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Titanic.
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00:00:04,004 --> 00:00:07,339
It's very name evokes a chill.
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00:00:10,051 --> 00:00:14,012
And the tale of its
sinking is legendary.
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00:00:15,349 --> 00:00:18,141
Captain smith was the
man of the hour.
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00:00:18,227 --> 00:00:20,518
A hero of the era.
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00:00:20,603 --> 00:00:23,021
You have crew who were the best
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00:00:23,065 --> 00:00:25,024
that white star could offer.
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00:00:26,568 --> 00:00:28,484
There were stories of heroism;
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00:00:28,571 --> 00:00:30,611
the way the band played
until the end.
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00:00:38,664 --> 00:00:40,204
But are these stirring tales
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00:00:40,249 --> 00:00:43,375
of a heroic captain
and crew actually true?
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00:00:44,753 --> 00:00:46,003
Since the tragedy,
13
00:00:46,088 --> 00:00:47,899
titanic historians
have sought to acquire
14
00:00:47,923 --> 00:00:50,673
the personal papers
of lord mersey.
15
00:00:51,719 --> 00:00:54,969
The man charged in britain with
investigating the disaster.
16
00:00:56,265 --> 00:00:59,767
His private journals
may hold the answers.
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00:01:00,770 --> 00:01:04,563
Now, for the first
time since 1912,
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00:01:04,606 --> 00:01:07,983
these critical documents
will be revealed.
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00:01:10,361 --> 00:01:13,447
A hundred and eight years later,
here we go.
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00:01:14,533 --> 00:01:16,283
Will this information alter
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00:01:16,367 --> 00:01:20,912
the accepted story of how
and why titanic sank?
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They didn't think that
they would need to have
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lifeboat drills.
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00:01:24,210 --> 00:01:26,710
Titanic told 'em to
shut up and go away.
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00:01:26,795 --> 00:01:30,506
Nearly the entire response
was completely improvised.
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00:01:31,257 --> 00:01:33,319
Californian could have
galloped to the rescue
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00:01:33,343 --> 00:01:35,301
like the 5th cavalry.
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00:01:39,140 --> 00:01:42,433
What new light can the
contents of this box shed
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on one of history's
most enduring disasters?
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00:02:11,507 --> 00:02:13,757
April 17, 1912.
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Two days since titanic's demise.
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00:02:21,307 --> 00:02:25,435
The mackay-bennett, a 269
foot cable repair ship
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00:02:25,521 --> 00:02:27,603
in service since the 1880s
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00:02:27,689 --> 00:02:32,109
is dispatched from halifax,
nova scotia on a grim task:
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00:02:32,194 --> 00:02:37,865
Sail into an icy hell and
retrieve titanic's dead.
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00:02:44,206 --> 00:02:46,016
Richard McMichael is a
historian at the
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00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,501
maritime museum of
the atlantic in halifax.
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As you can imagine, this is
a nightmarish situation.
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00:02:54,258 --> 00:02:56,360
The crew's main role is to
repair sections
40
00:02:56,384 --> 00:02:59,510
of damaged transatlantic cable.
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00:02:59,597 --> 00:03:00,991
There's nothing in
the job description
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00:03:01,014 --> 00:03:02,973
about fishing women and children
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00:03:03,057 --> 00:03:05,766
out of the icy waters
of the north atlantic.
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00:03:08,229 --> 00:03:11,522
Mackay Bennett's
journey takes 36 hours.
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00:03:11,609 --> 00:03:14,526
And, when they enter
the death zone,
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00:03:14,569 --> 00:03:17,195
they find several
hundred corpses.
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00:03:17,990 --> 00:03:21,490
Men, women, children.
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00:03:28,709 --> 00:03:30,834
Fifty-one we have
taken on board today.
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00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:32,543
This is the first day out.
50
00:03:33,421 --> 00:03:35,338
The sea still seems strewn.
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00:03:35,382 --> 00:03:37,651
With the exception of
ourselves and the bosun bird
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00:03:37,675 --> 00:03:40,176
is the only living
creature here.
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00:03:43,348 --> 00:03:45,848
Put yourself in the
position of these men.
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00:03:45,935 --> 00:03:51,062
One day alone, mackay-bennett
recovers 128 bodies...
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00:03:51,105 --> 00:03:53,731
127 men, one woman.
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00:03:57,111 --> 00:03:58,861
There are photographs that exist
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00:03:58,948 --> 00:04:00,925
of those people
being buried at sea.
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00:04:00,949 --> 00:04:02,824
Very solemn just to look at.
59
00:04:02,909 --> 00:04:06,078
And then they would
keep a log in real time.
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00:04:07,789 --> 00:04:09,205
8:00 p.M.
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00:04:09,250 --> 00:04:11,792
The tolling of the bell
summoned all hands to the folks,
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00:04:11,877 --> 00:04:14,169
as the weighted body
plunges into the sea,
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00:04:14,254 --> 00:04:17,088
there to sink to a depth
of about two miles.
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00:04:17,132 --> 00:04:20,759
Splash, splash, splash.
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00:04:24,639 --> 00:04:26,932
As the gruesome
details of titanic's fate
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00:04:26,975 --> 00:04:28,934
filters back to both continents,
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00:04:28,978 --> 00:04:31,644
a horrified public
demands answers.
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00:04:34,399 --> 00:04:37,608
Mark chirnside is a
maritime historian,
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00:04:37,653 --> 00:04:41,279
and author of 10 books on
british royal mail ships.
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00:04:41,990 --> 00:04:44,240
It was such a huge disaster.
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00:04:44,284 --> 00:04:47,702
The questions were rightly
being asked about how the
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00:04:47,788 --> 00:04:50,622
largest and most luxurious
ship in the world
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00:04:50,665 --> 00:04:54,000
could possibly sink
during its maiden voyage,
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00:04:54,086 --> 00:04:58,045
and with such a
catastrophic loss of life.
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00:05:02,261 --> 00:05:05,470
There was such public
interest in what had happened
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00:05:05,514 --> 00:05:07,553
that the british
government determined
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00:05:07,598 --> 00:05:10,934
that they needed to appoint
a wreck commissioner.
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00:05:12,771 --> 00:05:16,731
Lord john charles
bigham, first viscount mersey,
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00:05:16,817 --> 00:05:18,942
is a well-connected barrister,
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00:05:19,028 --> 00:05:21,028
judge and politician.
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00:05:21,112 --> 00:05:23,822
And he's chosen for a
monumental task.
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00:05:23,906 --> 00:05:28,160
Find out exactly what
went wrong on titanic.
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00:05:30,997 --> 00:05:33,622
Charles haas is an historian,
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00:05:33,709 --> 00:05:37,586
author and president of the
titanic international society.
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00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,630
Lord mersey was
bringing to the table
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00:05:41,675 --> 00:05:43,884
considerable legal knowledge,
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00:05:43,968 --> 00:05:47,637
hopefully a sense of fairness,
a sense of balance.
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00:05:49,057 --> 00:05:53,185
All of the things that a judge,
if you will, needs to have.
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00:05:54,271 --> 00:05:56,165
The thing that we have
to keep in mind, however,
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00:05:56,189 --> 00:06:00,233
is that the investigation
in England
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00:06:00,319 --> 00:06:03,987
was a board of trade
investigation,
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00:06:04,031 --> 00:06:06,365
which means that, essentially,
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00:06:06,449 --> 00:06:11,620
the very organization that had
allowed titanic to go to sea
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00:06:11,704 --> 00:06:15,624
is now investigating
itself to some degree.
95
00:06:20,838 --> 00:06:23,673
Across 36 days of testimony
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00:06:23,759 --> 00:06:26,218
from nearly 100 witnesses,
97
00:06:26,302 --> 00:06:28,928
answering 25,000 questions,
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00:06:29,014 --> 00:06:32,057
an exhaustive inquiry
comes to a close.
99
00:06:32,935 --> 00:06:36,228
While the report's final
conclusions do levy criticism,
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00:06:36,312 --> 00:06:39,814
some observers wonder if the
hundreds of pages of notes
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00:06:39,899 --> 00:06:42,901
lord mersey took in his private
journal during the trial,
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00:06:42,944 --> 00:06:45,862
and stored in a
leather-bound box
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00:06:45,947 --> 00:06:48,906
go much further than his
public pronouncements.
104
00:07:00,086 --> 00:07:02,211
After a century tucked away
105
00:07:02,297 --> 00:07:04,297
in their private
family archives,
106
00:07:04,341 --> 00:07:07,591
lord mersey's estate has
agreed to share the contents
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00:07:07,677 --> 00:07:09,636
of the box publicly.
108
00:07:10,555 --> 00:07:12,555
Some judges think out loud.
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00:07:12,641 --> 00:07:15,100
Lord mersey did not
think out loud.
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00:07:15,185 --> 00:07:17,685
Lord mersey thought on paper.
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00:07:17,771 --> 00:07:19,456
And it's only now
that we get to see
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00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,023
what some of his
private thoughts were.
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00:07:26,654 --> 00:07:30,574
My name is ned bigham, and
I'm the fifth viscount mersey.
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00:07:31,326 --> 00:07:32,701
My great, great grandfather
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00:07:32,786 --> 00:07:36,745
was john charles bigham,
lord mersey.
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00:07:37,790 --> 00:07:40,459
I don't think anyone
has actually sat down
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00:07:40,543 --> 00:07:43,920
and gone through the box
or the materials and said,
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00:07:44,005 --> 00:07:45,963
"what exactly have we got here?
119
00:07:46,048 --> 00:07:48,048
What is its significance?"
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00:07:48,134 --> 00:07:51,052
it had just sat there
for all these years.
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00:07:54,432 --> 00:07:58,268
So, 108 years later, here we go.
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00:08:09,490 --> 00:08:11,300
For the first time
in recorded history,
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00:08:11,324 --> 00:08:13,492
we're gonna open the box.
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00:08:24,713 --> 00:08:27,297
Mersey's drawings,
observations and ruminations
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00:08:27,382 --> 00:08:30,716
will be examined by several
renowned titanic experts
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00:08:30,802 --> 00:08:32,844
who will explain
the significance
127
00:08:32,888 --> 00:08:35,013
of this "lost evidence."
128
00:08:36,140 --> 00:08:38,807
and through the lens of
this new information,
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00:08:38,894 --> 00:08:41,519
titanic's journey
will be reconstructed,
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00:08:41,605 --> 00:08:46,524
beginning with problems that
arose before she set sail.
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00:08:54,033 --> 00:08:55,825
The early part
of the 20th century,
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00:08:55,911 --> 00:08:59,453
the united kingdom was
clearly a world power.
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00:08:59,539 --> 00:09:03,832
Its influence stretched
literally around the world.
134
00:09:04,961 --> 00:09:07,629
The shipping industry
is front and center
135
00:09:07,714 --> 00:09:09,692
in terms of the
importance to the country,
136
00:09:09,716 --> 00:09:12,424
and for that matter,
to the world.
137
00:09:13,886 --> 00:09:15,720
One of the most
dominant shipping companies
138
00:09:15,806 --> 00:09:19,682
of the day is britain's
white star line.
139
00:09:20,434 --> 00:09:24,104
Founded in 1845, white star
made its fortune
140
00:09:24,188 --> 00:09:26,523
delivering the royal mail
141
00:09:26,607 --> 00:09:29,817
while also providing
top-flight passenger service.
142
00:09:31,321 --> 00:09:33,738
The extra size of these
ships enabled white star
143
00:09:33,782 --> 00:09:36,783
to increase the number
of first class passengers
144
00:09:36,868 --> 00:09:39,995
that were carried, and
have even more luxurious
145
00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:41,538
first class accommodations
146
00:09:41,623 --> 00:09:44,081
than the world had
previously seen.
147
00:09:44,793 --> 00:09:46,875
And white star's newest steamer
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00:09:46,961 --> 00:09:49,379
is the most luxurious.
149
00:09:49,798 --> 00:09:51,338
Titanic.
150
00:10:05,147 --> 00:10:09,566
But the massive ship, at
more than 882 feet long,
151
00:10:09,610 --> 00:10:12,568
weighing more than 46,000 tons
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00:10:12,613 --> 00:10:17,072
and costing more than 180
million in today's dollars,
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00:10:17,158 --> 00:10:20,659
has a major problem few
people remember today.
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00:10:21,663 --> 00:10:24,581
With the departure date
in April fast approaching,
155
00:10:24,666 --> 00:10:27,292
half the cabins are empty.
156
00:10:27,836 --> 00:10:30,461
So white star makes
a fateful decision.
157
00:10:31,505 --> 00:10:34,841
It brings famed captain
edward smith out of retirement
158
00:10:34,926 --> 00:10:36,801
to shore up ticket sales.
159
00:10:38,513 --> 00:10:41,264
If you wanna hire somebody
from central casting
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00:10:41,307 --> 00:10:43,642
to be captain of a ocean liner
161
00:10:43,684 --> 00:10:46,186
in the early part of
the 20th century,
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00:10:46,270 --> 00:10:47,604
it's e. J. Smith,
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00:10:47,688 --> 00:10:49,750
whether or not he knew how
to run a boat or not.
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00:10:49,774 --> 00:10:51,524
It doesn't matter, you know.
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00:10:51,610 --> 00:10:53,150
He just looks the part.
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00:10:54,696 --> 00:10:56,506
Edward smith was one
of the captains who
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00:10:56,530 --> 00:10:59,073
played up that sort of
ship's captain thing.
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00:10:59,158 --> 00:11:01,511
He invited the rich and the
famous to the captain's table,
169
00:11:01,535 --> 00:11:03,995
hence his nickname,
the millionaire's captain.
170
00:11:04,914 --> 00:11:07,206
When April arrives, titanic,
171
00:11:07,292 --> 00:11:10,501
with smith at the helm,
is ready to sail.
172
00:11:11,212 --> 00:11:13,797
But the millionaire's captain
also brings plenty of baggage
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00:11:13,881 --> 00:11:17,466
with him onto the
spit-shine deck of the titanic.
174
00:11:23,933 --> 00:11:27,018
Inside lord mersey's box
is a red leather journal
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00:11:27,104 --> 00:11:30,187
that he kept by his side
throughout the inquiry.
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00:11:31,399 --> 00:11:34,442
He used it to write down
his notes and discoveries.
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00:11:37,072 --> 00:11:40,532
On page 114, there's
a notation referencing
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00:11:40,575 --> 00:11:44,494
that most of titanic's crew
had been on the olympic.
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00:11:46,206 --> 00:11:49,707
Why did mersey think this
detail was important?
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00:11:50,585 --> 00:11:54,546
In 1911, captain smith
and his fellow officers
181
00:11:54,588 --> 00:11:57,716
who later served on the
titanic's doomed voyage
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00:11:57,759 --> 00:12:01,385
crewed titanic's sister ship,
the olympic,
183
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on her maiden voyage.
184
00:12:03,764 --> 00:12:05,389
While docking in new york,
185
00:12:05,475 --> 00:12:08,225
the olympic collided
with a tugboat.
186
00:12:08,269 --> 00:12:10,854
Then, three months later,
187
00:12:10,938 --> 00:12:14,356
smith's olympic did
something far worse.
188
00:12:16,485 --> 00:12:19,903
In 1911, the olympic
was leaving southampton,
189
00:12:19,990 --> 00:12:24,408
and the british naval
cruiser, hawke,
190
00:12:24,452 --> 00:12:25,784
was in the vicinity.
191
00:12:27,163 --> 00:12:30,581
Somehow, the hawke managed
to collide with the
192
00:12:30,667 --> 00:12:32,917
olympic in the stern.
193
00:12:37,591 --> 00:12:41,926
Olympic was severely damaged
and she experienced flooding.
194
00:12:42,971 --> 00:12:44,596
Smith is on the bridge
195
00:12:44,639 --> 00:12:47,097
and therefore in
charge of the vessel.
196
00:13:05,494 --> 00:13:09,453
Titanic left southampton
on the 10th of April, 1912.
197
00:13:09,498 --> 00:13:12,791
It was a bit of a gusty,
cold day by all accounts.
198
00:13:15,711 --> 00:13:17,921
It was a proud moment
for white star.
199
00:13:18,005 --> 00:13:22,424
She came out to the
dock, went round to the left
200
00:13:22,469 --> 00:13:25,135
and then proceeded
down the river.
201
00:13:26,264 --> 00:13:29,640
All the indications were
that titanic was set
202
00:13:29,683 --> 00:13:31,809
for a successful maiden voyage.
203
00:13:37,442 --> 00:13:39,942
As hundreds of
well-wishers arrived dockside
204
00:13:40,028 --> 00:13:42,153
to cheer titanic off,
205
00:13:42,197 --> 00:13:44,905
the ship's reputation
precedes it.
206
00:13:55,460 --> 00:13:57,668
Both the press and
white star espoused
207
00:13:57,754 --> 00:14:00,504
a perception of invincibility.
208
00:14:00,881 --> 00:14:02,631
But who could blame them?
209
00:14:02,716 --> 00:14:06,094
Titanic is spectacular.
210
00:14:12,309 --> 00:14:15,352
Sixty-six hundred tons of coal
211
00:14:15,437 --> 00:14:18,981
powers massive 17-foot
propellers.
212
00:14:20,317 --> 00:14:23,360
The ship is the length of two
and a half football fields
213
00:14:23,404 --> 00:14:28,658
and can ferry 3,547
passengers and crew.
214
00:14:30,787 --> 00:14:35,038
She is the largest
manmade moving object
215
00:14:35,082 --> 00:14:36,707
on earth.
216
00:14:46,469 --> 00:14:48,219
For the passengers on board,
217
00:14:48,263 --> 00:14:51,556
the first four days of
the journey are euphoric.
218
00:14:55,477 --> 00:14:57,895
That's especially true
for the wealthy,
219
00:14:57,980 --> 00:15:01,566
soaking in their world-class
accommodations.
220
00:15:02,568 --> 00:15:04,067
When titanic comes out,
221
00:15:04,111 --> 00:15:07,404
it was actually referred to
as the millionaire's special.
222
00:15:07,490 --> 00:15:09,948
Because it could not be imagined
223
00:15:10,034 --> 00:15:13,076
that someone would be able
to spend that much money
224
00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,245
on a transatlantic crossing.
225
00:15:15,956 --> 00:15:19,042
If you look at the best
accommodations in the ship,
226
00:15:19,085 --> 00:15:23,837
$4,350 for a crossing.
227
00:15:23,923 --> 00:15:26,215
That's the equivalent
of 10-year's salary
228
00:15:26,301 --> 00:15:29,427
to an average american in 1912.
229
00:15:30,596 --> 00:15:33,139
The first
class price tag is steep,
230
00:15:33,224 --> 00:15:35,015
but it comes with perks.
231
00:15:36,894 --> 00:15:40,187
Among them is access to
titanic's state of the art
232
00:15:40,273 --> 00:15:43,106
marconi wireless system.
233
00:15:43,150 --> 00:15:45,360
The marconi, this was
modern technology
234
00:15:45,445 --> 00:15:46,653
for a modern ship.
235
00:15:46,738 --> 00:15:48,153
Part of the whole idea
236
00:15:48,239 --> 00:15:49,716
was this sort of
showman's thing.
237
00:15:49,740 --> 00:15:51,302
You're there, you're rich,
you're powerful.
238
00:15:51,326 --> 00:15:53,303
You're right at the edge
of modern technology.
239
00:15:53,327 --> 00:15:54,661
And you could send messages
240
00:15:54,745 --> 00:15:57,120
to tell your friends in
new york or london or paris
241
00:15:57,206 --> 00:15:58,581
what you were doing.
242
00:15:58,625 --> 00:16:00,082
These were young men on ships
243
00:16:00,125 --> 00:16:02,668
tapping away on a
morse code player.
244
00:16:02,754 --> 00:16:06,214
They were using lots of
slang and lots of, rather,
245
00:16:06,298 --> 00:16:08,458
sort of relaxed way of
talking to each other.
246
00:16:09,385 --> 00:16:11,197
The fellows that worked
in the wireless rooms
247
00:16:11,221 --> 00:16:12,822
on board the ship we're
not part of the crew.
248
00:16:12,846 --> 00:16:14,115
In most cases, they were
employees of the
249
00:16:14,139 --> 00:16:16,515
marconi company.
250
00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:18,934
The marconi
operators independence
251
00:16:18,979 --> 00:16:20,894
has a glaring risk.
252
00:16:22,315 --> 00:16:25,984
If people were being employed
by marconi to send messages
253
00:16:26,068 --> 00:16:27,943
on behalf of private passengers,
254
00:16:28,028 --> 00:16:32,490
did they then perhaps omit to
look at the safety messages...
255
00:16:33,033 --> 00:16:35,073
Which should have
been their priority.
256
00:16:36,538 --> 00:16:40,163
Titanic will end up
receiving 21 ice warnings,
257
00:16:40,207 --> 00:16:43,918
via marconigram, on its
four days at sea.
258
00:16:45,087 --> 00:16:48,505
But captain smith, like
many transatlantic veterans,
259
00:16:48,549 --> 00:16:51,509
is skeptical of
the new technology.
260
00:16:51,970 --> 00:16:54,155
Someone who had sailed back
and forth across the atlantic
261
00:16:54,179 --> 00:16:57,724
for so long, without the aid
of any sort of technology,
262
00:16:57,808 --> 00:17:00,851
didn't really take something
like wireless very seriously.
263
00:17:03,188 --> 00:17:04,521
Another thing captain smith
264
00:17:04,566 --> 00:17:07,400
might not have
been prepared for...
265
00:17:07,484 --> 00:17:09,527
The lifeboat situation.
266
00:17:11,698 --> 00:17:14,531
While white star fitted
titanic with 20 lifeboats,
267
00:17:14,616 --> 00:17:17,535
four more than were
required by regulation,
268
00:17:17,619 --> 00:17:20,997
it still isn't enough
for a ship this large.
269
00:17:21,540 --> 00:17:23,875
At full capacity,
titanic's lifeboats
270
00:17:23,917 --> 00:17:28,880
could hold just half of the
ship's 2,240 passengers.
271
00:17:30,633 --> 00:17:32,967
While that fact is well known,
272
00:17:33,052 --> 00:17:36,345
less known is that,
according to the mersey box,
273
00:17:36,431 --> 00:17:39,515
smith and crew may not
have trained sufficiently
274
00:17:39,601 --> 00:17:42,226
with the lifeboats
they did have.
275
00:17:44,105 --> 00:17:46,439
Titanic's lifeboats
were raised and lowered
276
00:17:46,523 --> 00:17:50,777
with a new crane system
called "welin davits."
277
00:17:51,738 --> 00:17:53,590
dave brown is a
titanic historian
278
00:17:53,615 --> 00:17:55,990
and retired commercial
ship captain.
279
00:17:56,076 --> 00:17:59,826
The crew, they were
all certified seamen,
280
00:17:59,913 --> 00:18:01,746
but the only thing
281
00:18:01,830 --> 00:18:04,749
that they didn't have a
lot of experience with
282
00:18:04,834 --> 00:18:08,169
is welin davits which were
fairly new and coming online.
283
00:18:11,633 --> 00:18:14,049
As Sunday, April 14th dawns,
284
00:18:14,134 --> 00:18:17,260
four days into
titanic's maiden voyage,
285
00:18:17,346 --> 00:18:20,722
the crew is scheduled for
a routine lifeboat drill.
286
00:18:22,227 --> 00:18:23,871
Though his men
are new to titanic
287
00:18:23,894 --> 00:18:25,728
and her lifeboat apparatus,
288
00:18:25,814 --> 00:18:29,440
captain smith cancels the drill.
289
00:18:31,193 --> 00:18:35,947
I cannot say why captain smith
failed to do that.
290
00:18:36,031 --> 00:18:37,968
At a bare minimum,
he could have detailed
291
00:18:37,991 --> 00:18:40,535
one of the lower ranking
officers to walk from
292
00:18:40,619 --> 00:18:42,953
boat to boat and check the
lines and check, you know,
293
00:18:42,997 --> 00:18:45,789
any pulleys had been greased
or whatever was necessary.
294
00:18:45,834 --> 00:18:47,666
But he didn't even do that.
295
00:18:51,297 --> 00:18:52,712
During the inquiry,
296
00:18:52,798 --> 00:18:54,818
a titanic lookout
named archie jewell
297
00:18:54,843 --> 00:18:57,509
testified that although
they tested lifeboats
298
00:18:57,595 --> 00:18:59,804
before leaving southampton,
299
00:18:59,847 --> 00:19:02,973
there were only two boats
lowered away out of 20,
300
00:19:03,017 --> 00:19:05,809
and they were not even
put into the water.
301
00:19:08,897 --> 00:19:11,941
In his private journal,
mersey notes:
302
00:19:12,026 --> 00:19:13,401
This unusual.
303
00:19:16,780 --> 00:19:18,675
And lord mersey wrote
in his journal
304
00:19:18,700 --> 00:19:20,594
that he had found
that to be unusual,
305
00:19:20,617 --> 00:19:21,701
indeed it was.
306
00:19:21,786 --> 00:19:23,865
You really need to
have a lifeboat drill.
307
00:19:25,038 --> 00:19:26,642
They didn't think
that they would need to have
308
00:19:26,665 --> 00:19:27,999
lifeboat drills.
309
00:19:28,084 --> 00:19:29,709
And this goes back to hubris.
310
00:19:29,794 --> 00:19:31,271
Why bother having
lifeboat drills
311
00:19:31,296 --> 00:19:33,253
when the ship simply can't sink?
312
00:19:41,556 --> 00:19:45,766
April 14, 1912, early evening.
313
00:19:45,852 --> 00:19:49,394
It's moonless and the seas
are eerily calm.
314
00:19:49,939 --> 00:19:52,480
Titanic is steaming
towards the grand banks
315
00:19:52,567 --> 00:19:57,236
in the north atlantic,
at a brisk 22 knots,
316
00:19:57,322 --> 00:19:59,614
or 25 and a half miles per hour.
317
00:20:05,872 --> 00:20:09,749
At 7:30 p.M., second officer
charles lightoller
318
00:20:09,834 --> 00:20:11,500
raises his sextant.
319
00:20:12,461 --> 00:20:14,377
In the era before gps,
320
00:20:14,463 --> 00:20:17,882
this device is used to
plot a ship's position.
321
00:20:18,926 --> 00:20:21,086
According to information
in the mersey box
322
00:20:21,136 --> 00:20:23,054
and other sources,
323
00:20:23,138 --> 00:20:26,682
this moment initiates a
series of fatal errors
324
00:20:26,768 --> 00:20:28,893
by titanic's officers.
325
00:20:42,450 --> 00:20:47,077
The sextant was the critical
instrument of navigation.
326
00:20:47,121 --> 00:20:49,098
When you look through
the telescope,
327
00:20:49,123 --> 00:20:52,708
one side sees the horizon.
328
00:20:52,751 --> 00:20:57,087
The other side here
sees the sky.
329
00:20:57,131 --> 00:20:59,923
So if I put it up like
this and I adjust it,
330
00:21:00,009 --> 00:21:01,174
what I'm going to do
331
00:21:01,260 --> 00:21:04,261
is I'm gonna bring the
celestial body down
332
00:21:04,305 --> 00:21:06,137
till it sits on the horizon.
333
00:21:06,223 --> 00:21:09,141
I call out, "mark."
334
00:21:09,227 --> 00:21:12,060
and then the guy who's
got the hack watch
335
00:21:12,105 --> 00:21:15,564
writes down the exact
moment of the hack.
336
00:21:16,192 --> 00:21:20,443
When lightoller took
this reading at 7:30,
337
00:21:20,488 --> 00:21:22,779
he either was wrong
338
00:21:22,824 --> 00:21:27,076
or the hack watch was
off by a few seconds.
339
00:21:28,203 --> 00:21:30,788
A sextant in
conjunction with a hack watch
340
00:21:30,832 --> 00:21:32,623
and a nautical chronometer
341
00:21:32,666 --> 00:21:35,792
can accurately determine
a ship's position.
342
00:21:36,753 --> 00:21:39,797
But if the officers taking
the readings make a mistake,
343
00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:41,965
the ship can veer off course.
344
00:21:43,510 --> 00:21:47,012
If you're off by a
minute of time,
345
00:21:47,097 --> 00:21:49,807
is a mile of latitude.
346
00:21:50,601 --> 00:21:52,268
It can grow very big.
347
00:21:57,191 --> 00:21:58,941
While historians
have long suspected
348
00:21:59,027 --> 00:22:01,861
that titanic was lost en route,
349
00:22:01,945 --> 00:22:05,614
proof of the navigational
errors has been elusive.
350
00:22:06,701 --> 00:22:09,160
That's because
titanic's log book,
351
00:22:09,244 --> 00:22:11,494
the equivalent of a black box,
352
00:22:11,580 --> 00:22:13,726
containing notes on
every important decision
353
00:22:13,750 --> 00:22:17,125
of a ship's journey,
has never been found.
354
00:22:19,713 --> 00:22:22,381
Typically, it was put in
a waterproof bag,
355
00:22:22,467 --> 00:22:24,717
sealed, and the highest
ranking officer
356
00:22:24,801 --> 00:22:26,721
would take it onto the lifeboat.
357
00:22:27,721 --> 00:22:31,682
Theoretically, you carry
all the records off the ship,
358
00:22:31,768 --> 00:22:34,809
but the captain who knows
that it's got some information
359
00:22:34,854 --> 00:22:38,021
that he would
rather not disclose,
360
00:22:38,106 --> 00:22:40,775
will probably throw five
pounds of rocks in the bag
361
00:22:40,859 --> 00:22:42,359
and throw it overboard.
362
00:22:47,909 --> 00:22:49,866
Despite 25,000 questions
363
00:22:49,951 --> 00:22:52,994
across a month of testimony,
364
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:56,414
lord mersey's private box
doesn't contain
365
00:22:56,500 --> 00:22:59,376
a single reference to
the missing log book.
366
00:23:02,298 --> 00:23:04,233
There may be something
in there that captain smith
367
00:23:04,258 --> 00:23:06,509
didn't want the world
to know about.
368
00:23:07,886 --> 00:23:10,846
It could have been something
damning to the white star line
369
00:23:10,932 --> 00:23:12,347
and the board of trade.
370
00:23:14,852 --> 00:23:15,893
We don't know.
371
00:23:17,188 --> 00:23:19,063
Months before the inquiry,
372
00:23:19,147 --> 00:23:21,398
steaming through
the north atlantic,
373
00:23:21,483 --> 00:23:23,776
titanic is not only lost,
374
00:23:23,861 --> 00:23:26,028
she's heading into danger.
375
00:23:26,739 --> 00:23:29,073
Throughout the day
on April 14th,
376
00:23:29,157 --> 00:23:32,785
titanic's marconi operators
receive disturbing news
377
00:23:32,869 --> 00:23:35,538
from other ships in the area.
378
00:23:36,124 --> 00:23:39,250
Titanic did receive a
series of ice warnings
379
00:23:39,335 --> 00:23:42,001
from ships that lay
ahead of its path.
380
00:23:42,462 --> 00:23:45,338
These ice warnings
were fairly specific
381
00:23:45,424 --> 00:23:47,924
in terms of latitude
and longitude.
382
00:23:48,552 --> 00:23:50,469
They were taken to the bridge,
383
00:23:50,555 --> 00:23:54,306
and the position was noted
on a transatlantic chart.
384
00:23:54,392 --> 00:24:00,563
And there, it could be examined
by each shift of officers
385
00:24:00,605 --> 00:24:02,314
as they came on duty.
386
00:24:05,819 --> 00:24:08,028
Almost like some sort of
music creeping up
387
00:24:08,114 --> 00:24:10,655
in the background, are these
messages from other ships
388
00:24:10,740 --> 00:24:12,991
saying, "be careful,
there's danger ahead."
389
00:24:19,916 --> 00:24:23,169
nineteen and a half
miles due north from titanic,
390
00:24:23,253 --> 00:24:26,630
the ss californian, a
freighter bound for boston
391
00:24:26,673 --> 00:24:30,300
sees an ice field
around 7:30 at night.
392
00:24:31,511 --> 00:24:34,137
Her skipper, captain
stanley lord,
393
00:24:34,182 --> 00:24:36,515
isn't about to take any chances.
394
00:24:44,275 --> 00:24:45,982
The californian stops in ice.
395
00:24:46,027 --> 00:24:47,651
It realizes it's dangerous.
396
00:24:47,737 --> 00:24:50,653
The wireless operator sent
a message to tell people
397
00:24:50,698 --> 00:24:52,573
that ice was around.
398
00:24:52,657 --> 00:24:54,782
Titanic didn't say,
"thank you very much.
399
00:24:54,868 --> 00:24:56,993
I'm very glad you
told us about this."
400
00:24:57,078 --> 00:24:59,663
they told them to shut up
and go away effectively.
401
00:24:59,707 --> 00:25:01,226
They were busy sending
private messages.
402
00:25:01,250 --> 00:25:02,833
They didn't wanna know about it.
403
00:25:05,253 --> 00:25:09,964
While captain lord
hunkers down in the ice field,
404
00:25:10,050 --> 00:25:14,385
to his south, captain smith
powers titanic ahead
405
00:25:14,471 --> 00:25:18,641
with his engines steaming
at near capacity.
406
00:25:22,771 --> 00:25:24,145
In his final report,
407
00:25:24,231 --> 00:25:27,900
lord mersey does note
titanic's excessive speed.
408
00:25:28,611 --> 00:25:32,529
And in private, he expresses
grave concern.
409
00:25:33,699 --> 00:25:37,242
Within mersey's box,
tucked inside his journal,
410
00:25:37,327 --> 00:25:40,828
he writes that there was
no reduction of speed.
411
00:25:40,914 --> 00:25:44,333
And then, mersey points
it out again.
412
00:25:44,417 --> 00:25:46,835
Okay. So now this
is interesting.
413
00:25:46,921 --> 00:25:49,755
Speed, 21 knots
414
00:25:49,839 --> 00:25:53,550
and never reduced up to
time of collision.
415
00:25:53,635 --> 00:25:58,471
Notwithstanding, weary
that icebergs in vicinity,
416
00:25:58,557 --> 00:26:01,976
and that she would be
likely to meet them.
417
00:26:06,523 --> 00:26:08,231
They were traveling at 21 knots,
418
00:26:08,317 --> 00:26:11,402
which is practically full
speed for the titanic.
419
00:26:12,613 --> 00:26:14,113
This was at night.
420
00:26:14,198 --> 00:26:16,093
This was in an environment
where they knew
421
00:26:16,116 --> 00:26:17,740
that there was ice.
422
00:26:17,826 --> 00:26:20,577
We don't need to reduce speed.
423
00:26:20,621 --> 00:26:22,598
We're not gonna have any
issues with any icebergs
424
00:26:22,623 --> 00:26:24,782
that we come across
because we are titanic.
425
00:26:25,625 --> 00:26:28,294
After all, it is
unsinkable, isn't it?
426
00:26:34,426 --> 00:26:38,470
Sunday evening, April 14, 1912.
427
00:26:39,307 --> 00:26:42,266
Under the command of
captain edward j. Smith,
428
00:26:42,309 --> 00:26:44,559
titanic is just
past the midpoint
429
00:26:44,604 --> 00:26:47,270
of her journey to new york.
430
00:26:47,355 --> 00:26:49,647
Steaming at nearly full speed,
431
00:26:49,733 --> 00:26:52,358
she's scheduled
to arrive on time
432
00:26:52,444 --> 00:26:56,238
Wednesday morning at
white star's pier 59
433
00:26:56,281 --> 00:26:58,781
along manhattan's west side.
434
00:27:01,244 --> 00:27:04,788
Nine other ships are also
traversing the north atlantic,
435
00:27:04,832 --> 00:27:08,709
heading west and east along
the same shipping lanes.
436
00:27:09,711 --> 00:27:12,337
But just south of the
grand banks,
437
00:27:12,423 --> 00:27:14,798
the ice field looms.
438
00:27:14,884 --> 00:27:18,301
Four miles wide and
extending north and south
439
00:27:18,346 --> 00:27:20,929
as far as the eye can see.
440
00:27:21,807 --> 00:27:24,391
As each ship hits
the danger zone,
441
00:27:24,477 --> 00:27:26,268
they sound the alarm.
442
00:27:31,275 --> 00:27:33,045
Wireless messages were
sent by ships
443
00:27:33,068 --> 00:27:35,108
who were traveling
in the same waters,
444
00:27:35,153 --> 00:27:38,989
and they were alerting each
other to potential risks.
445
00:27:39,075 --> 00:27:40,315
They thought it was dangerous
446
00:27:40,367 --> 00:27:42,567
and they let the other
ships know around them.
447
00:27:43,953 --> 00:27:46,098
We know the titanic
received these messages.
448
00:27:46,123 --> 00:27:48,832
We know they acknowledged
some of these messages too.
449
00:27:50,795 --> 00:27:52,795
It should have been
taken seriously.
450
00:27:55,883 --> 00:27:58,174
The marconi
messages not only reveal
451
00:27:58,219 --> 00:27:59,718
where the ice is,
452
00:27:59,804 --> 00:28:01,845
they also contain
important details
453
00:28:01,888 --> 00:28:06,307
on how big and dangerous
the icebergs are.
454
00:28:07,853 --> 00:28:09,580
Kristin serumgard
is the commander
455
00:28:09,605 --> 00:28:12,189
of the international ice patrol.
456
00:28:12,692 --> 00:28:14,900
She's familiar with
the types of icebergs
457
00:28:14,984 --> 00:28:16,984
the ships might have reported.
458
00:28:18,489 --> 00:28:22,449
There's floes formed
from frozen seawater.
459
00:28:22,535 --> 00:28:26,286
There's a growler, which is
about the size of a piano.
460
00:28:27,163 --> 00:28:29,243
And then all the way up
to what we call
461
00:28:29,290 --> 00:28:32,667
a very large iceberg is
over 200 meters.
462
00:28:35,423 --> 00:28:38,214
In titanic's day, just like now,
463
00:28:38,259 --> 00:28:40,112
hitting an iceberg
could rip a ship apart
464
00:28:40,135 --> 00:28:42,094
and endanger the passengers.
465
00:28:43,431 --> 00:28:47,141
A fact that wasn't lost on
lord mersey in his black box.
466
00:28:53,441 --> 00:28:55,732
Inside his journal,
mersey hones in
467
00:28:55,776 --> 00:28:59,569
on two specific ice warnings
that reached titanic:
468
00:28:59,613 --> 00:29:01,739
"two vessels informed her.
469
00:29:01,781 --> 00:29:05,951
Icebergs, growlers, floes."
470
00:29:06,036 --> 00:29:09,454
lord mersey drew some images...
471
00:29:09,539 --> 00:29:13,375
Things that the titanic
clearly would've passed
472
00:29:13,461 --> 00:29:16,420
on its way to the
big monster iceberg.
473
00:29:16,463 --> 00:29:19,757
That also should have given
the titanic some pause.
474
00:29:19,842 --> 00:29:23,093
It would have warned them
that things were getting bad.
475
00:29:23,179 --> 00:29:24,928
Lord mersey also scribbles down
476
00:29:25,013 --> 00:29:26,782
that the temperatures
were falling,
477
00:29:26,807 --> 00:29:30,601
and that this, to indicate ice.
478
00:29:31,519 --> 00:29:35,021
And then, finally, and
perhaps most crucially,
479
00:29:35,106 --> 00:29:39,777
he notes and underlines,
no reduction of speed.
480
00:29:41,404 --> 00:29:42,965
This was obviously
fairly significant for him.
481
00:29:42,990 --> 00:29:47,284
Quite understandably, he
was asking the question,
482
00:29:47,327 --> 00:29:48,911
"why didn't they slow down?"
483
00:29:52,165 --> 00:29:54,791
if we didn't have this journal,
484
00:29:54,835 --> 00:29:58,503
we wouldn't have known that
lord mersey was taking in
485
00:29:58,588 --> 00:30:02,673
all this information and clearly
recognized the problems.
486
00:30:03,594 --> 00:30:06,345
It was getting more and more
towards criminal negligence
487
00:30:06,430 --> 00:30:07,637
in this case.
488
00:30:09,098 --> 00:30:11,266
Historians
have spent countless hours
489
00:30:11,309 --> 00:30:13,602
deliberating this question.
490
00:30:13,686 --> 00:30:16,814
Why didn't captain
smith slow down?
491
00:30:18,358 --> 00:30:20,651
One theory centers
around the behavior
492
00:30:20,736 --> 00:30:24,153
of one of titanic's most
influential passengers,
493
00:30:24,198 --> 00:30:26,490
j. Bruce ismay.
494
00:30:28,326 --> 00:30:30,952
Ismay was the chair
of the white star line.
495
00:30:31,038 --> 00:30:35,665
It was his role to run it and
grow it into the 20th century.
496
00:30:37,169 --> 00:30:39,461
On white star's pride and joy,
497
00:30:39,547 --> 00:30:41,587
ismay reigned supreme.
498
00:30:41,673 --> 00:30:44,799
Hobnobbing with wealthy
passengers and keeping tabs
499
00:30:44,844 --> 00:30:47,510
on captain smith and his crew.
500
00:30:48,931 --> 00:30:51,848
Ismay is on deck
around 2:00 p.M.
501
00:30:51,892 --> 00:30:55,853
When titanic receives an
ice warning from the baltic,
502
00:30:55,938 --> 00:30:58,313
another white star-owned ship,
503
00:30:58,356 --> 00:31:01,148
about 230 miles to the east.
504
00:31:02,403 --> 00:31:04,130
What happens next
would give fodder
505
00:31:04,153 --> 00:31:06,779
to a century of
conspiracy theorists.
506
00:31:07,490 --> 00:31:11,201
And it's a moment lord mersey
also focuses on.
507
00:31:13,538 --> 00:31:15,474
There was a paper
written marconigram
508
00:31:15,499 --> 00:31:19,041
delivered to captain smith,
that he showed to bruce ismay,
509
00:31:19,086 --> 00:31:22,378
that bruce ismay took,
stuck into his pocket.
510
00:31:22,463 --> 00:31:25,715
Why did captain smith give
bruce ismay the telegram?
511
00:31:29,262 --> 00:31:31,762
Mersey references
ismay's own testimony
512
00:31:31,848 --> 00:31:33,390
from the british inquiry.
513
00:31:35,352 --> 00:31:39,395
On page 222, ismay underlined,
514
00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:42,231
captain handed me
the baltic message,
515
00:31:42,276 --> 00:31:46,278
which ismay held
on to for a while.
516
00:31:46,363 --> 00:31:49,573
So, this is obviously quite
significant for lord mersey.
517
00:31:54,121 --> 00:31:56,747
Why would ismay have
stuck it in his pocket?
518
00:31:56,832 --> 00:32:00,334
Was there something he didn't
want the bridge crew to see?
519
00:32:00,419 --> 00:32:03,086
Did he not want
them to slow down?
520
00:32:05,089 --> 00:32:06,757
He didn't want the
titanic to be late.
521
00:32:06,842 --> 00:32:08,153
The press would be
waiting on the docks.
522
00:32:08,176 --> 00:32:10,259
People would be there waiting.
523
00:32:10,304 --> 00:32:13,096
There had been theories
that ismay was keener
524
00:32:13,140 --> 00:32:15,641
to get there on time
than to get there safely.
525
00:32:16,309 --> 00:32:19,936
Captain smith asked ismay
for the ice warning back
526
00:32:20,021 --> 00:32:21,313
that Sunday evening,
527
00:32:21,397 --> 00:32:24,441
so that he could put it
in the chart room.
528
00:32:27,779 --> 00:32:30,113
The baltic
message is posted alongside
529
00:32:30,199 --> 00:32:34,409
the six other ice warnings
received throughout the day.
530
00:32:36,329 --> 00:32:38,872
Then at 9:20 p.M.,
531
00:32:38,958 --> 00:32:42,250
captain smith heads to
his cabin to go to sleep,
532
00:32:42,294 --> 00:32:45,628
handing command to
his senior officers.
533
00:32:49,009 --> 00:32:51,093
The north atlantic
was extremely calm
534
00:32:51,177 --> 00:32:55,012
as they went into sundown
and into the night.
535
00:32:55,098 --> 00:32:58,307
That made it more difficult
to find the iceberg.
536
00:32:59,103 --> 00:33:00,644
You can't see it.
537
00:33:02,564 --> 00:33:04,146
If it's very calm out,
538
00:33:04,232 --> 00:33:07,692
there's no waves breaking
on the edges of the iceberg...
539
00:33:07,778 --> 00:33:10,278
You're not gonna even
see that it's there.
540
00:33:11,699 --> 00:33:15,534
The lookouts are
above the canvas dodger
541
00:33:15,618 --> 00:33:17,201
of the lookout's nest.
542
00:33:17,287 --> 00:33:22,665
Their face is being whipped by
a 25-mile an hour cold wind,
543
00:33:22,750 --> 00:33:26,502
which inevitably could
cause tearing to take place,
544
00:33:26,587 --> 00:33:29,213
which in turn could
hurt their vision.
545
00:33:34,930 --> 00:33:37,346
At precisely
11:39 p.M.,
546
00:33:37,391 --> 00:33:39,849
crow's nest lookout
frederick fleet
547
00:33:39,934 --> 00:33:42,978
spots the gigantic, dark mass.
548
00:33:43,896 --> 00:33:46,605
He strikes the lookout
bell three times.
549
00:33:50,903 --> 00:33:53,320
Fleet lunges for the telephone,
550
00:33:53,406 --> 00:33:56,282
reaching sixth officer
james moody on the bridge.
551
00:33:56,367 --> 00:33:57,241
Iceberg!
552
00:33:57,326 --> 00:33:58,535
Dead ahead.
553
00:34:01,707 --> 00:34:04,374
When you're traveling
at 21 or 22 knots,
554
00:34:04,417 --> 00:34:07,169
and you see iceberg dead ahead,
555
00:34:07,211 --> 00:34:09,253
there wasn't enough
time to turn.
556
00:34:09,882 --> 00:34:12,048
It was already too late.
557
00:34:12,467 --> 00:34:14,384
The ship was doomed.
558
00:34:22,101 --> 00:34:24,393
April 14, 1912.
559
00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:29,231
Rms titanic has been at sea
for four and a half days.
560
00:34:30,943 --> 00:34:36,364
At 11:39 p.M., 375 miles off
the coast of newfoundland,
561
00:34:36,449 --> 00:34:39,867
titanic's seven ice warnings
received throughout the day
562
00:34:39,952 --> 00:34:42,079
are no longer a warning.
563
00:34:42,748 --> 00:34:44,914
They're a frightening reality.
564
00:34:47,043 --> 00:34:48,085
Iceberg!
565
00:34:48,128 --> 00:34:49,376
Dead ahead.
566
00:34:51,215 --> 00:34:55,007
With the iceberg
spotted 1,500 feet ahead,
567
00:34:55,094 --> 00:34:59,387
and with titanic bearing down
on it at 26 miles per hour,
568
00:35:01,349 --> 00:35:03,766
first officer william
mcmaster murdoch
569
00:35:03,851 --> 00:35:06,143
has less than 45 seconds to
570
00:35:06,230 --> 00:35:09,188
determine the fate of thousands.
571
00:35:13,112 --> 00:35:15,653
He says, "full to port."
572
00:35:15,739 --> 00:35:17,905
murdoch signals the engine room.
573
00:35:17,990 --> 00:35:20,784
Ring, ring, ring.
574
00:35:21,161 --> 00:35:22,429
But by the time murdoch makes
575
00:35:22,454 --> 00:35:24,246
his desperate maneuver,
576
00:35:24,331 --> 00:35:27,289
the iceberg is already on them.
577
00:35:29,210 --> 00:35:31,795
At reportedly 60 feet high,
578
00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:35,673
it's even with
titanic's crow's nest
579
00:35:35,759 --> 00:35:39,094
and it's estimated
400-foot length is greater
580
00:35:39,179 --> 00:35:40,929
than a football field.
581
00:35:42,014 --> 00:35:43,701
Scientists say it could
have weighed up to
582
00:35:43,724 --> 00:35:45,809
one and a half million tons,
583
00:35:45,893 --> 00:35:50,146
the equivalent of 15 fully
loaded aircraft carriers.
584
00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:55,485
The iceberg packs the punch
of a granite mountain.
585
00:36:00,617 --> 00:36:03,034
When you compress
carbon under pressure,
586
00:36:03,119 --> 00:36:05,056
you get this very
strong diamond,
587
00:36:05,079 --> 00:36:07,496
and that's kind of
the similar concept
588
00:36:07,541 --> 00:36:11,208
of compressing the fresh water
into a glacier
589
00:36:11,295 --> 00:36:12,835
that forms an iceberg.
590
00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:16,505
Dense, glacial ice has a
much higher probability
591
00:36:16,592 --> 00:36:19,467
of causing significant
damage to a ship.
592
00:36:20,887 --> 00:36:26,516
At 11:40 p.M.,
titanic makes contact.
593
00:36:30,771 --> 00:36:33,481
The iceberg scrapes
along her starboard side
594
00:36:33,525 --> 00:36:35,525
for eight seconds...
595
00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:40,362
Gouging the double-plated
steel hull.
596
00:36:41,490 --> 00:36:43,552
The collision takes place,
opening its side to the iceberg
597
00:36:43,577 --> 00:36:45,911
so it can cut into it
like a tin of sardines.
598
00:36:46,538 --> 00:36:49,206
The forward
compartment, three cargo holds
599
00:36:49,291 --> 00:36:52,166
and two engine rooms
are blown open.
600
00:36:53,336 --> 00:36:55,711
And the frigid sea pours in.
601
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:02,469
Meanwhile, some 90 feet above,
602
00:37:02,554 --> 00:37:05,429
those first class
passengers still awake
603
00:37:05,514 --> 00:37:08,516
catch an ominous
glimpse into their fate.
604
00:37:09,393 --> 00:37:11,554
When the iceberg struck,
they felt something,
605
00:37:11,605 --> 00:37:13,208
but they weren't
sure what it was.
606
00:37:13,231 --> 00:37:16,106
And they went to the
portholes of the ship
607
00:37:16,193 --> 00:37:19,860
and actually saw pieces of
ice coming off the iceberg
608
00:37:19,947 --> 00:37:22,572
onto the deck through
the portholes.
609
00:37:24,992 --> 00:37:26,826
Moments after impact,
610
00:37:26,911 --> 00:37:31,164
first officer murdoch
orders full stop,
611
00:37:31,250 --> 00:37:35,751
and he engages titanic's
high-tech watertight doors.
612
00:37:35,836 --> 00:37:38,128
Down in the tank top level,
613
00:37:38,215 --> 00:37:41,340
bells started going off and
doors started closing.
614
00:37:42,302 --> 00:37:44,239
It must've been
sounded pretty much
615
00:37:44,262 --> 00:37:46,596
like the hammers
of hell down there.
616
00:37:48,016 --> 00:37:51,059
Murdoch did not know whether
there was damage or not.
617
00:37:51,603 --> 00:37:53,456
He's just got to close
the watertight doors
618
00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:55,313
and then find out.
619
00:37:55,940 --> 00:37:57,398
That's all he can do.
620
00:37:58,527 --> 00:38:00,443
Murdoch's
decision to seal the doors
621
00:38:00,528 --> 00:38:02,945
is rooted in ship science.
622
00:38:03,864 --> 00:38:06,324
When activated, the
watertight doors keep
623
00:38:06,409 --> 00:38:08,076
titanic from foundering
624
00:38:08,161 --> 00:38:10,786
by walling off the flooded areas
625
00:38:10,871 --> 00:38:12,579
from the rest of the ship.
626
00:38:13,166 --> 00:38:15,958
You wanna close them so
the water doesn't escape
627
00:38:16,003 --> 00:38:18,420
and make the ship bow
or aft heavy.
628
00:38:18,505 --> 00:38:21,422
You wanna stop the water from
coming in and spreading.
629
00:38:22,009 --> 00:38:23,235
The head of the british inquiry
630
00:38:23,260 --> 00:38:25,175
trains his investigative eyes
631
00:38:25,262 --> 00:38:27,429
on those crucial first minutes
632
00:38:27,472 --> 00:38:29,806
after the doors are activated.
633
00:38:31,851 --> 00:38:34,811
Lord mersey learns that
some of the watertight doors
634
00:38:34,855 --> 00:38:37,438
were then manually
raised by crew
635
00:38:37,523 --> 00:38:40,317
to move around hoses and pumps.
636
00:38:40,985 --> 00:38:43,235
But he notes and underlines
637
00:38:43,322 --> 00:38:46,655
that the doors were
then all left open.
638
00:38:48,242 --> 00:38:50,534
Lord mersey obviously
thought that was important
639
00:38:50,619 --> 00:38:54,331
that no one ever requested
the doors to be re-closed.
640
00:38:56,335 --> 00:38:57,686
He certainly recognized the fact
641
00:38:57,710 --> 00:38:59,710
that there were
some problems here.
642
00:39:01,130 --> 00:39:02,880
Captain smith,
who had gone to sleep
643
00:39:02,965 --> 00:39:05,300
for the evening at 9:20 p.M.,
644
00:39:05,344 --> 00:39:07,344
suddenly snaps to attention.
645
00:39:09,389 --> 00:39:14,184
He felt a ca-thud and heard
the ship's engine bells ring.
646
00:39:15,896 --> 00:39:18,855
I can't imagine what that must
have done to his heart rate.
647
00:39:22,943 --> 00:39:25,070
Smith rushes to the bridge.
648
00:39:25,155 --> 00:39:28,530
He asks first officer murdoch
what they struck.
649
00:39:29,326 --> 00:39:32,077
"an iceberg, sir."
murdoch replies.
650
00:39:33,329 --> 00:39:36,539
Smith's first priority
upon arrival at the bridge
651
00:39:36,625 --> 00:39:39,458
is to immediately
send down people
652
00:39:39,543 --> 00:39:42,795
to determine just what's
going on down below.
653
00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:44,338
How bad is it?
654
00:39:45,467 --> 00:39:48,342
In testimony,
fourth officer joseph boxhall
655
00:39:48,427 --> 00:39:51,762
recounts that he did
not find any damage.
656
00:39:52,766 --> 00:39:55,266
With boxhall's
assessment in hand,
657
00:39:55,351 --> 00:39:58,311
captain smith issues an
order to the engine room
658
00:39:58,396 --> 00:40:01,773
that causes lord mersey
to sit up and take notice.
659
00:40:02,442 --> 00:40:04,567
An order that flies in the face
660
00:40:04,610 --> 00:40:08,070
of what we think we know
about titanic's story.
661
00:40:09,199 --> 00:40:13,284
According to history,
titanic hit the iceberg,
662
00:40:13,369 --> 00:40:17,246
the crew shut the
watertight doors
663
00:40:17,289 --> 00:40:20,166
and the ship came
to a dead stop.
664
00:40:21,043 --> 00:40:23,545
But is that what
really happened?
665
00:40:24,463 --> 00:40:26,463
Lord mersey wrote down
during frederick scott's
666
00:40:26,550 --> 00:40:29,717
testimony that the ship was
ordered half-speed ahead
667
00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:31,427
and then stop and ahead.
668
00:40:31,471 --> 00:40:33,096
What was all this?
669
00:40:33,181 --> 00:40:36,056
Captain smith may have
been trying to speed up
670
00:40:36,101 --> 00:40:39,268
in hopes that things
really weren't so bad.
671
00:40:39,353 --> 00:40:41,980
There may have been some
talk about moving ahead
672
00:40:42,065 --> 00:40:44,481
to try and calm the passengers,
673
00:40:44,568 --> 00:40:47,110
letting them think that the
ship is moving normally.
674
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:49,653
For 20 minutes,
675
00:40:49,739 --> 00:40:52,990
smith decides to keep
the ship pressing forward
676
00:40:53,076 --> 00:40:57,119
at half speed instead of
coming to a full stop.
677
00:40:57,956 --> 00:41:01,291
Moving the boat forward was
something that increased
678
00:41:01,376 --> 00:41:04,251
the influx of water and
was a very dangerous,
679
00:41:04,295 --> 00:41:06,588
if not disastrous thing to do.
680
00:41:07,882 --> 00:41:09,610
If there were
openings in the hull,
681
00:41:09,634 --> 00:41:11,800
you'd push them open more.
682
00:41:11,887 --> 00:41:14,344
Any weaknesses, you would
exploit them.
683
00:41:15,014 --> 00:41:17,347
If we start moving
through the water
684
00:41:17,434 --> 00:41:19,809
and there is damage of some sort
685
00:41:19,894 --> 00:41:22,144
on the starboard
side of the ship,
686
00:41:22,188 --> 00:41:26,940
any forward motion is going
to increase the water flow
687
00:41:26,985 --> 00:41:28,485
through that crevice,
688
00:41:28,570 --> 00:41:32,489
and might have an effect on
how quickly the ship sinks.
689
00:41:36,536 --> 00:41:40,246
With precious
minutes ticking by,
690
00:41:40,331 --> 00:41:44,166
captain smith summons titanic's
carpenter to sound the ship.
691
00:41:44,251 --> 00:41:48,588
A nautical term for assessing
a ship's seaworthiness.
692
00:41:48,672 --> 00:41:50,693
When the report came
back to captain smith,
693
00:41:50,717 --> 00:41:52,637
it wasn't a very
good one at all.
694
00:41:53,844 --> 00:41:56,846
Lord mersey made a note of
that fact in his journal.
695
00:41:57,974 --> 00:41:59,494
The carpenter
is said to have reported
696
00:41:59,518 --> 00:42:02,643
seven feet of water
in a few minutes.
697
00:42:02,728 --> 00:42:05,355
At that point, the
damage was already done.
698
00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:07,106
The ship was doomed.
699
00:42:07,733 --> 00:42:10,213
But lord mersey may have been
taking more note of that fact
700
00:42:10,237 --> 00:42:11,652
than captain smith was.
701
00:42:12,530 --> 00:42:15,239
It should have led the
captain to other choices.
702
00:42:15,324 --> 00:42:18,659
For instance, immediately
lowering those lifeboats.
703
00:42:18,744 --> 00:42:20,181
Putting everybody on
those lifeboats
704
00:42:20,204 --> 00:42:21,871
that he possibly could.
705
00:42:26,503 --> 00:42:28,545
Then, shortly after midnight,
706
00:42:28,630 --> 00:42:31,338
22 minutes after
hitting the iceberg,
707
00:42:31,423 --> 00:42:34,675
thomas andrews,
titanic's chief designer
708
00:42:34,760 --> 00:42:37,094
arrives grim-faced on the bridge
709
00:42:37,179 --> 00:42:40,056
after surveying the decks below.
710
00:42:40,099 --> 00:42:45,186
Titanic, andrew says,
has only two hours left.
711
00:42:47,731 --> 00:42:51,568
Captain smith, he seems
really overwhelmed by it all.
712
00:42:51,652 --> 00:42:55,572
Almost to the point of a
paralysis taking place.
713
00:42:57,032 --> 00:42:59,534
Here's a guy at the
end of his career,
714
00:42:59,619 --> 00:43:01,119
retirement is in sight,
715
00:43:01,204 --> 00:43:04,914
and everything that he had
achieved in 30-some-odd years
716
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:07,916
with the white star line
is now at risk.
717
00:43:08,670 --> 00:43:10,128
And not only that, he is at risk
718
00:43:10,213 --> 00:43:13,463
along with 2,200 other people.
719
00:43:35,822 --> 00:43:37,362
After the collision,
720
00:43:37,449 --> 00:43:43,119
the amount of water flooding
into titanic was fatal.
721
00:43:46,708 --> 00:43:49,626
The flooding was far beyond
722
00:43:49,710 --> 00:43:53,420
the capacity of the pumps
to keep up with.
723
00:43:53,505 --> 00:43:57,132
They struggled to
even slow it down
724
00:43:57,217 --> 00:43:59,969
and titanic was simply doomed.
725
00:44:02,306 --> 00:44:06,184
Twenty-five minutes
after the collision,
726
00:44:06,268 --> 00:44:08,561
captain smith orders
his senior officers,
727
00:44:08,646 --> 00:44:12,481
murdoch and lightoller,
to prepare the lifeboats,
728
00:44:12,525 --> 00:44:14,650
which can only hold half
729
00:44:14,735 --> 00:44:18,655
of the more than
2,200 lives on board.
730
00:44:19,949 --> 00:44:24,619
Worse still, as lord mersey
noted during the inquiry,
731
00:44:24,704 --> 00:44:27,121
the crew is unfamiliar
with the lifeboat
732
00:44:27,164 --> 00:44:29,498
state-of-the-art crane system.
733
00:44:29,541 --> 00:44:32,960
They canceled the drill
earlier in the trip.
734
00:44:34,213 --> 00:44:38,090
Regardless, they're now
faced with a thankless task.
735
00:44:38,885 --> 00:44:41,760
Having to spread the word.
736
00:44:44,974 --> 00:44:46,431
We can be given a warning.
737
00:44:46,518 --> 00:44:50,143
Somebody can walk up to us and
say, "this ship is sinking."
738
00:44:50,188 --> 00:44:51,853
but if we look around and see
739
00:44:51,898 --> 00:44:54,148
it looks like we're
floating just fine,
740
00:44:54,233 --> 00:44:57,735
then we question that warning
that we've been given,
741
00:44:57,820 --> 00:45:00,320
and we actually need to see
that the ship is sinking
742
00:45:00,407 --> 00:45:02,322
to see that something is wrong.
743
00:45:05,077 --> 00:45:06,202
Though his passengers
744
00:45:06,286 --> 00:45:07,889
may not have
believed the warning,
745
00:45:07,914 --> 00:45:11,289
captain smith is fully aware
of the slow motion catastrophe
746
00:45:11,376 --> 00:45:13,793
unfolding around him.
747
00:45:14,586 --> 00:45:17,547
He makes a beeline for
the marconi wireless room
748
00:45:17,590 --> 00:45:19,090
and its operators,
749
00:45:19,175 --> 00:45:24,052
25-year old jack phillips and
22-year old harold bride.
750
00:45:27,559 --> 00:45:28,682
Who else can you turn to
751
00:45:28,768 --> 00:45:31,059
other than these two
wireless operators
752
00:45:31,146 --> 00:45:34,396
who suddenly are his
only source of help.
753
00:45:37,568 --> 00:45:39,527
This was now their only lifeline
754
00:45:39,612 --> 00:45:42,028
for contacting
the outside world.
755
00:45:42,114 --> 00:45:44,824
And captain smith
must've wondered,
756
00:45:44,909 --> 00:45:48,202
perhaps this was the miracle
that would rescue him.
757
00:45:49,289 --> 00:45:51,371
Of course, smith has no idea
758
00:45:51,458 --> 00:45:54,208
that lightoller's
erroneous sextant reading
759
00:45:54,251 --> 00:45:56,001
from earlier in the evening,
760
00:45:56,086 --> 00:45:59,130
places his ship at
a different position
761
00:45:59,215 --> 00:46:02,215
than the coordinates he's
sending out for help.
762
00:46:02,844 --> 00:46:08,431
Still the sos fans out, and
some ships respond instantly.
763
00:46:10,309 --> 00:46:12,121
"putting about and
heading for you."
764
00:46:12,144 --> 00:46:14,771
replies veteran
captain arthur rostron
765
00:46:14,813 --> 00:46:18,565
of the ss carpathia,
58 miles away.
766
00:46:20,110 --> 00:46:23,570
Despite having 740
passengers of his own,
767
00:46:23,655 --> 00:46:25,280
he lights up his coal burners
768
00:46:25,365 --> 00:46:28,409
and sets a course for
titanic's position.
769
00:46:35,710 --> 00:46:37,918
Meanwhile, on board
the californian,
770
00:46:38,003 --> 00:46:40,253
about 20 miles north of titanic,
771
00:46:40,297 --> 00:46:42,130
and the closest ship to her,
772
00:46:42,175 --> 00:46:45,635
captain lord has stopped
down in the ice field
773
00:46:45,719 --> 00:46:48,471
and the marconi is switched off.
774
00:46:50,516 --> 00:46:52,327
In those days, the
fellows that worked
775
00:46:52,351 --> 00:46:54,288
in the wireless
rooms on board ship
776
00:46:54,311 --> 00:46:56,896
clocked off at a certain time.
777
00:46:56,981 --> 00:46:59,856
At that point, the californian
was deaf to the world.
778
00:46:59,943 --> 00:47:00,943
It didn't know.
779
00:47:02,612 --> 00:47:04,152
With the
californian hunkered down
780
00:47:04,197 --> 00:47:07,030
for the night, across
the same ice field,
781
00:47:07,115 --> 00:47:10,827
a chaotic scene is
unfolding on titanic.
782
00:47:12,454 --> 00:47:14,621
More than an hour
after the collision,
783
00:47:14,706 --> 00:47:17,123
the first of titanic's
lifeboats begins lowering
784
00:47:17,210 --> 00:47:18,626
into the sea.
785
00:47:20,713 --> 00:47:23,840
Around 12:45 a.M.,
captain smith gave an order.
786
00:47:23,882 --> 00:47:26,425
And that order was
to load the lifeboats
787
00:47:26,510 --> 00:47:28,677
with women and children.
788
00:47:29,304 --> 00:47:30,972
This leads
to the next revelation
789
00:47:31,014 --> 00:47:33,932
from inside lord mersey's box.
790
00:47:34,351 --> 00:47:36,018
During the british inquiry,
791
00:47:36,061 --> 00:47:37,831
mersey makes a
note in his journal
792
00:47:37,856 --> 00:47:41,858
referencing the testimony of
second officer lightoller,
793
00:47:41,943 --> 00:47:45,027
who says that he didn't load
the lifeboats to capacity
794
00:47:45,070 --> 00:47:47,320
because he worried
the new davits
795
00:47:47,407 --> 00:47:49,114
wouldn't hold the weight.
796
00:47:51,244 --> 00:47:53,369
Obviously, second
officer lightoller
797
00:47:53,413 --> 00:47:55,036
had to have some excuse
798
00:47:55,081 --> 00:47:57,873
for not loading the
lifeboats to full capacity.
799
00:47:57,916 --> 00:47:59,583
That was his excuse.
800
00:47:59,668 --> 00:48:02,753
I can't believe that lord
mersey would have bought it.
801
00:48:02,838 --> 00:48:05,338
Ultimately, mersey did not.
802
00:48:05,382 --> 00:48:06,715
In his final report,
803
00:48:06,759 --> 00:48:09,175
he discovers there are
a number of explanations
804
00:48:09,262 --> 00:48:11,512
why the lifeboats weren't full.
805
00:48:11,597 --> 00:48:14,724
Specifically, he writes
that lightoller's worry
806
00:48:14,766 --> 00:48:19,561
about the weight proved to
be an unfounded apprehension.
807
00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:23,023
The fact is that lifeboats
went into the water
808
00:48:23,108 --> 00:48:25,735
with less than a full capacity.
809
00:48:25,820 --> 00:48:28,070
Those crewman should
have been pulling people
810
00:48:28,155 --> 00:48:31,907
by their collars to put
them into the lifeboat.
811
00:48:34,286 --> 00:48:36,494
As officer
murdoch fires the first
812
00:48:36,581 --> 00:48:39,748
of eight distress rockets
into the night sky,
813
00:48:39,833 --> 00:48:43,251
the makeshift
evacuation continues.
814
00:48:43,295 --> 00:48:46,422
On deck, confusion reigns.
815
00:48:47,759 --> 00:48:52,094
Dr. Samantha montano studies
human response to disasters.
816
00:48:53,472 --> 00:48:57,141
In 1912, there was no
formal emergency management
817
00:48:57,226 --> 00:48:59,434
in the way that
we have it today.
818
00:48:59,519 --> 00:49:01,456
Because there was
that lack of training,
819
00:49:01,481 --> 00:49:04,231
that lack of planning
about what to do
820
00:49:04,317 --> 00:49:06,400
in a situation like this,
821
00:49:06,485 --> 00:49:10,278
nearly the entire response
was completely improvised.
822
00:49:14,702 --> 00:49:17,077
With titanic's
bow sinking lower,
823
00:49:17,121 --> 00:49:18,954
and the stern slowly rising
824
00:49:19,039 --> 00:49:21,123
against the blackness
of the sea,
825
00:49:21,208 --> 00:49:22,916
the panic begins.
826
00:49:24,378 --> 00:49:27,253
The remaining passengers
of all stations,
827
00:49:27,340 --> 00:49:30,423
surge toward the few
remaining lifeboats.
828
00:49:31,219 --> 00:49:33,302
It's life or death.
829
00:49:34,222 --> 00:49:35,762
We do see more of that panic.
830
00:49:35,847 --> 00:49:39,976
It tends to be when people
feel the threat is imminent,
831
00:49:40,061 --> 00:49:41,871
there is still a
chance of escape,
832
00:49:41,896 --> 00:49:44,646
but that chance is dwindling.
833
00:49:47,818 --> 00:49:50,527
With the window
of escape closing fast,
834
00:49:50,612 --> 00:49:53,780
white star lines chairman,
bruce ismay,
835
00:49:53,865 --> 00:49:55,282
makes his way across the deck
836
00:49:55,367 --> 00:49:58,994
towards one of titanic's
few remaining lifeboats.
837
00:50:00,206 --> 00:50:01,307
One of the crew says,
"mr. Ismay,
838
00:50:01,331 --> 00:50:02,998
there's a space in this boat."
839
00:50:03,041 --> 00:50:05,876
and ismay's got split
second to make a decision.
840
00:50:05,961 --> 00:50:09,838
When the opportunity
presents itself,
841
00:50:09,923 --> 00:50:11,590
he gets into the boat.
842
00:50:16,389 --> 00:50:18,304
Ismay is one of many men
843
00:50:18,391 --> 00:50:21,016
who displaces women and children
844
00:50:21,059 --> 00:50:23,643
during those last
desperate minutes.
845
00:50:23,730 --> 00:50:27,940
Lifeboat 15 was one of the
last lifeboats to be lowered
846
00:50:28,025 --> 00:50:29,692
on the starboard side,
847
00:50:29,735 --> 00:50:33,362
and the vast majority of
its occupants were men.
848
00:50:35,157 --> 00:50:37,907
It opens the question as to
why there weren't more
849
00:50:37,994 --> 00:50:40,452
women and children
in the lifeboat.
850
00:50:44,083 --> 00:50:47,626
Inside the box,
mersey notes his concern.
851
00:50:47,711 --> 00:50:50,170
Here's another
interesting section.
852
00:50:50,213 --> 00:50:53,673
This is may the 10th,
853
00:50:53,760 --> 00:50:57,344
and it's a testimony
by samuel rule,
854
00:50:57,429 --> 00:51:00,097
who was a steward, talking
about the lifeboats,
855
00:51:00,182 --> 00:51:03,768
and in particular talking
about lifeboat 15.
856
00:51:03,853 --> 00:51:07,146
Sixty-eight who were saved
who went in the lifeboat,
857
00:51:07,231 --> 00:51:10,231
were made up of 61 men,
double underlined,
858
00:51:10,318 --> 00:51:12,525
and seven women and children.
859
00:51:13,780 --> 00:51:15,070
This was an age in England
860
00:51:15,114 --> 00:51:18,657
where honor and
chivalry prevailed.
861
00:51:19,117 --> 00:51:23,536
Now at the end, 61 men are,
in a sense, rushing
862
00:51:23,623 --> 00:51:24,789
to get into this lifeboat
863
00:51:24,873 --> 00:51:27,248
with only seven or
so women and children
864
00:51:27,293 --> 00:51:28,793
who may have been left.
865
00:51:28,878 --> 00:51:30,418
How could that possibly be?
866
00:51:30,463 --> 00:51:32,922
What happened to the women
and children first rule?
867
00:51:32,965 --> 00:51:36,425
Was it a case that men
had rushed the boats?
868
00:51:47,438 --> 00:51:52,233
At 2:00 a.M., with the
ship minutes from sinking,
869
00:51:52,275 --> 00:51:54,110
titanic's eight-member band
870
00:51:54,195 --> 00:51:56,402
under the direction
of wallace hartley
871
00:51:56,489 --> 00:51:59,072
segues into a rendition of
872
00:51:59,157 --> 00:52:01,199
"nearer, my god to thee."
873
00:52:01,284 --> 00:52:04,411
all while the last of the
remaining lifeboats
874
00:52:04,496 --> 00:52:06,038
are launching.
875
00:52:08,041 --> 00:52:11,585
One of the last orders
attributed to captain smith
876
00:52:11,670 --> 00:52:13,523
was poking his head
into the wireless shack
877
00:52:13,547 --> 00:52:15,275
and basically telling
phillips and bride,
878
00:52:15,298 --> 00:52:17,259
"it's every man for himself,
boys."
879
00:52:20,304 --> 00:52:22,637
he knew of the
magnitude of the tragedy
880
00:52:22,722 --> 00:52:25,349
that was going to unfold
when the ship sank.
881
00:52:25,434 --> 00:52:26,954
Some of the firsthand
accounts say
882
00:52:26,978 --> 00:52:28,871
that he goes to the bridge,
locks himself in
883
00:52:28,896 --> 00:52:30,856
and waits for the
tide to come in.
884
00:52:33,192 --> 00:52:34,983
Titanic's bow submerges
885
00:52:35,068 --> 00:52:38,987
and the stern rises nearly
perpendicular to the water.
886
00:52:39,030 --> 00:52:42,157
It's propellers
completely aloft.
887
00:52:42,952 --> 00:52:46,786
Just then, the once mighty
unsinkable titanic
888
00:52:46,873 --> 00:52:48,914
splits in two...
889
00:52:52,003 --> 00:52:55,420
And slides into the icy depths.
890
00:53:04,264 --> 00:53:07,016
Of the thousand-plus
free falling victims,
891
00:53:07,101 --> 00:53:09,934
the end, while horrific
and violent,
892
00:53:10,021 --> 00:53:11,519
is also swift.
893
00:53:13,900 --> 00:53:16,150
Some of these people
may have been injured,
894
00:53:16,235 --> 00:53:19,695
hit by falling objects,
hit by a lifeboat,
895
00:53:19,739 --> 00:53:21,822
battered by the sinking
of the ship.
896
00:53:22,157 --> 00:53:24,574
If the person gets submerged,
897
00:53:24,659 --> 00:53:28,204
they're gonna get a lung
full of very cold salt water,
898
00:53:28,246 --> 00:53:29,807
and they're gonna drown
almost immediately,
899
00:53:29,831 --> 00:53:31,039
and they're gonna die.
900
00:53:33,878 --> 00:53:35,210
Those who survive the smack
901
00:53:35,295 --> 00:53:37,253
into the subfreezing ocean,
902
00:53:37,340 --> 00:53:40,132
experience excruciating pain.
903
00:53:41,092 --> 00:53:44,052
Second officer charles
lightoller would equate it
904
00:53:44,096 --> 00:53:47,056
to a thousand knives
driving into the body.
905
00:53:50,353 --> 00:53:53,269
Shiya ribowsky is a medical
legal investigator
906
00:53:53,356 --> 00:53:55,688
and forensics consultant.
907
00:53:56,233 --> 00:53:59,860
That makes sense
because extreme cold
908
00:53:59,945 --> 00:54:02,278
is going to feel
like extreme heat.
909
00:54:02,364 --> 00:54:03,739
At 28 degrees,
910
00:54:03,782 --> 00:54:06,867
there's a physiologic
response that happens
911
00:54:06,911 --> 00:54:09,702
also known as a
cold shock reflux.
912
00:54:09,746 --> 00:54:11,871
And that's followed by
913
00:54:11,916 --> 00:54:14,916
repeated, very rapid gasping.
914
00:54:16,753 --> 00:54:17,813
You know, your brain is saying,
915
00:54:17,838 --> 00:54:20,005
"hey, get me out of this water."
916
00:54:20,090 --> 00:54:22,925
and your arms just laying
there at your side,
917
00:54:22,969 --> 00:54:26,344
because they're no longer
under your voluntary control.
918
00:54:31,643 --> 00:54:34,478
I remember talking to
a survivor, eva hart,
919
00:54:34,563 --> 00:54:36,438
and her saying,
920
00:54:36,523 --> 00:54:41,068
"charles, it was not the
screams that unhinged me.
921
00:54:43,989 --> 00:54:47,032
It was the silence
that came afterwards
922
00:54:47,909 --> 00:54:50,327
when the cold had
done its work."
923
00:54:54,125 --> 00:54:58,626
it gives you an idea of just
how deadly this exposure was.
924
00:54:58,670 --> 00:55:02,255
Because of the 1,500 or
so people that perished,
925
00:55:02,340 --> 00:55:05,300
we can assume that
hundreds perhaps
926
00:55:05,385 --> 00:55:07,302
could have been rescued.
927
00:55:07,346 --> 00:55:09,096
Only around 40 or so people
928
00:55:09,139 --> 00:55:12,474
were pulled out of the
water and survived.
929
00:55:17,481 --> 00:55:20,148
Those 40 are
picked up by two lifeboats
930
00:55:20,233 --> 00:55:22,318
that turned back for them.
931
00:55:22,360 --> 00:55:26,780
They are the only ones out
of 20 lifeboats to do so.
932
00:55:28,199 --> 00:55:30,492
Another boat,
lifeboat number one
933
00:55:30,577 --> 00:55:33,036
turns away from the
victims in the water,
934
00:55:33,121 --> 00:55:35,664
despite having
enough room for them.
935
00:55:38,168 --> 00:55:40,335
Here's an instance
where a lifeboat
936
00:55:40,420 --> 00:55:43,505
left with only 12 people,
instead of 42.
937
00:55:43,590 --> 00:55:46,632
The boat could have easily
gone back and picked up others.
938
00:55:47,385 --> 00:55:49,344
When a crewman
on lifeboat number one
939
00:55:49,429 --> 00:55:51,347
urges everyone to turn back,
940
00:55:51,389 --> 00:55:54,807
two first class passengers,
sir cosmo duff-gordon,
941
00:55:54,893 --> 00:55:58,019
and his wife, lady duff-gordon,
refuse.
942
00:55:59,565 --> 00:56:05,068
Sir cosmo decides to give
the crew five-pound notes.
943
00:56:05,153 --> 00:56:07,695
It certainly didn't
smell too good.
944
00:56:09,909 --> 00:56:12,451
The duff-gordons were called
to the british inquiry
945
00:56:12,536 --> 00:56:14,744
to testify, and of
course they simply denied
946
00:56:14,829 --> 00:56:19,208
they were bribing the crew not
to go back and rescue others.
947
00:56:23,505 --> 00:56:25,713
The duff-gordons
are the british inquiry's
948
00:56:25,800 --> 00:56:28,132
only testifying passengers.
949
00:56:36,684 --> 00:56:39,353
As titanic sinks to the bottom,
950
00:56:39,438 --> 00:56:43,065
rms carpathia is less
than 30 miles away
951
00:56:43,150 --> 00:56:45,067
and heading to the rescue.
952
00:56:45,820 --> 00:56:47,402
Captain rostron,
953
00:56:47,487 --> 00:56:50,364
he went charging off in
the middle of the night,
954
00:56:50,407 --> 00:56:51,739
into an ice situation
955
00:56:51,826 --> 00:56:54,909
that had already sunk
the world's largest ship.
956
00:56:59,416 --> 00:57:02,960
Rostron became the
hero of the day, you know.
957
00:57:03,045 --> 00:57:04,085
What'd he do?
958
00:57:04,130 --> 00:57:06,630
He risked all those
people's lives.
959
00:57:15,224 --> 00:57:18,099
The sun was about to come up
over the horizon
960
00:57:18,143 --> 00:57:21,061
when he found the lifeboats.
961
00:57:22,148 --> 00:57:23,916
And so they brought on
as many of the survivors
962
00:57:23,940 --> 00:57:25,398
they could find...
963
00:57:27,110 --> 00:57:28,652
Responding in a human way
964
00:57:28,737 --> 00:57:31,112
to the suffering of
people around them.
965
00:57:35,536 --> 00:57:37,744
One boat to come alongside
966
00:57:37,829 --> 00:57:40,621
was the boat that
carried lightoller,
967
00:57:40,666 --> 00:57:45,001
and he was immediately
escorted to the bridge.
968
00:57:45,086 --> 00:57:49,172
And rostron said to him,
"where is the titanic?"
969
00:57:49,257 --> 00:57:52,092
and with his voice cracking,
lightoller said,
970
00:57:52,177 --> 00:57:53,594
"she's gone down, sir."
971
00:57:59,434 --> 00:58:02,686
as the morning
sun arcs over the horizon,
972
00:58:02,771 --> 00:58:04,480
the last of titanic's lifeboats
973
00:58:04,523 --> 00:58:07,148
paddles up alongside carpathia.
974
00:58:08,527 --> 00:58:11,487
Escorted on board, is
white star president,
975
00:58:11,530 --> 00:58:16,324
j. Bruce ismay,
quaking from the cold.
976
00:58:16,367 --> 00:58:19,202
For the owner of the ship
to come home in a lifeboat
977
00:58:19,288 --> 00:58:20,496
was seen as shameful.
978
00:58:20,581 --> 00:58:23,748
He was immediately
accused of cowardice
979
00:58:23,833 --> 00:58:26,210
and seen as being
someone who failed
980
00:58:26,295 --> 00:58:28,045
to stand by his captain,
981
00:58:28,130 --> 00:58:31,005
stand by his ship,
stand by his passengers.
982
00:58:31,050 --> 00:58:33,050
The ship that had made his name
983
00:58:33,135 --> 00:58:35,469
was now threatening
to ruin his name.
984
00:58:36,514 --> 00:58:40,974
Ismay was in such a
delicate frame of mind
985
00:58:41,059 --> 00:58:44,853
that the surgeon of the
carpathia put him on opiates
986
00:58:44,896 --> 00:58:46,730
to ease the pain.
987
00:58:52,987 --> 00:58:55,614
Rostron sets sail for new york,
988
00:58:55,699 --> 00:58:59,701
where carpathia is expected
on the evening of April 18th.
989
00:59:00,954 --> 00:59:05,206
Meanwhile, titanic's marconi
operator, harold bride,
990
00:59:05,251 --> 00:59:06,875
is plucked from a lifeboat
991
00:59:06,960 --> 00:59:09,503
and dispatched to
the wireless room.
992
00:59:09,588 --> 00:59:13,172
An anxious world awaits.
993
00:59:13,925 --> 00:59:16,510
A ship containing some of
the richest, most powerful,
994
00:59:16,594 --> 00:59:18,679
best known people in
the world had sunk.
995
00:59:18,722 --> 00:59:21,014
Everyone wanted to
know what had happened.
996
00:59:22,393 --> 00:59:23,954
The president of united states
wanted to know
997
00:59:23,978 --> 00:59:26,394
about his friends who
were on board the ship.
998
00:59:27,313 --> 00:59:28,375
What happened to colonel astor?
999
00:59:28,398 --> 00:59:30,398
What happened to
benjamin guggenheim?
1000
00:59:32,735 --> 00:59:36,572
The rest of the world
was screaming at the carpathia
1001
00:59:36,657 --> 00:59:38,842
to let it know what had
happened to the titanic.
1002
00:59:38,867 --> 00:59:41,284
And they chose to
rebuff information,
1003
00:59:41,369 --> 00:59:43,661
and they chose not to answer.
1004
00:59:47,251 --> 00:59:50,501
But that doesn't
stop a now lucid bruce ismay
1005
00:59:50,588 --> 00:59:53,380
from sending a cryptic
message of his own
1006
00:59:53,465 --> 00:59:56,300
to white star offices in london.
1007
00:59:57,677 --> 01:00:01,262
Titanic crew aboard carpathia
should be returned home
1008
01:00:01,306 --> 01:00:02,931
earliest moment possible.
1009
01:00:02,974 --> 01:00:05,766
Suggest you hold cedric sailing.
1010
01:00:06,936 --> 01:00:08,728
Yamsi.
1011
01:00:10,608 --> 01:00:12,898
I think the use of
the reversal of the name
1012
01:00:12,985 --> 01:00:15,443
to say yamsi rather than ismay,
1013
01:00:15,528 --> 01:00:18,280
it might now look
rather suspicious.
1014
01:00:18,324 --> 01:00:19,905
And you wonder what's going on.
1015
01:00:20,909 --> 01:00:22,159
Ismay sent this message,
1016
01:00:22,244 --> 01:00:25,077
have all the crew
taken back to the uk
1017
01:00:25,164 --> 01:00:26,766
so that there could
be a debriefing
1018
01:00:26,789 --> 01:00:30,208
and to come up with
a unified story.
1019
01:00:30,585 --> 01:00:32,085
So if there was an inquiry,
1020
01:00:32,128 --> 01:00:36,005
everyone would be singing from
the same page of the hymnal.
1021
01:00:38,635 --> 01:00:42,471
You've probably got
20 to 25 crew members
1022
01:00:42,556 --> 01:00:45,599
who really have stories to tell.
1023
01:00:45,684 --> 01:00:49,018
You wanna get them
back to blighty.
1024
01:00:49,103 --> 01:00:50,831
You wanna find out what
their stories are
1025
01:00:50,856 --> 01:00:53,148
before the americans
could get to 'em.
1026
01:01:00,407 --> 01:01:01,864
After rescuing the last
1027
01:01:01,949 --> 01:01:07,329
of titanic's 705 traumatized
grief stricken survivors,
1028
01:01:07,373 --> 01:01:10,331
captain rostron's
carpathia sets a course
1029
01:01:10,416 --> 01:01:12,333
back from where she started...
1030
01:01:13,336 --> 01:01:14,960
New york city.
1031
01:01:18,509 --> 01:01:22,302
But on board, white star
president, j. Bruce ismay,
1032
01:01:22,387 --> 01:01:25,347
is becoming increasingly
panicked.
1033
01:01:26,557 --> 01:01:31,728
It doesn't take an
einstein to figure out
1034
01:01:31,813 --> 01:01:35,065
that if you've just sunk the
biggest ship in the world
1035
01:01:35,150 --> 01:01:36,817
with a lot of people dying,
1036
01:01:36,902 --> 01:01:39,318
that there's going to be
a reporter or two around
1037
01:01:39,405 --> 01:01:40,945
when you get to the dock.
1038
01:01:44,576 --> 01:01:47,536
There's that editorial
cartoon of ismay
1039
01:01:47,621 --> 01:01:49,663
looking like a
maniac in a lifeboat
1040
01:01:49,748 --> 01:01:52,416
filled with nothing
but grieving women.
1041
01:01:52,501 --> 01:01:55,668
And of course, the
byline is j. Brute ismay,
1042
01:01:55,753 --> 01:01:57,170
instead of bruce.
1043
01:01:59,675 --> 01:02:02,550
In washington,
william alden smith,
1044
01:02:02,635 --> 01:02:04,885
a hard charging
senator from michigan
1045
01:02:04,972 --> 01:02:07,264
is gearing up to lead
an american inquiry
1046
01:02:07,349 --> 01:02:09,557
into the sinking.
1047
01:02:09,643 --> 01:02:12,768
It's set to begin the day
after carpathia's arrival
1048
01:02:12,855 --> 01:02:14,563
in new york.
1049
01:02:15,690 --> 01:02:19,525
So ismay is desperate
to dash back to london.
1050
01:02:21,405 --> 01:02:22,673
And he thought, "let's
just get out of here.
1051
01:02:22,697 --> 01:02:24,155
Let's get everyone back home.
1052
01:02:24,240 --> 01:02:25,592
We don't wanna get
caught up in this
1053
01:02:25,617 --> 01:02:28,702
'cause this isn't
gonna look good."
1054
01:02:28,786 --> 01:02:31,371
but unfortunately for him,
1055
01:02:31,414 --> 01:02:34,583
senator smith's plans
put a stop to that.
1056
01:02:36,043 --> 01:02:38,420
Turns out
senator smith was tipped off
1057
01:02:38,463 --> 01:02:40,045
by the u.S. Navy,
1058
01:02:40,132 --> 01:02:42,923
which intercepted
ismay's telegram.
1059
01:02:42,967 --> 01:02:45,802
So smith prepares
subpoenas to give to ismay
1060
01:02:45,887 --> 01:02:49,764
and titanic's officers
upon arrival in new york
1061
01:02:49,807 --> 01:02:52,099
on the evening of April 18th.
1062
01:02:53,896 --> 01:02:56,771
Lining the banks of the
hudson river
1063
01:02:56,856 --> 01:02:59,231
were 100,000 people.
1064
01:02:59,318 --> 01:03:00,775
From the battery all the way up
1065
01:03:00,860 --> 01:03:05,112
to the white star line pier
at west 14th street.
1066
01:03:06,784 --> 01:03:08,802
All of new york's
policemen had been summoned
1067
01:03:08,827 --> 01:03:10,804
to patrol the crowds,
'cause people knew
1068
01:03:10,829 --> 01:03:12,661
this was gonna be mayhem.
1069
01:03:13,373 --> 01:03:16,750
As carpathia
snakes its way up the hudson,
1070
01:03:16,835 --> 01:03:19,126
a tug boat filled
with photographers
1071
01:03:19,213 --> 01:03:21,797
follows the ship to pier 54.
1072
01:03:22,382 --> 01:03:26,259
The flash of cameras
lights up the sky.
1073
01:03:28,554 --> 01:03:30,639
Revealing carpathia's decks
1074
01:03:30,724 --> 01:03:33,809
crammed with
terrified passengers.
1075
01:03:37,648 --> 01:03:38,980
For those without knowledge
1076
01:03:39,065 --> 01:03:42,900
of what had become of
their loved ones, the hurt,
1077
01:03:42,985 --> 01:03:46,530
the pain of titanic's loss
1078
01:03:46,614 --> 01:03:50,324
was continuing and
maybe even deepening.
1079
01:03:51,494 --> 01:03:53,119
What became of my father?
1080
01:03:53,204 --> 01:03:55,579
What became of my husband?
1081
01:04:02,840 --> 01:04:04,880
Halfway across
the atlantic ocean,
1082
01:04:04,967 --> 01:04:06,820
the terrible fate
of all those men,
1083
01:04:06,844 --> 01:04:10,177
women and children
is all too evident.
1084
01:04:11,222 --> 01:04:14,014
The crew of the cable
repair ship, mackay-bennett,
1085
01:04:14,059 --> 01:04:17,893
joined by the ss minia,
have completed the grim task
1086
01:04:17,980 --> 01:04:20,896
of recovering over 300 bodies,
1087
01:04:21,775 --> 01:04:26,068
one hundred and sixteen
of which were buried at sea.
1088
01:04:27,030 --> 01:04:29,864
On April 26th,
the mackay-bennett
1089
01:04:29,949 --> 01:04:32,701
steams back toward halifax.
1090
01:04:34,413 --> 01:04:37,371
For the living, the
voyage is surreal.
1091
01:04:38,958 --> 01:04:40,311
The wind and motion of the ship
1092
01:04:40,335 --> 01:04:43,460
causes the tarpaulins
to rise and fall
1093
01:04:43,547 --> 01:04:47,215
producing the illusion that
the bodies have come to life.
1094
01:04:50,262 --> 01:04:53,346
Must've been absolutely
horrific for the crew
1095
01:04:53,431 --> 01:04:55,409
because you're walking around
doing your daily duties,
1096
01:04:55,434 --> 01:04:56,744
and of course you
turn your back,
1097
01:04:56,768 --> 01:04:57,954
and the next thing
you turn around,
1098
01:04:57,978 --> 01:04:59,873
the canvas is blowing
out over slightly
1099
01:04:59,896 --> 01:05:01,228
and you could see an arm exposed
1100
01:05:01,315 --> 01:05:03,690
and then you sorta
tucked that arm back in.
1101
01:05:04,943 --> 01:05:07,402
How more nightmarish
can this get?
1102
01:05:16,246 --> 01:05:20,664
The arrival of mackay-bennett
in halifax on April the 30th
1103
01:05:20,751 --> 01:05:21,916
was a huge deal.
1104
01:05:23,836 --> 01:05:27,088
All the church bells in
halifax ring a death knell
1105
01:05:27,173 --> 01:05:28,757
for the titanic victims.
1106
01:05:31,637 --> 01:05:34,262
There's a fleet of
horse-drawn hearses
1107
01:05:34,347 --> 01:05:38,516
waiting at the dock
1108
01:05:38,601 --> 01:05:41,186
to take the bodies off to
the mayflower curling club
1109
01:05:41,271 --> 01:05:43,646
to be processed,
to be identified.
1110
01:05:44,650 --> 01:05:46,942
And that's just one
more surreal touch
1111
01:05:46,985 --> 01:05:49,068
to add to the whole thing.
1112
01:05:50,030 --> 01:05:53,322
With nearly
200 distended corpses
1113
01:05:53,407 --> 01:05:57,827
laid out on the
curling rink ice,
1114
01:05:57,913 --> 01:06:04,041
each body is tagged,
numbered, noted.
1115
01:06:12,427 --> 01:06:15,094
This is fairview lawn
cemetery here in halifax,
1116
01:06:15,179 --> 01:06:19,099
and for 121 of
titanic's passengers,
1117
01:06:19,184 --> 01:06:21,768
this is where the
maiden voyage ends.
1118
01:06:23,688 --> 01:06:28,983
This whole series here
of headstones No names.
1119
01:06:29,027 --> 01:06:31,987
Just, died April 15th, 1912.
1120
01:06:33,364 --> 01:06:36,699
For every identified body
in fairview lawn cemetery,
1121
01:06:36,784 --> 01:06:39,661
there's two that are not.
1122
01:06:40,579 --> 01:06:44,039
This is all classes,
walks of life represented.
1123
01:06:44,543 --> 01:06:49,295
And that speaks volumes as
to the tragedy of titanic.
1124
01:06:55,887 --> 01:06:58,304
While the dead
are being brought to halifax,
1125
01:06:58,389 --> 01:07:00,681
600 miles away in new york city,
1126
01:07:00,766 --> 01:07:03,726
the next phase of the
spectacle is beginning.
1127
01:07:04,855 --> 01:07:07,563
In a packed ballroom
in the waldorf astoria,
1128
01:07:07,648 --> 01:07:10,065
a day after the
carpathia arrived,
1129
01:07:10,152 --> 01:07:14,528
senator smith gavels in
the united states inquiry.
1130
01:07:14,947 --> 01:07:18,324
A moment not lost on his
counterpart in britain.
1131
01:07:19,661 --> 01:07:21,994
Inside lord mersey's
personal papers
1132
01:07:22,079 --> 01:07:25,998
are two copies of the official
united states senate inquiry
1133
01:07:26,083 --> 01:07:29,835
into the sinking of rms titanic.
1134
01:07:29,920 --> 01:07:33,715
The hearings start on
April 19th, 1912,
1135
01:07:33,800 --> 01:07:37,052
two weeks before
the british inquiry.
1136
01:07:37,762 --> 01:07:39,824
The american inquiry is
like a three-ring circus.
1137
01:07:39,847 --> 01:07:42,181
And you have senator
smith from michigan,
1138
01:07:42,266 --> 01:07:44,559
who is doing his utmost
to make bruce ismay
1139
01:07:44,643 --> 01:07:47,896
look like the worst villain
since pontius pilate
1140
01:07:47,981 --> 01:07:50,065
turned jesus over to the romans.
1141
01:07:51,193 --> 01:07:53,108
Ismay is the
first witness called,
1142
01:07:53,195 --> 01:07:55,862
and his testimony is damning.
1143
01:07:57,074 --> 01:08:00,449
He claims that he was just
a voluntary passenger,
1144
01:08:00,534 --> 01:08:03,369
and that no one else was on deck
1145
01:08:03,454 --> 01:08:06,081
when he decided to save himself.
1146
01:08:06,123 --> 01:08:10,126
Senator smith roasted ismay
left and right,
1147
01:08:10,211 --> 01:08:11,710
and condemned him
1148
01:08:11,797 --> 01:08:15,047
in the speech that he
gave before congress.
1149
01:08:17,385 --> 01:08:19,761
The vitriolic
american attack on ismay,
1150
01:08:19,805 --> 01:08:21,615
a leader in the
shipping industry,
1151
01:08:21,640 --> 01:08:23,264
crosses the line.
1152
01:08:25,018 --> 01:08:28,144
The united states inquiry is
seen as an affront to honor
1153
01:08:28,229 --> 01:08:31,105
and a threat to britain's
national interests.
1154
01:08:33,068 --> 01:08:34,818
This wasn't just a ship...
1155
01:08:34,903 --> 01:08:38,113
The titanic was the
pride of britain.
1156
01:08:40,867 --> 01:08:43,243
It was very important
for the british government
1157
01:08:43,328 --> 01:08:47,412
that britain's maritime
interests weren't threatened
1158
01:08:47,457 --> 01:08:50,291
as a result of titanic disaster.
1159
01:09:03,014 --> 01:09:04,972
When lord mersey
is selected to lead
1160
01:09:05,015 --> 01:09:07,475
the british inquiry into
the titanic disaster
1161
01:09:07,560 --> 01:09:11,061
on April 22nd, 1912,
1162
01:09:11,148 --> 01:09:14,149
he's celebrated as a
man of integrity.
1163
01:09:21,032 --> 01:09:25,827
We have a copy of
the daily mail,
1164
01:09:25,912 --> 01:09:30,789
which is Wednesday,
April the 24, 1912.
1165
01:09:30,833 --> 01:09:32,686
And it's got a
little piece on him.
1166
01:09:32,711 --> 01:09:36,671
A man who fears nobody,
lord mersey.
1167
01:09:38,300 --> 01:09:41,676
As a barrister, he
earned the nickname,
1168
01:09:41,761 --> 01:09:43,970
the little terrier of toxteth,
1169
01:09:44,055 --> 01:09:46,389
for his sort of
dogged determination
1170
01:09:46,474 --> 01:09:50,810
to extract the truth from
those he was cross questioning.
1171
01:09:51,563 --> 01:09:54,605
I think for him, the titanic
must've been an opportunity
1172
01:09:54,690 --> 01:09:59,194
to really get to the bottom
of this appalling tragedy.
1173
01:10:01,030 --> 01:10:03,698
As the fallout from
the hard hitting u.S. Inquiry
1174
01:10:03,742 --> 01:10:07,534
continues to rain down
on great britain,
1175
01:10:07,621 --> 01:10:10,662
the eyes of the world
are on mersey.
1176
01:10:11,123 --> 01:10:15,292
He awaits his turn on the dais.
1177
01:10:15,878 --> 01:10:18,171
He knew what his position was.
1178
01:10:18,256 --> 01:10:20,256
He knew what he had to do.
1179
01:10:20,341 --> 01:10:23,635
He knew what his charge
from the crown was
1180
01:10:23,720 --> 01:10:26,554
in terms of getting to the
bottom of the disaster.
1181
01:10:28,307 --> 01:10:32,518
The british inquiry
begins on may 2nd, 1912.
1182
01:10:32,604 --> 01:10:34,061
During its first week,
1183
01:10:34,104 --> 01:10:38,024
many of titanic's surviving
crew members testify.
1184
01:10:38,568 --> 01:10:42,569
Soon though, the focus turns
to another ship entirely:
1185
01:10:44,073 --> 01:10:45,448
The californian.
1186
01:10:45,533 --> 01:10:48,826
The ship that didn't hear
titanic's distress calls
1187
01:10:48,912 --> 01:10:51,954
because they'd turned off
their wireless
1188
01:10:52,039 --> 01:10:53,331
and gone to bed.
1189
01:10:57,962 --> 01:10:59,753
Inside his personal box,
1190
01:10:59,838 --> 01:11:01,817
mersey's copy of
the american inquiry
1191
01:11:01,841 --> 01:11:05,176
contains the bruising
examination of its captain,
1192
01:11:05,261 --> 01:11:06,594
stanley lord.
1193
01:11:08,014 --> 01:11:09,764
Stanley lord has really posed
1194
01:11:09,849 --> 01:11:12,432
these difficult,
difficult questions.
1195
01:11:13,144 --> 01:11:17,271
Captain lord's testimony
in the american inquiry
1196
01:11:17,314 --> 01:11:20,942
would probably serve as
a kind of a pointing tool
1197
01:11:21,027 --> 01:11:24,112
as to where mersey
might go further.
1198
01:11:26,740 --> 01:11:28,573
Lord mersey wanted
to investigate
1199
01:11:28,659 --> 01:11:31,911
how far californian
was from titanic.
1200
01:11:34,291 --> 01:11:37,332
And what action could
californian have taken
1201
01:11:37,418 --> 01:11:42,380
in order to try and rescue
titanic's passengers and crew
1202
01:11:42,465 --> 01:11:44,966
and come to
titanic's assistance.
1203
01:11:46,261 --> 01:11:47,635
Earlier, the californian
1204
01:11:47,720 --> 01:11:51,430
was 19 and a half miles
north of titanic's position
1205
01:11:51,515 --> 01:11:55,268
when it saw the ice field
and telegraphed the warnings.
1206
01:11:58,355 --> 01:12:00,501
The wireless operation
on board the californian
1207
01:12:00,524 --> 01:12:02,108
sent a message.
1208
01:12:02,152 --> 01:12:04,484
"we're here, we're stopping,
it's dangerous."
1209
01:12:04,570 --> 01:12:08,488
and it was received by the
titanic as almost like an aside.
1210
01:12:09,326 --> 01:12:10,824
They were told to shut up.
1211
01:12:12,162 --> 01:12:14,703
The wireless operation
on board the californian
1212
01:12:14,788 --> 01:12:17,206
then went to bed at
the end of his day.
1213
01:12:17,292 --> 01:12:19,625
And at that point, the
californian then was cut off
1214
01:12:19,711 --> 01:12:21,085
from the outside world.
1215
01:12:29,887 --> 01:12:31,887
Captain lord was now
finding himself
1216
01:12:31,930 --> 01:12:36,016
amongst all these powdered
wigs in central london,
1217
01:12:36,101 --> 01:12:38,144
far from the sea as you can get,
1218
01:12:38,188 --> 01:12:40,938
and he's being
grilled mercilessly.
1219
01:12:44,903 --> 01:12:46,402
Captain lord asserts
1220
01:12:46,488 --> 01:12:50,030
that his ship was 30 miles
from titanic when she sank.
1221
01:12:50,699 --> 01:12:52,240
But separately,
1222
01:12:52,327 --> 01:12:55,661
californians crewmen testify
that they were close enough
1223
01:12:55,704 --> 01:12:58,331
to spot ship lights and flares
1224
01:12:58,416 --> 01:13:01,292
that could have been titanic's.
1225
01:13:04,922 --> 01:13:08,548
These witnesses made
the inquiry think
1226
01:13:08,635 --> 01:13:10,570
that they were in sight
of the titanic
1227
01:13:10,595 --> 01:13:11,844
and failed to act.
1228
01:13:11,887 --> 01:13:13,847
There's a very
serious accusation.
1229
01:13:15,891 --> 01:13:17,432
Among a stash of saved letters
1230
01:13:17,519 --> 01:13:19,226
in lord mersey's box,
1231
01:13:19,311 --> 01:13:23,564
is one from rear admiral
arthur gough-calthorpe,
1232
01:13:23,608 --> 01:13:26,400
a naval assessor and
senior legal advisor
1233
01:13:26,444 --> 01:13:28,403
to mersey during the inquiry.
1234
01:13:32,117 --> 01:13:35,743
Rear admiral calthorpe
is really throwing doubts
1235
01:13:35,828 --> 01:13:37,994
on the whereabouts
of the californian.
1236
01:13:38,081 --> 01:13:40,747
Obviously, this was a very
hot topic for the inquiry
1237
01:13:40,792 --> 01:13:44,292
and the guilt or
innocence of captain lord
1238
01:13:44,378 --> 01:13:46,212
depended very much on it.
1239
01:13:46,296 --> 01:13:48,506
Gough-calthorpe writes mersey
1240
01:13:48,591 --> 01:13:52,260
a passionate letter, refuting
captain lord's sworn testimony
1241
01:13:52,302 --> 01:13:55,720
that he was too far away
to mount a rescue.
1242
01:13:56,765 --> 01:13:58,474
There is a strong presumption
1243
01:13:58,560 --> 01:14:02,561
that californian was not
where she says she was.
1244
01:14:02,604 --> 01:14:04,063
So he's casting doubt
1245
01:14:04,149 --> 01:14:07,108
on the assertion
made by captain lord,
1246
01:14:07,193 --> 01:14:10,444
who clearly stated
that the californian
1247
01:14:10,488 --> 01:14:12,947
was well out of
range of the titanic.
1248
01:14:14,492 --> 01:14:16,074
What does this do?
1249
01:14:16,161 --> 01:14:18,953
This now tells lord mersey
1250
01:14:19,037 --> 01:14:21,122
that what he heard
may not be accurate,
1251
01:14:21,207 --> 01:14:24,792
even if he found stanley lord
to be credible.
1252
01:14:27,755 --> 01:14:30,006
When lord mersey
issues his final judgment
1253
01:14:30,091 --> 01:14:32,800
on July 30th, 1912,
1254
01:14:32,886 --> 01:14:36,052
he blames the collision
on excessive speed,
1255
01:14:36,139 --> 01:14:40,307
with the disaster compounded
by a lack of lifeboats.
1256
01:14:43,645 --> 01:14:45,748
Despite concluding that
titanic's captain,
1257
01:14:45,773 --> 01:14:48,858
edward smith, made a very
grievous mistake,
1258
01:14:48,943 --> 01:14:52,694
lord mersey states that,
"it is in my opinion impossible
1259
01:14:52,779 --> 01:14:55,198
to fix captain smith
with blame."
1260
01:15:00,787 --> 01:15:03,331
however, mersey's final report
1261
01:15:03,373 --> 01:15:06,501
did take aim at the californian.
1262
01:15:08,212 --> 01:15:10,837
Concluding that captain lord
could have come
1263
01:15:10,881 --> 01:15:13,673
to the assistance
of the titanic.
1264
01:15:13,717 --> 01:15:16,719
Had she done so, she might
have saved many,
1265
01:15:16,804 --> 01:15:19,514
if not all of the lives
that were lost.
1266
01:15:23,310 --> 01:15:28,021
Captain lord, he was blamed
for not doing enough.
1267
01:15:28,899 --> 01:15:32,568
The personal impact on him
was probably stronger
1268
01:15:32,654 --> 01:15:36,697
than the financial impact of it.
1269
01:15:37,658 --> 01:15:39,908
He tried to clear himself,
1270
01:15:39,993 --> 01:15:42,036
but time ran out on him.
1271
01:15:43,372 --> 01:15:45,475
Californian could have
galloped to the rescue
1272
01:15:45,500 --> 01:15:47,207
like the 5th cavalry.
1273
01:15:56,927 --> 01:16:00,637
Since titanic's demise in 1912,
1274
01:16:00,722 --> 01:16:03,890
a century worth of historians
have sought access
1275
01:16:03,935 --> 01:16:06,394
to lord mersey's
innermost thoughts.
1276
01:16:07,729 --> 01:16:09,729
Wondering whether they differ
1277
01:16:09,774 --> 01:16:11,731
from his public pronouncements.
1278
01:16:16,154 --> 01:16:19,114
The notes in his journal
were kept private
1279
01:16:19,199 --> 01:16:21,242
throughout the years until now.
1280
01:16:21,327 --> 01:16:23,786
If we didn't have these notes,
1281
01:16:23,871 --> 01:16:25,246
we wouldn't have known
1282
01:16:25,289 --> 01:16:28,457
that lord mersey was taking
in all this information
1283
01:16:28,542 --> 01:16:31,418
and clearly recognized
the problems.
1284
01:16:33,422 --> 01:16:36,756
After a careful
review, it's clear.
1285
01:16:36,801 --> 01:16:39,719
His final public judgment
largely matches
1286
01:16:39,761 --> 01:16:42,430
what is in his private box.
1287
01:16:43,890 --> 01:16:46,475
There exists no
evidence to prove
1288
01:16:46,560 --> 01:16:49,770
lord mersey was
compromised in any way.
1289
01:16:50,731 --> 01:16:52,564
In the view of many historians,
1290
01:16:52,649 --> 01:16:55,275
lord mersey's inquest was fair,
1291
01:16:55,360 --> 01:16:58,738
his judicial responsibility
uncompromised.
1292
01:17:01,367 --> 01:17:04,452
The british inquiry was
not a criminal trial.
1293
01:17:05,829 --> 01:17:07,329
No one ever went to jail,
1294
01:17:07,414 --> 01:17:09,184
and there were very
few lawsuits filed
1295
01:17:09,207 --> 01:17:12,126
against white star or
the board of trade.
1296
01:17:14,296 --> 01:17:18,673
And so, with captain smith
going down with his ship
1297
01:17:18,760 --> 01:17:21,469
and his crew largely absolved,
1298
01:17:21,511 --> 01:17:23,073
popular perception
of the disaster
1299
01:17:23,096 --> 01:17:25,472
has been open to interpretation.
1300
01:17:26,850 --> 01:17:29,268
Many who have retold
titanic's story
1301
01:17:29,354 --> 01:17:31,479
have latched on to the
narrative of a
1302
01:17:31,521 --> 01:17:36,484
tragic act of god, but
mersey knew better.
1303
01:17:36,694 --> 01:17:37,984
Mistakes were made
1304
01:17:38,070 --> 01:17:41,655
and more than 1,500 men,
women, and children
1305
01:17:41,698 --> 01:17:43,448
lost their lives.
1306
01:17:51,833 --> 01:17:54,793
While the story of
titanic never faded,
1307
01:17:54,878 --> 01:17:57,837
the ship itself
disappeared from view.
1308
01:17:59,257 --> 01:18:04,261
And then, seven decades later,
1309
01:18:04,346 --> 01:18:08,682
a final piece of lost
evidence emerges.
1310
01:18:14,481 --> 01:18:18,818
In 1985, oceanographic
explorer, robert ballard,
1311
01:18:18,903 --> 01:18:20,903
made the discovery
of a lifetime.
1312
01:18:27,869 --> 01:18:31,037
Ballard spots titanic's boilers.
1313
01:18:32,125 --> 01:18:34,708
Its telltale bow,
1314
01:18:34,793 --> 01:18:37,545
and confirm something
equally significant.
1315
01:18:38,881 --> 01:18:41,047
When titanic was finally found,
1316
01:18:41,091 --> 01:18:43,926
its position was about 13 miles
1317
01:18:44,011 --> 01:18:46,136
from where it was
reported to be.
1318
01:18:55,189 --> 01:18:57,105
The discovery
of titanic's position
1319
01:18:57,190 --> 01:19:02,027
on the ocean floor, may
speak to one last mystery.
1320
01:19:02,447 --> 01:19:05,072
Could its passengers
have been saved
1321
01:19:05,115 --> 01:19:09,368
if only ss californian had
heard her distress call
1322
01:19:09,453 --> 01:19:11,078
and come to the rescue?
1323
01:19:11,622 --> 01:19:13,079
Maybe not.
1324
01:19:14,167 --> 01:19:16,082
When titanic hit the iceberg,
1325
01:19:16,168 --> 01:19:19,211
her marconi operators
sent out an sos,
1326
01:19:19,296 --> 01:19:21,463
but they gave the wrong location
1327
01:19:21,548 --> 01:19:25,467
because titanic officers had
taken a bad sextant reading
1328
01:19:25,552 --> 01:19:27,094
earlier that evening.
1329
01:19:28,597 --> 01:19:31,890
Carpathia was only able
to find survivors
1330
01:19:31,975 --> 01:19:34,225
because her crew
had seen a flair
1331
01:19:34,311 --> 01:19:37,395
fired from one of the lifeboats.
1332
01:19:37,481 --> 01:19:39,606
The absolute miracle that night,
1333
01:19:39,692 --> 01:19:43,319
was that in going towards
the distress position,
1334
01:19:43,404 --> 01:19:46,322
which we now know is
not accurate at all,
1335
01:19:46,407 --> 01:19:49,073
that the carpathia
stumbled into the place
1336
01:19:49,159 --> 01:19:50,909
where the lifeboats were.
1337
01:19:54,164 --> 01:19:56,247
Does this exonerate captain lord
1338
01:19:56,292 --> 01:19:58,000
of the californian?
1339
01:19:58,085 --> 01:20:01,796
Had he steamed immediately
to the location of the sos,
1340
01:20:01,881 --> 01:20:03,756
he would have found nothing.
1341
01:20:07,136 --> 01:20:10,930
Years later, the british
government reassessed the role
1342
01:20:11,015 --> 01:20:13,599
of californian in the disaster.
1343
01:20:16,186 --> 01:20:18,645
In 1992, there was
a subsequent inquiry
1344
01:20:18,689 --> 01:20:21,064
that exonerated the captain.
1345
01:20:25,070 --> 01:20:29,948
Even if the californian had
left immediately on receipt
1346
01:20:29,992 --> 01:20:32,201
of the first distress message,
1347
01:20:32,286 --> 01:20:36,162
it could not have arrived in
time to make any difference.
1348
01:20:48,636 --> 01:20:50,219
Today, the titanic lies
1349
01:20:50,304 --> 01:20:53,514
in an eerie state
of decomposition.
1350
01:20:55,685 --> 01:20:58,726
Rusting on the bottom
of the atlantic,
1351
01:20:58,813 --> 01:21:03,606
but it's still as mesmerizing
and captivating to the public
1352
01:21:03,693 --> 01:21:07,694
as it was 108 years ago.
1353
01:21:27,675 --> 01:21:29,966
We're fascinated by the titanic
1354
01:21:30,051 --> 01:21:31,635
because it is like a myth;
1355
01:21:31,720 --> 01:21:34,470
it's like something
from a biblical story.
1356
01:21:37,059 --> 01:21:42,270
It contains greed,
human ambition, vanity.
1357
01:21:42,355 --> 01:21:44,856
This vast, modern
and beautiful ship,
1358
01:21:44,900 --> 01:21:48,027
full of hope and ambition
collided with fate
1359
01:21:48,112 --> 01:21:49,904
and in a spectacular way.
1360
01:21:51,157 --> 01:21:52,405
Although this was an accident,
1361
01:21:52,490 --> 01:21:55,242
it was clearly an avoidable one.
1362
01:21:57,037 --> 01:22:00,204
The crew didn't steer away
from the iceberg.
1363
01:22:00,248 --> 01:22:02,041
They didn't reduce the speed.
1364
01:22:02,126 --> 01:22:05,043
They didn't load the lifeboats
like they should have.
1365
01:22:06,046 --> 01:22:08,087
Many more lives could
have been saved.
1366
01:22:12,219 --> 01:22:14,345
The titanic is the one event
1367
01:22:14,430 --> 01:22:17,640
that the last century will
always be remembered for.
1368
01:22:18,643 --> 01:22:22,269
It's the combination
of pride, hubris,
1369
01:22:22,354 --> 01:22:25,855
playing fast and loose with
the regulations of the time,
1370
01:22:25,942 --> 01:22:28,775
and it's an incredibly
tragic event
1371
01:22:28,860 --> 01:22:31,069
the world will never forget.
1372
01:22:38,162 --> 01:22:39,578
Lord mersey's british inquiry
1373
01:22:39,663 --> 01:22:42,122
led to crucial shipping
industry changes
1374
01:22:42,207 --> 01:22:43,623
across the globe.
1375
01:22:44,502 --> 01:22:47,795
Adding more lifeboats
to passenger ships,
1376
01:22:47,837 --> 01:22:51,422
24-hour radio communications,
1377
01:22:51,509 --> 01:22:54,467
and the formation of the
international ice patrol,
1378
01:22:54,511 --> 01:22:55,927
to name a few.
1379
01:22:57,931 --> 01:23:00,849
One hundred and six years
after it was created,
1380
01:23:00,935 --> 01:23:03,851
no ship heeding the
warnings of the ice patrol
1381
01:23:03,938 --> 01:23:06,438
has struck an iceberg.
1382
01:23:07,233 --> 01:23:11,318
Titanic's legacy lives on.
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