VINCENT MCDONNELL is from County Mayo and now
lives near Newmarket, County Cork. In 1989 he won
the GPA First Fiction Award, after being recommended
by Graham Greene, and has since had eight books for
children published and two for adults. Many of his
short stories have also been published and he has won
numerous other prizes as well as being shortlisted for
the RAI awards. He has been writer in residence at a
variety of locations and has given workshops
and readings all over Ireland.
Contents
Down in the Deep
The New World
The White Star Line
A Dream is Born
Building Titanic
Titanic Sets Sail
Iceberg. Dead ahead!
Titanic in Peril
Calls for Help
Abandon ship!
A Glimmer of Hope
The Mysterious Ship
To the Lifeboats
Panic on Board
Courage and Cowardice
Titanic sinks
Adrift on the Ocean
Rescue!
World is Stunned
The Wreck is Found
1
5
13
19
24
34
45
55
62
68
75
84
91
97
104
113
119
126
136
145
1
Down in the Deep
thousand metres beneath the Atlantic Ocean lies
Four
the wreck of a great ship. It is a dark, silent world
down there. Its only inhabitants are fish and creatures
of the deep. Almost 100 years has passed since the ship
sank. In that time, only a handful of people have ever
descended to the wreck and seen its watery grave.
Yet the rusting remains hold an enduring interest that
has not lessened since it sank on a cold, April night in
1912. For, despite the thousands of ships which have
sunk since man first sailed the oceans of the world, this
one lying deep beneath the Atlantic is the most famous
of all of them.
1
Titanic Tragedy
It still holds a special mystery and fascination, which
shows no sign of fading. In fact, its fame has increased
through the years. Today, people still speak of it with
awe. Many books have been written about it, as have
songs and poems, and Hollywood has made films
about it.
Yet it was a young ship when it sank. It was on its
first, or maiden, voyage across the Atlantic. It was sailing to New York from Cobh, County Cork, then known
as Queenstown.
The ship sank on a calm, cold, starry night. Its fate
was decided in less than 60 seconds. One moment it
was sailing majestically through the darkness, with all
its light ablaze. Then an iceberg was sighted dead
ahead.
A warning bell peeled in the darkness. The ship’s
wheel was spun hard-a-starboard. But it was too late.
The ship’s hull collided with an underwater section of
the iceberg. Minutes later, its lights still ablaze, the
stricken ship lay motionless in the water. Its fate was
sealed and it was doomed to die.
Already the dark waters of the Atlantic Ocean were
gushing in through a gash torn in its side by the collision. In less than three hours the largest ship ever built
would break in two. Its bow and stern would then sink
slowly beneath the waves.
2
Down in the Deep
The ship, built in Belfast and described as unsinkable, was to become a grave for the 1,503 men, women
and children who drowned in the tragedy. Of the 2,208
passengers and crew on board that April night, only
705 survived to tell the story of what happened.
It is a story of foolishness and rash stupidity. It is a
story of man’s greed, pride and ambition. It is also a
story of heroism, bravery and sacrifice, and of terrible
cowardice. It is a story of chance and of the many lives
and dreams that were destroyed, and a story of the families who were separated by the tragedy.
Some of the men and women who survived were
hailed as heroes. Many of those who perished did so
heroically. But many men behaved in a shameful, cowardly manner that night. They lived out their lives in disgrace, aware that in saving themselves they had left others to their fate. Many of those left to drown were
women and children.
The ocean, however, is an indifferent entity. It does
not care who lives or dies, whether they are young or
old, male or female, rich or poor. It will accept them all
and take them to a watery grave.
Many of their names are still remembered today. The
names Bruce Ismay, Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff-Gordon,
Robert Hitchens and Major Peuchen, have become
associated with cowardice.
3
Titanic Tragedy
Others, like Thomas Andrews, Benjamin
Guggenheim, Colonel Archibald Gracie, Ida Straus,
Molly Brown and twelve-year-old Ruth Becker are
remembered for their bravery and courage that night.
This is the story of that fateful night. This is the story
of those men, women and children who lived and those
who died. This is a story of heroism, cowardice and
great sacrifice.
It is also the story of one of the finest and most
famous ships ever to sail the seas, why she was built
and the men who built her. The story also tells how she
now lies silent and rusting beneath the Atlantic waves.
Her name is Titanic and this is her story.
4