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The History - Deliverance
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After the water closed over the Titanic,
hundreds of people remained struggling for their lives in the freezing
water. Their screams were unbearable and unforgettable for those who
listened to them from the safety of the lifeboats. Nevertheless, as
hundreds of men, women and children froze to death during the next
hour, none of the boats rowed back to offer help.
 It
was only after the dreadful cries had died down that Fifth Officer
Lowe transferred passengers out of lifeboat 14 and rowed it back to
the site of the Titanic’s sinking. Masses of dead bodies,
buoyed by the life belts, floated in the sea. Lowe and Able Seaman
Joseph Scarrett were only able to pull 14 people out of the water,
and only half of those survived the cold and exposure.
As dawn began to break at 4:30 a.m., the lifeboats drifted in rough
seas, surrounded by huge icebergs, some of them more than 200 feet
high. Slowly, they made their way toward a rescue ship that had finally
arrived. The Cunard liner Carpathia had steamed through the
night, speeding 58 miles to the Titanic’s position after
receiving her wireless plea for help: "Come at once. We have
struck an iceberg." |
 Four
hours later, all 705 Titanic survivors had come aboard the
Carpathia, climbing up rope ladders and nets or being hauled
up in slings to the ship’s deck. Children had been placed in
canvas sacks and pulled aboard. Before leaving the site, the Carpathia
searched for more survivors, but found none. The ship’s captain,
Arthur Rostron, ordered the Carpathia’s flag lowered
to half mast and assembled a memorial service as the ship steamed
over the patch of sea where the Titanic sank. Thirteen of
the liner’s lifeboats were taken aboard, and three survivors
who had perished after the rescue were released into the sea. |
 For
the next three days, the survivors were cared for and comforted by
the Carpathia’s passengers and crew. As they steamed
west across the Atlantic to New York, the ship’s wireless operator,
Harold Cottam, and the Titanic’s rescued Marconi operator, Harold
Bride, transmitted the names of the survivors to an anxious press
and public. The Carpathia finally arrived in New York Harbor
on Thursday, April 18, and the stunned survivors were greeted by mobs
of reporters and photographers desperate for details of the Titanic’s
loss and the terrible disaster that they had survived. |
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