IMMEDIATELAY AFTER TITANIC'S SINKING, WORD spread to the public that the giant had floundered. However, because of the poor inter-continental communication of the time, headlines such as Titanic sinks; All saved and Titanic towed back to New York appeared. White Star Lines' offices in New York were surrounded by the media in the days following the disaster. White Star Lines' spokespeople first denied that any accident had occurred; then they said that a mishap had occurred but everyone was allright. After a few days, however, the grim truth became apparent: the Titanic had sunk, with almost total loss of life.
On the afternoon of April 18th, 1912, crowdes had been forming, over 30,000 people jammed the area, which had been cordoned off by police. Another 10,000 filled the Battery, where the Carpathia sailed into her berth at peir 54. Behind the berth was the White Star offices. Nearly the entire NYC police force where at the peir to hold back the crowds. Ever since Monday, the world waited for the ship's arrival and with it the full story of what happened.
It was at 8pm, when the little ship started to appear through the darkness and rain. As the ship draw closer, it passed up the Cunard berth and headed for White Star's. The reason became obvious when she began to lower the Titanic's lifeboats into the large berth --- all that remained of the once great liner.
The Carpathia then creeped back to the Cunard pier and eased into her berth. A silentce fell over the friends and relatives waiting on shore. Finally the gangway was lowered and by 9pm, the disembarkation had begun.
The scene at the pier was lite by huge spotlights and were directed onto the crowd, so survivors could identify loved ones. The first to leave were the 1st-Class passengers, they filed somberly down the gangway. The relitive quiet disappeared as relatives called the names of survivors.
When Madeleine Astor disembarked with her maid and nurse, they were met by her steopson Vincent and quickly driven away in a waiting automodbile. Karl Behr found his sisters and brother waiting for him. They led him down the dock to where his father sat in a chair, bundled in a blanket. Karl was horrified at how his father looked, the stress had taken a heavy toll on the old man.
The members of the press ruthlessly pursued every angle in search of a scoop. When William Sloper walked down the gangway, he was met not only by his father and brother, but by John Gleason, the editor of the Hartford Times: one of the largest newspapers in Sloper's home state of Connecticut. "Have you got a story for me?" Gleason asked anxiously as they left for the Waldorf-Astoria.
Newshounds sensed a bigger catch when Alice Cleaver stepped ashore, still clutching baby Trevor Allison, the sole survivor of the wealthy Montreal family. As the reporters mobbed around, Alice fended them off with fresh falsehoods, giving her first name as '"Jane" and refusing to provide a surname. In a bizarre twist, the press simply assumed that "Jane" was in fact the ""Miss K. T Andrews" whose name followed that of "Master Allison and Nurse" on the list of survivors. The public, eager for heroes, did not question Alice's story of selfless sacrifice, and her true identity remained unknown. However, the families of Hudson and Bess Allison saw nothing heroic in Miss Cleaver's behavior. They believed the nurse had panicked when she rushed on deck with Trevor, leaving Mrs. Allison in an impossible situation. She was not the type of woman to leave the ship without first knowing with absolute certainty that her baby was safe. They held Alice Cleaver indirectly responsible for the deaths of Bess, Hudson, and their daughter, Loraine. Mrs. Allison's mother would long be haunted by the idea that it could just as easily have been Hudson Allison rather than Steward William Faulkner who stepped into lifeboat No. 11 with Trevor in his arms.
Survivors who had no one waiting for them were not allowed to disembark unattended. Nellie Becker clutched a telegram she had received from friends who intended to meet her and her children at the pier. This acted as her landing card, and she escorted her three children down the gangway wearing a borrowed dress so small that it was bursting at the seams and would not fasten properly. Ruth sported a forlorn cloak, under which she had tied a blanket around her waist as a skirt.
Kate Buss, who still had to journey to California to meet her fiancée', had heard a rumor that those who had no one to meet them would be taken to Ellis Island, so she simply walked off the ship and into the crowd as if she were being met. Wearing only a raincoat over her dressing gown, people eyed her curiously. A representative of one charity approached her, but she assured the woman she was being met soon. A second woman, Deaconess Mathers of St. Barnabas Mission, was not as easily convinced, and she persuaded Miss Buss to leave with her.
On the pier were many representatives of immigrant aid societies, so those steerage passengers who would otherwise have had no place to go found people eager to take them. To their surprise, most were driven away in automobiles, a new experience for many of them. One person who did not appear at the gangway was Brace Ismay. While the Carpathia's passengers continued to disembark, the White Star managing director remained closeted in Dr. McGhee's cabin, alone with his private demons. However, he knew he could not avoid the world much longer. His first visitor was Phillip Franklin, the White Star vice-president whose life had been turned upside down since Monday morning. Franklin warned his employer that trouble was brewing.
The United States Senate approved Senator William Alden Smith from Michagan to oversee a commitee to investigate the Titanic disaster. The Senate Commitee interviewed 82 passengers, as well as 4 officers and 34 members of the crew. The testimony from the various passengers and crew filled 1,145 pages of text. The conclusion of the hearings was that more lifeboats needed to be installed on ships, one seat per passenger, that the government would require 24-manning of wireless equipment, and that the messages maintained secrecy. Congress was quick to back these initiatives, and legislation was passed in the following months.
After all passengers and crew had returned to England, Britain began their own hearings into the disaster. While the American investigation had looked into "how" the disaster had occurred, the Brisith investigation looked into "why" it had happened, and how it could be prevented in the future. Witnessess such as Harold Bride and Frederick Fleet highlighted the testimony presented at the investigation. The outcome of this hearing was that the Titanic's collision was due to excessive speed at which the ship was navigated; that a proper watch was not kept; the lifeboats were not nearly adequete nor were manned properly; and that there had been no discrimination of third class passengers as they had tried to board the lifeboats. The investigation also cleared J. Bruce Ismay, the owner of White Star Lines, from allegations of improper conduct.
The liability claims against White Star were horrendous. White Star Lines was held liable for everything from a $50 set of bagpipes to a $5,000 Renault automobile to a $100,000 Blondel oil painting. The total claims reached in excess of $16 million.
After the sinking of the Titanic, White Star Lines would never be the same. In 1914, the Britannic had been almost completely fitted out when war struck and she was called into duty as a hospital ship. Boasting luxury-class accomodations for the wounded, both passengers and crew alike began to fall in love with the Britannic. It became very popular as a hospital ship. However, on the morning of Tuesday, November 21, 1916, the HMHS Britannic struck a mine of the coast of Greece and sunk within an hour. However, almost all passengers were saved, as new regulations had forced the ship to have enough lifeboats for all passengers.
The Olympic, the first of the Olympic-class ships, was also called into war duty but survived almost unscathed. After the war, the Olympic was brought back into service but never regained her former glory. The Olympic was retired and scrapped in 1932. Following this, White Star Lines went bankrupt, and in 1934, was effectively bought out by long-time rival Cunard to form Cunard White Star.
And thus the Olympic class was ended; only one of the three most luxurious and largest ships ever lived to see the realization of Lord Pierre's dream.
