The Loss of the S.S. Titanic

Loss of the SS. Titanic, by
Lawrence Beesley

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Title: The Loss of the SS. Titanic
Author: Lawrence Beesley
Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6675] [Yes, we are more than

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THE LOSS OF THE S. S. TITANIC
ITS STORY AND ITS LESSONS
BY
LAWRENCE BEESLEY
B. A. (Cantab.)
Scholar of Gonville and Caius College
ONE OF THE SURVIVORS

PREFACE
The circumstances in which this book came to be written are as follows.
Some five weeks after the survivors from the Titanic landed in New
York, I was the guest at luncheon of Hon. Samuel J. Elder and Hon.

Charles T. Gallagher, both well-known lawyers in Boston. After
luncheon I was asked to relate to those present the experiences of the
survivors in leaving the Titanic and reaching the Carpathia.
When I had done so, Mr. Robert Lincoln O'Brien, the editor of the
Boston Herald, urged me as a matter of public interest to write a correct
history of the Titanic disaster, his reason being that he knew several
publications were in preparation by people who had not been present at
the disaster, but from newspaper accounts were piecing together a
description of it. He said that these publications would probably be
erroneous, full of highly coloured details, and generally calculated to
disturb public thought on the matter. He was supported in his request
by all present, and under this general pressure I accompanied him to
Messrs. Houghton Mifflin Company, where we discussed the question
of publication.
Messrs. Houghton Mifflin Company took at that time exactly the same
view that I did, that it was probably not advisable to put on record the
incidents connected with the Titanic's sinking: it seemed better to forget
details as rapidly as possible.
However, we decided to take a few days to think about it. At our next
meeting we found ourselves in agreement again,--but this time on the
common ground that it would probably be a wise thing to write a
history of the Titanic disaster as correctly as possible. I was supported
in this decision by the fact that a short account, which I wrote at
intervals on board the Carpathia, in the hope that it would calm public
opinion by stating the truth of what happened as nearly as I could
recollect it, appeared in all the American, English, and Colonial papers
and had exactly the effect it was intended to have. This encourages me
to hope that the effect of this work will be the same.
Another matter aided me in coming to a decision,--the duty that we, as
survivors of the disaster, owe to those who went down with the ship, to
see that the reforms so urgently needed are not allowed to be forgotten.
Whoever reads the account of the cries that came to us afloat on the sea
from those sinking in the ice-cold water must remember that they were

addressed to him just as much as to those who heard them, and that the
duty, of seeing that reforms are carried out devolves on every one who
knows that such cries were heard in utter helplessness the night the
Titanic sank.

CONTENTS
I. CONSTRUCTION AND PREPARATIONS FOR THE FIRST
VOYAGE
II. FROM SOUTHAMPTON TO THE NIGHT OF THE COLLISION
III. THE COLLISION AND EMBARKATION IN LIFEBOATS
IV. THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC, SEEN FROM A LIFEBOAT
V. THE RESCUE
VI. THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC, SEEN FROM HER DECK
VII. THE CARPATHIA'S RETURN TO NEW YORK