Samples from the book

The Yard

The morning sun rose up from behind the Queen’s Road tramcar as it clattered along the track, jostling the dark coats and caps clinging to every last joist on the way towards Queen’s Island. As it slowed on the approach toward ‘The Yard’, they disembarked into a sea of black, the hustle and bustle of thousands of shipyard workers, undulating back and forth as crowds merged and streams of men descended from other trams. Here the crowd swelled into a parade of marchers, then narrowed into a long black ribbon, scurrying along the edge of the tracks to beat the 8AM horn.

The riveters’ work at the Yard had been tough during the last few months of 1911 and into the winter of 1912. According to shipbuilding records, the foreman, Mr. Kingan, had resorted to becoming unduly stern with the workers, formally complaining of their idling on the job. Harland & Wolff was one of the most powerful shipbuilders in the world, yet in the early spring of 1912, it certainly didn’t need to add laziness to its latest troubles. For the first and last time in history, the White Star sisters Olympic and Titanic found themselves quartered next to one another at the gantry in Belfast. On March 2, 1912, the older sister was dry-docked after a collision stripped her of a propeller blade, and the latter, poised to break the record books, instead wallowed months behind schedule, now bereft of a propeller.

The Goal of the Recent Expeditions

The discovery of the ship in two pieces finally vindicated those passengers who testified that the ship had seemed to split into two at the surface. By all measurements these two expeditions were a triumph. The nation stared in awe as the underwater camera exposed a delicate ceramic doll’s head, a forever unopened bottle of champagne, stacks of dishes still in tact, and the remnants of a deck bench, now reduced to fragile fragments of metalwork. The site of the most famous shipwreck in history had finally been discovered, but the reasons for her sinking were still as nebulous as ever. The expedition did not succeed in finding the 300-ft. gash that many had speculated to have taken down the ship, but the wealth of knowledge that the team did uncover provided plenty for researchers to chew on.

With just a small glimpse into the window of an archeological site over half a mile in length, the world gasped with a mixture of horror and delight, while historians, scientists and marine specialists pleaded for more information. What did the wreck site look like? What role did the metallurgy play in the sinking? Where was the iceberg damage? In what condition was the wreck site? Since 1986, an untold number of expeditions have visited the site (including Ballard himself), many with the express purpose of salvaging artifacts. Thousands of objects have been retrieved from the site, conserved and displayed for inquisitive eyes, as probably an equal number have been pillaged for profit. While legitimate recoveries have formed the basis of some the most successful traveling exhibits in history, they did little to further our understanding of the accident that night. Of the many visitors to the wreck, far fewer scientific expeditions have been launched with the goal to research those unanswered questions.

What are the Facts?

Senator SMITH. Was the vessel broken in two in any manner, or intact?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER. Absolutely intact.
Senator SMITH. On the decks?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER. Intact, sir.
Second Officer Charles Lightoller on Day 1, American Inquiry

Mr. CROWE. She broke, and the after part floated back.
Senator BOURNE. And the bow part, two-thirds of the ship, sank?
Mr. CROWE. Yes, sir.
Steward George Crowe on Day 7, American Inquiry

Two versions, one fateful night. Only days after the most famous tragedy of the 20th century and opposing facts were already running rampant. Add ninety-two years to the clock, throw in a flurry of sensationalistic media, and the illusions have flourished to mind-boggling proportions.

Descriptions of the night of Titanic’s sinking have been told a million times over, by survivors, historians, marine explorers, naval architects, authors, cinematographers, and a variety of enthusiasts. Yet, despite the variations in their interpretations, these accounts all stem from the same sequence of events. What are they? This chapter offers a straightforward review of the sinking - the pertinent details of an age-old story are synthesized with the data from survivor testimony as well as recent forensic investigations.

What is simply conjecture and what is hard fact? What type of collision was it, how severe was it, and how long did it last? Here is an examination of the theories and the data that attempt to explain her break up, and the half-mile separation of her virtually intact bow section from the totally demolished stern on the ocean bottom. What role did the materials play in her sinking? The critical materials, design features, and manufacturing methods will be identified and the crucial questions surrounding their integrity will finally be answered.