Rare Photos From The Titanic That Show What Passengers Experienced
Even over a century after it happened, the Titanic disaster still weighs on the hearts and fascinates the minds of millions of people the world over. Naturally, the wave of renewed Titanic fascination that was prompted by the lost ship’s discovery in the ’80s and exploration in the ’90s was further accelerated and enshrined in our culture by James Cameron’s record-breaking 1997 hit movie.
However, any movie is going to dramatize things to make audiences more invested in its characters. That said, people didn’t have the means to take photographs of the actual Titanic sinking, so the movie is just one of many interpretations for how it went down. Nonetheless, the photos that do exist and the artist renderings paint a grim picture.
An Impressive Beginning
True to its name, it was hard to even imagine a bigger ship back in 1912 than the Titanic. Here it can be seen during the final stages of its construction at Harland & Wolff’s shipyard in Belfast.
Although the city that birthed the Titanic was once simply considered part of Ireland, it’s designated as part of Northern Ireland today. Undoubtedly, this vessel tested the limits of the firm’s facilities.
An Attractive Vessel
Although any of the world’s major cruise lines have ships that dwarf the Titanic today, its characteristics still make it pretty easy to see why it sounded so impressive at the time.
After all, it was 883 feet, 92 feet wide, and could displace about 52,310 tons of water, which gives some idea as to its incredible weight. They thought it was unsinkable for a reason.
The Crew Of A Doomed Ship
Before the ship set sail, some of its crew took this photo together while wearing their life jackets. The full Titanic crew would not be able to fit in such a close photo, as 908 people worked on the gargantuan ship.
Unfortunately, the crew was also hit the hardest when the ship was lost, meaning that the chances of being a surviving member in this photo was grimly low. That’s because an estimated 696 members of the crew died in the disaster, which accounts for close to half of the total casualty list of 1,517.
The Luxurious Conditions Before The End
While conditions on the Titanic varied depending on whether passengers found themselves in first class, second class, and third class, it was hard to match the luxury the Titanic provided to its most honored guests.
It’s worth noting that the Titanic was relatively close to the end of its maiden voyage by the time it sunk, so everyone on board had plenty of time to enjoy the accommodations by then.
The Luckiest Survivors
This artist’s rendering of the Titanic’s famous grand staircase came from an exhibit called “Titanic, Return To Cherbourg,” which honored those who embarked on the journey from the French city.
However, the exhibit is also a reminder of the oft-forgotten fact that there were passengers who safely disembarked from the Titanic before anything happened to it. The ship’s doomed maiden voyage originally began in Southhampton, England before stops at Cherbourg and what was then Queenstown, Ireland. A small group of passengers left the ship at the French and Irish stops.
The Point Of No Return
Although this port is now part of the Irish town of Cobh, it was known as Queenstown back when the Titanic passed its shores. Although seven passengers left the ship at this point, 120 more had boarded the ship.
Although none of these 113 third-class passengers and seven second-class passengers knew it, this would be their last chance to reconsider the voyage before many of them would succumb to a watery grave.
Several Days At Sea
The voyage from Queenstown to New York City was supposed to take 137 hours, which translates to just under six days at sea. Although there are faster ways to travel the world today, that was far less true for most people at the time.
Indeed, that six-day travel time was considered a brisk speed back then. Indeed, part of the blame from the Titanic disaster can be attributed to its parent company, White Star Line, as their pressure to be seen as the fastest ship of its kind encouraged recklessness in the journey.
A Collage Of Subtle Misery
Although nothing explicitly urgent appears to be going on in this photo collage, it’s nonetheless indicative of the rescue efforts that surviving Titanic passengers came to rely on.
The wireless operator of the SS Carpathia can be seen in the top left, as this crew member was responsible for picking up the Titanic’s distress call. All the other photos involve the life boats passengers used to flee the sinking ship for the rescue vessel. The Titanic’s captain is in the center.
He Looks Sorrowful For A Reason
This is a photo of Captain Joseph Barlow Ranson, who led the crew of the RMS Baltic. The ship was also part of White Star Line and Ranson had received the Lloyd’s Life Saving Medal in 1910 after the Baltic saved 1,700 passengers from another doomed ship, the RMS Republic, in 1909.
However, the sad fact is that Ranson would not have a second opportunity to be a hero. Although his ship also received distress signals from the Titanic, the Baltic was too far away to intervene when the disaster struck.
The Actual Iceberg That Destroyed The Titanic
From a young age, so many of us found that our most basic understanding of the Titanic disaster was that the ship hit an iceberg. Although one can get more specific and technical about what the iceberg did and why it was so effective, it’s nonetheless fair to call that the gist of the situation.
However, what may not be so widely known is that there exists a photo of the very iceberg that led the Titanic to disaster. As for how it was captured, it seems that a passenger aboard the Carpathia had a camera at a time when most people didn’t.
What The Iceberg Did
Although the best anyone has is an artist’s rendering, this illustration sought to explain how the iceberg was able to do so much damage to the ship’s thick hull to lead to its total destruction.
Considering that the Titanic was assumed to be unsinkable before nature nature proved that assertion wrong, such illustrations would help a shocked and anxious public make at least some sense of the disaster.
Harrowing Depictions Of The Disaster
Although nobody was able to capture the Titanic disaster on camera, people at the time and in the decades since were nonetheless able to get a feel for what the chaos looked like by artist renderings like this gray, smokey piece.
This was drawn by Henry Reuterdahl but he was guided on the atmosphere and perspective needed to depict the ship slowly yet dramatically descending into the deep by Titanic survivors.
Some High-Profile People Were Among The Victims
Although the majority of the passenger fatalities were among the third and second classes, there were nonetheless 123 passengers among the first class who lost their lives.
One of the most sorely missed among them was William T. Stead, who was England’s most famous journalist. Although he arguably fathered the hated tabloid journalism of the current day, he used his expansion of the profession to crusade for child welfare systems, criminal justice reform, and social legislation.
The End Of A Prominent Industrialist
John Jacob Astor IV was primarily known as a real estate developer but he was also a serious investor and magnate with an enviable number of business holdings. However, he was also one of the first-class passengers who did not make it off the Titanic alive.
Astor is pictured here with his wife, who was born Madeleine Force. She survived him and bore the child he fathered after the disaster had passed.
The Chivalry Of The Sea
At the time of the Titanic disaster, the etiquette for rescues was in accordance to “the chivalry of the sea.” This meant that regardless of a person’s station in society, women and children were supposed to be evacuated first.
Naturally, modern disaster relief isn’t nearly so gendered but barring some chaotic passengers who faced violent repression from the crew, this principle was largely adhered to on the Titanic.
The Lifeboats Often Featured In Depictions
Since images of the Titanic sinking were drawn by artists working off the memories of Titanic survivors, it stands to reason that so many of them would feature life boats in the foreground.
After all, those survivors would be describing the scene they witnessed from one of those life boats. They definitely can’t accuse the artists of failing to capture their perspective, in that case.
People Remembered The Situation Differently
Although some depictions of the Titanic disaster focused on the ship sinking as lifeboats rowed away, others were far more conscious of the chaos and screaming death that characterized the scene in the freezing waters of the northern Atlantic Ocean.
While lifeboats are also pictured departing in this drawing, the fact that far more desperate passengers existed than life boats to save them is chillingly expressed here.
Communications Breakdowns Made Everything Worse
This map shows a comprehensive diagram of the multiple ships that were within range of the Titanic’s distress signals, which could have assisted in mitigating the disaster before the Carpathia arrived to rescue survivors. As we can see, the Baltic heard the messages despite being 300 miles out of range.
Naturally, this makes it hard not to wonder why these other ships didn’t intervene. The sad truth is that some offered, but were refused by the Marconi operators on the Titanic because they replied using Marconi’s main competitor, Telefunken. Interference by radio hobbyists also hampered effective coordination.
A Legend Of Final Heroism
Although it isn’t the most widely told story from the sinking of the Titanic, enough witnesses told of a final act of bravery by Titanic captain Edward Smith that it appeared in this artist’s depiction.
According to the History Channel, Titanic fireman Harry Senior described Smith jumping overboard with an infant in his arms and swimming the child to the nearest lifeboat. The story ended with him mentioning he would dutifully return to the ship.
The Lucky Survivors
It’s long been understood that one of the many factors making the Titanic disaster worse were the shortage of life boats on the ship. Indeed, there weren’t even enough of them for half the passengers on board.
According to Royal Museums Greenwich, there were only 20 life boats included on the Titanic, which was intended to be enough to carry 1178 people. Unfortunately, this meant the disaster’s death toll was always going to be severe, as the Titanic’s capacity was 3,320 people. Even considered that just 2,240 people were on board at the time, this was tempting fate.
Eyewitnesses Are Always Going To Distort Reality A Little
Since memories change a little each time they’re remembered, eyewitness accounts have a tendency to exaggerate or otherwise distort reality a little based on a person’s perspective.
For instance, the iceberg that destroyed the Titanic didn’t look very impressive in the photograph. However, the eyewitness who influenced this artist’s rendering remembered it as a towering monolith that rivaled the ship in size because the situation made it seem that much more fearsome.
The Captain Of A Doomed Ship
While historians have debated the role that Captain Edward Smith had in the Titanic disaster, it was hard to fault the man for how he performed after the carnage was already underway.
If Senior’s story is to be believed, his most pressing concern was the safety of the ship’s youngest and most vulnerable passengers. Even if that story seems dubious, however, the fact remains that he honored the naval traditions for captains at the time and went down with the ship.
The Boats That Were On Board Saved Hundreds
While the Titanic was woefully underprepared for the disaster, it was hard for these lifeboats not to have venerable importance in the aftermath of the incident, as the 706 people who survived would not have done so without them.
When this photo was originally taken, these lifeboats were described as “all that was left of the greatest ship in the world.” That was functionally true for 73 years before the Titanic’s wreckage was finally discovered on September 1, 1985.
Poetic And Artistic Memorials Follow The Tragedy
This illustration appeared in the British weekly humor magazine Punch, whose staff were clearly not in a joking mood when news of the Titanic tragedy reached England. Instead, figures representing the United States and the United Kingdom are pictured together holding hands in this drawing by Bernard Partridge.
Partridge accompanied the illustration with a poem called “Toll Of The Sea,” in which he mourns the deceased but also honors the heroism of the officers, crew members, and chivalrous passengers who helped others escape.
Some Small Survivors Make Massive Headlines
Although several photos of relieved of stressed Titanic survivors were taken in the disaster’s immediate aftermath, some of those survivors were more well-known than others. Unfortunately, some cases found that to be true due to accusations of cowardice.
However, it’s also true that some stories of loss and survival proved particularly moving to the public. That was the case four four-year-old Michel (left) and two-year-old Edmond Navratil. These two French brothers lost their father in the disaster but were reunited with their mother after they were identified.
A Senate Inquiry Into The Disaster
This photo was taken on May 29, 1912, when the U.S. Senate Investigating Committee was interviewing Titanic survivors at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria hotel as part of an 18-day investigation.
By the end of it, the Senate had uncovered improper safety precautions, insufficient life boats and properly tested equipment, and the failure of the captain of the SS Californian to help. This prompted recommendation for widespread, sweeping changes in standard practices for all vessels seeking to use American ports.
The Dirty But Necessary Work
In this May 5, 1912 edition of the Parisian newspaper Le Petit Journal, the article accompanying this illustration described White Star Line’s cable-laying ship Mackay-Brown returning to the site of the Titanic disaster.
There, its crew underwent work to remove bodies and debris from the site of the tragedy. There were morticians and mortuary equipment aboard for this purpose but also a chaplain to lead the crew in prayer as they honored the deceased.
A Sign Of Major Change
This illustration comes from the June 6, 1912 edition of the Parisian newspaper Le Petit Journal and it accompanied an item called “The Lesson Of The Titanic.” In the article, the U.S. Senate’s findings and similar calls for regulation were described as having an appropriate effect on the shipping and travel industries of the time.
In brief, the article and its accompanying illustrations were meant to show that in the months since the disaster, companies like White Star Line were rapidly improving in their ability (or willingness) to provide enough lifebelts and life boats for all passengers.
The Disaster Inspired Charitable Acts
Since the Titanic’s sinking was a cultural blow for the United States, England, Ireland, and France alike, people in all nations craved the ability to do something helpful in the wake of so much death and misery.
That’s why these boy scouts in William Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon were collecting for a Titanic disaster relief fund during the town’s Shakespeare festival.
The Emergence Of A Viable New Career Path
This 1916 photo captured a class taking place at the first school intended to train Marconi operators in the United States, which opened in New York City.
In the wake of the Titanic disaster, demand for onboard wireless operator among maritime companies rapidly increased to the point of far outpacing the available workforce. That meant that once these young men learned the codes, procedures, and technical skills they needed, they were likely to find jobs as soon as they graduated.
