W.I. R.M.S Titanic hit's.......
- Thread starter warlock
- Start date
- Status
It's thought she'd've survived. Either the close shave teaches people to put the right number of lifeboats on a ship, or the mistakes are not learned from and another tragedy occurs within five years. As for Titanic herself, she probably has the fate of the rest of her class - sunk or damaged transporting troops across the Atlantic in WWI.
World's Largest Ship: 1913 Edition
Titanic wasn't the largest ship afloat when she made her one and only voyage. That honor belonged to the SS Imperator, first of three 60,000 ton giants to be built for White Star's real main competitor, Hamburg-American Lines (HAPAG), which was launched but still fitting out. Whereas the maiden voyage of Titanic was a tragedy, Imperator's was a farce. The ship was literally top-heavy with luxury, and her rolling either scared the crap out of the passengers or made them seasick. She went back to the yards for extensive rework. She was eventually given to Cunard in compensation for the Lusitania and became RMS Berengaria.
Anyway, she was as light on lifeboats as the Titanic, so if Titanic doesn't hit an iceberg in 1912, maybe we could put Silly Willy aboard Imperator for a post-revision voyage in the spring of 1914 and have it find an iceberg the hard way. Either Wilhelm II goes down a hero or survives to lose credibility, and no one issues that fatal "blank check" to Austria that started our World War I a few months later.
BTW, while one of Titanic's sisters was sunk during World War I, her other sibling, Olympic, sailed on to 1935.
Titanic wasn't the largest ship afloat when she made her one and only voyage. That honor belonged to the SS Imperator, first of three 60,000 ton giants to be built for White Star's real main competitor, Hamburg-American Lines (HAPAG), which was launched but still fitting out. Whereas the maiden voyage of Titanic was a tragedy, Imperator's was a farce. The ship was literally top-heavy with luxury, and her rolling either scared the crap out of the passengers or made them seasick. She went back to the yards for extensive rework. She was eventually given to Cunard in compensation for the Lusitania and became RMS Berengaria.
Anyway, she was as light on lifeboats as the Titanic, so if Titanic doesn't hit an iceberg in 1912, maybe we could put Silly Willy aboard Imperator for a post-revision voyage in the spring of 1914 and have it find an iceberg the hard way. Either Wilhelm II goes down a hero or survives to lose credibility, and no one issues that fatal "blank check" to Austria that started our World War I a few months later.
BTW, while one of Titanic's sisters was sunk during World War I, her other sibling, Olympic, sailed on to 1935.
To be honest I suspect that between the war and what happened to the Empress of Ireland just before the long term impact of Titanic surviving is not going be all that big, although you will have a few more years of ships without enough boats and setting up proper ice reporting will take somewhat longer.
PS
Although, that said, there could be some benefit to White Star's post war viability if Titanic survives the war, and doubly so if Brittanic (and I do think she would have been called Gigantic without the disaster, White Star's denials really don't ring true given the names of the other two ships) does as well.
PS
Although, that said, there could be some benefit to White Star's post war viability if Titanic survives the war, and doubly so if Brittanic (and I do think she would have been called Gigantic without the disaster, White Star's denials really don't ring true given the names of the other two ships) does as well.
Last edited:
There were a number f structural issues with Titanic, but at the worst a headon collision would have sunk her a lot more slowly (allowing rescue to arrive); its very probable she would have survived (although she might have been scrapped after)
If she had hit head on she'd probably have to spend awhile in the yards but wouldn't sink. The more damage the better to let it sink in about the importance of lifeboats and probably the White Star Line realizes they dodged a bullet and retrofit for more lifeboats.
If she survives she either meets the same fate as Brittanic/Gigantic or survives to 1935 and gets scrapped with Olympic.
If she survives she either meets the same fate as Brittanic/Gigantic or survives to 1935 and gets scrapped with Olympic.
I fear the contrary. The "dodging a bullet" would have proven that modern ships are virtually unsinkable or would remain afloat long enough, even in the mid of the North Atlantic, to receive help in time.
The Titanic desaster as it occured OTL was just about right, as it showed the importance of lifeboats. The sinking happened under otherwise perfect conditions (slow sinking, calm sea) so that a sufficient number of lifeboats could have saved most people on board.
Sorry to digress a little; but there's a scenario that I've been wondering about ever since I first read up on the SS Great Eastern, you see; it is a little known fact that the Great Eastern once struck an uncharted rock off the coast of Long Island and suffered a hull breach almost twice as big as the one that sunk the Titanic but survived thank's to I.K. Brunel's ingenious double-hull design. I've always wondered what would it have taken for such a design feature to become standard on large ocean liners by the time that the Titanic and her sisters (along with all of the other large liners of that generation) are built.
Not scrapped
I doubt that Titanic, had she made port, would have been scrapped, even if repair wasn't cost effective. Scrapping her would be an admission of defeat, whereas repair, no matter how costly (Like the USS West Virginia after Pearl Harbor) wouild be making a statement that the ship is tough. (Unless the ship's reputation was so tainted that no one would sail on her anyway.)
I doubt that Titanic, had she made port, would have been scrapped, even if repair wasn't cost effective. Scrapping her would be an admission of defeat, whereas repair, no matter how costly (Like the USS West Virginia after Pearl Harbor) wouild be making a statement that the ship is tough. (Unless the ship's reputation was so tainted that no one would sail on her anyway.)
I've been reading Colin Simpson's excellent book about the Lusitania disaster, which makes a number of points relevant to this:
*The three most renowned shipping disasters are the Titanic, Empress of Ireland and Lusitania, in 1912, 1914 and 1915.
*As a result of the Titanic disaster, all ships were required to carry enough lifeboats to save their entire complement.
*The British Admiralty expected an outbreak of war between Britain and Germany sometime around September 1914.
If that last point seems out of left-field, bear with me on this. The Empress of Ireland disaster occured on May 29th, 1914 - barely three months before the forecasted start date for the Great War. Assuming the next big disaster happens around the same time, and the lifeboat issue is as emotive as in the case of the Titanic, there's a distinct possibility the implementation of any legislation regarding lifeboatsnot being implemented until after the war. If, during war, there are then a number of similar disasters (be it as a result of submarine action, munitions shipping, or something more benign), the Transatlantic trade is likely to come out of the conflict with a somewhat reduced reputation.
I'm not saying this would result in an interwar boom in airship travel; it's just, y'know, anything's possible...
*The three most renowned shipping disasters are the Titanic, Empress of Ireland and Lusitania, in 1912, 1914 and 1915.
*As a result of the Titanic disaster, all ships were required to carry enough lifeboats to save their entire complement.
*The British Admiralty expected an outbreak of war between Britain and Germany sometime around September 1914.
If that last point seems out of left-field, bear with me on this. The Empress of Ireland disaster occured on May 29th, 1914 - barely three months before the forecasted start date for the Great War. Assuming the next big disaster happens around the same time, and the lifeboat issue is as emotive as in the case of the Titanic, there's a distinct possibility the implementation of any legislation regarding lifeboatsnot being implemented until after the war. If, during war, there are then a number of similar disasters (be it as a result of submarine action, munitions shipping, or something more benign), the Transatlantic trade is likely to come out of the conflict with a somewhat reduced reputation.
I'm not saying this would result in an interwar boom in airship travel; it's just, y'know, anything's possible...
von kressenstein
Banned
There has been speculation that a head on collision would have resulted in the crumpling of the ship forward of the first or second watertight bulkhead, leaving the rest of the hull intact. It is possible, of course. It is also possible, however, (based on the "shattering" effect that occurred to the hull due to the way the steel was created and the temperature of the water), that a direct crushing blow to the bow would have caused even more of the hull to fracture, causing the ship to sink more quickly.
she may not have sunk as fast.. but sink i feel she would.
Of course you could take into account that they speculate that the iceburg had a large underwater iceshelf that a head on collision may have caused a partial grounding of the ship, of course till the ice shifted. Either way we are talking the equivalent energy of at least 1/2 to a ton of TNT.
she may not have sunk as fast.. but sink i feel she would.
Of course you could take into account that they speculate that the iceburg had a large underwater iceshelf that a head on collision may have caused a partial grounding of the ship, of course till the ice shifted. Either way we are talking the equivalent energy of at least 1/2 to a ton of TNT.
David S Poepoe
Banned
I think that with the introduction of iron hull ships that the double-hull design would be introduced. It would at least have been adopted by navies.
What Might Have Happened That Cold April Evening . . .
14 April 1912, approximately 2340 hours . . .
"Is there someone there?!"
"Yes! What did you see?!"
"Iceberg, right . . . OH, MY GOD! We're right on top of it!"
Hearing that outburst from one of the lookouts, James Moody blinked as he gazed out the forward bridge windows, and then he gaped as something even blacker than the dark night ahead of Titanic. Feeling the blood drain from his face, he spun over to yell at the current chief of the watch, William Murdoch, "ICEBURG! RIGHT AHEAD!"
Hearing that, Murdoch turned, and then on seeing the massive mountain-shape now right in his ship's path, screamed back, "HARD A'STARBOARD! FULL ASTERN ALL ENGINES! SECURE THE WATERTIGHT DOORS!"
As the boatswain's mate on the ship's telegraphs rang the engines to go from full ahead to full astern, the helmsman spung his wheel hard clockwise to get the giant ship away from what it was bearing down on . . .
But it was too late.
Steaming at 21 knots, the 52,000 ton liner slammed almost head on with the iceburg, the majority of the impact hitting her stem below the waterline, destroying the peak tank and the chain locker and storage rooms right above it. As the liner violently shook from the powerful impact, the lower part of the first watertight bulkhead gave way under the force, thus allowing the Number 2 cargo hold to be instantly flooded by the disintegrating bulkhead and sides. The force of the water crushing against the second bulkhead made it soon gave way, thus sending jet torrents pouring through dozens of holes into the Number 3 cargo hold.
By then, the majority of the impact force had bled off the ship's hull as her forward motion finally came to a stop. Everywhere, people were knocked over and out of their bunks by the sheer power of the impact, though fortunately, a gasping Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee were gaping at the barely-lit mass of frozen water that their ship's bow had just slammed into.
"Didn't have any damn binoculars . . . " Lee muttered . . .
* * *
15 April, 0010 hours . . .
"So we can still float?"
Edward Smith nodded. "Yes. We've got people shoring up the third bulkhead right now. We've got people going through the cabins on the lower decks closer to where the damage occured to make sure the steerage passengers there're alright. Other personnel are checking the other passengers to make sure there weren't any serious wounds when people got thrown about like that."
Hearing that, Bruce Ismay could only shake his head, his mind racing as the many bits of information he had received over the last half-hour played out inside his mind. Thomas Andrews -- along with Chief Carpenter John Hutchinson and several other of the officers and deck crew -- were busy down below looking at the extent of the damage to the forward sections of Titanic, but given the lack of visible light, it would have to wait until well past dawn before a full analysis of the exterior damage could be done. Fortunately, there had been no fatalities given the violence of the collision . . .
. . . but what could have been.
"I'm back."
Smith and Ismay turned as Andrews walked into the captain's cabin. "How bad is it?" the 62 year old Royal Naval Reserve officer asked as the managing director of Harland and Wolff took a seat at the chair beside the desk where the ship's plans had been laid out.
The native of Comber took a deep breath. "It could have been a lot worse," he began.
"How worse?" Ismay asked.
"Well, if the lookouts had spotted the damned 'berg a little sooner and Mister Murdoch was able to get the wheel turned over, we might have ended up with a situation where this so-called 'unsinkable' ship would have sunk!" Andrews said.
The managing director of White Star turned very pale. "What . . .?"
Andrews gazed at him. "If the ship had turned enough to try to get around the iceberg, Mister Ismay, the chances were there that the sides of the ship could have been pried open by some unseen part of the damned thing just right below the water level." He turned to point to the side elevation of the Titanic on the drawings spread out over the table. "As you know, she can stay afloat with the first four compartments flooded. But if the ship had hit a glancing blow, there could have been damage all the way from the bows right to the boiler rooms." His finger traced a line all the way back to the large space under the first funnel. "And if that happened, it would have probably taken . . . " He paused as he did a quick mental calculation. " . . . one to two hours."
"To sink?" Smith asked.
A nod. "Yes."
Silence fell over the room, and then Ismay found himself sinking onto the captain's bed as a dark and horrible realisation of what might have happened sank in. "Oh, my God . . . "
"We were really lucky," Smith noted.
"That we were," Andrews affirmed with a nod.
Ismay blinked as he considered that, and then he sighed. "Can we still make New York?" he wondered.
A shake of the head. "I wouldn't risk it at all," Andrews stated. "My option would be to get this ship into the nearest safe harbour we can find. And we go there slow," he emphasised. "Much that I am confident that the ship can make it to a safe port . . . "
"Halifax," Smith immediately offered; said location was only six hundred miles to the west-northwest of where they were now.
Andrews nodded. " . . . we can't risk making the damage worse if we push her too hard. Right now, Mister Hutchinson is making sure everything is sound before we go anywhere. Fortunately for us, the ship was able to float away from that iceberg; I shudder to think of what might have happened if we were permanently wedged on the damned thing!"
"Agreed."
Ismay sighed. "Where is Olympic at this time?"
Smith turned to gaze at the most recent message the ship's Marconi wireless staff, Harold Bride and Jack Phillips, had just passed to him minutes before. "She's right now over five hundred miles away from us. Nearest ship to us is the Cunard Line Carpathia; she's about sixty miles away from us, bound for Fiume. Captain Rostron is prepared to divert to help us in case we need it." A shake of the head. "We're still trying to raise whoever it is that's close to us off to the north. We think it might be the Californian, but we can't raise her either by wireless or Morse lamp."
A nod. "Then we'll have to try to get to Halifax," Ismay said.
Smith nodded. "Alright."
* * *
Approximately ten miles to the north, 0014 hours . . .
"She's stopped."
"Has been for over a half-hour," Third Officer C.V. Groves mused as he gazed at the small bundle of lights in the darkness south of Californian. "Can the lookouts see if she's been trying to signal us?"
"Aye, sir, I'll get them to look," one of the junior able seamen said. "You want me to get Mister Evans up, sir?"
The older man hummed. "Do it. Have him get that set going and see if we can get some indication of who that might be."
"Heard it was the Titanic, sir."
"Well, let's confirm it."
"Aye, sir."
With that, he headed into the pilotage to get to one of the voice pipes. Whistling down it, Groves called out, "Bridge to Captain!"
A moment later, a groggy voice called back, "Captain."
"Sorry to wake you up, sir, but the vessel to the south of us has been stopped for the last half-hour. I'm getting Mister Evans up to get the wireless going to see if we can find out what's happening."
"Any idea why she stopped?" Stanley Lord called back.
A chuckle. "Probably the same reason we are, sir."
"Alright, I'm coming up."
"Aye, sir."
* * *
Back aboard Titanic, 0043 hours . . .
"Captain?"
Smith looked over, and then he held out his hand. "Here."
Jack Philips smiled as he handed the sheet over. Scanning the information there, the elderly captain grinned. "Excellent."
"Response message, sir?" the younger man asked.
"My compliments to Captain Lord and please inform him that we have the flooding under control and I don't personally consider the risk to the ship grave enough to consider evacuation at this time," Smith stated as Philips jotted down the information on a notepad he had brought with him. "Advise him that at first light, I will try to navigate up towards him, then make my way to Halifax. I will not risk a voyage to either Boston or New York as they're just too far away from here. If he wishes to remain close to us until we're safely closer to Nova Scotia, he can."
"Very good, sir." Philips then sighed. "I had to apologise to the poor man over there."
"How so?"
"Well, sir, Mister Evans -- he's Californian's wireless operator -- was trying to warn us of the ice that stopped her earlier today, but I rather was quite rude to him when I was trying to get all the messages out to Cape Race."
Smith chuckled. "Well, put an extra note for me to both Mister Evans and Captain Lord, thanking them for their willingness to keep an eye out for things. Inform them I intend to move at dawn. Then put out a second message to Captain Rostron on Carpathia. Repeat what I want sent to Captain Lord and inform him that if he wishes to remain to assist, he's welcome to, but I don't believe the damage will be made worse if we head to Halifax."
A nod. "Very good, sir."
* * *
The first class dining room, 0110 hours . . .
"So the damage isn't too bad?" John Jacob Astor IV asked.
"Fortunately for us, no, sir," the steward replied. All the passengers had been asked to get up and report to their various dining halls to get a full update on what had happened. "Since the night was so dark and there were next to no stars in the sky, it was a miracle that the lookouts were able to spot the blasted thing at all. Now, the captain plans to remain here until dawn so that we can get a clear indication of what's around us before we head off. We're going to Halifax . . . "
People instantly gasped. "Why there?!" Benjamin Guggenheim demanded.
"Because it's the closest port to us that can handle a ship this size, sir," the steward replied. "The captain feels that, even if the damage wasn't enough to really threaten the ship, we need to take it easy and get you all ashore as quickly and safely as possible. We realise this is horrendously inconvenient . . . "
"Damn straight it is!" Isidor Straus stated.
"Now, that's enough, dear!"
Eyes locked on Straus' wife Ida. "The captain's primary task here is to make sure we all get ashore safely," the wife of the owner of Macy's stated as she gave her husband a knowing look. "If he feels that the iceberg hurt the ship bad enough to not risk a direct voyage to New York, that is his decision to make. He's worried about us, remember!"
"It is the man's job," Madelaine Astor stated.
"But the ship's damned unsinkable!" George Widener exclaimed.
"That's not true, sir."
Heads spun around as a weary-looking Irishman walked into the dining room. "Thomas!" Molly Brown called out. "How bad is it?"
"Fortunately, not as bad as it could have been," Thomas Andrews said before he gazed on the director of the Philadelphia Traction Company. "And to answer your question, sir, the ship's made of iron! Put enough holes into her and she can sink just like any other ship!"
The other passengers blinked. "But everyone said . . .!" Widener protested.
"Sir, The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine Builder put out that ridiculous 'unsinkable' assertion back last year when they put out their special issue on this class of ship," Andrews stated. "Neither my shipyard, the White Star Line or the International Mercantile Marine Company have ever put any credence into any claims of total invulnerability." A sigh. "And as I said when I came in, it could have been a lot worse, so let's give thanks to God for His Grace towards us and be grateful that we don't have to risk freezing in the cold ocean before someone could come rescue us."
"Amen to that," Brown noted.
The others in the room were quick to nod to the shipbuilder's words; as they had got to know Thomas Andrews over the last few days, they had come to realise that the director of Harland and Wolff was a fundamentaly honest man when it came to matters pertaining to the great ship they now stood on. "So how soon will we get underway?" Astor then asked.
"We'll wait until dawn, Colonel," Andrews answered. "We're in contact with the Californian, who is about ten miles to the north of us. They got stopped by the ice, too; they actually tried to report to us about a massive ice field ahead of them, one of the 'bergs . . . "
"Being the one we hit," Brown noted.
"Aye. So when we can finally see, we'll get through this and head straight for Halifax."
"Can we send messages out?" Arthur Peuchen asked.
"Not yet," Andrews stated. "We sent a message to Cape Race to relay to New York about what happened. We need to make arrangements for all of you to be picked up in Halifax, which should be easy to do. When the captain's sure there's no need to make emergency messages out to people, you'll be allowed to contact your relatives."
Everyone there nodded . . .
* * *
The Californian, 0740 hours . . .
"Oh, my God . . . "
"That is one bloodly lucky ship."
Gazing at the clearly wounded Titanic through his binoculars, Stanley Lord could only nod. "That she is . . . "
To be continued . . .?
14 April 1912, approximately 2340 hours . . .
"Is there someone there?!"
"Yes! What did you see?!"
"Iceberg, right . . . OH, MY GOD! We're right on top of it!"
Hearing that outburst from one of the lookouts, James Moody blinked as he gazed out the forward bridge windows, and then he gaped as something even blacker than the dark night ahead of Titanic. Feeling the blood drain from his face, he spun over to yell at the current chief of the watch, William Murdoch, "ICEBURG! RIGHT AHEAD!"
Hearing that, Murdoch turned, and then on seeing the massive mountain-shape now right in his ship's path, screamed back, "HARD A'STARBOARD! FULL ASTERN ALL ENGINES! SECURE THE WATERTIGHT DOORS!"
As the boatswain's mate on the ship's telegraphs rang the engines to go from full ahead to full astern, the helmsman spung his wheel hard clockwise to get the giant ship away from what it was bearing down on . . .
But it was too late.
Steaming at 21 knots, the 52,000 ton liner slammed almost head on with the iceburg, the majority of the impact hitting her stem below the waterline, destroying the peak tank and the chain locker and storage rooms right above it. As the liner violently shook from the powerful impact, the lower part of the first watertight bulkhead gave way under the force, thus allowing the Number 2 cargo hold to be instantly flooded by the disintegrating bulkhead and sides. The force of the water crushing against the second bulkhead made it soon gave way, thus sending jet torrents pouring through dozens of holes into the Number 3 cargo hold.
By then, the majority of the impact force had bled off the ship's hull as her forward motion finally came to a stop. Everywhere, people were knocked over and out of their bunks by the sheer power of the impact, though fortunately, a gasping Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee were gaping at the barely-lit mass of frozen water that their ship's bow had just slammed into.
"Didn't have any damn binoculars . . . " Lee muttered . . .
* * *
15 April, 0010 hours . . .
"So we can still float?"
Edward Smith nodded. "Yes. We've got people shoring up the third bulkhead right now. We've got people going through the cabins on the lower decks closer to where the damage occured to make sure the steerage passengers there're alright. Other personnel are checking the other passengers to make sure there weren't any serious wounds when people got thrown about like that."
Hearing that, Bruce Ismay could only shake his head, his mind racing as the many bits of information he had received over the last half-hour played out inside his mind. Thomas Andrews -- along with Chief Carpenter John Hutchinson and several other of the officers and deck crew -- were busy down below looking at the extent of the damage to the forward sections of Titanic, but given the lack of visible light, it would have to wait until well past dawn before a full analysis of the exterior damage could be done. Fortunately, there had been no fatalities given the violence of the collision . . .
. . . but what could have been.
"I'm back."
Smith and Ismay turned as Andrews walked into the captain's cabin. "How bad is it?" the 62 year old Royal Naval Reserve officer asked as the managing director of Harland and Wolff took a seat at the chair beside the desk where the ship's plans had been laid out.
The native of Comber took a deep breath. "It could have been a lot worse," he began.
"How worse?" Ismay asked.
"Well, if the lookouts had spotted the damned 'berg a little sooner and Mister Murdoch was able to get the wheel turned over, we might have ended up with a situation where this so-called 'unsinkable' ship would have sunk!" Andrews said.
The managing director of White Star turned very pale. "What . . .?"
Andrews gazed at him. "If the ship had turned enough to try to get around the iceberg, Mister Ismay, the chances were there that the sides of the ship could have been pried open by some unseen part of the damned thing just right below the water level." He turned to point to the side elevation of the Titanic on the drawings spread out over the table. "As you know, she can stay afloat with the first four compartments flooded. But if the ship had hit a glancing blow, there could have been damage all the way from the bows right to the boiler rooms." His finger traced a line all the way back to the large space under the first funnel. "And if that happened, it would have probably taken . . . " He paused as he did a quick mental calculation. " . . . one to two hours."
"To sink?" Smith asked.
A nod. "Yes."
Silence fell over the room, and then Ismay found himself sinking onto the captain's bed as a dark and horrible realisation of what might have happened sank in. "Oh, my God . . . "
"We were really lucky," Smith noted.
"That we were," Andrews affirmed with a nod.
Ismay blinked as he considered that, and then he sighed. "Can we still make New York?" he wondered.
A shake of the head. "I wouldn't risk it at all," Andrews stated. "My option would be to get this ship into the nearest safe harbour we can find. And we go there slow," he emphasised. "Much that I am confident that the ship can make it to a safe port . . . "
"Halifax," Smith immediately offered; said location was only six hundred miles to the west-northwest of where they were now.
Andrews nodded. " . . . we can't risk making the damage worse if we push her too hard. Right now, Mister Hutchinson is making sure everything is sound before we go anywhere. Fortunately for us, the ship was able to float away from that iceberg; I shudder to think of what might have happened if we were permanently wedged on the damned thing!"
"Agreed."
Ismay sighed. "Where is Olympic at this time?"
Smith turned to gaze at the most recent message the ship's Marconi wireless staff, Harold Bride and Jack Phillips, had just passed to him minutes before. "She's right now over five hundred miles away from us. Nearest ship to us is the Cunard Line Carpathia; she's about sixty miles away from us, bound for Fiume. Captain Rostron is prepared to divert to help us in case we need it." A shake of the head. "We're still trying to raise whoever it is that's close to us off to the north. We think it might be the Californian, but we can't raise her either by wireless or Morse lamp."
A nod. "Then we'll have to try to get to Halifax," Ismay said.
Smith nodded. "Alright."
* * *
Approximately ten miles to the north, 0014 hours . . .
"She's stopped."
"Has been for over a half-hour," Third Officer C.V. Groves mused as he gazed at the small bundle of lights in the darkness south of Californian. "Can the lookouts see if she's been trying to signal us?"
"Aye, sir, I'll get them to look," one of the junior able seamen said. "You want me to get Mister Evans up, sir?"
The older man hummed. "Do it. Have him get that set going and see if we can get some indication of who that might be."
"Heard it was the Titanic, sir."
"Well, let's confirm it."
"Aye, sir."
With that, he headed into the pilotage to get to one of the voice pipes. Whistling down it, Groves called out, "Bridge to Captain!"
A moment later, a groggy voice called back, "Captain."
"Sorry to wake you up, sir, but the vessel to the south of us has been stopped for the last half-hour. I'm getting Mister Evans up to get the wireless going to see if we can find out what's happening."
"Any idea why she stopped?" Stanley Lord called back.
A chuckle. "Probably the same reason we are, sir."
"Alright, I'm coming up."
"Aye, sir."
* * *
Back aboard Titanic, 0043 hours . . .
"Captain?"
Smith looked over, and then he held out his hand. "Here."
Jack Philips smiled as he handed the sheet over. Scanning the information there, the elderly captain grinned. "Excellent."
"Response message, sir?" the younger man asked.
"My compliments to Captain Lord and please inform him that we have the flooding under control and I don't personally consider the risk to the ship grave enough to consider evacuation at this time," Smith stated as Philips jotted down the information on a notepad he had brought with him. "Advise him that at first light, I will try to navigate up towards him, then make my way to Halifax. I will not risk a voyage to either Boston or New York as they're just too far away from here. If he wishes to remain close to us until we're safely closer to Nova Scotia, he can."
"Very good, sir." Philips then sighed. "I had to apologise to the poor man over there."
"How so?"
"Well, sir, Mister Evans -- he's Californian's wireless operator -- was trying to warn us of the ice that stopped her earlier today, but I rather was quite rude to him when I was trying to get all the messages out to Cape Race."
Smith chuckled. "Well, put an extra note for me to both Mister Evans and Captain Lord, thanking them for their willingness to keep an eye out for things. Inform them I intend to move at dawn. Then put out a second message to Captain Rostron on Carpathia. Repeat what I want sent to Captain Lord and inform him that if he wishes to remain to assist, he's welcome to, but I don't believe the damage will be made worse if we head to Halifax."
A nod. "Very good, sir."
* * *
The first class dining room, 0110 hours . . .
"So the damage isn't too bad?" John Jacob Astor IV asked.
"Fortunately for us, no, sir," the steward replied. All the passengers had been asked to get up and report to their various dining halls to get a full update on what had happened. "Since the night was so dark and there were next to no stars in the sky, it was a miracle that the lookouts were able to spot the blasted thing at all. Now, the captain plans to remain here until dawn so that we can get a clear indication of what's around us before we head off. We're going to Halifax . . . "
People instantly gasped. "Why there?!" Benjamin Guggenheim demanded.
"Because it's the closest port to us that can handle a ship this size, sir," the steward replied. "The captain feels that, even if the damage wasn't enough to really threaten the ship, we need to take it easy and get you all ashore as quickly and safely as possible. We realise this is horrendously inconvenient . . . "
"Damn straight it is!" Isidor Straus stated.
"Now, that's enough, dear!"
Eyes locked on Straus' wife Ida. "The captain's primary task here is to make sure we all get ashore safely," the wife of the owner of Macy's stated as she gave her husband a knowing look. "If he feels that the iceberg hurt the ship bad enough to not risk a direct voyage to New York, that is his decision to make. He's worried about us, remember!"
"It is the man's job," Madelaine Astor stated.
"But the ship's damned unsinkable!" George Widener exclaimed.
"That's not true, sir."
Heads spun around as a weary-looking Irishman walked into the dining room. "Thomas!" Molly Brown called out. "How bad is it?"
"Fortunately, not as bad as it could have been," Thomas Andrews said before he gazed on the director of the Philadelphia Traction Company. "And to answer your question, sir, the ship's made of iron! Put enough holes into her and she can sink just like any other ship!"
The other passengers blinked. "But everyone said . . .!" Widener protested.
"Sir, The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine Builder put out that ridiculous 'unsinkable' assertion back last year when they put out their special issue on this class of ship," Andrews stated. "Neither my shipyard, the White Star Line or the International Mercantile Marine Company have ever put any credence into any claims of total invulnerability." A sigh. "And as I said when I came in, it could have been a lot worse, so let's give thanks to God for His Grace towards us and be grateful that we don't have to risk freezing in the cold ocean before someone could come rescue us."
"Amen to that," Brown noted.
The others in the room were quick to nod to the shipbuilder's words; as they had got to know Thomas Andrews over the last few days, they had come to realise that the director of Harland and Wolff was a fundamentaly honest man when it came to matters pertaining to the great ship they now stood on. "So how soon will we get underway?" Astor then asked.
"We'll wait until dawn, Colonel," Andrews answered. "We're in contact with the Californian, who is about ten miles to the north of us. They got stopped by the ice, too; they actually tried to report to us about a massive ice field ahead of them, one of the 'bergs . . . "
"Being the one we hit," Brown noted.
"Aye. So when we can finally see, we'll get through this and head straight for Halifax."
"Can we send messages out?" Arthur Peuchen asked.
"Not yet," Andrews stated. "We sent a message to Cape Race to relay to New York about what happened. We need to make arrangements for all of you to be picked up in Halifax, which should be easy to do. When the captain's sure there's no need to make emergency messages out to people, you'll be allowed to contact your relatives."
Everyone there nodded . . .
* * *
The Californian, 0740 hours . . .
"Oh, my God . . . "
"That is one bloodly lucky ship."
Gazing at the clearly wounded Titanic through his binoculars, Stanley Lord could only nod. "That she is . . . "
To be continued . . .?
Sorry to pour on icy water, but...
A head on collision would surely have sent a shock wave through the ship. There were known high-sulphur (cold-shearing) rivet problems. It's possible the seams would have started well behind the crush zone, rather than laterally on one side. Result as before. Sorry, folks...
A head on collision would surely have sent a shock wave through the ship. There were known high-sulphur (cold-shearing) rivet problems. It's possible the seams would have started well behind the crush zone, rather than laterally on one side. Result as before. Sorry, folks...
Completely accurate. You have the character's personalities down to a T, though I always pictured Astor a little bit more arrogant and I have always envisioned Strauss to be more level headed. I can see Astor and Gracie making the comment that it was "damned inconvenient" but not Strauss.
Also, looking over my schematics,* I wonder how much damage the keel took with this in terms of buckling, especially in between the 1st and second funnel. Depending on that damage, we might see Titanic going under a major overhaul or being scrapped.
* = I studied every inch and story about the Titanic starting in 1993 long before I ever took interest in aircraft.
Also, looking over my schematics,* I wonder how much damage the keel took with this in terms of buckling, especially in between the 1st and second funnel. Depending on that damage, we might see Titanic going under a major overhaul or being scrapped.
* = I studied every inch and story about the Titanic starting in 1993 long before I ever took interest in aircraft.
- Status