The bow of the Titanic was now well below the water, yet her lights still shone brightly - as if in defiance of the inevitable.
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Many of the Third-Class passengers ("Steerage") had retreated to the seeming safety of the stern of the Boat-Deck where Father Thomas Byles hears confession and gives absolution.
Second-Class passengers gathered at the aft end of the Boat-Deck.
Titanic's wireless operator Jack Phillips realized that the Titanic would not last much longer. He had just looked around the ship and seen that the forward Well-Deck was awash and that things looked 'queer'. He returned to the wireless room where he had left Harold Bride in charge and suggested that they both put on their lifejackets.
Two components of the geography of the Titanic defeated the efforts of many of the Third-Class passengers to reach the Boat-Deck.
The first was the design of the Titanic. There were only a handful of exits available to get to the upper decks - 7 to be exact. All of them by law had to be kept locked.
Third-Class passengers were required by British Law to be kept separated completely from Second-Class passengers and First-Class passengers.
The second was the layout of the Titanic. The Third-Class passengers' cabins were in an area that abounded with dead ends and circuitous passages.
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Captain Smith arrived. "Men, you have done your full duty. You can do no more. Abandon your cabin," he said. Phillips and Bride made no effort to move, however. "You look out for yourselves," the captain continued. " I release you. That's the way of it at this kind of time. Every man for himself."
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After Captain Smith had left, Phillips returned to his work, determined to stay at his post until the last possible moment. Bride left for a moment to retrieve some valuables from his sleeping quarters and upon his return he found a stoker quietly trying to lift Phillip's lifejacket (which lay behind him). Bride immediately grabbed the man and Phillip jumped up to assist him. Soon Bride managed to get a hold of the man and Phillip's swung at him until he collapsed to the floor. Phillips picked up his lifejacket and told Bride that they had better leave. They both climbed up onto the roof of the officers' quarters and Bride went to help free the Collapsible Lifeboat A.
Those working on releasing Collapsible Lifeboat A had used several oars leaning against the Boat-Deck so that they could slide the boat down to the Boat-Deck. However, as they pushed the boat the oars broke at it crashed to the Boat-Deck, upright. Meanwhile, on the port side of the ship, Collapsible Lifeboat B came crashing down upside down onto the Boat-Deck. There was no time, however, to flip it back up. Water began pouring onto the bridge and those standing beside the collapsible lifeboat clambered onto it as it was washed out to sea.
A crowd of people began pouring out of the First-Class entrance but, at the sight of the rapidly advancing water, turned and attempted to run towards the stern. However, they found their way blocked by the railing that separated the First-Class and engineers' promenade areas.
When the Titanic struck the iceberg the situation changed immediately and all engineers not then on duty would have been summoned to the engine room by means of the alarm bell located in the engineers' quarters.
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The engineers did not know if help would come and from their position deep in the heart of the dying ship they were isolated from the open deck and the stars above. Trapped in a steel tomb their fear and anguish can only be imagined but they knew what was required of them and they did their duty to the passengers and their fellow seamen. Pumping and electrical lighting had to be maintained as long as possible and all engineers stayed at their tasks until the very end.
When the order to abandon ship came it was much too late for them; they could not possibly reach the open deck through the complex warren of passageways deep in the bowels of the Titanic and many probably did not even try. Climbing steep ladders from the engine room or boiler rooms was a difficult enough task at the best of times but with the ship trimmed excessively by the head climbing some of these ladders would have been almost impossible. It is likely that many did not drown but were crushed to death as machinery and boilers broke free when the ship trimmed even deeper by the head; some will have been scalded as steam pipes broke free from the boilers still operating to keep the pumps and dynamos working. They died to a man doing their duty. They were paid to do that duty but they were not paid enough to lay down their lives. They sacrificed themselves so that all might stand a better chance of life by keeping the Titanic above water longer than would have been the case without their efforts. The disaster was none of their doing but they died heroes trying to correct the mistakes of others.
As the stern rose into the air there was heard a tremendous crashing sound. The forward funnel of the ship, with a great tearing of metal, suddenly came crashing down toward the bow of the ship. Some were crushed while those on the overturned collapsible B were swept off by the huge wave the falling funnel had created.
The ship was now at such an extreme angle that many of those still aboard began to slide off into the water. The lights of the ship, which had remained lit for so long, suddenly winked once and then went out, plunging the ocean into an eerie darkness. Those in the lifeboats far away from the Titanic could only make it out as a dark outline against the starry sky.
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There was a tremendous noise from inside the ship as its contents crashed and broke.
Suddenly there was another, different sound. The ship, between the third and fourth funnels, began to split apart. As the bow of the ship broke off and slipped beneath the surface of the ocean, the stern settled back, almost to an even keel. This was momentary, however, and as it quickly filled with water the stern rose quickly into the air until it was almost perpendicular to the water.
Horribly, there was still hundreds of people clinging for the lives to the highest parts of the stern section. Many survivors later said that the stern section of the ship remained vertical and motionless for up to several minutes before it plunged, picking up speed as it did so, into the sea.
Chief Charles Baker, who was standing on the very stern, said that he felt as if he were riding an elevator. As the ship went under he stepped off into the water without even getting his head wet.
Four final sounds, like gunshots, were heard just as the Titanic's stern disappeared under the water. "She's gone, lads," a crewman in Lifeboat #3 said.
Bruce Ismay (White Star Line's Managing Director), who was in Collapsible Lifeboat C, couldn't bear the sight of his ship sinking and turned away. Ruth Becker in Lifeboat #13 could hear screaming and watched in horror as people jumped from the ship.
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Final resting place of the Titanic:
The tiny lifeboats, the only remainder of a great ship, lay scattered now on an empty ocean...
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Father Thomas Roussel Davids Byles, the eldest of seven children, was born on February 26th, 1870. He was the son of the Reverend Dr. Alfred Holden Byles, a congregationalist minister, and his wife Louisa Davids. In 1889 Thomas went to Balliol College, Oxford to study theology. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1894. While at Oxford Thomas converted to the Catholic Faith. In 1899 he went to Rome to study for the priesthood, and was ordained in 1902. He was assigned to St. Helen's Parish in Ongar, Essex in 1905.
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It was the upcoming wedding of Thomas' brother William, who had moved to New York to run a rubber business, which prompted this particular trip abroad on board the Titanic. William had asked Thomas to officiate at the wedding ceremony.
On Sunday morning, April 14th, Father Byles said Mass first for the Second-Class passengers in the Second-Class Lounge and then for the Third-Class passengers ("Steerage") in the Third-Class Lounge.
After the Titanic hit the iceberg Father Byles acted bravely by helping the Third-Class passengers loading the lifeboats. At the after end of the Boat-Deck he heard over one hundred confessions of passengers who had been unable to obtain a seat in one of the lifeboats. Several times Father Byles was offered a seat in a lifeboat, but refused and consequently went down with the Titanic. His body was never recovered.
A door in memory of Father Byles was installed at St. Helen's Catholic Church in Chipping Ongar, Essex by his brothers.
Chief-Engineer Joseph Bell was determined to keep the power going for as long as possible after the collision with the iceberg. The lights would stay lit, the pumps kept going and the wireless would still work. To make things easier for the men to move about he had the watertight doors aft of the Boiler Rooms (Orlop-Deck) opened. He reasoned when the water reached that far it would be easy enough to close them.
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A stoker was digging himself out of a bunker the impact had knocked him into while the crew began to rig up hoses and start pumps to keep the water at a manageable level.
Assistant engineers Hesketh, Harvey and Wilson eventually got the pumps working. A few minutes later the light went out in No. 5. Engineer Harvey told Fireman Barrett to go aft to No. 4 for emergency lanterns. With the watertight door closed this meant Barrett had to climb the escape ladder, cross the deck above and climb down into Boiler Room No. 4. Once he had the ladders he had to repeat the performance in reverse, only to find as he climbed back down into No. 5 that the lights had come back on.
Engineer Harvey ordered the boilers shut down and Barrett climbed the ladder once again to call down to the fifteen or twenty idle men from Boiler No. 6 who were milling around on E-Deck. Together the crew from No. 5 & No. 6 began to draw the fires in the five enormous boilers. By midnight they had doused the fires and put on the dampers to keep the steam from rising, while the excess steam was blown off. The light were on and the pumps staying ahead of the incoming water so the men had no reason to believe anything serious was wrong. Harvey directed Barrett to lift a manhole cover of the starboard floorplates so Harvey could make adjustments to the pumps. The steam had reduced the visibility to only a few feet and that is why Shepherd never saw the manhole as he rushed to assist Harvey. Shepherd fell and broke his leg. Harvey, Barrett and Kemish carried Shepherd to the pump room at the forward end of the compartment and returned to work. Orders had come from the bridge for everyone to report to their boat stations leaving Barrett, Harvey and Kemish stayed to work on the valves.
The pumps were working strong and the deck of the boiler room was almost dry and the steam was nearly dissipated. Suddenly the sea came crashing in as the bulk-head between No. 5 & No. 6 gave way. Harvey and Shepherd were swept away within seconds. Kemish and Barrett made for the escape ladders - they both survived the sinking of the Titanic.
This website is dedicated to the eternal legacy of the RMS Titanic and to all of those who needlessly died one cold night in April, 1912...
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