Hello
and welcome to Liverpool in the year 1912.
My name is Robert Hichens.
I suppose you've heard about the terrible tragedy that has become one of the most famous shipping companies of Liverpool?
The White Star Line.
Yes,
their new luxury liner Titanic collided with an iceberg and sank. 1100 miles shy from their intended destination, the great city of New York, and its port.
She was on her maiden voyage.
I, as one of the quartermasters on board, was so proud of this historical moment,
that I was actually serving on one of the most largest ships in the world.
In fact at the time it was said she was the largest movable man-made object in the world.
I was one of the six quartermasters on board.
Now my job was to be in the wheelhouse for four hours
and then I will be on off watch for another eight hours.
Now while I was on watch I would take messages for the captain or any other senior offices. To any other part of the ship.
But more importantly for me, was the second half of my watch
when I would actually be steering the ship itself.
The wheel house was quiet and very dark.
It has to be that way,
it's easier for me to see the ship's compass, so I can guide the ship correctly.
Everything was proceeding as normal.
Everything was what we call A1
but then I heard the ship's bell being rung three times. Which means object, right ahead.
I then saw Mr Moody the sixth officer grab hold of the ship's telephone. Now this was directly linked to the lookouts.
Mr Moody then said down the phone: "What do you see?"
The reply from the lookouts: "Iceberg, Right ahead."
Mr Moody then calmly said thank you and put the receiver down.
He then turned to Mr Murdock, the First Officer on watch that night.
Said "Mr Murdock",
Mr Murdock immediately turned around and said "Full astern, hard-a-starboard".
I turned the wheel as fast as I could to port.
Mr Murdock then grabbed hold of the ship's telegraph and rang it from 'full ahead' to 'all stop' and then right the way through to 'full astern'.
We then waited.
Now after what seemed like hours to us, but was actually only just 37 seconds, we made contact with the iceberg.
We all hoped it would just be a glancing blow
but when we saw large chunks of ice raining down onto the third class passengers' well deck
well, we knew the collision was more serious than we thought.
At midnight Mr Thomas Andrews, Titanic's senior designer, came into the wheel house
and asked to speak to Captain Smith.
He then informed Captain Smith that in his professional opinion,
after studying the damage caused by the iceberg,
that the Titanic was now lost.
At 12 o'clock
Captain Smith ordered the uncovering of the lifeboats.
He also instructed the Marconi wireless operators, on the radio, that they should now send out distress messages using Morse code.
At this point I'd been put in charge of lifeboat number six on the starboard side of the ship.
Now, my lifeboat could carry 65 people.
I watched now as women and children were loaded on board the boat.
There was also two men on board as well.
One of them was a man called Frederick Fleet, he was from Liverpool.
He was the lookout in the crow's nest that night who gave us the warning about the iceberg, less than an hour before.
As a lifeboat was lowered, down the side of the ship
I asked everybody onboard my lifeboat to do their best to start to pull, to row when we reached the water. Which they did.
I steered away from the sinking ship now.
Titanic had developed a list,
highly exaggerated, but you get the idea.
Now I thought she may have capsized on top of us,
so I waited until we were sufficient distance away, before I asked them to stop rowing. We then all looked back
and we could see the Titanic. Now, still lit up from stem to stern, but her bow, the front of the ship, was now deep under the water.
Within minutes
the lights flashed maybe 5, maybe 6 times and then went out.
All we were left with now was the silhouette of the Titanic, against the dark starlit sky.
The stern end of the ship must have been about
100, 150 feet out of the water
her propellers now still.
When all of a sudden
there was a screeching sound, like grinding of metal
and the Titanic cut herself in half between fourth and third funnel.
The forward end of the ship must have gone straight to the bottom. There must have been people on board there still.
There most have been plenty of people still there.
The stern end now crashed back down into the sea and began to fill with water.
At 20 minutes past 2, on the morning of 15 April 1912,
the final section of the Titanic sank beneath the waves.
My lifeboat,
I'd been put in charge of, I was given the order - head towards a light, which have been spotted in the distance. That's what I did.
But we never found it.
The following morning I saw the sign of lights coming towards us.
Now these lights were of a ship coming to our rescue.
When she came closer I realised she was the Cunard liner the Carpathia.
When she'd come to a dead stop
I came the lifeboat alongside her.
Now my lifeboat could carry 65 people
but I had just
28 in mine.
Those 28 now freezing souls were transferred on board to the Carpathia. Now our journey back to New York took three days
but I was kept in New York for a further 17 days to answer questions at the American Board of Enquiry.
Now at this enquiry it was found that out of the 2,207 people on board only 705 had survived. What a waste.
But some good did come out of this tragedy.
After the American and British Board of enquiry
many of the rules and regulations regarding sea travel were changed
such as sufficient lifeboats must be carried for everybody on board the ship,
passengers and crew.
But at what cost did this come about?
The loss of over 1500 hundred lives
and the sinking
of the beautiful White Star ship, Titanic.
Let's hope that nothing like this
will ever happen again.