The RMS Titanic - Rescue
AFTER THE SINKING OF THE Titanic, those lucky enough to get into a lifeboat were forced to listen to the wailing cries of those in the water. Eventually, the cries died down as, one by one, they perished. An unearthly silence prevailed, broken only by women looking for their husbands and fathers in other boats. Invariably, the answer was, "no."
A fleet of ships within a 200-mile area had recieved the Titanic's distress signals, and began heading towards the doomed ship's last coordinates at full speed. The nearest ship, the Carpathia, although steaming ahead with all boilers lit, would not reach the lifeboats for several hours. Other ships would take even longer; the Baltic and the Olympic, both also racing towards the scene at top speed, would not reach until the late morning. The Carpathia, Titanic's survivors' best hope of rescue, was steaming full ahead through the same ice field that sunk the giant, risking its own passengers and crew to save Titanic's.
The feat of staying alive during the night was not easy for some. The 30 some men aboard overturned Collapsable lifeboat B remained motionless in the hours waiting for help to arrive. Because of the position of the men laying on top of the turtled lifeboat, any movement at all would immediately run the risk of taking the title of survivor away from the men on board. After a quick poll of religion, it was decided that the Lord's Prayer was appropriate, and the men engaged in several hours of prayer and silence. Among the passengers of Collapsable B included wireless operator Harold Bride, who recieved the six ice messages from other ships and sent distress signals to all nearby ships, and Second Officer Lightroller, who took command of the lifeboat and organized the group prayer.
Other lifeboats, although not at as much danger as Collapsable B, still had to endure several hours of freezing cold and waiting for destiny to arrive. One of the most famous stories of the Titanic survivors involved Molly Brown, who sat onboard Lifeboat 6 along with several other first-class women and Quartermaster Hitchens. Hitchens inititally rowed towards a light on the horizon, but, as it became apparent that they would never reach it, he stopped, and ordered the lifeboat to drift. Molly Brown argued with Hitchens that they should row and look for survivors, and Hitchens vehemently argued against Ms. Brown, until she finally threatened to throw him overboard. He quitely conceded to the womens' orders, and manned the tiller as they slowly looked for survivors.
The ragtag fleet of lifeboats, surrounded by ice, some icebergs towering 70 feet over their heads, watched the sun rise. With dawn also came rougher seas. However, the survivors rowed gratefully to the ship they had spotted on the horizon. The ship, the Carpathia, had heard Titanic's distress call. After three and a half hours, the Carpathia reached the last recorded position of the Titanic. By 8:30 a.m. of April 15th, the survivors had been brought aboard. Under the care of the Carpathia's passengers and crew, the freezing, wet, and miserable survivors received warm food, drink, blankets, and dry clothes. Out of the 2,228 passengers and crew aboard the Titanic, only 705 were rescued.
Finally, on April 18, the remaining passengers and crew of the Titanic disembarked in New York City, where they were besieged by the press and onlookers gathered there. While the media circus was going on, the Mackay-Bennett quietly left from Nova Scotia to recover the bodies of the deceased. The German liner Bremen passed the site of the sinking on the 20th. All the passengers agreed that the sun glinting off the icebergs was a lovely sight... until they were close enough to see the wreckage and the bodies clinging, singly and in groups, to the wreckage. "The scene," said one passenger, "moved everyone on board to the point of tears."