A Titanic Journey

By Lucy Sidaway and Jenny Powell

 

Costing $7.5 million to build in 1912, the Titanic was the largest and grandest ship ever built for its time. Setting off on her maiden voyage from Southampton on Wednesday 10th April 1912 and carrying an estimated 2201 passengers, Titanic was deemed “unsinkable” by her owners; the White Star Line. However, later sources confirm that this quotation was taken out of context. Titanic was actually described to be “practically unsinkable,” a much less reassuring proclamation.

 

Titanic struck its icy nemesis on Sunday 14th April at 11:40pm, creating a 350 foot gash on the starboard bow (the right hand side of the ship) and allowing the Atlantic Ocean to engulf the lower decks, despite the preventative ‘water tight’ design. Some sources claim that the fault lay within the fact that look-outs were not provided with binoculars; the ship struck the iceberg a mere thirty seconds after being spotted by the look outs. Had the look-outs been equipped with binoculars, sources claim that the iceberg would have been spotted earlier, leaving the crew with enough time to manoeuvre the Titanic out of harms way.

 

The ship held only enough lifeboats to save around a third of the passengers and crew on board. She was designed to carry 48 lifeboats, but the White Star Line later removed 28 lifeboats before the maiden voyage in order to provide a more comfortable journey for passengers on board. Many lifeboats left the Titanic without being filled to capacity, increasing the death toll further. Out of the 2201 passengers on board the Titanic when she sank, only 711 were rescued. The Titanic sank two hours and forty minutes after striking the iceberg and approximately 1490 people died. The wreckage of Titanic was not found until 1985, 73 years after she sank and 1500 miles from its intended destination of New York.

 

Edward J Smith, the famous Captain of the Titanic was born in Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands. There is much debate on how his life ended aboard the ship, as it is not sure whether he died saving others, locked himself away in his cabin out of terror (as you see in the film), or just took too long to assess the situation, causing needless loss of life. Many sources say that the captain’s comment about how “not even God can sink this ship” was tempting fate. However, after further research it can be argued that it was not Smith who had said this. Instead, it was an employee from White Star Line.

But Smith did stay on the ship until the end and went down with it. This was seen as the thing to do as it was ‘his’ ship as captain. His body was never found.

 

There is a statue of the man himself in Lichfield, erected in 1914. This memorial is often debated, as many people say he had nothing to do with Lichfield and that it should be displayed in Stoke-on-Trent, where he was born. However, it has made Lichfield a tourist attraction. In this sense, they are much more reluctant to send it back to Stoke-on-Trent, using the transference costs as an excuse.

The Titanic brewery in Stoke-on-Trent, founded in 1985, was named after E. J Smith, as he was born just down the road.

 

At the time of the Titanic, there were three brothers named Joseph, John and Alfred, who were aboard the ship with their uncle, James Lester. These four men were all from West Bromwich and were going on the journey to America to join a relative who had previously travelled over there seven years earlier, to find employment.

 

This relative had found a better job in Pontiac where all the top automobile companies such as Ford were based. This had given the rest of the family the idea to join him. Joseph, John and Alfred were all skilled in ironworking, casting and dipping. Pontiac was the ideal place for them to go, as they would be sure to find a car manufacturing job easily.

 

So the three brothers and their uncle decided to set off for America and, once there, send money back over for the rest of their family.

 

Their plan was doomed from the start. First of all they got the timetable wrong for the trains, thinking the train left at 7pm when it was really 5pm. In order to catch the train on time, they had to make a hurried departure by tram to Birmingham to catch the train from there. Then finally, once aboard the ship, there came the real disaster: all four men perished in the icy waters.

It was recorded that James Lester’s wife received aid from the Titanic Relief Fund after her husband’s death, which perhaps she used to get herself and her children over to America. So maybe it didn’t all end badly!

 

The Black Country, an industrial area in the West Midlands, was famed for its production of coal, leather, iron and steel in the late 19th century. By the 20th century, it was one of the most industrialised regions in England, mainly due to the presence of vast quantities of iron ore and coal. The name derives from the thick smog of black smoke lingering over the area at the time, from the emissions of the many foundries and forges.

 

Reputed to be the largest chain and anchor maker in the world, N.G. Hingley and Sons, were based in the heart of the Black Country. They manufactured the anchor and chain required for the Titanic and other Black Country businesses produced the nails used to build both Hampton Court and Crystal Palace. Up to 75% of the interior of the ship was made in the Black Country. 

 

This shows that for centuries, the people of the Black Country played a vital role in creating many of the major infrastructures around the world. With their many steel, iron and glass works, the Black Country was able to create great buildings, transport systems, ships, trains, automobiles.

 

LINKS
There are all kinds of tales involving boats in this anthology. Though the Amistad slaving ship wasn’t particularly connected to Britain, there’s an article on this in the London section La Amistad because a replica of it will be at London’s docklands in August. Boats also figure in the Cumbria section, in the story of Barrow docks and in particular HMS Dreadnought. Being an island nation, we have a long heritage of world exploration, so the voyages of Sir John Barrow (Charting the Unknown, in the Cumbria section) and Sir Joseph Banks (Joseph Banks: Unknown Hero in the Kent section), might interest you.