Titanic at 100 - and the Engineers.

So, the 100th Anniversary is here.

Away from all the hype and sometimes rather tasteless fuss I always spare a thought for the Titanic's engineers. They manned their machinery in order to keep the generators functioning until the last possible moment ; knowing that if the lights were to fail there would be panic.

Although finally ordered to save themselves, not one of them was seen above decks or survived. All 30 of them died.

Whenever I'm in Southampton, I try to visit their memorial : -

MaritimeQuest - Titanic Engineers Memorial Southampton, England

They stuck to their posts ( and it must be very frightening to be at the bottom of a huge, sinking vessel ).

I doubt very much if I'd have the guts to do that.

 

If the board didn't manage to catch this link to a PBS video I posted a while back, here it is again. It focuses on that brave group of engineers. If PBS isn't accessible to some, I am truly sorry.

Goto:

Video: Full Program | Watch Saving the Titanic Online | PBS Video

 

Anybody know more about the coal burning aboard? I saw a short part of a document claiming that coal was burning all the time ( already before starting the trip ) and that was the reason for the high speed they travelled all the time, to make it to the US before the burning coal can make more damage to the ship...

 

I believe the problem of smoldering coal was a major problem for all ships which relied on coal for their power source. That is addressed in that PBS video, but I don't recall it being used as an "excuse" or reason for the maintaining the speed. And setting a crossing record wasn't either, since the ship wasn't really capable of beating the existing record, it wasn't designed for speed but luxury.

 

Just to expand on Martin's point, the Lift Boys and Cabin Boys were all lost, too. Second Officer Lightoller's name will be forever black for refusing entry to teenage boys as well. One survivor has an enduring and haunting memory of one of these boys lying down on a coil of rope on deck and sobbing his heart out after Lightoller's refusal. It has been pointed out that it would have taken not much effort at all to sling these poor kids into the boats and put them under the seats. Lightoller was made to look like a pompous ass in James Cameron's movie, but I have always seen him as grimly determined. Those boys were a blot on his otherwise fine performance in the tragedy.

Likewise, the Harland and Wolf "Guarantee Group" of the very best of it's tradesmen all went down to a man of them, including shipbuilder Thomas Andrews, who was Lord Pirrie's nephew, and a favourite of many people. Andrew's last moments were spent in the first class lounge, staring transfixed at a picture on the wall, still in shock, no doubt. Would be interesting to find out exactly what painting hung there....

The Second Class Musicians are rarely mentioned, but they, like their musical brothers on the first class boat deck, also perished to a man. Interestingly, Cameron's film depicts Wallace Hartley's muso's playing light classical melodies, but every account I've ever read, including Lord's "A Night To Remember" describes the music coming from these guys as "Up-beat....ragtime." It's one of the contributing factors to the lifeboats leaving the ship partially filled. While the band was playing thus, it was difficult for most passengers early on to believe that the ship was sinking fast. A new book I've just finished reading also postulates that certain lifeboats left the ship earlier than is generally thought, also contributing to the problem of partially loaded boats.

"Titanic Lives" also confirms something I've thought was not right for a long time. First Officer Murdoch's reactions in the thirty seconds from the lookout warning to impact were flawed. One does not attempt to manipulate the control surfaces of such a large vessel by throwing the engines into reverse. Full power should have been maintained to maximize the reactive properties of the control surfaces themselves. The ship was attempting to turn just when the lack of engine power was rendering her controls sluggish and torpid. It is said that her rudder was too small.....I don't think rudder size had anything to do with the collision, just the order from the bridge to "STOP"...then "REVERSE". Those order should have been "FULL AHEAD!...."HARD A'STARBOARD!"

 

I doubt if many today would Martin....Did you see the ch4 docudrama on the engineers this afternoon? Excellent. The final scenes...Irishman..No hero's here...according to him..just doing his job...Bet he never got a parade.

 

Actually there's a fair bit of doubt that that is what happened. No survivors reported feeling anything untoward prior to the collision ; a Full Astern order would have created considerable noise and vibration.

But hey - whole books have been written ; and no doubt will continue to be.......

 

Thank You for the link.
I've passed it on to a friend of who is also into the Titanic.

 

As for the coal bunker fire, one cannot help remembering Fireman Barret describing the bulkhead between his boiler room and the coal bunker giving way and collapsing entirely. Speaking with local maritime engineers, I have ascertained that this fire would have been a major factor in the collapse of the bulkhead. Heat warps metal and makes it weaker.

To my knowledge, no other bulkhead had such a major malfunction. And this just happened to be the same metal that had been heated for the entire voyage!

 

As for the smoldering coal...a few years back, a Canadian flagged boat on Lake Superior was forced to swing her unloading boom out and dump some 10,000 + tons of coal into the lake after it started to smolder and the fear of a complete inferno was legit. Made the papers here.