10. Safe at Last…

Summary

Podcast Summary: Titanic: Ship of Dreams – Episode 10: Safe at Last…

Introduction In Episode 10, titled "Safe at Last…," of the Titanic: Ship of Dreams podcast by NOISER Network, host Paul McGann delves into the immediate aftermath of the Titanic disaster. This episode meticulously recounts the rescue operations by the RMS Carpathia, the experiences of the survivors aboard, the controversial actions of Bruce Ismay, and the ensuing media frenzy and official investigations.

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Rescue Operations by the RMS Carpathia

The episode opens in the early hours of April 15, 1912, detailing the RMS Carpathia's frantic efforts to rescue Titanic's survivors. Captain Arthur Rostron commands every ounce of Carpathia’s engines to reach Titanic’s last known position, pushing the ship to 17 knots—a speed beyond its official capacity.

• Narrative Insight: The narrator describes Carpathia’s decks during this tense pursuit: "Blankets have been laid out in public rooms. Tea, coffee and hot soup are all on hand, not to mention copious quantities of brandy" ([00:29]).

• Quote: Rustran reflects on the night's events, stating, "the hand of God must be on the helm that night" ([00:59]).

Despite limitations, Carpathia’s timely arrival proves crucial. Due to a miscalculation in Titanic’s distress coordinates—an error stemming from a "one minute error between taking a starsight" ([06:36])—Carpathia fortuitously intercepts the lifeboats at dawn ([04:00]).

• Expert Commentary: Tim Moltin, author of 101 Things You Thought You Knew About the Titanic, explains, "Carpathia had steamed at full speed towards 10 miles away from where the actual Titanic was sinking" ([05:50]).

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Arrival of Survivors on Carpathia

By 6:30 AM, survivors clinging to lifeboats are boarded onto Carpathia. Among them is Paul McGann’s great uncle, Jimmy McGann, a trimmer from Titanic's engine room, who endured harrowing conditions on the upturned Collapsible B lifeboat.

• Personal Story: The episode shares Jimmy’s struggle: "They have to be winched up to the deck... Anyone who's seen the landmark film, I think my favorite Titanic film is A Night to Remember..." ([08:57]).

• Survivor Testimony: Eva Hart, then seven, recounts her terrifying rescue, separated from her father and later reunited with her mother aboard Carpathia ([11:27]).

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Bruce Ismay's Controversial Conduct

A focal point of the episode is Bruce Ismay, the White Star Line’s managing director, whose behavior post-rescue sparked widespread criticism.

• Expert Insight: Psychology Professor Jerome Chertkoff notes, "He stayed in his cabin the whole time... I suspect he felt partially responsible" ([18:24]).

• Narrative Detail: Ismay is depicted as isolated in his cabin, struggling with shock and possibly PTSD, prompting his eventual sedated state ([17:15]).

• Quote: An expert reflects on Ismay's reputation, mentioning, "All men who survived the Titanic disaster were vilified at the time... Ismay is often characterized as the villain of the piece" ([23:05]).

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Media Frenzy and Public Outrage

The arrival of survivors ignites a media storm. Newspapers initially reported inaccurately, with headlines like "Saved from Titanic after collision" ([34:01]). As accurate information emerges, public outrage over inadequate lifeboats and the loss of life swells.

• Expert Commentary: James Delgado highlights the Titanic as possibly "the world's first modern media tragedy" due to its extensive wireless communication ([32:26]).

• Political Response: Senator William Alden Smith spearheads a resolution for an official investigation, reflecting the national demand for accountability ([40:14]).

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Official Investigations and Legal Implications

As Carpathia docks in New York, Captain Rostron organizes a service to honor the lost and prepares to repatriate survivors. Concurrently, Bruce Ismay faces intense scrutiny as Senator Smith initiates a formal inquiry into the disaster.

• Narrative Insight: The episode details Rostron's management of information, instructing his wireless operator to prioritize passenger messages and limit media disclosures ([26:15]).

• Quote: Smith confronts Ismay in correspondence, asserting, "the horror of the Titanic catastrophe and its importance to the people of the world calls for scrupulous investigation" ([53:02]).

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Treatment and Support for Survivors

Survivors receive varying levels of support upon reaching New York. While figures like Molly Brown take proactive steps to aid fellow survivors, others, especially those from steerage, face neglect and scorn.

• Personal Accounts: Mary Smith recounts the disparity in treatment, contrasting her own experiences with Ismay’s privileged accommodations ([20:19]).

• Community Support: Lebanese survivors find refuge at the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society, illustrating the era’s communal solidarity ([55:15]).

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Conclusion and Upcoming Developments

The episode culminates with the survivors' disembarkation at Pier 54 amidst a captivated New York crowd. Bruce Ismay is formally summoned to testify, setting the stage for the next episode, which promises to explore his testimony and the unfolding inquiry in greater depth.

• Narrative Tease: "In the next episode, Ismay takes the stand in New York. Titanic's crew members close ranks, dodging difficult questions from the US Senators and newspaper editors..." ([55:45]).

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Notable Quotes

• Captain Arthur Rostron: "More than once, Carpathia has had to dodge an approaching iceberg." ([00:29])

• Expert Tim Moltin: "Carpathia had steamed at full speed towards 10 miles away from where the actual Titanic was sinking." ([05:50])

• Eva Hart: "Each child was put in a sack... it was quite a big mesh... I couldn't find my mother for hours." ([11:27])

• Jerome Chertkoff: "He stayed in his cabin the whole time... I suspect he felt partially responsible." ([18:24])

• Senator William Alden Smith: "The horror of the Titanic catastrophe and its importance to the people of the world calls for scrupulous investigation." ([53:02])

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Final Thoughts

Episode 10 of Titanic: Ship of Dreams provides a comprehensive and emotionally charged exploration of the immediate rescue efforts and the complex human dynamics that unfolded aboard the Carpathia. Through expert insights and personal narratives, Paul McGann offers listeners a vivid portrayal of heroism, tragedy, and the enduring quest for accountability following one of history's most infamous maritime disasters.

For those eager to continue the journey, the next episode promises an in-depth look at Bruce Ismay’s testimony and the broader implications of the Titanics sinking on maritime law and public perception.

Available Now: Listen to Episode 10, "Safe at Last…," along with other episodes of Titanic: Ship of Dreams on your preferred podcast platform or visit noiser.com.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

It's the early hours of April 15, 1912. The Cunard Liner RMS Carpathia is steaming through the night full speed ahead. Ever since the ship's wireless operator, Harold Cottam, received Titanic's distress call at 12:25 that morning, Carpathia has been in crisis mode. Captain Arthur Rustron has ordered every last drop of steam to the engines. He's doing his best to cross the 50 odd miles separating them from Titanic in record time. The decks of the ship are shaking as the engines are pushed to their limit. Unlike Titanic, Carpathia is a modest single funnel workhorse. Her top speed, officially at least, is 14 knots compared to Titanic's 23. But right now, Rostron is squeezing 17 knots out of her. Blazing through the darkness, he knows he's taking the lives of his passengers in his hands. More than once, Carpathia has had to dodge an approaching iceberg. A deeply religious man, Rustran will later write that the hand of God must be on the helm that night as his ship zigzags around the bergs. By 3:30am Carpathia is approaching Titanic's last recorded position. On board, everything is in readiness. Blankets have been laid out in public rooms. Tea, coffee and hot soup are all on hand, not to mention copious quantities of brandy. The crew have even sourced some heavy duty restraints in case any of Titanic's survivors have lost their minds. Up in the crow's nest, the lookouts are keeping a sharp watch, scanning the horizon for Titanic's four giant foam. But all they can see, far away in the distance is a little green light. It's too low in the water to be a liner, let alone the biggest ship in the world. Rostron orders Carpathia to slow down as they approach. He sounds the ship's whistle to alert those in the water that they're coming. At 4am as the first rays of daylight begin to break through the night, Carpathia's lookouts spot a small boat a quarter of a mile away. It's Titanic's lifeboat, too. The wind is rising now, and the surface of the water is becoming choppy. Rostron orders his second officer, James Bissett, to board the lifeboat and help the survivors aboard Carpathia. Be careful that she doesn't capsize, he warns him. As Carpathia pulls up alongside the little boat, Biersit and three colleagues clamber down rope ladders. Inside, they find Titanic's fourth officer, Joseph Bogthal, along with a mixture of men, women and children. Many of the survivors are in no state to climb the ladders. They have to be winched up to the deck. Instead. One woman, wearing a fur coat over her nightie is clutching something tightly to her chest. Bissett assumes it must be a baby until she cries out in terror, be careful of my doggie. Last but one out of the boat is Joseph Bokthall. Bissett climbs up the ladder after him and takes him to Carpathia's bridge. Where is Titanic? Captain Rostran asks him. Boxall's face is ashen. Gone, he replies. She sank at 2:20am There's a moment of stunned silence. Then Rostron asks, were there many left on board? Hundreds and hundreds, vauxhall replies. Perhaps a thousand, perhaps more. His voice breaks with emotion. My God, sir. He cries. They've gone down with her. From the Noiser podcast network, this is Titanic Ship of Dreams, Part 10.

[Expert 1]

Titanic's distress position was 10 miles wrong.

[Narrator]

Tim Moltin, author of 101 Things. You thought you knew about the Titanic but didn't.

[Expert 1]

So actually, Carpathia had steamed at full speed towards 10 miles away from where the actual Titanic was sinking.

[Narrator]

Since Carpathia's wireless operator received Titanic's distress call three and a half hours earlier, they've been storming towards the coordinates given in the message. 41 degrees, 44 minutes north, 50 degrees, 14 minutes west. Those coordinates are based on a calculation made by Titanic's fourth Officer Boxall. But it turns out his figures are.

[Expert 1]

Off because of a one minute error between taking a starsight on the deck and transferring that correct timing onto the ship's kilometer time. There was a one minute error made in that which equates to a ten mile error. But by absolute luck that night, and there was luck as well as bad luck, the true position of the sinking Titanic and indeed her floating lifeboats was on the wrong track between the rescue ship and the wrong position. So it just so happened that they picked up the lifeboats by accident because of where they happened to be when they had the wrong distress position.

[Narrator]

This stroke of luck undoubtedly saves many lives. Captain Rostron has been pushing Carpathia's engines to the limit. But even so, he only just arrives in time to rescue the 700 or so men, women, and children in Titanic's lifeboats. Conditions in the North Atlantic are deteriorating fast.

[Expert 1]

The wind was getting up. The waves were getting up. Some lifeboats were fairly swamped. Had Carpathia arrived, say, two or three hours later, it's likely that there could have been no survivors from the Titanic.

[Narrator]

Some have already been forced to abandon their original lifeboats. My great uncle Jimmy McGann has spent most of the night on the upturned collapsible B, along with junior telegraphist Harold Bride and Titanic's second officer Charles Lightoller. A few hours ago, they were beating away fellow survivors with their oars to prevent the collapsible from capsizing. And now, with the wind picking up, keeping collapsible B afloat has become even more difficult. My brother Stephen, come the dawn, the.

[Expert 2]

Sea starts to roughen. They're getting worried. Lightoller's getting very worried because it's getting lower in the water, and so they all have to stand up in rows and keep the thing trimmed.

[Narrator]

Uncle Jimmy is used to trimming of a different kind, hauling coal around Titanic's lower decks to make sure the weight is distributed evenly. Now it's the weight of human bodies that must be carefully balanced instead.

[Expert 2]

Anyone who's seen the landmark film, I think my favorite Titanic film is A Night to remember, the 50s film. And when I was a child, I used to love it because everybody in Liverpool loved those sea stories. But little did I know that there's a very famous Kenneth Moore scene playing light on and goes, all right, anybody you know, you've got to all stand up and trim. And he's on this collapsible lifeboat, which I didn't yet realize that my great uncle was probably sitting next to him.

[Narrator]

As the weather worsens further, the balancing act becomes all but impossible. Eventually, the time comes for the men on collapsible B to abandon ship again.

[Expert 2]

They look like they're sinking, so they ask a different lifeboat. I think it was lifeblood 12 to come up.

[Expert 1]

Lightoller's blowing his whistle frantically.

[Expert 2]

He whistles to try and get one of them to come up so they could transfer some of them in.

[Expert 1]

And so what happens is that one of the empty lifeboats that has emptied itself to go to the wreck actually picks the people off. Collapse will be.

[Expert 2]

They end up transferring just as the Carpathia is coming up. One man is dead of hypothermia. Some people slipped off in the night with hypothermia. Jimmy's still there and they are the very, very last people saved. They get transferred to Lifeboat 12 and then they go up at half past eight in the morning onto the Carpathian.

[Expert 1]

And that vessel, Collapsible B itself, is left to float about the Atlantic.

[Narrator]

The survivors from Collapsible B are mostly tough young men, but the last few hours have put them through the wringer. Telegraphist Harold Bride can't even walk. He has frostbite in one foot and a sprained ankle on the other side.

[Expert 1]

All of the survivors from the Titanic were in a very bad way, especially those on Collapsible B. They weren't really thinking straight. Many passengers, for example, Bride, whose feet were so badly damaged they had to create a sling and actually haul him up onto the Carpathia.

[Narrator]

When it comes to the surviving children, the boarding procedure is even more complicated. Eva Hart was seven years old when Titanic sank. Her mother, Esther made it into the lifeboat with her, but her father was left on the ship.

[Survivor 1]

The rescue of people from lifeboats in mid ocean is quite a terrifying thing. These little boats, shall we say, draw up alongside, for want of a better expression, to what looks like an enormous vessel. And then how do you get on board? You don't have a gangplank like you do when you're a shot. And so they opened a hatch in the side of the ship where the luggage used to be laid and they threw down rope ladders. And people like their mother now the grown ups had to climb up in mid ocean up a swaying rope ladder, which she said was the most terrifying thing. The sailor behind sort of holding on and then what can the children do? We couldn't climb up a rope ladder, so they got these big luggage nets. The mesh is fairly wide apart. It's quite a big mesh. Children would have slipped, so it's. So each child was put in a sack. And I remember being petrified when I was put in that sack and it was tied around and the sack full of these children were put into these huge nets and quite safely of course, hauled aboard. But that really was quite terrifying then having got on board, of course I couldn't find my mother and I didn't find her for hours.

[Narrator]

Eva and her mother got separated during the night when Fifth Officer Lowe started moving passengers between lifeboats, attempting to make space for survivors.

[Survivor 1]

When the dawn came up and we were being picked up by the Carpathia, I wasn't in the same lifeboat with her. I had spent the rest of the night after she had gone on. I'd been lifted out of the boat, spent the rest of the night screaming for her. And I found her, of course, on the Carpathia. She was looking for me and I was looking for her. But that must have been quite dreadful for people like my mother, who would look round to see if my father had by any chance made it. But nobody did. Of course.

[Narrator]

Esther Hart isn't the only mother on Carpathia frantically searching for a missing child. Lebanese migrant Shanina Abisab spent the night in collapsible sea along with White Star boss Bruce Ismay and an extremely distraught woman who had lost her son, Dr. Josiane Abisab.

[Survivor 2]

She said that several passengers had actually froze to death in her lifeboat. And next to her on the lifeboat there was a woman who was sobbing hysterically. And that woman was the mother of a child called Tommy. Once the lifeboat reached the Carpathia, this mother, who had lost her son, was continually crying, hugging another child, a small child, to her breast. Several hours after they had been taken on board the Carpathia and given some closing, she, Shanina was coming from her cabin when she saw a nurse carrying a child wrapped in a blanket. And she recognized that child as being Tommy. So she told the nurse the story of the mother, the grief stricken mother, and she handed the little boy to Shanine, who took the little boy to his mom. And Shanini said that that reunion was a sight she will never forget.

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[Narrator]

It's not until 6:30 in the morning that the survivors in collapsible sea are brought on board. By then, they've been bobbing around on the ocean for more than four hours. And it's not just the distraught mother who's in a very bad.

[Expert 1]

They were given brandy when they arrived. They were also checked over by the doctor. Some of them were suffering from shock. We know that Ismay himself had to be sedated in his cabin because he was suffering so much from the effects of shock.

[Narrator]

Clifford Ismay, Bruce's fifth cousin once removed.

[Expert 3]

Bruce was among the last passengers to be taken aboard. Once he was aboard, he kind of stood with his back to the bulkhead of the ship. One of the stewards came and offered him some soup and he just kept saying, I'd rather not, I'd rather not. He offered him some hot tea just the same as he did with all the other passengers. And all Bruce could say was, I'd rather not. And he was just staring into the water. Obviously Titanic was long gone then. I Bruce just staring out at the water, probably thinking about all those lives that had been lost. And I think at that point that's when the PTSD was first, first hitting him. The Carpathia's doctor was walking around everyone and I think he realized with Bruce that there was something serious going on here. So the doctor took Bruce back to his own private cabin which also doubled up as a surgery. And Bruce spent the rest of the voyage in that cabin.

[Narrator]

Psychology professor Jerome Chertkoff, he testified that.

[Expert 4]

He stayed in his cabin the whole time. He was the head of the company that built this ship that sank and over a thousand people died. I suspect he felt partially responsible and he didn't want to confront people who might feel that. Why Star Lines was responsible for this.

[Expert 1]

I think ismay's conduct on Carpathia is very, very bad. He probably knew more people on Titanic that drowned than anyone else. His guests were the Kakatas, a very wealthy family, very powerful railway building family in America. And they'd all died on Titanic at his invitation. And look, I can't blame him. I think if it had been me, I might have coward and hidden in my cabin as well.

[Narrator]

On Monday morning, Carpathia's doctor brings ismay a visitor, 17 year old Jack Thayer. He's hoping a familiar figure might snap him out of his depression.

[Expert 3]

Jack Thayer was taken to the cabin by the doctor in the hope that thay would be able to bring Bruce back into the world as it were, because Thayer and Bruce were acquainted. But even young Jack Thayer, he couldn't, couldn't get anything out of Bruce at all.

[Narrator]

Thayer's account of the visit paints a picture of a man in a precarious mental state. He was seated in his pyjamas on his bunk, staring straight ahead, shaking all over like a leaf. My entrance apparently did not dawn on his consciousness. Even when I spoke to him and tried to engage him in conversation, he paid absolutely no attention and continued to look ahead with a fixed stare.

[Expert 1]

There are reports of people going in to try and talk to him and he wasn't really there. So I don't doubt that he may have suffered a real nervous breakdown, mental breakdown, being in a real sense of shock.

[Narrator]

But amongst those who made it off Titanic, Ismay's disappearing act doesn't go down well. I know many women who slept on the floor in the smoking room, recalls the newly widowed Mary Smith, while Mr. Ismay occupied the best room on Carpathia. To many of the survivors, it's an open question whether the White Star bus really is under medical supervision or just receiving the usual preferential treatment.

[Expert 3]

You could say the chairman of the White Star Line had the luxury and warmth of the doctor's cabin while the other passengers were on the deck. And I'm sure many of the other passengers would be in the same situation. And I think it's probably the fact that the doctor had realized that Bruce was the chairman of the White Star Line that brought his attention to Bruce's condition. However, he did end up in a doctor's cabin where he was given opioids to calm him down. And it just sat there staring.

[Narrator]

Whatever the rights and wrongs of Ismay's behavior, one thing is clear. The man who climbs aboard Carpathia on Monday morning, still wearing a suit hastily thrown over his pyjamas is barely recognizable from the commanding White Star chairman who set sail from Southampton five days earlier.

[Expert 3]

Again, what if, what if the dad had more watertight compartments? What if they had more lifeboats? What if anything? And I think he was probably very troubled by the fact that he survived when he realized that there were still women and children on board the Titanic when she went down. He probably did have his father's guilt.

[Expert 1]

Over that he could not face the widows on the Carpathia. He could not face it. He had a lot of shame for having survived.

[Expert 3]

I mean, how do you, how do you live with something like that, realizing that you had escaped the Titanic when afterwards you learned women and children still being on board?

[Narrator]

Ismay will later testify that he believed all the women and children on Titanic had already boarded the lifeboats when he made the split second decision to step on board collapsible sea. Now the consequences of that decision are starting to become clearer.

[Expert 1]

All men who survived the Titanic disaster were vilified at the time, especially those, you know, rich and powerful. Men, women and children died and people couldn't understand why. There were bases left in the life base and some men got in. Ismay is often characterized as the villain of the piece, the baddie in the Titanic story.

[Expert 3]

I didn't really know much about the Titanic until I was about 8 or 9 years old. I was in the sitting room with my father and there was this movie about the Titanic came on tv. Black and white was in those days of course. And I saw at the end this scene of this cowardly looking gentleman very, very sheepishly climbing into a lifeboat hoping not to be seen. And I thought what was that my relative? Did he really do that? It's difficult to know what was going on Bruce's mind. It wasn't a state of deep depression. Would wonder if here Varavadini suicidal tenses. Maybe the ship's doctor saw something like that and he may be thought this man should be confined to the cabin, keep an eye on him at all times just in case he were to do anything silly. And that's probably another reason why he was given opioids to keep him calm.

[Narrator]

At 8:30 on Monday morning, the very last of Titanic's survivors are brought on board just as another rescue vessel belatedly arrives on the scene. It's the SS Californian, the ship that ignored Titanic's distress rockets the previous evening that turned off their wireless set and went to bed rather than coming to investigate. Since waking early this morning, the Californian's captain Stanley Lord has been Plagued by his own catalogue of what ifs. Like Rostron, he's made the best possible speed to Titanic's position. But he has arrived too late to help. If he'd only set off eight hours earlier, things could have been very different.

[Expert 4]

Communication to other ships is key in successfully evacuating passenger ships. The Titanic had contact with a lot of ships, but not with the closest ship, which is the Californian and the Californians wireless operator who had gone to sleep before the Titanic hit the iceberg. So the warnings that the Titanic sent out were not received by the Californian. If the Californian had received them, and if the Californian had risked going through pack ice to the Titanic, probably most, if not everybody would have been saved.

[Narrator]

Now Californian receives a new request for help from Carpathia's Captain Rostron. This one is delivered the old fashioned way, using signal flags. Carpathia will soon be departing for New York. Rostron wants to get the Titanic passengers back on dry land as soon as possible. But he tells Captain Lord to remain at the scene of the disaster and continue searching the waters for survivors, as well as men, women and children and a handful of pet dogs. Rostron now has 13 of Titanic's lifeboats on board Carpathia, the only salvageable material from the disaster. He plans to deliver them to the White Star dock in New York. The rest of the boats have been left to float away, some still containing the bodies of those who froze to death in them just hours earlier. Before they leave the wreck site, Rostron asks one of his passengers, an Episcopalian priest, to give a service in the first class lounge. While the ship slowly circles Titanic's floating wreckage. Friar Roger Anderson leads the congregation in prayer for the 1500 souls lost when she plunged to the bottom. He gives thanks too, for the 705 lives that have been saved. When the service is over, Captain Rostron gives the order to bear away. It's a four day voyage to Pier 54 in Manhattan and he doesn't want to waste any time. After all, his ship is now full to bursting.

[Expert 1]

The situation on Carpathia immediately after the rescue is extraordinary. So she's absolutely packed to the gunnels if you like. You've got first class passengers that are offering their beds to third class families. You've got a lot of the Carpathia passengers who are sleeping on the floor in the dining rooms and hallways and corridors. And of course, don't Forget, Carpathia had 700 people on board already, so it doubles the amount of people.

[Narrator]

The compassion shown by Carpathia's passengers is remarkable. But they aren't the only ones pitching in to help the so called unsinkable. Molly Brown has barely stepped on board before she's hard at work aiding her former shipmates, Veronica Hinkey Margaret Brown, who.

[Expert 5]

Had gone through probably the worst experience of her life, was able to find it within herself to be a leader in helping others. When she was finally aboard the Carpathia, the first thing she started doing was organizing groups to provide blankets, hot drinks to survivors. And she got a group together made up of mostly men and wanted to find a way for them to come together to honor Captain Rostran who made that very difficult decision to go into an iceberg infested area to try to rescue people.

[Narrator]

After they arrive in New York, Molly Brown will present Captain Rostron with a commemorative silver cup along with medals for the rest of the crew. She'll give him a present of her own as well, a little turquoise figurine that she bought on a recent holiday to Egypt. It's one of the few things she took with her on Titanic that isn't at the bottom of the ocean. Right now though, Molly Brown is focused on Titanic's poorest passengers, those from steerage who lost everything they owned when the ship went down. She pays for a number of third class passengers to send telegrams home letting their relatives know they're alive. She sets up a Titanic benevolent fund, roping in committee members and securing pledges from fellow first class passengers to the tune of $10,000. But not everyone wants to know. One wealthy looking lady responds to her story about the plight of the steerage passengers with a haughty why worry? She boasts that on arrival in New York she will be heading straight to the Waldorf Astoria. And she's not the only first class passenger whose privilege is showing. Sir Cosmoduff Gordon honours his debt to the men in the so called money boat, presenting each of them with a cheque for five pounds as promised. His wife Lucy goes a step further, demanding that they all sign her life jacket and then pose for a group photo. Smile please, sir, Cosmo orders as their fellow passengers look on appalled. On Monday afternoon, Captain Rostron visits Bruce Ismay, still under sedation in the doctor's cabin. He suggests Ismay might want to contact the White Star office in New York and let them know what's happened. Ismay scribbles a brief note on a slip of paper. Deeply regret advise you. Titanic sunk this morning after a collision with iceberg resulting in serious loss of life. Full particulars later, Rostron has the message taken to Carpathia's wireless room that afternoon and authorizes his Marconi operator, Harold Cottam to transmit it. But for some reason, Ismay's message doesn't go through for another two days. In the meantime, rumours are beginning to swirl on land. Some of the previous night's distress calls have been picked up on shore.

[Expert 1]

James Delgado Titanic happened at a time when it could be shared with a global audience, as it happened in many ways, I think Titanic is the world's first modern media tragedy. It isn't exactly live as it happens, as we now see today, but the wireless, the fact that it broadcast the messages and then that people were on the way, it was Marconi's instrument that really connected Titanic in that way.

[Narrator]

In later years, a former Marconi operator based at the Wanamaker department store in New York will claim to have broken the news about the Titanic disaster. Professor Stephanie Barchevsky.

[Expert 5]

There is a radio operator in New York who's up in a radio studio that's up on the top of a department store. This guy, his name is David Sarnoff and he goes on to be head of the NBC Television network. So he goes on to have a very prominent career, but he's up there and stuff starts to trickle in. You know, he starts to get the sense that there's, like, something going on out there on the ocean. At this point, even the White Star, people don't really know what has happened. Something's going on out there, but, you know, nobody would really have ever been able to imagine that it was this bad. And so Sarnoff finally decides to, like, take the plunge. At some point, it gets out in this very kind of unofficial way, and it takes days before understanding fully what has happened. So it's a very, very different type of news event from what we're used to today.

[Narrator]

In recent years, Sarnoff's claim that he broke the Titanic story has come under question. For a start, the Wanamaker department store wouldn't have been open on a Sunday night when Titanic was broadcasting its distress call. But what we can say with certainty is that however the story gets out, it's garbled in the process. On Monday, most of the newspaper headlines are woefully inaccurate. All saved from Titanic after collision, reads the Evening Sun. She did not sink, claims the Wall Street Journal. No lives lost, reports the Vancouver World.

[Expert 1]

So there are rumors like Titanic's met with an accident, but she's being towed to Halifax and she's going to be all right. And of course, people thought that must be more realistic than the great Titanic actually sinking on her maiden voyage. That's just too. That's just too bonkers to be true.

[Narrator]

And it's not just the press who've got the wrong end of the stick. Bruce's Maze no. 2 in New York, Philip Franklin spends most of Monday reassuring anxious relatives that everyone on board the ship is fine. We place absolute confidence in Titanic, he tells them. We believe that the boat is unsinkable. Franklin even charters a special train service between Halifax and New York so the Titanic's passengers will be able to finish their journey. It's not until 6:15 on Monday evening that Franklin learns the truth. Thanks to a telegram from the Olympics Captain Haddock. Carpathia reached Titanic's position at daybreak, found only boats and wreckage. Franklin is stunned. It takes him 45 minutes to compose himself enough to face the pressure. Later, in front of a room full of reporters, he breaks down in tears. Olympics Captain Haddock has the most powerful wireless set on the North Atlantic. He has been in contact with Captain Rostron on Carpathia for the past couple of hours, trying to get more details to pass on to White Star. Rostron's crew are compiling a list of all the survivors on board, as well as those known to have perished. Among the latter, Haddock's friends, Captain Edward Smith and First Officer William Murdoch. Olympic is on its way from New York to Southampton. Haddock offers to meet up at Carpathia en route and take some of the survivors back to England with him, but Rostron declines. He fears that seeing Titanic's twin sister could be traumatic for his new passengers, as Bruce Ismay later puts might harrow their feelings. Haddock agrees to keep his distance. He sets a course well clear of Carpathia's, making sure to stay out of visual range. And Captain Rostron is carefully managing the flow of information as well. His wireless operator, Harold Cottam, is being pestered with queries sent from shore stations, but Rostron has ordered him not to respond. Even U.S. president William Taft is told he'll have to wait when he gets in touch, asking for news of his beloved aide, Archibald Butt. But despite the communications blackout on land, the picture is becoming more accurate every day. On Tuesday morning, the New York Times gets most of the details correct, even if their sums are a bit off. Titanic sinks four hours after hitting iceberg. 866 rescued by Carpathia, probably 1250 perish ismay safe. On both sides of the Atlantic, White Star's offices are being besieged by angry relatives. You lied to us. They shout at employees in New York. And in Southampton, where most of Titanic's crew are from, the atmosphere is even more febrile.

[Expert 5]

For Southampton, it's just an outright tragedy. The crew members died in huge numbers and Southampton must have just been like a bomb had hit it. I mean, Southampton's not that big of a place in 1912, and in certain parts of the city, it must have just been on every block somebody died.

[Narrator]

On Wednesday morning. While Carpathia continues her steady Progress towards Pier 54, the column inches are mounting. In Manhattan. Titanic is now dominating the news agenda, so much so that the ship doesn't even need to be mentioned by name. That morning's headline in the New York American is stark no hope left 1535 dead. It's followed by seven pages of copy dedicated to the doomed ship. But amidst the profiles of famous travelers, dead or alive, questions are beginning to be raised. How was it that Titanic had only enough lifeboats for fewer than half of the people on board? The paper calls for an act of Congress to be passed requiring ships to carry more boats.

[Expert 3]

There was a huge outrage in America, of course, because most of America's wealthiest citizens had gone down with with Titanic as well. People demanded answers.

[Narrator]

And it's not just the journalists who are up in arms. 200 miles away in Washington, the debate has reached the floor of the Capitol building. The Titanic disaster comes just a month after the worst train crash in US History, when a boiler exploded on a locomotive in San Antonio, Texas, killing around 40 passengers. The way that House chaplain Henry Cowden sees it, the two disasters have one thing in common. On Tuesday afternoon, he leads the country's senior politicians in prayer. We must fervently pray that more stringent laws may be enacted and enforced, that those who travel by land or sea may be safeguarded from the selfishness and greed of the thoughtless. A day later, Senator William Alden Smith arrives, armed with a resolution calling for an official investigation into the sinking of the Titanic. Smith is a white haired political veteran from Michigan, a respected figure in the Senate who has long campaigned for greater safety standards on America's railroads. He requests that he be granted subpoena powers allowing him to question anyone he deems necessary so that he can get to the bottom of what went wrong on Titanic's maidenhood voyage. His colleagues applaud the idea, and it's clear that some of them have already made their minds up as to the cause of the disaster. Senator James Martine from New Jersey puts it had the race for speed and the desire for greed not controlled the action of the owners and officers of the Titanic, this disaster would doubtless have been averted. Smith's motion is passed without objection. Craftsman days are here at Lowe's with big savings on the tools you need. Save $100 on the Craftsman V26 Tool Power Tool Combo Kit now at $199. No matter what the project is, Craftsman's high quality, high performance products empower you to build on Stop by your nearest Lowe's store and check out the full line of Craftsman tools today valid through 618 while supplies last selection varies by location. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail] Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail] On Wednesday afternoon the US Navy intercepts a wireless transmission from Carpathia addressed to the White Star offices in New York. It bears a rather dubious signature. Yamzi. That's Ismay backwards. Most desirable Titanic crew aboard Carpathia should be returned home earliest moment possible. Suggest you hold Cedric sailing her daylight Friday unless you see any reason contrary. Propose returning in her myself.

[Expert 1]

Ismay tries to hold the White Star liner the Cedric in order to be able to immediately get the crew back to England. I think he's doing that to protect his business and because they are his staff and he'll know that they won't have the money or means or want to stay around in New York. The other thing is of course he would then lose his workforce to other lines because they would be freelance and they'd be able to work on other ships.

[Expert 3]

The problem was Bruce realized that a lot of the sailors and officers that weren't being paid the paced options. Titanic slipped under the water.

[Expert 2]

Jimmy has paid off a couple of quid. They don't give him any compensation. He's paid the end of his wages minus the last day because to be fair, when you were floating in the water you didn't do your job. Not paid for the full voyage that was the world.

[Expert 1]

I think he's looking from a business perspective, but also there could be an element that he may have known there was going to be an inquiry and there could be an element that he wants to make sure that people are in the UK and subject to UK law rather than in the US and subject to US law.

[Narrator]

Whatever isMay's intentions, the optics aren't great. To a cynical eye, it looks like he's trying to get witnesses out of the way before Senator Smith's inquiry gets started.

[Expert 2]

I think they wouldn't have been thought of as very useful, but also you don't want them prattling away with New York press, you want them out of the way. And there was a lot of tension with America about their inquiry.

[Narrator]

On Thursday morning, with Carpathia due to dock later in the day, Smith arrives at the White House to see President Taft. Taft has just learned that his good friend Archibald Butt died on the Titanic. At Smith's suggestion, the President orders a naval cruiser to escort Carpathia into New York.

[Expert 3]

Once Carpathia was nearing New York, there was an escort of ships sent out to make sure no one left the vessel until it reached the harbour side in New York.

[Narrator]

Meanwhile, Ismay, or rather Yamzi, is still badgering the White Star office in Manhattan. Very important you should hold Cedric, he writes on Thursday morning. And then less than an hour later, strongly urge detain Cedric. And finally, unless you have good and substantial reason for not holding Cedric, please arrange do so. Most undesirable crew remain New York so long. Ismay's number two in New York, Philip Franklin replies that he has arranged for a different ship, the Lapland, to take the crew home. A few days later, he tells Ismay we all consider most unwise delay Cedric, considering all circumstances. Franklin follows up with a request for further information on Titanic's sinking. Account of actual accident greatly needed for enlightenment public and ourselves. He tells the boss, this is most important. And Philip Franklin isn't the only one trying to get the full story of the sinking over wireless. Captain Rostron has ordered his Marconi operator Cottam to ignore requests from the New York papers. He is to prioritize passengers messages instead. But Cottam isn't alone in Carpathia's wireless room. Despite his frostbitten foot. Titanic's junior operator Harold Bride has been helping out with the mountain of passenger correspondence. And during his time at the Marconi set, Bride receives a tempting offer. Say old man Marconi co taking good care of you. Keep your mouth shut and hold your story. It is fixed so you will get big money.

[Expert 1]

Wireless was such a fantastic new technology and in fact there had been previous use of wireless in disaster situations and the wireless operators there had become extremely famous. So it was well known that the wireless story from Titanic was a major one. Now, Marconi was an inventor, but he was also a businessman and he knew that Bride had survived. And of course lots of reporters would have been offering money for stories and so they'd have wanted it to be placed with the right publication and for the right money. And that's how they not only controlled the news, but also really publicized the amazing savior that Marconi was. Because actually, if Titanic had not had radio, or actually if Carpathia had not had radio, it's possible and likely that nobody would have survived the sinking of the Titanic.

[Narrator]

Thursday morning's newspapers are full of the survivor's imminent arrival. Carpathia here tonight, reads the headline of the New York Times. It's followed by some stark calculations of the numbers of dead from first class, second class and steerage. 172, 189 and 453 respectively, plus 700 crew. The figures speak for themselves. And by now Bruce Ismay's name has become front page news as well. Congress to demand from him an explanation of the awful disaster. Resources 1 subhead. Given the number of lifeboats on board Titanic and the increasingly accurate casualty figures, the very fact of Ismay's survival is beginning to look problematic. At 9.30pm, Carpasia finally docks. A New York Pier 54 is just a mile away from the White Star berth where they were due to arrive the previous morning. The Titanic survivors have made it onto dry land at last, one day late. Although dry is a relative term here. It's a windswept rainy evening with occasional bursts of thunder and lightning. But despite the terrible weather, a huge crowd has gathered to see them disembark. Tens of thousands of curious New Yorkers drawn like moths to a flame. Or rubberneckers staring in fascination at the scene of an horrific accident. Many of the Titanic's survivors have friends or relatives waiting for them at the pier. Some business colleagues. Harold Bride is met by Mr. Marconi himself and he's brought with him a reporter from the New York Times. Titanic's junior telegraphist is promised a four figure sum for his story. More than eight times his annual salary. As Titanic's survivors disembark, a distinguished visitor comes aboard. Carpathian Senator William Alden Smith. He needs to speak to Bruce Ismay personally to summon him to testify. The following morning, as the first witness at the Titanic inquiry.

[Expert 3]

Before Bruce left the ship, Senator Smith boarded to subpoena Bruce to attend the investigation. So basically at that point, Bruce couldn't leave New York, couldn't leave American shows. And the same applied to what was remaining of the senior officers.

[Narrator]

Smith clearly thinks Ismay could be a flight risk.

[Expert 3]

Bruce would have liked to have got back to Britain. In fact, he did send a letter to Senator Smith saying, will you allow me to return to England to see my family, my loved ones, and if you would like me to come back to America to attend the American inquiry, I shall do so voluntarily at your discretion. However, Senator Smith denied that request. So Bruce was basically grounded in America until he'd answered all the questions on the American inquiry.

[Narrator]

As Senator Smith's inquiry gets underway, the exchange of letters between him and Ismay will grow increasingly acrimonious. I am not unmindful of the fact that you are being detained in this country against your will, Smith tells Ismay. But the horror of the Titanic catastrophe and its importance to the people of the world calls for scrupulous investigation. I am working day and night to achieve this result, and you should continue to help me instead of annoying me and delaying my work by your personal importunities. As the head of the White Star Line for over a decade and now president of the International Mercantile Marine as well, Bruce Ismay isn't used to this kind of treatment. On Thursday evening, with Carpathia docked at Pier 54, Titanic's survivors begin to disperse. Eva Hart and her mother are greeted by an aunt they've never met who invites them to come and stay with her while they arrange travel back to England. The Women's Relief Committee provides them both with a complete change of clothes.

[Survivor 1]

Oh, they were wonderful to us. We had those wonderful things given to us. Yes, they were very kind.

[Narrator]

Uncle Jimmy is sent straight to hospital to recover from the effects of exposure.

[Expert 2]

The rich Catholic benefactors in New York said, we hear there are these stout yeoman, Catholic, Irish, yeomen in the pits of the ship who've gone through this terrible ordeal. We make sure that we'll be there on the dock. And what happened, that's not often reported is when they arrived finally, there were these limousines or coaches waiting to meet the Catholic firemen. And they took the firemen, frostbitten, down to Greenwich Village. And so Jimmy convalesced in this hospital down in Greenwich Village.

[Narrator]

The Lebanese survivors, meanwhile, are taken in by the local Jewish sheltering house.

[Survivor 2]

Oshanine and Banura were evaluated at St. Vincent Hospital and then released maybe the same day or the next day. And they went to recuperate at the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society in New York City. They helped a lot of the Lebanese survivors. They were given food, clothing and shelter and even some money to purchase a train ticket.

[Narrator]

Journalist Ray Hananya they were being taken care of at a Hebrew shelter. It shows how close Jews and Arabs were back at that time. Back then, Arabs, you know, and Jews actually got along real well. You know, there were tensions in Palestine, but not in the United States. They had an identity together because, you know, at the time, Jews and Arabs were portrayed the same way in American society and in the media.

[Expert 1]

The perception of them was they were one people.

[Narrator]

On Thursday evening, Titanic's first class passengers retire to a variety of top hotels. Molly Brown has a room booked at the Ritz Carlton, though she remains on Carpathia an extra night to help other survivors make their own arrangements. The Duff Gordons head straight to his suite at the Ritz. A large group of friends has gathered to celebrate their safe arrival. We were all very gay and drank champagne, Lucy Duff Gordon will later recall. Among the group that evening is the editor of the Sunday American, who listens to her survival story with interest. The next day, the Duff Gordons opened their newspaper to find that they've been royally stitched up as a pair of upper class fools with no concept of the suffering of their fellow passengers. But that's nothing compared with the treatment Bruce Ismay will receive once the inquiry gets underway later that morning. In the next episode, Ismay takes the stand in New York. Titanic's crew members close ranks, dodging difficult questions from the US Senators and newspaper editors on both sides of the Atlantic continue the search for heroes and villains. That's next. You can listen to the next two episodes of Titanic, Ship of Dreams right now without waiting by subscribing to Noiser plus. Just hit the link in the episode description to find out more.