Could most of the people on the Titanic have survived? Another ship in the area, the 'Californian', could have steamed to the rescue.
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Below are the events that kept the 'Californian' from the Titanic's reach:
In Titanic's radio room, Harold Bride was exhausted. Both radio operators (Jack Phillips included) were expected to keep the radio working twenty-four hours a day, and Bride lay down to take a nap. Phillips was so busy with the passenger messages that he actually brushed off the final ice warning of the night. It was from the 'Californian'. Trapped in a field of ice, she had stopped for the night about nineteen miles north of the Titanic. She was so close that the message literally blasted in Phillips' ears. Annoyed by the loud interruption, he cut off the 'Californian's' radio operator Cyril Evans with the words "Shut up, shut up. I'm busy."
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The radio room had received a total of seven ice warning messages in one day. It was quite clear that floating icebergs lay ahead of the Titanic.
From the bridge of the Titanic, a ship's lights were observed not far away, possibly the 'Californian's'. Captain Smith then ordered white distress rockets fired to get the attention on the nearby ship. They burst high in the air with a loud boom and a shower of stars. But the rockets made no difference. The "Mystery Ship" in the distance never answered.
Not far away, 'Californian's' radio operator Cyril Evans, possibly the "Mystery Ship", had gone to bed for the night and turned off his radio. Several officers and crewmen on the deck of the 'Californian' saw rockets in the distance and reported them to their Captain Stanley Lord.
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At 10.20 p.m. on Sunday April 14th, the Leyland Liner 'Californian', a cargo ship westbound from England to Boston, stopped at the eastern edge of an impenetrable icefield.
The 'Californian' was being captained by Captain Stanley Lord. It was Captain Lord’s sixth voyage with the 'Californian'. His record was free of blemishes and he was held in high regard by his employers. Looking back on his career, Captain Lord remembered it as uneventful and routine - just as he wanted. This Atlantic crossing seemed no different than any other, until April 14th.
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Around 11.00 p.m., Captain Lord and Third Officer Groves observed a light approaching from the east. Third Officer Groves thought she was a passenger liner; Captain Lord thought she was a small tramp steamer, somewhat like the 'Californian'. Captain Lord went below; he later said he had seen her green starboard light while he was on deck.
At 11.40 p.m. Groves thought he saw the other ship put her lights out and stop for the night; by now saw her red port light, and the ship seemed to be stopped, pointing north toward him.
At midnight, the watch changed, and Second Officer Stone and Apprentice Gibson took over from Groves. While Gibson went below decks on an errand.
At 12.45 a.m., Stone saw a flash of light over the steamer, and as he watched he observed several more - white lights in the sky, like rockets. Stone notified Captain Lord. Gibson returned to the bridge and saw three more rockets himself - which like all the others burst into stars. He too notified Captain Lord. However, Lord neither aroused the wireless operator, nor came out on deck to see for himself.
Finally, soon after 2.00 a.m. the other ship seemed to disappear.
At 2.40 a.m., Stone notified Lord one last time. When Stone went off duty at 4.00 a.m., he informed his relief, Chief Officer Stewart, about the rockets as well.
At 4.30 a.m., Captain Lord came back onto the bridge. Stewart repeated Stone's story about the rockets to Lord. "Yes, I know, he has been telling me," Lord answered.
At 6.00 a.m. they received a wireless message from the 'Frankfurt', and then the 'Virginian', "Do you know the Titanic has struck a berg, and she is sinking?" Captain Lord started his engines and headed for the last known position of the Titanic. Within twenty-five minutes, Lord radioed to the 'Virginian' that they were close enough see the rescue ship 'Carpathia' taking on passengers from small boats. About this time, Stewart woke up Third Officer Groves with the announcement, "The Titanic has sunk, and the passengers are all in lifeboats in the water ahead of us."
At 6.50 a.m. Third Officer Groves arrived on the bridge and noticed that the 'Carpathia' and the lifeboats were due east - it had taken them less than an hour to arrive at the same latitude as the lifeboats. When they finally arrived alongside the 'Carpathia', the last of the survivors from the Titanic were just being taken aboard.
When the 'Californian' resumed her course for Boston, her log for that day omitted any mention of the rockets seen during that "Fateful Night".!.!.!
Captain Stanley Lord of the 'Californian' has been called "the Captain who did nothing." When the Titanic struck the iceberg, the 'Californian' was stopped less than 11 miles away.
'Californian's' watch officers observed the eight distress rockets that the Titanic fired and reported them several times to Captain Lord. He did not take any action, leaving 1,523 people to perish in the freezing waters close by.
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Had he acted immediately, the 'Californian' could have reached the Titanic an hour before she sank.
After the tragedy captain Stanley Lord's inaction was condemned by British and American investigations of the sinking, and his career blighted, as he only held small, shabby commands until his retirement in 1927.
Captain Lord died in 1962 at the age of 84.
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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