the titanic end of a dream Author:wyn craig wade in 1912, 1522 people drowned or froze to death when the royal mail steamship titanic struck an iceberg and sank in the norht atlantic. in the sixty-seven years that have passed, the world has never stopped speculating about the reasons for this appalling tragedy. there have innumerable investigations, but in spite of the exhaustive study, an aur... more »a of mystery continures to surround the tragedy.
was it really inevitable, or could better seamanship and foresight have prevented it? why was the ship hailed as practically "unsinkable" when, in fact, she went to the bottom within 2.5 hours? why did the british board of tade permit passengers to sail with less than half of the ligeboats they needed? why did the vessel ignore radioed iceberf warnings? and why was j. bruce ismay, managing director of the white star line, the owners of the ship, saved when so many male passengers went to an icy death?
here for the first time is the story of america's involvement in the titanic disaster. although the titanic was a british ship, she was actually owned by an american conglomerate-headed by j.p morgan. egged on by the american press and the mourning public, the united states senate launched an investigation. despite jeers from the british press and government, and the courageous determination of michigan's senator william alden smith forced answers to questions that the ships owners and crew wanted to avoid. why were lookouts requests for binoculars in the crows nest repeatedly refused? why were 1 third of the ships survivors members of the crew? why were some of the lifeboats filled to only one-half of their total capacity?
this book recreates both the events of that fatal april night and the proceeding os the senate investigation. flashbacks from actual survivors take us from the sensational evidence of the senate hearings to the titanics desperate last hours afloat-to provide the most detailed account yet of the sinking. we learn about the mass of false defects in the design and construction of the vessel, and the tragic lack of adequate standards at the time for construction and lifeboat requirements.
the definitive book on the tiatnic- must reading for all those who loved waler lords a night to remember« less
I have always had a fasinaction with the sinking of the Titanic, and this book takes you into the investigation that happened on American soil after the survivors returned. Excellent reading and great detail.