Shipwrecks -- North Atlantic Ocean; Titanic (Steamship)
There were brave men below deck, too. "A lot has been printed in the
papers about the heroism of the officers," said one survivor, "but
little has been said of the bravery of the men below decks. I was told
that seventeen enginemen who were drowned side by side got down on their
knees on the platform of the engine room and prayed until the water
surged up to their necks. Then they stood up, clasped hands so as to
form a circle and died together. All of these men helped rake the fires
out from ten of the forward boilers after the crash. This delayed the
explosion and undoubtedly permitted the ship to remain afloat nearly an
hour longer, and thus saved hundreds of lives."
In the list of heroes who went down on the Titanic the names of her
engineers will have a high place, for not a single engineer was saved.
Many of them, no doubt, could not get to the deck, but they had equally
as good a chance as the firemen, sixty-nine of whom were saved.
The supposition of those who manned the Titanic was that the engineers,
working below, were the first to know the desperate character of the
Titanic's injury. The watch called the others, and from that time until
the vessel was ready for her last plunge they were too hard at work to
note more than that there was a constant rise of water in the hull, and
that the pumps were useless.
It was engineers who kept the lights going, saw to the proper closing of
bulkhead doors and kept the stoke hole at work until the uselessness of
the task was apparent. Most of them probably died at their post of duty.
The Titanic carried a force of about sixty engineers, and in addition
she had at least twenty-five "guarantee" engineers, representatives of
Harland and Wolff, the builders, and those who had the contract for the
engineering work. This supplementary force was under Archie Frost, the
builders' chief engineer, and the regular force was under Chief Engineer
William Bell, of the White Star Line.
On the line's ships there is the chief engineer, senior and junior
second, senior and junior third, and senior and junior fourth engineers.
The men are assigned each to his own task. There are hydraulic,
electric, pump and steam packing men, and the "guarantee" engineers,
representing the builders and the contractors.
The duty of the "guarantee" engineers is to watch the working of the
great engines, and to see that they are tuned up and in working order.
They also watch the working of each part of the machinery which had
nothing to do with the actual speed of the ship, principally the
electric light dynamos and the refrigerating plant.
NOBLE-HEARTED BAND
"But what of the bandsmen? Who were they?"
This question was asked again and again by all who read the story of
the Titanic's sinking and of how the brave musicians played to the last,
keeping up the courage of those who were obliged to go down with the
ship.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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