Wreck and Sinking of the Titanic - 1912

Front Cover, Wreck and Sinking of the Titanic: The Ocean's Greatest Disaster - 1912. GGA Image ID # 1104da0978

Wreck and Sinking of the TITANIC: The Ocean’s Greatest Disaster

A Graphic and Thrilling Account of the Sinking of the greatest Floating Palace ever built, carrying down to watery graves more than 1,500 souls. Giving Exciting Escapes from death and acts of heroism not equaled in ancient or modern times, told by THE SURVIVORS.

Including History of Icebergs, the Terror of the Seas; Wireless Telegraphy and Modern Shipbuilding

EDITED BY MARSHALL EVERETT, The Great Descriptive Writer

ILLUSTRATED THROUGHOUT WITH PHOTOGRAPHS AND DRAWINGS MADE EXPRESSLY FOR THIS BOOK

Preface

THE disastrous collision, with an iceberg in midocean, of the mighty ocean liner—the Titanic—the finest example of modern ship building—and the awful loss of 1,595 of the 2,340 passengers aboard, goes down easily in history as the greatest of ocean catastrophes.

The Titanic, a floating palace of luxury, the largest and finest steamship ever built, set forth on her maiden trip with the avowed purpose of following the shortest course at the highest possible speed.

Her 2,340 passengers, for the most part on pleasure bent, among whom were some of the wealthiest and most distinguished people of both sides of the Atlantic, felt such perfect confidence in the liner that, even after she was struck and when she was sinking, they could not believe her destruction possible.

But the “largest and finest steamship ever built” as she ploughed her way swiftly through the quiet Atlantic, plunged against a monster iceberg which lay stretched out for miles over the sea. Her side was ripped open, her boilers exposed to the icy waters, yet the people were not alarmed.

Not until the twenty lifeboats were put off with their protesting cargoes and the decks were tilted up dangerously did the people really lose their faith. The ship went down filling the quiet night with the cries of horror of the victims plunged to their untimely death.

Four agonizing hours were spent by the survivors suffering unbelievably from exposure and grief until they were picked up by the rescue ship Carpathia, utterly exhausted by their terrible experience.

Thrilling tales of bravery and of sacrifice make this one of the most impressive tragedies of modern history. And the fact that the awful loss of life was avoidable by the simple provision of sufficient lifeboats to keep the passengers afloat till help could come, lays heavy indictment upon the modern commercial spirit which willingly takes in its care hundreds of people trusting to sheer luck to ward off danger.

This is the grim lesson to be learned from the tragedy. For the criminal neglect of others, these hundreds of innocent people atoned, and as an everlasting memorial to them will be the stringent laws made and enforced for safeguarding the millions who will trust their lives to the ocean in the future.

In this book the thrilling story is set forth clearly, the facts about the ship and the voyage, the passengers, the pathetic details of the wreck, the first-hand accounts of the survivors. The whole sad story is here.

Contents

• Prefacer
• The Two Titans
• Story of the Titanic
• Spur of Iceberg Ripped Open Bottom of Titanic
• Thrilling Story of the Wreck
• Rescue of the Survivors
• Survivors Reach New York
• Last Man Off Tells Horrors of Shipwreck
• Heroism on the Titanic
• Thrilling Experiences of Survivors
• Sorrow and Honor and Memory Equal
• “Nearer, My God, to Thee”
• The Responsibility for Fatal Speed
• Other Contributing Causes of the Disaster
• More of the Tragedy
• Oddities of the Wreck
• Hymn for Survivors of the Titanic, By Hall Caine‭
• The Terror of the Seas, By Fred S. Miller
• Heroes at the Post of Duty
• W. T. Stead, Scholar, Dreamer and Humanitarian
• Many Memorials for Titanic Tragedy
• Stories of the Rescued
• Survivors’ Stories Continued
• On the Roll of Honor
• Comments of the Press
• Facts About the Titanic
• Great Marine Disasters in Recent Years
• The Tragedy of the Sea, By Rev. Andrew Johnson‭
• Help for Titanic Sufferers
• Some Pathetic Features of the Tragedy
• Some Fortunate Circumstances
• Various Descriptions of How the Titanic Disappeared
• U. S. Senators Obtain Facts of Wreck
• Investigation Continued
• The Investigation in Washington Senate Committee Examines Lookout and Passengers
• Members of Ship’s Crew on Stand
• The Bereft in the Boats, By Fred S. Miller‭
• Titanic’s Dead Brought Back