The Sinking of the Titanic: Eyewitness Accounts from Survivors

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“I ran out on the deck and then I could see ice. It was a veritable sea of ice and the boat was rocking over it. I should say that parts of the iceberg were eighty feet high, but it had been broken into sections, probably by our ship.” “There fell on the ear the most appalling noise that ever human ear listened to — the cries of hundreds of our fellow-beings struggling in the icy-cold water, crying for help with a cry that we knew could not be answered.” First published in 1912, Jay Henry Mowbray’s Sinking of the Titanic was hugely influential in the aftermath of the maritime disaster, recording the harrowing, first-hand accounts of the survivors - from sailors, to stewards, to passengers – throughout the ordeal, from when the iceberg first hit to when the Carpathia eventually arrived, and honoring those who were lost on that fateful night in 1912. Mowbray’s text even follows the survivors when they make it back to land - a lesser-known, riveting aspect of the tragic saga that deals with the investigation and the hearings that took place in the US and UK in the months that followed. The swiftness of the publication of Mowbray’s text, the sheer number of first-hand witness accounts therein and the intensity of the chaos and fear that their accounts convey makes for a unique compilation which, together with new notes, maps, images and expert introductory material in this new, updated edition, will fascinate, educate and deeply move contemporary readers as much today as the original publication would have back in 1912. Cover Book Tittle Copyright CONTENTS FOREWORD By Bruce Beveridge INTRODUCTION By Stephen Haddelsey EDITORS’ AND CONTRIBUTORS’ BIOGRAPHIES OFFICERS OF RMS TITANIC Chart of Respective Positions of Titanic and Nearby Ships PREFACE INTRODUCTION GREAT MARINE DISASTERS FROM 1866 TO 1911 Hundreds Weep at Memorial Services Held for “Archie” Butt CHAPTER I FROM A DAY OF DELIGHT TO DEATH CHAPTER II HEART-RENDING SCENES ON CARPATHIA CHAPTER III BAND PLAYED TO THE LAST CHAPTER IV NEGLECT CAUSED DISASTER CHAPTER V BELIEVED SHIP UNSINKABLE CHAPTER VI HOW SURVIVORS ESCAPED CHAPTER VII WOMAN’S THRILLING NARRATIVE CHAPTER VIII SURVIVORS’ STIRRING STORIES CHAPTER IX HOW ASTOR WENT TO DEATH CHAPTER X NOTABLE WOMAN SAVED CHAPTER XI MAJOR BUTT, MARTYR TO DUTY CHAPTER XII MRS. ASTOR’S BRAVERY Plates CHAPTER XIII LIFEBOATS BUNGLINGLY HANDLED CHAPTER XIV NOT LIKE BOURGOGNE DISASTER CHAPTER XV BOY’S DESPERATE FIGHT FOR LIFE CHAPTER XVI CARPATHIA TO THE RESCUE CHAPTER XVII REFUSED TO LEAVE HUSBAND CHAPTER XVIII LADY DUFF-GORDON’S EXPERIENCES CHAPTER XIX SENATORS HEAR STARTLING STORIES CHAPTER XX SURVIVING OPERATOR’S EXPERIENCES CHAPTER XXI THE FUNERAL SHIP AND ITS DEAD CHAPTER XXII INQUIRY BY UNITED STATES SENATE LIST OF TITANIC PASSENGERS MISSING AND RESCUED OFFICIAL LIST OF PASSENGERS RESCUED