The Titanic

Desperate to Survive

Passengers began rushing to the lifeboats. Captain Smith and some officers open the weapon cabinet to keep the men back while women and children are on deck. One man jumped into a lifeboat as it was being lowered and knocked a woman unconscious. Another lifeboat was almost lowered on top of another. Anna Sjöblom and her friends ran through a maze of hallways and passages, determined to get to the lifeboats. They found a doorway to the upper decks, and then stop. Metal grates had been pulled across the doorway opening. The crew intentionally locked the steerage passengers on lower decks to prevent them from getting to the lifeboats. Anna was determined not to die on the ship, so she smashed a window, and climbed over the outside of the ship to get to the upper decks. Anna made it into a lifeboat and survived. Her friends did not.

Maria Touma was asleep in a vacant third-class cabin when her mother found her after a frantic search. Maria, her mother, and her brother made it onto a lifeboat. The two young Navratil boys were wrapped in blankets and given to a woman in a lifeboat. The boys’ father, Michel, didn’t make it off the ship. The toddlers were the only children without guardians to survive.

As the ship filled with water, the bow began to tilt underwater. At 1:15am, the bow went under. Even though the ship was partially submerged, the lights still blazed, and the band still played. Some passengers were having drinks in the smoking room, and others were in the gym exercising. Perhaps they were in shock. Perhaps they accepted they were going to die. But others still didn’t believe the ship was sinking.

The last lifeboats were loaded as the ship slid farther underwater. In the bowels of the ship, the firemen continued to pump the boilers with coal to try to keep the ship’s lights on and telegraph system working. Operators Phillips and Bride stayed at their posts transmitting distress messages. At 2:05am, Captain Smith told them to leave their posts and save themselves.

1,500 people were still on board. One group stood huddling on the deck, praying. Some jumped off the ship. At 2:10am, the bow of the ship was fully underwater, and the stern began to tilt upwards. Survivors watched the brilliantly lit ship rising into the air. The band played one last tune.

At 2:17am, the stern of the ship rose straight out of the water, exposing the huge propellers. There was a massive screeching and groan as everything in the ship slid down. The lights went out. The ship began to break into two pieces. As it broke apart, the stern slowly settled back into the water. It floated for a few seconds, and then rose straight into the air. It floated upright for anywhere from thirty seconds to three minutes.

Hundreds of people had fallen into the water. They were wearing life jackets, so they weren’t drowning, but the water was frigid. The people froze to death in the icy waters, screaming, moaning, and begging for help.

Some of the lifeboats were only half-full and had room for more survivors. But the people in lifeboats didn’t go back. The survivors were afraid the people in the water would grab onto the boats and capsize them. They all just waited to be rescued, as they listened to people dying all around them in the water. In the end, only one crew member took a lifeboat and went back to look for survivors. Fifth Officer Lowe searched through the frozen bodies with a flashlight. He found only four people alive, one of whom died just after being pulled into the lifeboat.

Samantha’s Log: Still Waiting

This morning, the newspaper headlines say there are only 705 survivors on board. Most of them are rich and famous. None of Samantha’s family are rich or famous. Samantha can only think of Nellie, Cornelia, and William. They all try to stay hopeful. Maybe they’re on the Carpathia, wrapped in blankets. But Samantha can’t stay positive for long. The silence surrounds them. Jenny’s sobs are the only sounds in the room.