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I
The White Star liner Titanic, largest ship the world had ever
known, sailed from Southampton on her maiden voyage to New
York on April 10, 1912. The paint on her strakes1 was fair and
bright; she was fresh from Harland and Wolff s Belfast yards,
strong in the strength of her forty-six thousand tons of steel,
bent, hammered, shaped, and riveted through the three years
of her slow birth. A
There was little fuss and fanfare at her sailing; her sister
ship, the Olympicslightly smaller than the Titanichad been
in service for some months and to her had gone the thunder of
the cheers.
But the Titanic needed no whistling steamers or shouting
crowds to call attention to her superlative qualities. B Her
bulk dwarfed the ships near her as longshoremen singled up
her mooring lines and cast off the turns of heavy rope from the
dock bollards.2 She was not only the largest ship afloat, but was
believed to be the safest. Carlisle, her builder, had given her
R.M.S. Titanic
BACKGROUND
The R.M.S. Titanic was a giant luxury cruise ship that left
Southampton, England, to sail to New York in April, 1912.
The ship hit an iceberg and sunk. Around 1,500 people died.
The following article from 1934 describes the tragedy. The
author researched ships logs, interviews, and other records to
write the article.
1. strakes: single lines of metal plating extending the whole length of
a ship.
2. bollards (BAHL UHRDZ): strong posts on a pier or wharf for holding
a ships mooring ropes.
by Hanson W. Baldwin
Word Study
Look up the word superlative
in the dictionary. Write at
least two synonyms (words
with similar meanings) for
superlative.
VOCABULARYB
How long did it take to build
the Titanic?
QUICK CHECKA
10
R.M.S. Titanic by Hanson W. Baldwin from Harpers Magazine, January 1934. Copyright
1934 by Hanson W. Baldwin. Reproduced by permission of Curtis Brown Ltd.
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double bottos and had divided
her hull into sixteen watertight
coartents, which ade her,
en thought, unsinkable. She had
been built to be and had been
described as a gigantic lifeboat. A
Her designers dreas of a trile-
screw3 giant, a luxurious, floating hotel, which could seed to
New York at twenty-three knots, had been carefully translated
fro bluerints and old loft lines at the Belfast yards into a
living reality.
The Titanics sailing fro Southaton, though quiet,
was not wholly uneventful. As the liner oved slowly toward
the end of her dock that Aril day, the surge of her assing
sucked away fro the quay4 the steaer New York, oored just
to seaward of the Titanics berth. There were shar cracks as the
anila ooring lines of the New York arted under the strain.
The frayed roes writhed and whistled through the air and
snaed down aong the waving crowd on the ier; the New
York swung toward the Titanics bow, was checked and dragged
back to the dock barely in tie to avert a collision. Seaenuttered, thought it an oinous start. B
Past Sithead and the Isle of Wight the Titanic steaed.
She called at Cherbourg at dusk and then laid her course for
Queenstown. At 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aril 11, she stood out
of Queenstown harbor, screaing gulls soaring in her wake,
with 2,201 ersonsen, woen, and childrenaboard.
Occuying the Eire bedroos and Georgian suites of
the first-class accoodations were any well-known enand woenColonel John Jacob Astor and his young bride;
Major Archibald Butt, ilitary aide to President Taft, and his
friend Frank D. Millet, the ainter; John B. Thayer, vice resident
of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and Charles M. Hays, resident
of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada; W. T. Stead, the English
3. triple-screw: three-propellered.
4. quay (KEE): dock.
Word Study
Ominous means suggesting
evil or harm; threatening.
It is in the same word family
as omen. Find omen in a
dictionary. What does it
mean? How does its definition
relate to the definition of
ominous?
VOCABULARYB
What reasons did people
have for thinking the
Titanic was unsinkable?
QUICK CHECKA
20
30
40
50
Ralph White/Corbis
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journlist; Jcques Futrelle, French novelist; H. B. Hrris,
thetricl nger, nd Mrs. Hrris; Mr. nd Mrs. Isidor Strus;
nd J. Bruce Isy, chirn nd nging director of the
White Str Line.
Down in the plin wooden cbins of the steerge clss
were 706 iigrnts to the lnd of proise, nd trily stowed
in the gret holds ws crgo vlued t $420,000: ok bes,
sponges, wine, clbshes,5 nd n odd iscellny of the
coon nd the rre.
The Titanic took her deprture on Fstnet Light6 nd,
heding into the night, lid her course for New York. She ws
due t qurntine7 the following Wednesdy orning.
Sundy dwned fir nd cler. The Titanic steed soothly
towrd the west, fint streers of brownish soke triling
fro her funnels. The purser held services in the sloon in
the orning; on the steerge deck ft8 the iigrnts were
plying ges nd Scotsn ws puffing The Cpbells Are
Coing on his bgpipes in the idst of the upror. C
At 9:00 a.m. essge fro the steer Croni sputtered
into the wireless shck:
Cptin,Titanic
Westbound steers report bergsgrowlers nd field ice 42 degrees N. fro 49 degrees to 51
degrees W. 12th April.
CoplientsBrr. D
It ws cold in the fternoon; the sun ws brillint, but the
Titanic, her screws turning over t seventy-five revolutions per
inute, ws pproching the Bnks.9
5. calabashes (KAL UHBASHUHZ): large smoking pipes made from thenecks of gourds.
6. Fastnet Light: lighthouse at the southwestern tip of Ireland. After
the Fastnet Light there is only open sea until the coast of North
America.
7. quarantine (KWAR UHNTEEN): place where a ship is held in port after
arrival to determine whether its passengers and cargo are free of
communicable diseases. Quarantine can also be used to mean the
length of time a ship is held.
8. aft: in the rear of a ship.
9. Banks: Grand Banks, shallow waters near the southeast coast of
Newfoundland.
Do you think the information
in this paragraph is objective
or subjective? Why?
READING FOCUSC
After having read this
far, do you think that this
entire selection is a primary
or secondary source? Give a
reason for your answer.
READING FOCUSD
60
70
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176 R.M.S. Titanic
In the Marconi cabin10 Second Oerator Harold Bride,
earhones claed on his head, was figuring accounts; he did
not sto to answer when he heard MWL, Continental Morse
for the nearby Leyland liner, Californian, calling the Titanic.
The Californian had soe essage about three icebergs; he
didnt bother then to take it down. A About 1:42 p.m. the
rasing sark of those days soke again across the water. It
was the Baltic, calling the Titanic, warning her of ice on the
steaer track. Bride took the essage down and sent it u to
the bridge.11 The officer-of-the-deck glanced at it; sent it to the
bearded aster of the Titanic, Catain E. C. Sith,12 a veteran
of the White Star service. It was lunchtie then; the catain,
walking along the roenade deck, saw Mr. Isay, stoed,
and handed hi the essage without coent. Isay read it,
stuffed it in his ocket, told two ladies about the icebergs, and
resued his walk. Later, about 7:15 p.m., the catain requested
the return of the essage in order to ost it in the chart roo
for the inforation of officers.
Dinner that night in the Jacobean dining roo was gay.
It was bitter on deck, but the night was cal and fine; the sky
was oonless but studded with stars twinkling coldly in theclear air. B
After dinner soe of the second-class assengers gathered
in the saloon, where the Reverend Mr. Carter conducted a
hyn singsong. It was alost ten oclock and the stewards
were waiting with biscuits and coffee as the grou sang:
O, hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in eril on the sea.
On the bridge Second Officer Lightollershort,stocky, efficientwas relieved at ten oclock by First Officer
Murdoch. C Lightoller had talked with other officers about the
roxiity of ice; at least five wireless ice warnings had reached
the shi; lookouts had been cautioned to be alert; catains and
10. Marconi cabin: room where messages were received and sent by radio.
11. bridge: raised structure on a ship. The ship is controlled from the
bridge.
12. Smiths initials were actually E. J., not E. C.
Based on context clues, or
clues from the surrounding
text, figure out which
meaning of the word bitter
is being used in this sentence
and write it below.
LANGUAGE COACHB
Why do you think Second
Operator Bride didnt
write down and pass along
the message from the
Californian?
LITERARY ANALYSISA 80
90
100
110
Is this description of Second
Officer Lightoller subjective
or objective? Give a reason
to support your answer.
READING FOCUSC
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officers exected to reach the field at any tie after 9:30 p.m.
At twenty-two knots, its seed unslackened, the Titanic lowed
on through the night. D
Lightoller left the darkened bridge to his relief and turned
in. Catain Sith went to his cabin. The steerage was long since
quiet; in the first and second cabins lights were going out; voices
were growing still; eole were aslee. Murdoch aced back and
forth on the bridge, eering out over the dark water, glancing
now and then at the coass in front of Quarteraster Hichens
at the wheel. E
In the crows-nest, lookout Frederick Fleet and his artner,
Leigh, gazed down at the water, still and unruffled in the di,
starlit darkness. Behind and below the the shi, a white shadow
with here and there a last winking light; ahead of the a dark
and silent and cold ocean.
There was a sudden clang. Dong-dong. Dong-dong.
Dong-dong. Dong! The etal claer of the great shis bell
struck out 11:30. Mindful of the warnings, Fleet strained his
eyes, searching the darkness for the dreaded ice. But there were
only the stars and the sea.
In the wireless roo, where Phillis, first oerator, hadrelieved Bride, the buzz of the Californians set again crackled
into the earhones:
Californian: Say, old an, we are stuck here, surrounded
by ice.
Titanic: Shut u, shut u; kee out. I a talking to Cae
Race; you are jaing y signals.
Then, a few inutes laterabout 11:40 . . .
II
Out of the dark she cae, a vast, di, white, onstrous shae,
directly in the Titanics ath. For a oent Fleet doubted
his eyes. But she was a deadly reality, this ghastly thing. F
Frantically, Fleet struck three bellssoething dead ahead.
He snatched the telehone and called the bridge:
Word Study
If youre not sure what
unslackenedmeans,
examine the prefix un and
think about what the root
word slack means. Write a
definition below.
VOCABULARYD
The author probably got
this exchange between the
Californian and the Titanic
from a radio communication
transcript (a written copy of
something that was said).
Would this be a primary or
secondary source?
READING FOCUSE
120
130
140
Use context clues to
determine the meaning
of the word ghastly. Write
the definition in your own
words.
LANGUAGE COACHF
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Iceberg! Right ahead!
The first officer heard but did not stop to acknowledge the
message.
Hard-a-starboard!
Hichens strained at the wheel; the bow swung slowly to
port. The monster was almost upon them now.
Murdoch leaped to the engine-room telegraph. Bells
clanged. Far below in the engine room those bells struck the first
warning. Danger! The indicators on the dial faces swung round
to Stop! Then Full speed astern! A Frantically the engineers
turned great valve wheels; answered the bridge bells . . .
There was a slight shock, a brief scraping, a small list to
port. Shell iceslabs and chunks of itfell on the foredeck.
Slowly the Titanic stopped.
Captain Smith hurried out of his cabin.
What has the ship struck?
Murdoch answered, An iceberg, sir. I hard-a-starboarded
and reversed the engines, and I was going to hard-a-port around
it, but she was too close. I could not do any more. I have closed
the watertight doors.B
Fourth Officer Boxhall, other officers, the carpenter, came
to the bridge. The captain sent Boxhall and the carpenter below
to ascertain the damage.
A few lights switched on in the first and second cabins;
sleepy passengers peered through porthole glass; some casually
asked the stewards:
Why have we stopped?
I dont know, sir, but I dont suppose it is anything much.In the smoking room a quorum13 of gamblers and their prey
were still sitting round a poker table; the usual crowd of kibitzers14
looked on. They had felt the slight jar of the collision and had seen
an eighty-foot ice mountain glide by the smoking-room windows,
13. quorum (KWAWR UHM): number of people required for a particular
activityin this case, for a game.
14. kibitzers (KIHB IHTSUHRZ): talkative onlookers who often give
unwanted advice.
How did Murdoch try to
avoid hitting the iceberg?
QUICK CHECKB
Word Study
Starboard, port, and astern
are nautical termswords
that are related to ships.
Look up these words ina dictionary. Write their
definitions below.
VOCABULARYA
150
160
170
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but the night was calm and clear, the Titanic was unsinkable;
they hadnt bothered to go on deck.
But far below, in the warren of passages on the starboard
side forward, in the forward holds and boiler rooms, men
could see that the Titanics hurt was mortal. C In No. 6 boiler
room, where the red glow from the furnaces lighted up the
naked, sweaty chests of coal-blackened firemen, water was
pouring through a great gash about two feet above the floor
plates. This was no slow leak; the ship was open to the sea;
in ten minutes there were eight feet of water in No. 6. Long
before then the stokers had raked the flaming fires out of the
furnaces and had scrambled through the watertight doors in
No. 5 or had climbed up the long steel ladders to safety. When
Boxhall looked at the mailroom in No. 3 hold, twenty-four feet
above the keel, the mailbags were already floating about in the
slushing water. In No. 5 boiler room a stream of water spurted
into an empty bunker. All six compartments forward of No. 4
were open to the sea; in ten seconds the icebergs jagged claw
had ripped a three-hundred-foot slash in the bottom of the
great Titanic.15 D
Reports came to the bridge; Ismay in dressing gown ranout on deck in the cold, still, starlit night, climbed up the bridge
ladder.
What has happened?
Captain Smith: We have struck ice.
Do you think she is seriously damaged?
Captain Smith: Im afraid she is.
Ismay went below and passed Chief Engineer William Bell,
fresh from an inspection of the damaged compartments. Bellcorroborated the captains statement; hurried back down the
15. An underwater expedition to the Titanic wreck in 1986 led by the
explorer Dr. Robert Ballard revealed loosened or buckled seams in
the ships hull but no three-hundred-foot gash. Ballard concluded
that the collision of the ship with the iceberg caused the buckling
of the seams and a separation of the hulls plates, which in turn
allowed water to enter the ship and sink it. This theory explains why
survivors said they barely felt the fatal collision when it occurred.
Word Study
The word mortalhas
multiple meanings, and can
be used as an adjective or a
noun. In which way is it usedhere? What does the word
mean in this sentence?
VOCABULARYC
Even though this article is
objective, the facts arent
always correct. Based on
this footnote and the
background information that
was given, why do you think
this is so?
READING FOCUSD
180
190
200
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glistening steel ladders to his duty. A Man after man followed
himThomas Andrews, one of the ships designers, Archie Frost,
the builders chief engineer, and his twenty assistantsmen who
had no posts of duty in the engine room but whose traditions
called them there.
On deck, in corridor and stateroom, life flowed again.
Men, women, and children awoke and questioned; orders were
given to uncover the lifeboats; water rose into the firemens
quarters; half-dressed stokers streamed up on deck. But the
passengersmost of themdid not know that the Titanic was
sinking. The shock of the collision had been so slight that some
were not awakened by it; the Titanic was so huge that she must
be unsinkable; the night was too calm, too beautiful, to think ofdeath at sea. B
Captain Smith half ran to the door of the radio shack.
Bride, partly dressed, eyes dulled with sleep, was standing behind
Phillips, waiting.
Send the call for assistance.
The blue spark danced: CQDCQDCQDCQ16
Miles away Marconi men heard. Cape Race heard it, and
the steamships La Provence andMt. Temple.The sea was surging into the Titanics hold. At 12:20 the
water burst into the seamens quarters through a collapsed
fore-and-aft wooden bulkhead. Pumps strained in the engine
roomsmen and machinery making a futile fight against the
sea. Steadily the water rose.
The boats were swung outslowly, for the deckhands
were late in reaching their stations; there had been no boat drill,
and many of the crew did not know to what boats they were
assigned. Orders were shouted; the safety valves had lifted, and
steam was blowing off in a great rushing roar. In the chart house
Fourth Officer Boxhall bent above a chart, working rapidly with
pencil and dividers.
16. CQD: call by radio operators, inviting others to communicate
with them.
What are some reasons why
none of the passengers knew
the Titanic was sinking?
QUICK CHECKB
210
220
230
Selection Vocabulary
Corroboratedmeans
supported; upheld the
truth of. Explain how Bell
corroborated what thecaptain had said.
VOCABULARYA
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12:25 a.m. Boxhlls position is sent out to fleet of vessels:
Coe t once; we hve struck berg.
To the Cunrder Carpathia (Arthur Henry Rostron, Mster,
New York to Liverpool, fifty-eight iles wy): Its CQD, old
n. Position 4146N.; 5014 W.
The blue sprk dncing: Sinking; cnnot her for noise of
ste.
12:30 a.m. The word is pssed: Woen nd children in
the bots. Stewrds finish wking their pssengers below; life
preservers re tied on; soe en sile t the precution. The
Titanic is unsinkble. TheMt. Temple strts for the Titanic;
the Carpathia, with double wtch in her stokeholds, rdios,
Coing hrd. The CQD chnges the course of ny shipsbut
not of one; the opertor of the Californian, nerby, hs just put
down his erphones nd turned in.
The CQD flshes over lnd nd se fro Cpe Rce to
New York; newspper city roos lep to life nd presses whir.
On the Titanic, wter creeps over the bulkhed between
Nos. 5 nd 6 fireroos. She is going down by the hed; the
engineersfighting losing bttlere forced bck foot by
foot by the rising wter. Down the proende deck, HppyJock Hue, the bndsn, runs with his instruent.
12:45 a.m. Murdoch, in chrge on the strbord side, eyes
trgic, but cl nd cool, orders bot No. 7 lowered. C The
woen hng bck; they wnt no bot ride on n ice-strewn
se; the Titanic is unsinkble. The en encourge the,
explin tht this is just precutionry esure: Well see you
gin t brekfst. There is little confusion; pssengers stre
slowly to the bot deck. In the steerge the iigrnts chtterexcitedly.
A sudden shrp hiss streked flre ginst the night;
Boxhll sends rocket towrd the sky. It explodes, nd
prchute of white strs lights up the icy se. God! Rockets!
The bnd plys rgtie.
No. 8 is lowered, nd No. 5. Isy, still in dressing gown,
clls for woen nd children, hndles lines, stubles in the
Is this sentence about
Murdoch subjective or
objective, or both? Explain
your answer.
READING FOCUSC
240
250
260
270
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wy of n officer, is told to get the hell out of here. Third
Officer Pitn tkes chrge of No. 5; s he swings into the bot,
Murdoch grsps his hnd. Goodbye nd good luck, old n.
No. 6 goes over the side. There re only twenty-eight
people in lifebot with cpcity of sixty-five. A
A light stbs fro the bridge; Boxhll is clling in Morse
flshes, gin nd gin, to strnge ship stopped in the ice j
five to ten iles wy. Another rocket drops its shower of sprks
bove the ice-strewn se nd the dying ship.
1:00 a.m. Slowly the wter creeps higher; the fore
ports of the Titanic re dipping into the se. Rope squeks
through blocks; lifebots drop jerkily sewrd. Through the
shouting on the decks coes the sound of the bnd plying
rgtie.
The Millionires Specil leves the shipbot No. 1,
with cpcity of forty people, crries only Sir Coso nd
Ldy Duff Gordon nd ten others. Aft, the frightened ii-
grnts ill nd jostle nd rush for bot. An officers fist flies
out; three shots re fired in the ir, nd the pnic is quelled. . . .
Four Chinese snek unseen into bot nd hide in the botto.
1:20 a.m. Wter is coing into No. 4 boiler roo. Stokersslice nd shovel s wter lps bout their nklesste for the
dynos, ste for the dncing sprk! As the wter rises, gret
sh hoes rke the fling cols fro the furnces. Sfety vlves
pop; the stokers retret ft, nd the wtertight doors clng shut
behind the.
The rockets fling their splendor towrd the strs. The
bots re ore hevily loded now, for the pssengers know
the Titanic is sinking. B Woen cling nd sob. The gretscrews ft re rising cler of the se. Hlf-filled bots re
ordered to coe longside the crgo ports nd tke on ore
pssengers, but the ports re never openednd the bots
re never filled. Others pull for the steers light iles wy
but never rech it; the lights dispper; the unknown ship
stes off.
The wter rises nd the bnd plys rgtie.
Why did the lifeboats take
more passengers as the
night progressed?
QUICK CHECKB
Think about what the
atmosphere was like on
the Titanic at this time,
and remember what you
read about the boat drills.Why do you think the
lifeboats of the Titanic
were let down without
being totally full?
LITERARY ANALYSISA
280
290
300
310
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1:30 a.m. Lightoller is getting the port bots off; Murdoch,
the strbord. As one bot is lowered into the se, bot officer
fires his gun long the ships side to stop rush fro the lower
decks. A won tries to tke her Gret Dne into bot with
her; she is refused nd steps out of the bot to die with her dog.
Millets little sile which plyed on his lips ll through the
voyge plys no ore; his lips re gri, but he wves goodbye
nd brings wrps for the woen.
Benjin Guggenhei, in evening clothes, siles nd sys,
Weve dressed up in our best nd re prepred to go down like
gentleen.
1:40 a.m. Bot 14 is cler, nd then 13, 16, 15, nd C. The
lights still shine, but the Bltic hers the blue sprk sy, Engine
roo getting flooded. C
The Olypi signls, A lighting up ll possible boilers s
fst s cn.
Mjor Butt helps woen into the lst bots nd wves
goodbye to the. Mrs. Strus puts her foot on the gunwle
of lifebot; then she drws bck nd goes to her husbnd:
We hve been together ny yers; where you go, I will go.
Colonel John Jcob Astor puts his young wife in lifebot, stepsbck, tps cigrette on fingernil: Goodbye, derie; Ill join you
lter. D
1:45 a.m. The foredeck is under wter; the focsle17 hed
lost wsh; the gret stern is lifted high towrd the bright
strs; nd still the bnd plys. Mr. nd Mrs. Hrris pproch
lifebot r in r.
Officer: Ldies first, plese.
Hrris bows, siles, steps bck: Of course, certinly; ldiesfirst.
Boxhll fires the lst rocket, then leves in chrge of bot No. 2.
2:00 a.m. She is dying now; her bow goes deeper, her
stern higher. But there ust be ste. Below in the stokeholds
the swety fireen keep ste up for the flring lights nd
17. focsle (FOHK SUHL): forecastle, front upper deck of a ship.
What is the blue spark?
Go back and re-read some of
the story to help you find the
answer.
QUICK CHECKC
What do you think Colonel
Astor means when he tells
his wife, Ill join you later?
LITERARY ANALYSISD
320
330
340
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the dncing sprk. The glowing cols slide nd tuble over
the slnted grte brs; the se pounds behind tht yielding
bulkhed. But the sprk dnces on.
The Asin hers Phillips try the new signlSOS.
Bot No. 4 hs left now; bot D leves ten inutes lter.
Jcques Futrelle clsps his wife: For Gods ske, go! Its your
lst chnce; go! Mde Futrelle is hlf forced into the bot. It
clers the side.
There re bout 660 people in the bots nd 1,500 still on
the sinking Titanic. A
On top of the officers qurters, en work frnticlly
to get the two collpsibles stowed there over the side. Wter
is over the forwrd prt of A deck now; it surges up the
copnionwys towrd the bot deck. B In the rdio shck,
Bride hs slipped cot nd life jcket bout Phillips s
the first opertor sits hunched over his key, sendingstill
sending4146 N.; 5014 W. CQDCQDSOSSOS
The cptins tired white fce ppers t the rdio-roo
door. Men, you hve done your full duty. You cn do no ore.
Now, its every n for hiself. The cptin disppersbck
to his sinking bridge, where Pinter, his personl stewrd, stndsquietly witing for orders. The sprk dnces on. Bride turns
his bck nd goes into the inner cbin. As he does so, stoker,
gried with col, d with fer, stels into the shck nd reches
for the life jcket on Phillipss bck. Bride wheels bout nd
brins hi with wrench. C
2:10 a.m. Below decks the ste is still holding, though
the pressure is fllingrpidly. In the gynsiu on the bot
deck, the thletic instructor wtches quietly s two gentleenride the bicycles nd nother swings csully t the punching
bg. Mil clerks stgger up the bot-deck stirwys, drgging
soked il scks. The sprk still dnces. The bnd still
plysbut not rgtie:
Nerer y God to Thee.
Nerer to Thee . . .
Word Study
Companionways is a
compound word, a word
that is formed by joining
two words. It means stairs
or ladders within a ship.
Circle two more compound
words on this page.
VOCABULARYB
Word Study
The word brain has multiple
meanings and can be used as
a noun and as a verb. How is
it being used here and what
does it mean?
VOCABULARYC
Why is the information in
this sentence objective?
READING FOCUSA
350
360
370
380
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A few en tke up the refrin; others kneel on the slnting
decks to pry. Mny run nd scrble ft, where hundreds re
clinging bove the silent screws on the gret uptilted stern. D
The sprk still dnces nd the lights still flre; the engineers re
on the job. The hyn coes to its close. Bndster Hrtley,
Yorkshiren violinist, tps his bow ginst bulkhed, clls
for Autun s the wter curls bout his feet, nd the eight
usicins brce theselves ginst the ships slnt. People re
leping fro the decks into the nerby wterthe icy wter. A
won cries, Oh, sve e, sve e! A n nswers, Good
ldy, sve yourself. Only God cn sve you now. The bnd
plys Autun:
God of Mercy nd Copssion!
Look with pity on y pin . . .
The wter creeps over the bridge where the Titanics ster
stnds; hevily he steps out to eet it.
2:17 a.m. CQ The Virginin hers rgged, blurred CQ,
then n brupt stop. The blue sprk dnces no ore. The lights
flicker out; the engineers hve lost their bttle. E
2:18 a.m. Men run bout blckened decks; lep into the
night; re swept into the se by the curling wve tht licks upthe Titanics length. Lightoller does not leve the ship; the ship
leves hi; there re hundreds like hi, but only few who
live to tell of it. The funnels still swi bove the wter, but
the ship is clibing to the perpendiculr; the bridge is under
nd ost of the forest; the gret stern rises like squt
levithn.18 Men swi wy fro the sinking ship; others drop
fro the stern.
The bnd plys in the drkness, the wter lppingupwrd:
Hold e up in ighty wters,
Keep y eyes on things bove, F
Righteousness, divine toneent,
Pece nd everls . . .
What do you think it means
that the engineers have lost
their battle? What evidenceis there that they have failed
at something?
LITERARY ANALYSISE
Why do you think the band
played while the ship was
sinking?
LITERARY ANALYSISF
18. leviathan (LUH VY UHTHUHN): biblical sea monster, perhaps a whale.
What are some of the people
who do not make it onto the
lifeboats doing?
QUICK CHECKD
390
400
410
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The forwrd funnel snps nd crshes into the se; its
steel tons her out of existence swiers struggling in the
freezing wter. Stres of sprks, of soke nd ste, burst fro
the fter funnels. The ship upends to 50to 60 degrees.
Down in the blck byss of the stokeholds, of the engine
roos, where the dynos hve whirred t long lst to stop,
the stokers nd the engineers re reeling ginst the hot etl,
the rising wter clutching t their knees. The boilers, the engine
cylinders, rip fro their bed pltes; crsh through bulkheds;
rublesteel ginst steel.
The Titanic stnds on end, poised briefly for the plunge.
Slowly she slides to her grveslowly t first, nd then ore
quicklyquicklyquickly.
2:20 a.m. The gretest ship in the world hs sunk. Fro
the cl, drk wters, where the floting lifebots ove, there
goes up, in the white wke of her pssing, one long continuous
on. A B
III
The bots tht the Titanic hd lunched pulled sfely wy
fro the slight suction of the sinking ship, pulled wy fro
the scres tht ce fro the lips of the freezing en nd
Underline one piece of
subjective information on
this page.
READING FOCUSA
420
430
Illustrations by Ken Marschall 1992 from TITANIC:
AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, a Hyperion/Madison Press Book
Consider everything you
have read so far. What might
have been done to prevent
the Titanic from meeting
this fate, and how might
the evacuation have been
handled better?
LITERARY ANALYSISB
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women in the water. The boats were poorly manned and badly
equipped, and they had been unevenly loaded. Some carried so
few seamen that women bent to the oars. Mrs. Astor tugged at
an oar handle; the Countess of Rothes took a tiller. Shivering
stokers in sweaty, coal-blackened singlets and light trousers
steered in some boats; stewards in white coats rowed in others.
Ismay was in the last boat that left the ship from the starboard
side; with Mr. Carter of Philadelphia and two seamen he tugged
at the oars. In one of the lifeboats an Italian with a broken
wristdisguised in a womans shawl and hathuddled on the
floorboards, ashamed now that fear had left him. In another
rode the only baggage saved from the Titanicthe carryall of
Samuel L. Goldenberg, one of the rescued passengers.
There were only a few boats that were heavily loaded;
most of those that were half empty made but perfunctory
efforts to pick up the moaning swimmers, their officers
and crew fearing they would endanger the living if they
pulled back into the midst of the dying. Some boats beat
off the freezing victims; fear-crazed men and women struck
with oars at the heads of swimmers. One woman drove
her fist into the face of a half-dead man as he tried feeblyto climb over the gunwale. Two other women helped him
in and staunched the flow of blood from the ring cuts on
his face. C
One of the collapsible boats, which had floated off the
top of the officers quarters when the Titanic sank, was an icy
haven for thirty or forty men. D The boat had capsized as
the ship sank; men swam to it, clung to it, climbed upon its
slippery bottom, stood knee-deep in water in the freezing air.Chunks of ice swirled about their legs; their soaked clothing
clutched their bodies in icy folds. Colonel Archibald Gracie
was cast up there, Gracie who had leaped from the stern as
the Titanic sank; young Thayer who had seen his father die;
Lightoller who had twice been sucked down with the ship and
twice blown to the surface by a belch of air; Bride, the second
operator, and Phillips, the first. There were many stokers, half
Academic Vocabulary
What ideas about the life-
boat passengers can you
derive, or obtain, from this
paragraph?
VOCABULARYC
Word Study
Use a dictionary to find the
meaning of haven, and then
write a synonym for haven
below.
VOCABULARYD
440
450
460
470
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188 R.M.S. Titanic
naked; it was a shivering company. They stood there in the
icy sea, under the far stars, and sang and prayedthe Lords
Prayer. After a while a lifeboat came and picked them off, but
Phillips was dead then or died soon afterward in the boat. A
Only a few of the boats had lights; only oneNo. 2had a
light that was of any use to the Carpathia, twisting through the
ice field to the rescue. Other ships were coming hard too; one,
the Californian, was still dead to opportunity.
The blue sparks still danced, but not the Titanics. La Provence
to Celtic: Nobody has heard the Titanic for about two hours.
It was 2:40 when the Carpathia first sighted the green light
from No. 2 boat; it was 4:10 when she picked up the first boat
and learned that the Titanic had foundered.19 The last of the
moaning cries had just died away then.
Captain Rostron took the survivors aboard, boatload by
boatload. He was ready for them, but only a small minority of
them required much medical attention. Brides feet were twisted
and frozen; others were suffering from exposure; one died, and
seven were dead when taken from the boats, and were buried
at sea.
It was then that the fleet of racing ships learned theywere too late; the Parisian heard the weak signals of MPA, the
Carpathia, report the death of the Titanic. It was thenor soon
afterward, when her radio operator put on his earphonesthat
the Californian, the ship that had been within sight as the Titanic
was sinking, first learned of the disaster.
And it was then, in all its white-green majesty, that the
Titanics survivors saw the iceberg, tinted with the sunrise, floating
idly, pack ice jammed about its base, other bergs heaving slowlynearby on the blue breast of the sea. B
IV
But it was not until later that the world knew, for wireless
then was not what wireless is today, and garbled messages had
19. foundered: filled with water, so that it sank; generally, collapsed; failed.
Remember that this article is
a secondary source. Would
this paragraph be written
differently if the sameinformation appeared in a
primarysource? Explain.
READING FOCUSB
480
490
500
Who was Phillips and what
happened to him?
QUICK CHECKA
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nourished a hope that all of the Titanics company were safe. Not
until Monday evening, when P.A.S. Franklin, vice president of
the International Mercantile Marine Company, received relayed
messages in New York that left little hope, did the full extent of
the disaster begin to be known. Partial and garbled lists of the
survivors; rumors of heroism and cowardice; stories spun out
of newspaper imagination, based on a few bare facts and many
false reports, misled the world, terrified and frightened it. C It
was not until Thursday night, when the Carpathia steamed into
the North River, that the full truth was pieced together.
Flashlights flared on the black river when the Carpathia
stood up to her dock. Tugs nosed about her, shunted her
toward Pier 54. Thirty thousand people jammed the streets;
ambulances and stretchers stood on the pier; coroners and
physicians waited.
In midstream the Cunarder dropped over the Titanics
lifeboats; then she headed toward the dock. Beneath the customs
letters on the pier stood relatives of the 711 survivors, relatives
of the missinghoping against hope. The Carpathia cast her
lines ashore; stevedores20 looped them over bollards. The
dense throngs stood quiet as the first survivor stepped downthe gangway. D The woman half staggeredled by customs
guardsbeneath her letter. A low wailing moan came from
the crowd; fell, grew in volume, and dropped again.
Thus ended the maiden voyage of the Titanic. The lifeboats
brought to New York by the Carpathia, a few deck chairs and
gratings awash in the ice field off the Grand Bank eight hundred
miles from shore, were all that was left of the worlds greatest
ship. E
V
The aftermath of weeping and regret, of recriminations
and investigations, dragged on for weeks. Charges and
countercharges were hurled about; the White Star Line was
20. stevedores (STEE VUHDAWRZ): persons who load and unload ships.
Using context clues, define
throngs in your own words.
Use a dictionary to check
your answer.
LANGUAGE COACHD
According to the text, what
remained after the Titanic
sank?
QUICK CHECKE
510
520
530
Word Study
Heroism and cowardice
are antonymsthey have
opposite meanings. Knowing
this, write a definition ofheroism. Then, write one
example of heroism that you
have read about in this story.
VOCABULARYC
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bitterly criticized; Ismay was denounced on the floor of the
Senate as a coward but was defended by those who had been
with him on the sinking Titanic and by the Board of Trade
investigation in England.
It was not until weeks later, when the hastily convened
Senate investigation in the United States and the Board of Trade
report in England had been completed, that the whole story was
told. The Senate investigating committee, under the chairman-
ship of Senator Smith, who was attacked in both the American
and the British press as a backwoods politician, brought out
numerous pertinent facts, though its proceedings verged at times
on the farcical.21 Senator Smith was ridiculed for his lack of
knowledge of the sea when he asked witnesses, Of what is an
iceberg composed? and Did any of the passengers take refuge
in the watertight compartments? A The senator seemed par-
ticularly interested in the marital status of Fleet, the lookout, who
was saved. Fleet, puzzled, growled aside, Wot questions theyre
arskin me!
The report of Lord Mersey, wreck commissioner in
the British Board of Trades investigation, was tersely
damning.The Titanic had carried boats enough for 1,178 persons,
only one third of her capacity. Her sixteen boats and four
collapsibles had saved but 711 persons; 400 people had needlessly
lost their lives. The boats had been but partly loaded; officers in
charge of launching them had been afraid the falls22 would break
or the boats buckle under their rated loads; boat crews had been
slow in reaching their stations; launching arrangements were
confused because no boat drill had been held; passengers wereloaded into the boats haphazardly because no boat assignments
had been made.
But that was not all. Lord Mersey found that sufficient
warnings of ice on the steamer track had reached the Titanic,
Selection Vocabulary
Pertinentmeans having
some connection with the
subject. Why were Senator
Smiths questions notpertinent to the proceedings?
VOCABULARYA
21. farcical (FAHR SIHKUHL): absurd; ridiculous; like a farce (an exaggerated
comedy).
22. falls: chains used for hoisting.
540
550
560
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that her speed of twenty-two knots was excessive under the
circumstances, that in view of the high speed at which the
vessel was running it is not considered that the lookout was
sufficient, and that her master made a very grievous mistake
but should not be blamed for negligence. B Captain Rostron
of the Carpathia was highly praised. He did the very best that
could be done. The Californian was damned. The testimony of
her master, officers, and crew showed that she was not, at the
most, more than nineteen miles away from the sinking Titanic
and probably no more than five to ten miles distant. She had seen
the Titanics lights; she had seen the rockets; she had not received
the CQD calls because her radio operator was asleep. She had
attempted to get in communication with the ship she had sighted
by flashing a light, but vainly.
The night was clear, reported Lord Mersey, and the sea
was smooth. When she first saw the rockets, the Californian
could have pushed through the ice to the open water without any
serious risk and so have come to the assistance of the Titanic.
Had she done so she might have saved many if not all of the lives
that were lost.
She made no attempt.C
Would you say this article
is mostly a subjective or
objective account of what
happened to the Titanic?
Explain your answer and
give examples from the text.
READING FOCUSC
570
580
What were some of the criti-
cisms of the Titanics prepar-
edness and its crews actions
during the disaster?
QUICK CHECKB
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