“If”. A small word, but one that’s heavy with promise and heartbreak. IF the Captain hadn’t disregarded the warnings; IF the lookouts’ binoculars hadn’t been lost; IF the sea hadn’t been so calm; IF the collision had been head-on instead; IF the nearby SS Californian’s wireless operator hadn’t switched off his set five minutes before the accident; IF there had been enough lifeboats for everyone…
These weighty “Ifs” keep the tragedy of the RMS Titanic firmly in our collective memory – even though the events of 14-15 April 1912 occurred a century ago and the last survivor is now dead. There have been worse maritime disasters before and since Titanic yet none has captured the imagination quite as powerfully.
Although the great ship was built in Belfast with a home port of Liverpool it was Southampton that suffered the most. The Titanic had a crew of 861, of which 692 were from Southampton. Of these 692, just 34 survived.* The average age of Southampton’s lost 658 was 31.
A plethora of books and films have kept Titanic, her crew and passengers, alive in our memories but it is the liner herself and her fate which echoes throughout the world even now – for Titanic marked the end of more than a ship and 1,523 lives. No longer would men believe that they could defy nature with impunity and, just two years after the liner’s death, came the horror of WWI. The “Gilded Age” was over.
Despite this, however, much of value was learned from the catastrophe of that frigid April night. Quite apart from the now-common phrases in our vernacular – “just the tip of the iceberg”, “rearranging the deckchairs”, “and the band played on…” these had their genesis with Titanic – all ships must now carry lifeboats for everyone aboard and maintain 24-hour radio contact. The US Coastguard continues to operate the North Atlantic Ice Patrol ship, which constantly patrols the treacherous waters to check for ice and immediately alert any shipping to danger. Countless lives have surely been saved by the fate of Titanic. Although, given the recent actions of Captain Schettino of the Costa Concordia, perhaps we’ve learned nothing at all. Even the most rigorous safety measures cannot guard against basic human arrogance.
Not just the tragedy, then, but our own modern-day safety – these are the things which still have the power to move us about the noble Titanic and the souls she took with her to the bottom of the Atlantic. And always will.
Each man stood at his post while all the weaker ones went by, And showed once more, to all the world, How Englishmen should die.
Inscription on the gravestone of Titanic crew member
ENDS * Source: www.encyclopedia-titanica.org Suggested images: FRONT PAGE OF ECHO THE DAY THE NEWS FIRST BROKE and:
1912 memorial postcard. From my collection, begun when the wreck was discovered in 1985. “Nearer My God To Thee” was the final hymn played by Titanic’s band as the water lapped their ankles on the deck. In a pre-sailing magazine interview, bandleader Wallace Hartley named it as the hymn he would choose for his own funeral.