Logan Marshall - Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters

“I knew I had to fight for it and I did. How I got out from under the boat I do not know, but I felt a breath of air at last.

“There were men all around me hundreds of them. The sea was dotted with them, all depending on their life-belts. I felt I simply had to get away from the ship. She was a beautiful sight then.

“Smoke and sparks were rushing out of her funnel, and there must have been an explosion, but we had heard none. We only saw the big stream of sparks. The ship was gradually turning on her nose just like a duck does that goes down for a dive. I had one thing on my mind—to get away from the suction. The band was still playing, and I guess they all went down.

“They were playing ‘Autumn’ then. I swam with all my might. I suppose I was 150 feet away when the Titanic, on her nose, with her after-quarter sticking straight up in the air, began to settle slowly.

“When at last the waves washed over her rudder there wasn’t the least bit of suction I could feel. She must have kept going just as slowly as she had been.

“I forgot to mention that, besides the Olympic and Carpathia, we spoke some German boat, I don’t know which, and told them how we were. We also spoke the Baltic. I remembered those things as I began to figure what ships would be coming toward us.

“I felt, after a little while, like sinking. I was very cold. I saw a boat of some kind near me and put all my strength into an effort to swim to it. It was hard work. I was all done when a hand reached out from the boat and pulled me aboard. It was our same collapsible.

“There was just room for me to roll on the edge. I lay there, not caring what happened. Somebody sat on my legs; they were wedged in between slats and were being wrenched. I had not the heart left to ask the man to move. It was a terrible sight all around—men swimming and sinking.

“I lay where I was, letting the man wrench my feet out of shape. Others came near. Nobody gave them a hand. The bottom-up boat already had more men than it would hold and it was sinking.

“At first the larger waves splashed over my head and I had to breathe when I could.

“Some splendid people saved us. They had a right-side-up boat, and it was full to its capacity. Yet they came to us and loaded us all into it. I saw some lights off in the distance and knew a steamship was coming to our aid.

“I didn’t care what happened. I just lay, and gasped when I could and felt the pain in my feet. At last the Carpathia was alongside and the people were being taken up a rope ladder. Our boat drew near, and one b{y} one the men were taken off of it.

“The way the band kept playing was a noble thing. I heard it first while we were working wireless, when there was a rag-time tune for us, and the last I saw of the band, when I was floating out in the sea, with my life-belt on, it was still on deck playing ‘Autumn.’ How they ever did it I cannot imagine.

“That and the way Phillips kept sending after the captain told him his life was his own, and to look out for himself, are two things that stand out in my mind over all the rest.”

SOME of the most thrilling incidents connected with the rescue of the Titanic’s survivors are told in the following account given by a man trained to the sea, a steward of the rescue ship Carpathia:

“At midnight on Sunday, April 14th, I was promenading the deck of the steamer Carpathia, bound for the Mediterranean and three days out from New York, when an urgent summons came to my room from the chief steward, E. Harry Hughes. I then learned that the White Star liner Titanic, the greatest ship afloat, had struck an iceberg and was in serious difficulties.

“We were then already steaming at our greatest power to the scene of the disaster, Captain Rostron having immediately given orders that every man of the crew should stand by to exert his utmost efforts. Within a very few minutes every preparation had been made to receive two or three thousand persons. Blankets were placed ready, tables laid with hot soups and coffee, bedding, etc., prepared, and hospital supplies laid out ready to attend to any injured.

“The men were then mustered in the saloon and addressed by the chief steward. He told them of the disaster and appealed to them in a few words to show the world what stuff Britishers were made of, and to add a glorious page to the history of the empire; and right well did the men respond to the appeal. Every life-boat was manned and ready to be launched at a moment’s notice. Nothing further could be done but anxiously wait and look out for the ship’s distress signal.

“Our Marconi operator, whose unceasing efforts for many hours deserve the greatest possible praise, was unable at this time to get any reply to the urgent inquiries he was sending out, and he feared the worst.

“At last a blue flare was observed, to which we replied with a rocket. Day was just dawning when we observed a boat in the distance.

“Eastward on the horizon a huge iceberg, the cause of the disaster, majestically reared two noble peaks to heaven. Rope ladders were already lowered and we hove to near the life-boat, which was now approaching us as rapidly as the nearly exhausted efforts of the men at the oars could bring her.

“Under the command of our chief officer, who worked indefatigably at the noble work of rescue, the survivors in the boat were rapidly but carefully hauled aboard and given into the hands of the medical staff under the organization of Dr. McGee.

{illust. caption = Above: MAIN STAIRWAY ON TITANIC. TOP E DECK Below: SECOND LANDING. C DECK. GRAND STAIRWAY}

{illust. caption = MRS. JOHN B. THAYER

Mrs. Thayer and her son were….}

{illust. caption = JOHN B. THAYER

Second Vice-President of the…}

“We then learned the terrible news that the gigantic vessel, the unsinkable Titanic, had gone down one hour and ten minutes after striking.

“From this time onward life-boats continued to arrive at frequent intervals. Every man of the Carpathia’s crew was unsparing in his efforts to assist, to tenderly comfort each and every survivor. In all, sixteen boatloads were receives, containing altogether 720 persons, many in simply their night attire, others in evening dress, as if direct from an after-dinner reception, or concert. Most conspicuous was the coolness and self-possession, particularly of the women.

“Pathetic and heartrending incidents were many. There was not a man of the rescue party who was not moved almost to tears. Women arrived and frantically rushed from one gangway to another eagerly scanning the fresh arrivals in the boats for a lost husband or brother.

“One boat arrived with the unconscious body of an English colonel. He had been taking out his mother on a visit, to three others of her sons. He had succeeded in getting her away in one of the boats and he himself had found a place in another. When but a few-yards from the ill-fated ship the boat containing his mother capsized before his eyes.

“Immediately he dived into the water and commenced a frantic search for her. But in vain. Boat after boat endeavored to take him aboard, but he refused to give up, continuing to swim for nearly three hours until even his great strength of body and mind gave out and he was hauled unconscious into a passing boat and brought aboard the Carpathia. The doctor gives little hope of his recovery.

“There were, I understand, twelve newly married couples aboard the big ship. The twelve brides have been saved, but of the husbands all but one have perished. That one would not have been here, had he not been urged to assist in manning a life-boat. Think of the self-sacrifice of these eleven heroes, who stood on the doomed vessel and parted from their brides forever, knowing full well that a few brief minutes would end all things for themselves.