Blog 153 - TITANIC : PART XIII - CARPATHIA TO THE RESCUE - SHIPS IN THE VICINITY
- ranganathanblog
- Feb 11
- 5 min read
TITANIC : PART XIII - CARPATHIA TO THE RESCUE -
SHIPS IN THE VICINITY
All my articles are sourced from various sectors of the media - printed books, video episodes, articles, research papers etc.
Picasso once said “Good artists copy; great artists steal”.
Although I cannot make the claim of being either good nor great, I have copied some factual details and stolen some ideas.
The only way I can justify this is by saying ‘It was all for a Cause”.
Time Line of Events:
11.40 pm (14th April 1912): Titanic crashes into/ scrapes against the iceberg.
12.25 am (15th April 1912): Capt Smith gives the order to ‘abandon ship’ and launch the lifeboats.
12.40 am (15th April 1912): The first lifeboat (Boat # 7) launched, with only 28 passengers.
02.05 am (15th April 1912): The last lifeboat (Collapsible Sides Boat) was launched.
The next collapsible boat launched turns over, but being a raft , still floats.
02.20 am (15th April 1912): The Titanic sinks
THE ‘CALIFORNIAN’ AND A HYPOTHETICAL RESCUE
The closest ship to the Titanic was the ‘Californian’ and, had she responded, she would have gone down in history as the heroic ship that saved the passengers and crew of the Titanic. Instead she was stuck with the ignominy of the ship that did not go to the rescue of the Titanic. The Captain, Stanley Lord, although exonerated in the subsequent inquiry into the incident, never did live down the infamy.
Had she responded, could she have saved all of Titanic’s passengers and crew? Let us analyse the facts.
Californian’s Ship Particulars were as follows:
Cargo Liner of less than 10,000 GRT, DWT 6223.
Cargo + 47 Passengers
13 knots service speed
4 Life Boats + 1 Gig + 1 Pinnace - Total Capacity 218 persons
She was 18 nautical miles away from the Titanic.
The first wireless signals were sent out by the Titanic at 0015 hrs on 15th April
The Californian had noted flares from the Titanic at 0045 hrs / 15th April.
Hypothetical Scenario of the ‘Californian’ going to the rescue of the ‘Titanic’ passengers and crew
Let us assume that she started to respond to the call of the Titanic at 0030H and proceeded at full speed to the site where the Titanic was sinking.
At her best speed she would have reached around 0200 h / 15th April, just about 20 minutes before she sank completely (0220 h).
She immediately deploys all her lifeboats, gigs, pinnace to rescue those in the water or are jumping from the ship. How many would she have been able to rescue? 100? 200? Each boat would have taken a few minutes to pull an individual from the water.
Meanwhile, those in the Titanic’s Life Boats have started boarding the ‘Californian’, releasing the now empty Life Boats to go back to rescue of others in the water. This embarkation of each passenger from each of the Titanic boats would have taken a while. It is not as if a gangway is lowered and boats speedily can come alongside and discharge passengers.
1500 need to be saved within 30 to 40 minutes, before hypothermia sets in.
300 to 400 of the 1500 could have been saved, at the most.
Carpathia to the Rescue
Owner : Cunard Lines
GRT : 13603
Service Speed : 15.5 knots
Passengers : 2550
Life Boats ; 20?
The Titanic’s survivors were extremely fortunate.
The Carpathia’s lone Wireless operator, Harold Cottam, was on the Bridge at the time the Titanic had started transmitting their SOS. Before going to sleep, he was in the habit of checking fior any transmissions, when he heard Cape Cod - a shore based transmission facility on the Canadian coast - trying to get in touch with the Titanic. He also helped in doing so when he realised the Titanic was transmitting a ‘CQD’ (Come Quick Danger) and SOS.
When he dashed to the Bridge with the SOS message, he was not believed by the Duty Officers. When he tried waking up the Captain, he was initially berated by the Captain. Very shortly, the Captain - Arthur Rostron - realised the importance of the message. Immediately setting course for the ‘Titanic’, he mobilised his crew and officers to prepare for the emergency.
The Carpathia reached the site of the Titanic sinking and immediately launched lifeboats to scour the area for those in the water and for those in dire need.
Impeded by the lack of light for the first couple of hours the crew of the Carpathia searched the area, calling out and listening for any response. With daylight, the search became easier.
More than 4 hours after she arrived at the scene, the Carpathia called the search off.
Thus ended one of the more dramatic rescues in maritime history.
I could not find any statistic of any survivor being picked out of the water. Only those clinging on to the upturned collapsible raft were in need of rescuing.
There is an isolated report of rescuing a sozzled cook who survived the immersion in the cold waters and another crew member who had clung on to a floating wooden door.
One of the lesser known reports were about instances where the Titanic lifeboats that were in the water, refused to help and pick some of those who were struggling in the water. They drowned.
But there were also other reports of some of the women in the life boats arguing with other passengers in those boats and succeeding in convincing them to pick up those in the water. Ms Molly Brown was one of them.
All the 705 in the lifeboats of the Titanic were picked up and given warm clothing, food and accommodation. Even though the Carpathia was on a voyage from New York to the Mediterranean, she steamed back to New York to disembark all those from the Titanic.
Although inundated with messages from news outlets, the Carpathia did not divulge any information to the press, leaving the Owners of the Titanic to see to see to that end of it.
Many of the crew and officers of the Carpathia received several honours, including Captain Arthur Rostron.
Lifeboat No. 14 towing Collapsible Boat D toward the rescue ship, Carpathia with Fifth Officer Lowe standing at the tiller on the morning of April 15, 1912, the very day that the RMS Titanic sunk beneath the icy Atlantic waters.
Photo of the Carpathia arriving at NYC with Titanic’s survivors on April 18th 1912
Photo of Titanic’s famous First Class passenger: Mrs. Molly Brown presenting Carpathia’s Captain & crew, a silver trophy as appreciation for their efforts to rescue Titanic’s passengers. Molly Brown went onto become quite famous after the sinking. She’d get the nickname: “Unsinkable Molly Brown” for her brave and compassionate actions during & after the sinking.
AR
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