terminated. Captain Thomas and Mary Nicholls had won, but they wouldn't forget, let alone forgive, their son's betrayal. Back in Sydney, Captain Armstrong continued to protest that he'd been unfairly treated, and he published pamphlets restating his case. One such pamphlet included evidence that Thomas Nicholls had forged the signatures of numerous illiterate, literate Lord Howe Islanders on the original petition. But the most incendiary damnation was another letter from Albert Nicholls describing how his mother Mary's terrible desire for vengeance had finally gotten the better of her. On the 7th of July, he was at work in one of the island's gardens when she came up and tore his spade from his hands. Mary then threw it at his back so forcefully that he suffered an ongoing injury. Back at home, Albert said his mother threatened to shoot him and was exhibiting signs of quite maniacal violence. This, he claimed, was now a regular occurrence. Albert brought a complaint against his mother to a special constable who'd been appointed to the island. In the wake of the inquiry, no action was taken, and so Albert hatched a plan to escape before he was killed.
- [28:01]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
In her 2000. In the 2006 book Lord Howe Island Rising, Albert's grandniece, Daphne Nichols, recorded that his planned departure, shrouded in secrecy, was known only to his youngest brother, George, who was the only sibling he was able to farewell.
- [28:18]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Nicholls family law has it that Albert built a bonfire on a beach so he could set it ablaze as soon as he saw a passing ship. On 7th August 1882, he said spied the steamship Suva and ignited his bonfire to attract its attention, telling his brother George not to go home until he was safely aboard. Albert then either swam or rode out to the steamship. Aboard the Suva, he saw Lord Howe island, the only home he'd ever known, recede into the distance.
- [28:51]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
After he arrived in Sydney, Albert got work on a ferry, learning marlinspike seamanship, whose skill set includes everything to do with rope towing and docking. He also went to night school.
- [29:03]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Yet the battle with his parents raged on. His mother, Mary, travelled to Sydney to try to legally force Albert, who wouldn't be of age until he was 21, to return home with her. But as Albert was 18, gainfully employed and getting an education. The authorities rebuffed her. Had they sent Albert home, he might well have been killed by his parents. Captain Armstrong continued to try to clear his name. In 1883, Albert testified under oath before a select committee of the New South Wales Parliament. There, he said most islanders had actually favoured Captain Armstrong, who had been the victim of a conspiracy. Other testimony firmly cast Captain Thomas Nicholls as as the leader of that conspiracy. Further, in a letter to the Daily Telegraph at the end of December 1883, Albert castigated his father publicly. He wrote that his father had not paid his alcohol and food debts to Captain Armstrong, who he said was a kind and caring individual whose presence on Lord Howe island had put an end to the frequent starvation related illnesses that he and his siblings had suffered.
- [30:12]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Eventually, two select committees exonerated Captain Armstrong of all charges, though it was years before he was compensated for the wrong done to him. And Thomas and Mary Nicholls were never held to account for all the trouble they'd caused. Sometime in the mid-1880s, Albert Nicholls worked his way to England as a seaman, getting the words Faith, hope and charity tattooed on his chest.
- [30:37]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
He joined the White star Line around 1888 and in 1893 he married a 23 year old Scottish lass named Jane Porter.
- [30:46]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
They lived in Seaforth and Bootle in Liverpool, where the White Star Line had its headquarters.
- [30:52]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Albert and Jane's first child, Grace, was born in 1897. Their son Thomas came along two years later and in 1903 they had another daughter that they named Jean. Despite the circumstances that made him leave Lord Howe Island, Albert still thought of his birthplace fondly. He told his own children colourful stories about his childhood, swimming with unafraid fish and hand feeding birds. His youngest daughter, Jean, growing up near English docks and amid industrialization, came to think of these as fairy tales. And and she would until decades later when she visited Lord Howe island as an elderly woman and saw the extraordinary fauna with her own eyes. By 1907, Albert and his family lived in Southampton, where the White Star Lines express terminal was established that same year.
- [31:47]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Albert now worked as boson on the Adriatic, the White Star Line's new luxury ship. The boy who'd grown up half a world away on remote Lord Howe island was now sailing regularly from Southampton to.
- [32:02]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Cherbourg in France and then to the.
- [32:05]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Incredible sights of New York City.
- [32:08]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
But Albert hadn't forgotten his home and family. In April 1909, he wrote a letter to his Uncle William and Aunt Hannah describing life on the Adriatic.
- [32:18]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
This ship is such a monster. It takes me all my time to Keep her in order. Just think a ship 725ft long and carrying 25,000 tons. It takes me very near the watch to go all around her. I do not know what you people would think if you were to see a ship like this out in Australia. But Albert was more excited by two even bigger ships that his company was building. We've got two new ones, his letter continued, the largest in the world. They had to keep carry 40,000 tons and be 800ft long. And their names are Titanic and Olympic. I suppose that I shall be transferred to one of them when they are ready, so I can say that I am the boatswain of the largest ship in the world. Albert's letter inquired after his uncle and auntie's health and asked that they remember him fondly to all his friends. With his father long dead and his mother now in her 70s and perhaps.
- [33:09]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Less likely to throw a shovel at.
- [33:11]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Him, Albert also hoped to come back to Lord Howe Island. I should like to see you all again. And don't be surprised to see a big fat man heave in sight one of these days.
- [33:21]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Albert was right in his letter. He was transferred to the Olympic, then the biggest liner the world had seen. When the ship made her maiden voyage in June 1911, Albert Asboson earned a.
- [33:33]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Salary of 8 pounds 10 shillings a month, equivalent to to about 930 pounds today. He again served under Captain E.J. smith, who'd been in command of the Adriatic. That meant Albert was witness to two accidents the Olympic had. That illustrated just how hard these huge ships could be to control.
- [33:54]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
In June 1911, when in New York harbour during her first transatlantic voyage, Olympic's huge displacement sucked a tugboat under the ship, severely damaging the smaller vessel. Just three months later, Olympic collided with a naval cruiser, puncturing her hull in two places. Both times Captain E.J. smith wasn't found at fault. But repairs to Olympic in Belfast delayed work on the Titanic's completion and maiden voyage by three weeks. Now, however, Titanic was almost ready. On 4 April 1912, at 12am, Titanic arrived in Southampton with Albert Nicholls and his team of men guiding the five tugs that swung her into berth 44. Titanic was gigantic. The length of six city blocks, the ship stood as tall as an 11 story building. On the 5th of April, which was good Friday, the Titanic was dressed with colourful bunting and flags. And to provide the public with a pleasing spectacle, some locals were able to go aboard to have tea and inspect the ship. Among them were Albert's wife and three children and they were given commemorative china which remains in the family to this day. After Good Friday, Southampton bustled with activity as the big ship was provisioned and loaded with coal. Huge crowds assembled at the White Star Line's hiring halls, hoping to sign on to work on the ship they called the biggin. Of the 897 crew members, 246 had previously worked on the Olympic, meaning Albert, from Captain E.J. smith and First Officer William Murdoch on down would see many familiar faces on the maiden voyage. While Second Officer Charles Lightoller hadn't been on the Olympic, there's a good chance he and Albert would have struck up a couple conversation about Australia. Lightoller had spent much time there and even married an Australian girl. And in 1900 he'd sent Sydney into a momentary panic with a sensational prank. Lightoller, along with two mates, rode out to Fort Denison in the dead of night to fire its ancient cannon and raise an imitation boar flag to scare the city into thinking it was being invited invaded. Also aboard the Titanic was Thomas Andrews, the ship's chief designer, who had also designed the Olympic. Thomas Andrews would be on hand during the voyage to observe Titanic in operation and help solve any problems that arose. Albert knew him well, accompanying this amiable perfectionist on his daily inspection of the ship. No doubt Albert was tickled that Titanic's father bore the same name as his own grandfather. As Albert lived in Southampton over Easter, he could sleep in his own bed and spend time with Jane and the children. But on the night of the 9th of April, Albert supervised deck operations and then slept in his quarters, as did other officers and petty officers. Barr, the captain.
- [37:00]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
At 8 the next morning, the crew must have began with Albert's men, examined by doctors to ensure their seaworthiness.
- [37:07]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Albert was also involved in the successful test of two lifeboats. Overseen by a captain from the Board of Trade, the lifeboats were lowered into the water and tested in a variety of ways before being given the Captain's approval. At 12 noon on 10 April 1912, Titanic cast off from Southampton on her maiden voyage. But the journey almost came to an end as soon as it started passing berth 38. Titanic's massive displacement and momentum caused a far smaller vessel called the New York to break free of its six mooring ropes. In seconds, this boat was being sucked straight towards the hull of the Titanic. Quick thinking by the harbour pilot, tugboat captain and Titanic's captain, E.J. smith averted disaster by pushing and pulling the New York away. But the New York came within four feet of smashing into Titanic's hull, an accident that might have sent her back to Belfast for repairs. Albert's heart had to have skipped a beat. This was the third near disaster he'd experienced in similar circumstances under the command of Captain E.J. smith.
- [38:15]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
As it was, Titanic was delayed an hour before sailing across the English Channel to lay off the French port of Cherbourg, where some passengers departed and many more boarded.
- [38:26]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
From there, Titanic sailed north to the Irish port of Queenstown, where she took on more people, many of them third class passengers bound for new lives in New York. There were now approximately 2,224 people on board. At 1:30pm Albert Nicholl's men raised the anchor and Titanic set sail on her first and last transatlantic voyage.
- [38:53]
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- [41:32]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
When Titanic set sail From Ireland on 11th April 1912 at 1:30pm the ship carried approximately 708 third class passengers, 277 second class passengers and 324 first class passengers. Yet it was the presence of just a few dozen in this last group that lent the luxury ship even more glamour. There was John Jacob Astor iv, richest man in America. American mining and metals millionaire Benjamin Guggenheim was also on board. So too were Isadore Strauss, co founder and co owner of Macy's department store in New York, and William Thomas Stead, the newspaper editor, novelist and political activist. Among these these celebrities was also J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line. Then there were politicians, socialites and even a silent movie actress. For three days passengers enjoyed perfect conditions, clear skies, light winds and calm seas. First and second class passengers had the chance to relax and enjoy the luxury of the world's finest ocean liner, whose vast recreational spaces were made for pleasurable idling. Even in third class many passengers had better bedding and food than they were used to in their own homes.
- [42:52]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
But Titanic's Australian born boatswain Albert Nicholls and his men had very different experiences of the lineup. Bose and Albert Nicholls Shifts were busy and even at rest he was on.
- [43:05]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Call around the clock. Albert's men worked four hours on four hours off, taking what rest they could in bunks in quarters on Edeck where there was a lot of noise each day Albert and other department heads had to attend a morning conference with Captain E.J. smith, which was followed by their commanding officer's thorough inspection tour. Then on the bridge orders were issued for the next 24 hours.
- [43:30]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
It was standard on White Star ships to hold a lifeboat drill after a religious services on Sunday. But Captain Smith decided not to worry about it on Sunday, 14 April, for.
- [43:41]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Reasons that were never explained.
- [43:43]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Had he gone ahead with it, passengers and crew would have had a better idea which was their assigned lifeboat and how to get to it through the giant ship's maze of corridors.
- [43:53]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Then again, had Captain E.J. smith conducted the drill, passengers would also have seen that there weren't no nearly enough lifeboats for everyone aboard. Not that that would have necessarily been a concern. Titanic's design was, after all, said to make her practically unsinkable. Further, lifeboats were then considered primarily for taking evacuating passengers to a rescue ship, which meant lifeboats could make multiple trips. That Sunday, Titanic received a stream of radio warnings from other ships and about a vast ice field. For safety's sake, the ship changed course, heading farther south, though later warnings of big and potentially damaging icebergs were ignored or never reached. Captain E.J. smith.
- [44:40]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Titanic sped on at 21 or 22 knots, which was standard practice despite warnings, because any large iceberg would be visible at a range of miles. Yet on this moonlessly black, calm and windless night, the iceberg that lay in Titanic's path was all but invisible. Until it was too late.
- [45:00]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
At 11:40pm a lookout rang the alarm bell three times and spoke into the voice tube connected to the bridge. What do you see? Asked 6th Officer Moody. Iceberg right ahead. On the bridge, First Officer William Murdoch took desperate measures to steer Titanic away and push the alarm that warned crew. Watertight compartments were about to be shut. Ten seconds later, the big doors slammed, and for another agonising half a minute or so, Titanic closed in on the iceberg. The ship seemed to have just missed it. What Titanic missed was the visible peak, which represents only about 10% of an iceberg. But Titanic was bumping across a submerged shelf of the iceberg, buckling the starboard hull in numerous places, separating the steel plates below the waterline. The impact and the ship's displacement tipped the visible iceberg closer and shaved off huge chunks of ice that fell onto the forward well.
- [46:02]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Deck officers, crew and passengers who were awake and alert to the ship's usual sound sounds felt and heard this as a collision. But many sleeping crew and passengers did not save, perhaps those in third class who were closer to the impact and who seconds later saw water in their cabins and corridors.
- [46:22]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Albert Nicholls was awake when the Titanic hit the iceberg.
- [46:26]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
A surviving seaman told New York's Evening World newspaper that soon after the collision, Captain E.J. smith had cried, my God. Boatswain, pipe all hands on deck.
- [46:37]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
About half of Albert's men were asleep. They were due on the midnight watch, though some now stirred as they heard his voice in the corridor outside. Close watertight bulkheads. He yelled, running fore and Aft, his command echoed by men under his command on the freezing cold deck. At around quarter to midnight, Albert told the men on duty and those who'd come up out of curiosity to see the ice. All hands stand by. You may be wanted at any moment. Around midnight, Titanic designer Thomas Andrews conducted an emergency inspection of the watertight compartments. He saw that five were now taking water. Titanic could stay afloat with three compartments flooded. But with five filling up, the only place the ship was going was to the bottom of the Atlantic. Thomas Andrews did some research, rapid calculations and gave the ship about two hours before she sank. Around this time, Albert appears to have either run into Thomas Andrews or been in the briefing that he gave to the officers. Either way, he was among the first to know that Titanic's first voyage was to be her last. Back in the seamen's quarters, several of Albert's dog tired men who hadn't been on deck to hear the standby order were still in their bunks. The ship's joiner came in. If I were you, I would turn out you fellows, he said. Titanic, he told them, was taking water in several holds and the racket court is getting filled up. Through the iron wall that separated their quarters from the large tank where the anchor chain was stored, the men could hear hissing through an overflow pipe indicating that this huge chamber was filling with water.
- [48:17]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Albert Nichols Eng entered, blowing three pipes on his boatswain's whistle to get the attention of all of his men.
- [48:23]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Turn out you fellows. You haven't half an hour to live, he said. That is from Mr. Andrews. Keep it to yourselves and let no one know. Why Albert exaggerated the time the ship had left isn't known. Perhaps he wanted to ensure that his men acted with the utmost urgency. As for his insistence the men keep it to themselves, this was to prevent a panic among the passengers. All hands on deck, he said. Turn out the boats and take the covers off and place the covers amidships. Readying the lifeboats wasn't as easy as it sounded. The heavy tarpaulin covers had to be stripped. Crews had to untie and make ready the oars and masts, find and insert the drainage hole, plug and attach cranks to the davits that were like little cranes to lower the boats. All in all, it'd take a handful of sailors about 20 minutes for each lifeboat. The lifeboat evacuation was overseen by Chief Officer Henry Wild, First Officer William Murdoch, Second Officer Charles Lightoller and Third officer Herbert Pitman. They divided the able seamen into two groups. Wild and Murdoch supervised lifeboats on the starboard side, where Albert had charge of several boats while Lightoller and Pitman worked the port side. Once the lifeboats were ready, they had to be swung out to be loaded with passengers and crew members who'd row them clear. Then teams of Albert's men would lower the lifeboats, careful to pay out the ropes at both ends at the same time, so the boat wouldn't tip passengers into the freezing sea 75ft below. On hearing Thomas Andrews assessment of Titanic's fate, Captain E.J. smith had given the order for the boiler fires to be put out, which also meant releasing a massive amount of built up steam. This steam, venting from eight exhausts, caused a deafening roar on the boat deck and was heard all through the ship.
- [50:15]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Albert's bosun's pipe was now essential for.
- [50:18]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Him to attract the attention of the men so they could respond to hand.
- [50:22]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Commands or shouted orders.
- [50:24]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Down below, stewards were waiting for passengers and telling them to get dressed and get ready to evacuate. The newness of the ship and its vastness complicated the evacuation because few crew members were yet accustomed to its layout. Second Officer Lightoller, for instance, said it had taken him 14 days before he could get from one part of the ship to another by the shortest route. That Captain E.J. smith had cancelled the lifeboat drill didn't help me matters. But what Albert and other experienced mariners had to know was this. There was only lifeboat capacity for 1,178 people, about half the souls on board. Originally, designer Thomas Andrews had wanted Titanic to have as many as 64 lifeboats, but his White Star bosses had overruled him, reducing the number of lifeboats to 20, including four collapsibles, which was still more than the number that was legally required if a rescuing ship was alongside. 20 lifeboats would be enough as they could ferry passengers and crew to safety before returning to save more people. But there wasn't a rescue ship in sight. Albert Nicholls and every other crew member aboard now had one save as many people as they could. Of the rigid wooden lifeboats, there were eight to each side, four forward and four aft, each numbered with odd numbers on the starboard side and even on the port side. Yet there were many doubts about how to proceed should the lifeboats be lowered full from the boat deck, which risked passengers falling from them into the sea or only part partially full with passengers getting in from the lower decks. Second Officer Lightoller later claimed he hadn't even known lifeboats could be lowered full. Around 12:20am Lifeboats started swinging out as first class passengers began arriving on the boat deck. Women and children would go first. With Titanic not yet visibly listing, many passengers passengers had to be convinced to evacuate. They were understandably not enamored of the prospect of leaving a big warm ship for a precarious little lifeboat on the cold and dark ocean. Mercifully, the deafening roar of the venting steam died down. Yet the silence that followed was frightening in a whole new way. That eerie quiet was soon filled by the cheerful sounds of band leader Wallace Hartley and seven other musicians playing their instruments to soothe the nerves of the gathering passengers. Lightoller worried about lowering a full boat from the boat deck and decided to lower lifeboat four, empty, to the A deck promenade where women and children could board more safely. But the promenade's glass windows had been locked and a man had to be sent to find the keys. Lifeboat 4 wouldn't go anywhere for more than an hour. Lightoller moved on to start working on Lifeboat 6. By 12:30, first class passengers were haphazardly loading into lifeboats. The first lifeboat, number seven, descended at about 12:45am on the starboard side, carrying just 28 people, including actress Dorothy Gibson, who within weeks would be reenacting her ordeal for the motion picture cameras. But 40 spaces on Lifeboat 7 went unfilled. One of those spaces belonged to Albert Nicholls. He'd been assigned to crew this lifeboat, but Albert was elsewhere on the starboard side, making lifeboats 3 and 5 ready and assisting passengers. About 10 minutes later, at 12:50, the first distress rocket hissed into the sky, a fiery white streak that then erupted brilliantly to light up all the upturned passenger faces. This rocket was to attract the attention of a ship laying about 6 to 10 miles off Titanic's port side. Over an agonizing hour, that ship's lights would recede and vanish even as more rockets were fired and concealed. Contact was attempted by Morse lamp in the Marconi radio room. A Titanic operator had managed to contact the Carpathia, and even though she was racing to the rescue, she was still hours away. Lifeboat 5 was next into the water on Albert's side. Lifeboat 3 followed at around 1am and Lifeboat 1 went perhaps 10 minutes later. All carried far less than their capacity. All the while, Wallace Hartley and his musicians were playing, even as it became clear the ship was going down. Despite disagreements over what they played right at the end, the musicians did keep playing and none would survive. There's far more mystery about Albert Nicholls fate. At about 1am he's said to have crossed to the port side. There he reported to second Officer Lightoller, who was at that point working on Lifeboat 6. Lightoller ordered Albert to gather about six men and go below to open E decks gangway doors. These were the doors used by passengers to enter the ship. The thinking was that half filled lifeboats could row to the open door and more passengers could board.
- [55:55]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Faithful boatswain Albert Nicholls said, aye, aye, sir, mustered some of his men and went below to do do his duty on the sinking ship.
- [56:03]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Down below, navigating the maze of Titanic corridors, this brave group of men may have reached the E deck gangway door, opened it to see the waterline was too close, and shut it again before going up to D deck, where they may have succeeded in opening a gangway door on the port side. Whether they closed it again, left it open, or closed it but left it unlocked isn't known. Soon after, Albert and his team were either surprised by a rush of seawater or found themselves trapped by rising waters. Either way, they all drowned. Albert's body was never recovered and the identities of the men who perished with him were never established. Except there's every chance that's not what happened at all. Much of what we know about this sequence of events is from the testimony of Second Officer Charles Lightoller at the British and American inquiries, which were both held soon after the sinking. Lightoller was the senior surviving officer and thus became the White Star Lines expert witness for the company's version of events. He came under intense scrutiny over accusations the launching of the lifeboats had been chaotic, partly because there hadn't been enough seamen to get even the limited number of these vessels away safely. Lightoller was also on the defensive because his portside lifeboats had taken a lot longer to get into the water than those on starboard.
- [57:32]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Lightoller lamented that a major contributing factor to the lack of able seamen was that he'd sent a large party of men below under the command of boatswain Albert Nicholls, and they'd never been seen again.
- [57:44]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
That was largely accepted to mean that they had died down below, likely around 1:20am an hour before Titanic sank. But all Lightola's testimony actually means is that he never saw Albert Nicholls again. As for the other men, Lightoller's testimony varied. In one version, he said that he told Albert to gather some men to go below. In another version, he said that number one was six. In any event, he didn't know who Albert chose, so he would have had no idea if he'd seen any of them again.
- [58:16]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Lightoller also said he didn't believe that Albert had succeeded in his mission before dying. I do not think it likely because it is most probable the boats lying off the ship would have noticed the gangway doors had they succeeded in opening them, he told the British inquiry. Asked if people in lifeboats would have known a d door or doors had been opened, Lightoller said, hanging about the ship, they could not very well fail to see if the gangway doors were open, the light shining through the blaze of lights, and they would very soon be hailed by people at the gangway doors. The boatswain was down there. He has to use a little common sense as well. And when he has opened the gangway door, he would naturally hail a boat and tell them, starboard gangway door open, the port gangway door open, and so let them know. On a calm night like that, your lordship will know. The voice will carry a long way.
- [59:06]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
What Lightoller was saying was that if Albert had succeeded, Lightoller's plan to fill the lifeboats would have saved many more lives. Lightoller was pressed about exactly when he'd given Albert the order. During the readying and lowering of Lifeboat 6, which took 20 to 30 minutes, Lightoller said he couldn't say, nor could he recall when he first noticed the ship listing to port. Strangely, he continued to say that he didn't think Titanic was going to sink, despite what Thomas Andrews had told the crew.
- [59:40]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
At the American inquiry before a US Senate committee, Titanic's fifth officer, Harold Lowe, said this of the bosun's mission. A crowd of men went down with the bosun just to clear away the gangway doors in the hope that we should be able to find people down there when we had lowered the boats down.
- [59:58]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Senator William Smith, who instigated and chaired the US Senate inquiry, was incredulous. That did not require much skill to clear away the gangway doors. Anybody could do that. Anybody could do that, Lowe replied, But whom were we going to send? Senator Smith pressed and castigated him and by extension Lightoller, who'd supposedly issued the order. But it did require some skill to lower and to satisfactorily man the lifeboats, he said. And yet you are leaving the impression upon the committee and upon this record that the men who were familiar with those lifeboats and who had gone through the drill at Southampton were not available when those boats were loaded and lowered. Is that the impression you desire to look leave? No, sir, said Lowe, it is not.
- [60:45]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
A surviving able seaman told the British inquiry that boatswain Albert Nicholls had told him to get the Jacob's ladder, which is a rope ladder from the forecastle head. But once he'd retrieved it, Albert told him to put it down. Sir Robert Finlay took this to mean that the boatswain had wanted the rope ladder for use with an open gangway door, but soon after decided there was no use for it.
- [61:09]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
This might mean he'd either tried to open the doors, seen the warder was too close, or had been given a counter order by Murdoch or Wild to abandon the gangway door mission. Whatever happened, why didn't Albert, if still alive, report any of this to Lightolla? There's a good chance that at the time Albert returned to the boat deck, if he ever left it, which we'll get to, to find, Lightoller was at this point below on A deck trying to deal with yet another lifeboat issue. Unable to speak to him, Albert went starboard and continued his duties at the lifeboats.
- [61:43]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
What also contradicts Lightoller story are the sightings of the Boson on the boat deck long after he'd supposedly been sent below. A surviving crew member, leading fireman Frederick Barrett, on 30 April told the newspaper Ulster Echo that he'd been audio into Lifeboat 13, which launched around 1:40am by Albert Nicholls.
- [62:04]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
I got on deck, a lifeboat was hanging from the davits and the Boson, who knew me as I had sailed with him in other ships before, said to me, you go in this boat and pull an oar. I took his orders and got in as she swung from the davits. When they had lowered us, I had to cut the ropes as she was so crowed I could not free her otherwise.
- [62:22]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Shortly after, Albert appears to to have.
- [62:25]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Crossed to the port side.
- [62:26]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
There he sent Lifeboat 2 on its way, giving crewman James Johnson, taking the oars, a crash course in simple celestial navigation. This man told the British inquiry, the boson told us to keep a star and keep looking at this star and not to lose it and keep within vicinity of it. Speaking to the Evening World newspaper in New York on 20 April 1912, surviving Seaman George McGuff, who didn't testify at the inquiries, said that late in the sinking it was First Officer Murdoch who gave Albert his final order. Mr. Murdoch ordered Bozen Nicholls to go down to the working alleyway and bring up the big gang plank capable of holding 40 people. He told the reporter the Bozen and 10 men obeyed the order, going to what they believed was certain death. They were never seen again the way McGuff 2 told the story Albert Nicholls and his men went for the gangplank, meaning gangway, that was used by passengers to board the ship, perhaps to be used for passengers to walk out to lifeboats because Titanic was so low in the water, or to be used as a makeshift lifeboat itself. At this time, McGuff was working on Lifeboat 9, which launched with Bozen's mate Albert Haynes around 1:30am it's unclear whether McGuff went in that boat because evidence also points to him helping with Lifeboat 14, which left around 1.40am, perhaps with him on board. Half an hour later, the first waves washed over the forward well deck and this part of the ship was soon underwater.
- [64:00]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Now it was obvious to all that Titanic was going down. It's impossible to know when Albert Nicholls died. Lightoller's story might be true and Albert may have been among the first crew to die trapped in a flooded corridor.
- [64:15]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
He may have died later in a desperate bid to get a gangplank, or he may have been on the boat deck until the last.
- [64:23]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
By 2.10am, the forward part of the boat deck was underwater and the glass dome over the grand staircase shattered, sending a never ending waterfall into the ship. Titanic was starting to come apart internally. There were two explosions below decks and the ship lurched deeper, causing a huge wave over the boat deck that swept many men to their deaths. Albert may have been one of these, or he may have been crushed when the forward funnel collapsed into the water. Albert may have survived both and made it into the water only to freeze to death shortly after, the Titanic split in two and sank at 2.20am Two thirds of Titanic's deck crew survived, so you'd think someone would have witnessed Albert's last moments and lived to tell the tale. But most of those crew were already rowing lifeboats far away from all the death and destruction in the great liner's final moments. Second Officer Charles Lightoller was there, though, until the last, and he miraculously survived. Even at this point, he must have realised he was going to have some explaining to do. While Lightoller and other survivors, including J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line, who had escaped under dubious circumstances, was still en route to New York on the Carpathia, US Senator William Smith had already established an inquiry. After all, some of America's wealthiest and most popular prominent people had just been sent to the bottom of the ocean. Ismay wanted all crew sent back to England as soon as possible, most likely to avoid them having to give evidence. Everybody's hope, Lightoller wrote in his 1935 memoir, Titanic and Other Boats, so far as the crew were concerned, was that we might arrive in New York in time to catch the Celtic back to Liverpool and so escape the inquisition that would otherwise be awaiting us. This hope thwarted, Lightoller knew he'd have to come up with answers. 1500 people had died. If all the lifeboats had been filled, 500 of those would have lived.
- [66:30]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Perhaps the story of Bozen Albert Nicholls going below early in the sinking with a large group of men who then.
- [66:36]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Died and were thus unable to tend.
- [66:38]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
To the lifeboats, was invented.
- [66:41]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Who was going to argue against it? Captain East, E.J. smith, Chief Officer Wild, First Officer Murdoch, Sixth Officer Moody. They'd all gone down with the ship.
- [66:51]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Bozen's mate, Albert Haynes had escaped in Lifeboat 9, thought to have been launched around 1.30am so he wasn't privy to what happened on the boat deck. For the last 50 minutes of the sinking.
- [67:03]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Albert Nicholls was clearly dead. So what did it matter if his last moments were fabricated for the good of his surviving crewmates? What has to be remembered is that the crew who'd escaped in lifeboats that were half full bore immense survivor's guilt, along with a very real fear they'd be held responsible. Certainly Lightoller was under immense pressure to present the best possible defence of the White Star Line during the American inquiry. Committee members and reporters reckoned that the superficially charming Lightoller was hiding something. And in his 1935 biography, Titanic and Other Boats, Lightoller freely admitted that he'd lied. Not so much at the American inquiry, where his interrogators knew little about seafaring, but in England, where he faced more penetrating questions. In London, Lightoller wrote, it was very necessary to keep one's hand on the whitewash brush. Sharp, quick questions that needed careful answers if one was to avoid a pitfall carefully and subtly dug, leading to a pinning down of blame on someone's luckless shoulders. How hard Mr. Scanlan and the legal luminary representing the interests of the seamen and firemen tried to prove there were not enough seamen to launch and man the boats. The same applied to the passengers and quite truly but it was inadvisable to admit it there then and there. Hence the hard fought legal duels between us. Mr. Scanlan's conquest of the higher legal spheres of recent years proves he was no mean antagonist to face. His aim was to force the admission that I had not sufficient seamen to give adequate help with the boats and consequently that the ship was undermanned. Lightoller towed the line, even if it meant lying. I had no desire that blood blame should be attributed to the Board of Trade or the White Star Line, though in all conscience it was a difficult task. The difficult task of protecting the company and the Board of Trade was, he said, an endless strain. Though he boasted his shoulders were broad enough to bear this terrible burden. Still, he wrote in his book, just that word of thanks which was lacking, which, when the Titanic inquiry was all over, would have been very much appreciated. Basically, Second Officer Charles Lightoller was miffed that he hadn't been given more gratitude for the great job of lying that he'd done for the White Star Line. Fifth Officer Low, too, may have been told to stick to the story of Albert's brave but doomed mission as an explanation for the shortage of seamen. Survivor George McGuff, who'd given his gangplank story to the newspaper, wasn't called to testify at either inquiry. Inquiry.
- [69:45]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
It must be noted, he'd previously been convicted of manslaughter and sexual assault, so anything he gave as evidence would have been under a cloud.
- [69:53]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
His story, which was widely published, included the claim that First Officer Murdoch had shot a crew member through the jaw for the crime of rushing a lifeboat. This doesn't appear in other accounts and may have been an exaggerated or misconstrued version of Murdoch firing his revolver as panic intensified among passengers, realizing they were going to die. Whatever his past, George McGuff's conduct on the night the Titanic sank was unimpeached with him rowing a lifeboat through the night to the safety of the Carpathia at dawn. His account of Albert Nicholls and men going for the gangplank fits with theories other researchers have suggested that say it was Murdoch who gave Albert an order to go below. Lightoller may have just refashioned what happened to give himself a better explanation for why the lifeboats had wound up half full and why he'd been so shorthanded.
- [70:47]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
The enduring question, what Albert did when he did it and what effect it had, if any, on the sinking of the Titanic, was raised and supposedly answered in the 2012 documentary Titanic the Last Word with James Cameron.
- [71:03]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Cameron's assertion that Albert Nicholls opened the port side D deck door, which, once it reached water level, flooded the corridor known as Scotland Road, which ran the length of the ship, was based on analysis of the images of the wreck at the bottom of the Atlantic. Cameron claimed the flooding of Scotland Road accelerated Titanic's demise. Certainly, wreck site imagery shows a D deck gangway door is open There is, however, the possibility it was blasted open by the impact of Titanic hitting the ocean floor. This has been rejected by researchers as too convenient, given other doors aren't open and this one corresponds with Albert's likely mission. But if Albert was sent away on this mission, he may have opened the door, seen the water line was too close and then had his men swing it shut, but not waste time time securing it. As it was an outward swinging door, water pressure would have kept it closed. An unlocked door might have been flung open when the Titanic hit the ocean floor. Another possible explanation is that late in the sinking, with D deck below the waterline, desperate passengers unlocked the gangway door but were unable to open it against the outside water pressure. Again, when the ship hit the floor, it could have been blown open. James Cameron's conclusion that Albert, acting under Lightoller's orders, also doesn't account for survivor testimony that there were no gangway doors open. Boat 6, for instance, had to pass directly past it, which it did around 1am, yet no one reported the door being open.
- [72:37]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
True, Albert might not yet have opened.
- [72:40]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
It, but in the minutes that followed.
- [72:41]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
People in the lifeboat would have seen it open, heard his bosun's whistle and shouts and rode over to take on more people.
- [72:50]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Ultimately, as with many things Titanic, there can be no definitive answers. What I do know is that whether it was trying to open a gangway door or retrieve a gangplank, Albert Nicholls died doing his duty while trying to save lives. From the moment he'd woken up his men, he'd understood the fate that likely awaited him at the American inquiry.
- [73:15]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Senator Smith asked a lamp trimmer named Samuel Hemming if he'd seen any people without life preservers.
- [73:22]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
Yes, sir, he replied. I saw the bosun.
- [73:25]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
The last time I saw the bosun, he did not have one on. One of the last things Albert did on the Titanic was hand his prized bosun's pipe to a crew member getting into a line lifeboat. I don't think he would have done this. At 1am, exactly halfway through the sinking, Albert needed his bosun's whistle to command his men. It strikes me that this would have been a final act when he knew there was little more he could do before he died. In any event, Albert asked that his bosun's whistle be given to his family in Southampton. It was, and it's still in the family. I know this because Albert Nicholls family is my family. You've been listening to Forgotten Australia.
- [74:15]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
My name is Michael Adams, but it hasn't always been. I was adopted when I was two weeks old. The name on my adoption certificate Damien Nichols. And in mid-2018, using the research tools I developed for my book and for use in this podcast, I found my biological family. What you've been listening to is part of my recently discovered family history. I am a sixth generation Lord Howe Islander. Thomas and Margaret Andrews were my great great great grandparents. The villains of the piece, her daughter Mary and her husband and Captain Thomas Nicholls. They were my great great grandparents.
- [74:58]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
Their son Titanic Boatswain Albert William Stanley Nicholls was my great great uncle, the.
- [75:04]
Michael Adams (Narrator)
George who helped him escape Lord Howe Island. He was my great grandfather. Mick and his wife Nora Nicholls were my grandparents and well respected Lord Howe Islanders. Daphne Nicholls, their daughter and all author of the book Lord Howe Island Rising that I quoted in part one. She's my mother.
- [75:27]
Michael Adams (Narrator or Additional Commentary)
I'm Michael Adams and you've been listening to Forgotten Australia. If you liked what you heard, I'd love it if you could leave a rating and review at itunes. This podcast was written and produced by me on my first visit to Lord Howe Island. As always, thanks for listening.