it's 12 25 am the Cunard liner RMS Carpathia is mostly blacked out her saloon's darkened
and her passengers asleep soundly Harold Cotham 21 is the ship's lone Marconi wireless operator
he's just about to get ready for bed but out of habit before going to sleep
he picks up his headset for one last listen he's surprised to hear that the brand new
luxury liner rms titanic on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic has fallen silent
so he sits down at his desk to call up the bigger ship's wireless operator good morning
old man he taps out on the key do you know that there are dispatchers for you at cape cod
the response he receives is chilling CQD CQD SOS SOS CQD SOS come at once we have struck a berg
cotton rushes out of the wireless office half-dressed to the bridge
where he's greeted by the officer on watch first officer Horace Dean.
Cotham breathlessly tells Dean the situation then races below to the cabin where commander
Arthur Rostron is just dozing off cotton bursts in with dean closely following him and tells Rostron
what's happening are you certain Rostron asks cotton nods in the affirmative titanic is sinking
in April of 1912 the rms Carpathia was just shy of 10 years old
on her introduction she had been on the Boston to Liverpool service but was placed eventually
on a run from new York that called on the Mediterranean ports of Gibraltar Algiers Trieste
and Fiume at the time of her launch in 1902 she was one of the largest ships in the Cunard fleet
she was a modest comfortable and practical ship for Cunard intended to carry a vast amount of
cargo across the Atlantic as well as a complement of passengers on Thursday April 11 1912 Carpathia
had pulled away from the Cunard pier in new York bound for Fiume the ship was commanded
by her veteran skipper Arthur Rostron who had started his career at sea way back in 1884.
he had joined Cunard as a junior officer on the Umbria and over the next few years served across
the Cunard fleet gaining promotion along the way his first passenger ship command was Pannonia
on the new York to Mediterranean run and in January 1912 he was given command of the
Carpathia the ship was rugged and reliable with a reputation for good sea keeping and little rolling
thanks to her proportionally wide beam Rostron found himself in command of a happy
reliable and popular combination cargo passenger liner whose career until then had been thankfully
uneventful and typical but for Rostron and the Carpathia things were about to change
Carpathia had spent three quiet days at sea steaming along on her steady service speed
of 14 knots aboard her were some notable passengers including the American painters
Emma Lampert Cooper and her husband Colin Campbell Cooper her 300 strong crew was led
by six officers which included in their midst a promising young man named James Bissett
he was Carpathia’s second officer that voyage and he would one day go on to become Cunard’s
commodore commanding the likes of queen Mary and queen Elizabeth but in April 1912 he was merely an
aspiring young officer on the bridge of Carpathia as she traversed the Atlantic on a great circle
course from sandy hook to Gibraltar Carpathia whose passengers were not in any huge rush offset
her modest speed by sailing a great circle course managing about 336 miles on the third day at sea
by April 14th the liner had made it about a thousand miles out of new York
and was three days into a 10-day voyage then at 9 00 am something interesting happened Carpathia
received an ice warning at this early stage of the wireless apparatus life the Marconi device largely
existed for the benefit of passenger messages and radio operators who were mostly technology
enthusiasts not unlike today's computer geeks were employees of the Marconi company directly
they were not expected to be on station at all times and on smaller liners there was usually
only one Marconi operator on board ships outside of visual range were not a danger and therefore
their communique was more of a curiosity than a critical piece of information one notable
exception to this rule were the ice warnings which Marconi operators passed on to one another
it wasn't necessarily in their job description but the fear of icebergs and pack ice especially
in early spring on the Atlantic was enough to encourage the swapping of mutually beneficial
information Carpathia’s first ice warning had come on the morning of April 14th
from her fleet mate Caronia westward bound from Liverpool to new York it warned of a large
spread of ice and it was received by Harold Cotham Carpathia’s only wireless operator
he passed the warning onto the bridge Rostron had considered the warning ice at this time
of year was to be expected it seems to be a big field he had said keep a sharp lookout carry on
as the day proceeded and second officer Bisset’s 8 to 12 watch gradually came to a close the air
temperature began to drop chilled by cold currents from the ice field to the north Carpathia was well
south of the ice field and it was a bright clear sunny day so there was no real cause
for alarm after a quiet day at sea as the sun set and the sea became a flat calm more ice warnings
had arrived detailing an extensive field almost 50 miles to the north of Carpathia’s position
cotton had been at work all day and relayed a number of warnings from Caronia,
Baltic, Californian and finally at 9 40 pm the Messaba by evening though another vessel had
entered his wireless sets range it was titanic on her maiden voyage and her wireless operators
were hard at work relaying private passenger correspondence greetings and even stock reports
she had acknowledged the Messaba's warning and Rostron chatted with Bisset on Carpathia’s bridge
about the ice field “I suppose that the titanic will have to slow down or steer are more southerly
course than the usual track” he had said “she'll be late to new york it's hard luck on her maiden
voyage” Rostron turned in for bed and Carpathia’s saloons and deck lights were extinguished
as her passengers retired to their staterooms it was a clear night the sea was glassy and perfectly
flat although Bisset noticed that the lack of moon and clear air made it very difficult to
discern on the horizon where sea ended and sky began at about 11 pm cotton was in Carpathia’s
wireless office listening to Titanic’s seemingly endless stream of passenger messages when the
liner Californian cut in to announce that they had stopped very near to Titanic’s position
surrounded by ice her captain decided it was best to proceed in the morning once the sun had risen
Titanic’s wireless operator jack Phillips blasted back over the airwaves shut up shut up I am busy
and that was the last of it caught him hung up his earphones and started to get ready for bed
shortly after Phillips had told Californian to butt out and after cotton had hung up his headset
titanic had struck the iceberg and started broadcasting the distress signal at midnight
titanic had only been given a short time to live and Carpathia was one of the closest ships at hand
it's now half past 12 and captain Rostron having been woken up by cotton minutes earlier steps onto
the bridge he has immediately grasped the severity of the situation and begins to raw orders stop her
send for the chief engineer he calls send for the chief officer call all the officers call
all hands on deck and get ready to swing out the boats Bisset's cabin was just above the bridge
and this last order especially roused him from his dozing and he rushed out on deck
this is the situation titanic reports her position to be about here history
would prove that the given coordinates were inaccurate by about 25 kilometres
or 15 miles west north west but would put Carpathia within sight of the ship's lights
when Carpathia received the wireless distress messages she was here about 60 or 70 miles
southeast a number of other ships are scattered nearby Parisian about 50 miles away has a
wireless set shut off for the night mount temple received the distress call but she is an older
slower ship and she could barely crack 11 or 12 knots she just won't make it in time Californian
is closest to titanic but her wireless set is off and she's stopped for the night surrounded by ice
to save Titanic’s passengers and crew rostra knows he will have to act drastically and
even endanger his own ship by sailing at full speed for the site of the sinking
and therefore straight into the very same ice field that titanic has just encountered he has
weighed all of this up in his mind and decided to act Carpathia will rise to the challenge
all of Carpathia’s officers have gathered on the bridge and Rostron gives them a tense rundown of
the situation then he gives his orders the ship would move at the fullest possible speed using
every bit of steam she could muster for Titanic’s position and an extra watch would be called out in
the engine room all sailors would be mustered on deck to keep a sharp lookout for ice the lifeboats
would be made ready and swung out prepared for launching all the ship's stewards would prepare
hot drinks like coffee and soup while the ship's doctors would stand by in the dining saloons
all the ship's large side gangway doors would be swung open to take passengers in Rostron feared it
would be perhaps as many as 2 000 and chairs and ladders were rigged to help get the infirm or the
elderly up and out of the water into the ship the ship's forward cargo handling derricks were to be
unshipped and rigged to the winches ready to swing out and pluck out any surviving lifeboats or cargo
to store on deck oil was even prepared so that if a chop developed on the ocean Carpathia could
calm the waves a little bit with the dense oil covering on top of this rockets would be prepared
to aid in the identification and position giving of Carpathia most importantly of all though this
would all have to be done efficiently and quietly so that Carpathia’s own passengers didn't panic
with this the officers and crew get to work and within minutes Carpathia’s plotting expansion
steam engines are thundering the engineers working their magic Rostron expects to enter the icefield
at 3am he knows that on a moonless night like this the icebergs will be very difficult to spot
he's a pious man and he puts his faith in his god that Carpathia wouldn't endure the same
fate as titanic Carpathia’s wild dash through the black knight has begun at 12 45 am cotton messages
titanic telling them Carpathia is on the way and would be due to arrive in around four hours
wireless operator jack Phillips on the titanic thanks him for this and cotton decides that it's
best not to jam the airwaves and refrains from asking any further questions listening instead
to the radio traffic as the disaster plays out by 125 the situation on board titanic has escalated
Phillips messages that women and children are being put away in the lifeboats
far below his wireless office water is already lapping at Titanic’s nameplate the ship does not
have much time to live on board Carpathia the crew's eyes struggle against the intense frost
of the air as they keep their sharp lookout all of Rostron’s orders have been completed
and the ship is moving ahead at full speed her regular service speed was a modest 14 knots
but it seems likely her engineers may have been able to squeeze 15 or 16 knots out of the engines
Rostron cannot know for certain whether or not his own ship will fall foul of an iceberg
like titanic had he puts his faith entirely in good fortune forward a dozen pairs of eyes are
searching the horizon for icebergs at 1 45 am Phillips on titanic sends a chilling message
come as quickly as possible engine room filling up to the boilers
until now Rostron had expected titanic to be badly damaged but assumed that she would remain afloat
that all of her passengers and all of her crew the mail and light cargo would maybe need to be
transferred to Carpathia and any other ships which had arrived on station now he is confronted with a
horrifying possibility that there may not be a ship left afloat by the time Carpathia arrives
there's nothing for it but to charge ahead blindly into the night and pray for the best by 1 45 am
cotton notices that Titanic’s signal strength has become weaker and 20 minutes later at 205 am
the wireless communication has stopped entirely titanic is silent
for Carpathia’s crew the lookouts straining their eyes in the darkness
the engineers working at fever pitch in the engine room that night's activity is intense and
years later Bisset would go on to recall that their nerves were taught as could possibly be
would they find titanic down by the head passengers away in the lifeboats
would they arrive on station just in time to see the great ship slip beneath the waves only time
could tell and finally at 2 40 am a green light is spotted way ahead in the distance Rostron at
first assumes this to be Titanic’s starboard green navigation light but at this point
titanic is already about four kilometres below the surface of the ocean when the light disappears he
recognizes that it had been a rocket or a flare and orders that Carpathia’s own company rockets
be fired off every 15 minutes to show Titanic’s passengers and her crew that help is on the way
at 2 45 Bisset is keeping lookout on the starboard bridgewing when he catches sight
of stars reflecting off an iceberg directly ahead and calls out a warning Carpathia’s helm is swung
hard around and the ship slows right down when rostrum decides that he's cleared the berg he
brings the ship up to full speed again but then another iceberg is spotted and then another and
another it's the ice field Carpathia now begins to zigzag between ever-growing numbers of icebergs
it must seem incredible to rostrum the Titanic’s master had sailed the ship at full speed into
this dense field of ice smaller growlers begin to scrape along Carpathia’s hull plates and at 3 30
the ship's speed is reduced from half to slow ahead as the going gets tougher green flares are
spotted at intervals on the horizon but there's no site of Titanic’s masthead or navigation lights
Carpathia is only 12 miles away from Titanic’s given position she should be in sight then a
solid green flare is spotted low on the horizon and as the sky slowly begins to lighten with
the early morning Carpathia inches towards it it's a lifeboat Carpathia has arrived on scene
rescuing this first lone boat itself is no easy task Rostron intended to take
its occupants on board from his port side where the Carpathia’s bulk would provide
shelter from the breeze and choppy seas but at the last minute an iceberg loomed out of the murky
light and Carpathia was still moving slowly ahead with her engine stopped carried only by momentum
Rostron orders the helm hard over to starboard and swings his ship around so the little boat
arrives on Carpathia’s starboard side disaster has only narrowly been averted
the wooden boat is only 25 feet long and to the curious onlookers aboard the decks of
the ocean liner it must have looked like a toy drifting all alone on the vast Atlantic ocean
it was only an emergency cutter swung out at all times in the event of a man overboard call
and huddled on the boat's thwarts or about 18 people numbed by cold and feeling very seasick
on the lifeboats bow was a metal nameplate reading titanic its occupants having spent
that whole dark moonless night alone in the middle of the ocean stare up in bewilderment
and gratitude at the black steel hull and tall red funnel of a Cunard steamship that ship's
name is Carpathia and that night she and her crew have achieved something truly remarkable
Ladies and gentlemen it's your friend Mike Brady from Oceanliner Designs thank you so very much
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