TITANIC DISASTER NEARLY DESTROYED SOUTHAMPTON

When the Titanic sank and with it the elite of the Edwardian era it made great headlines. Not many newspapers wrote about Southampton which was most affected. Shortly before the disaster Southampton was declared as the main port before it was Liverpool. The White Star was the only ones in the area recruiting people. The jobs on offer were firemen or stokers earning £6 a month and stewards earning £3 15s a month.

At the time of the Titanic disaster there was a miners’ strike and many men were eager to join the ship. Southampton had 100,000 inhabitants and 538 of the crew members were from Southampton. Apparently the worst hit area was Northam. The Northam school children of which a 100 lost a relative.

When they heard of the disaster everybody was hoping that their father and/or son would have survived and picked-up by the nearby ship Carpathia.

The telegrams which were sent to the families stating nothing more than “Much regret, name, not saved”. What an incredible heartless way of telling the family they lost their breadwinner. Let’s face it the elite, although just as tragically, did not have the loss of their income as well as their loved ones.

These families stood there with nothing to neither feed their children nor clothe them. At a time when they had hard times already. They had to pawn their furniture and relied on handouts to feed their children and themselves. The relief fund accumulated to £412,000 which would be today’s £20m even so in those days it was a huge sum. The Mayor of Southampton George Bowyer launched his own appeal.

Widows of non-salaries crew received nothing and that from a highly profitable White Star Line. They were completely dependent on the relief fund to keep them out of the workhouse. A fireman’s widow received a weekly 12s 6p plus 12s 6p for every child and an officer’s widow £2 per week.

The Salvation Army’s “slum officers” brought milk, tea, sugar and bread for the needy.

The historian Stephanie Barczewski wrote a book about the tragedy titled “A Night Remembered” and stated upon his finding that the film couldn’t have been more removed from the reality. He stated that Southampton was the place of the real tragedy.

The report from the Daily Mirror in 1912 gives a full view of the impact the disaster had on the town.

Mrs May across the way lost her husband and oldest son.....the son married a year ago and his wife had baby six weeks ago ...Mrs Allen round the corner lost her husband George....and the young girl in black is Mrs Barnes... she lost here brother ...the woman going into the shop is Mrs Gosling ... she lost her son ...and Mrs Preston of Princess Street, a widow lost her son too...

Nothing shows more clearly than that person's report. How close the losses were.

STORIES FROM TITANIC

The Titanic was on fire when it left Southampton on April 2, 1912. It is thought the fire burned for 11 days in the coalbunker and the bulkhead was red hot and warped but watertight.

TITANIC NEARLY CRASHED BEFORE SAILING

Second Office Lightoller wrote in his memoirs: “Before she cleared the dock we had a striking example of the power that lay in those engines and propellers. The Oceanic and St Paul were moored to the wharf alongside each other. The terrific suction set up in that shallow water simply dragged both liners away from the wharf.  The St Paul broke adrift altogether. It looked like nothing could save the St Paul crashing into the stern of the Titanic. In fact, it was only Captain Smith’s experience and resource that saved her.” 

RMS TITANIC PROPELLERS

Before the sinking of the Titanic there were no searchlights on ships. At the fatal night there was no moon and it made the icebergs invisible. After the disaster searchlights on ships became the law.

The night before the disaster, wireless operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride repaired the damaged transformer and then had to catch up with the backlog. It is thought they have missed the vital message at 9.40pm. It came from the ship Mesaba: “Saw much heavy pack ice, and great number of large icebergs. Also field ice.”  It took two hours from the sent message till the ship crashed.

Second Officer Lightoller wrote later in his memoirs: “The position this ship gave was right ahead of us and not many miles distant. The operator who received was busy at the time and he put the message under a paperweight at his elbow, just until he squared up what he was doing and he would have then brought it the bridge. That delay proved fatal.”

Second Officer Lightoller stopped men and boys from getting into the lifeboats in spite of some being half empty. The operation to abandon ship was totally disorganised. Despite a shortage of lifeboats because the Titanic was claimed as unsinkable, if properly handled there would have been enough for 1,178 people from the 2,223 people on board. It is known that lifeboats lowered two-third empty. Lightoller also refused the richest man Colonel John Jacob Astor to accompanying his pregnant wife even so the lifeboat was almost half empty.

At around 1am officers were given firearms. First Officer William Murdoch shot one or two passengers trying to climb into the last boat although there was space there. Then he shot himself.

Chief baker Charles Joughin survived in the freezing water the longest. He swam about two-and-half hours. He drank whisky when the ship struck the iceberg and with that he survived the longest in the water.

On May 13, 1912 a boat was found with three dead bodies in it. Fifth Officer Lowe set the boat adrift on the fatal night after taken the passengers who were alive into his own boat. At the inquest he stated that it was heartless to do so but he was interested in saving lives. One of the dead people was Thomson Beattie but the others were never identified.

  

AMAZING FACTS ABOUT TITANIC

 photosRRR                                     

  RMS  TITANIC

The amazing fact about the Titanic is that it was predicted 14 years before it happened. Author Morgan Robertson wrote a novella in 1898. It was called 'Futility Or The Wreck Of The Titan'. He wrote a story about a super liner called Titan which hit an iceberg and sank. It happened in April in the night. He also wrote that it was the largest craft afloat and the greatest of the works of men. It had watertight compartments and was thought to be unsinkable. He even mentioned how many passenger going to die and there won't be enough lifeboats. Did he have a premonition? Or was he told by a powerful source to prevent such a major disaster? Yet, nobody took any notice.

 CAPTAIN E J SMITH OF 
RMS TITANIC 

Apparently the Titanic was on fire when she left Southampton on 2 April, 1912. The fire was in the coal bunker and it is stated that it could  have burned for 11 days. After three days at sea the fire was put out. The bulkhead was red-hot and warped by the fire. It is assumed that it probably remained watertight.

The Titanic nearly collided with another ship when she left Southampton. The ship's Second Officer Charles Lightoller wrote in his memoirs that before she cleared the dock we experience the power of those engines and propellers. The Oceanic and St Paul were moored to the wharf alongside each other. The terrible suction set up in that shallow water simply druggedboth great liners away from the wharf. The St Paul broke adrift altogether. It looked like she was going to crash into the Titanic's stern. Only the Titanic's Captain Smith's experience and knowledge saved her.

On the fatal night, the wireless operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride had repaired the damaged transformer for six hours. Before the collision they were trying to clear the backlog. They most definitely missed the message at 9.40pm from the ship Mesaba with the warning: "Saw much heavy pack ice, and great number large icebergs. Also field ice."Two hours later the chip crashed.

Second Officer Lightoller stated in his memoirs that the position this ship gave was right ahead of us and not many miles distant. The operator who received it was busy at the time and he put the message under a paperweight at his elbow. When he caught up with the backlog, he then would have brought it to the ridge. That delay proved fatal.

Micheal Navratil was on that ship. He kidnapped his two sons, Michael three and Edmond two, because of a custody battle His plan was to set up a new life in America. As the ship sank he dressed up his two sons and put them on the last boat. It was the last they saw of him. They could not speak a word of English. Margaret Hays, a survivor, took them to her New York home. Eventually, their mother recognized them and sailed back to Europe on the Oceanic.

TITANIC'S GYMNASIUM

FIRST CLASS GRAND STAIRCASE

The myth that Catholic workers at Harland and Wolff sabotaged the Titanic was not true. Rumors supposed to have been circulated that the Titanic's hull number was 3909 04 which spells 'No Pope'. It proven wrong because the hull number was 401 and a Board of Trade registration number was 131,428. At that time the Protestants-Catholic relations were bad in Ireland and the shipyards were in a Protestant area of Belfast.

Another story was about a Mummy on board which could have brought bad luck but that was never proven.  Apparently, a journalist W T Stead made the story up and told some passengers on the Titanic. He claimed four Englishman bought a mummy in Luxor.  They had bad luck ever since.   Stead drowned but Fredric Seward who was the only survivor of the dinner party told the story later.

Searchlights would have given the lookouts a better view.  They were steaming through a large ice field.  However, the calm, moonless conditions made the icebergs invisible.  After this disaster, searchlights were fitted on all large ships.

Second Officer Lightoller prevented men and boys from entering boats, even if they were only half full. He also refused Colonel John Jacob Astor, the richest man in the world, who asked to accompany his pregnant wife, Madelaine, even so the lifeboat was half full.

Chief banker Charles Joughin was drinking whisky as the ship foundered. He manage to swim in the freezing water for at least two-and-a-half hours. He also had several layers of clothes and that could have save his life. He survived far longer than any body else in the water.

                 ANNA BLISS MEMORIAL GARDEN