Titanic is one of those events where 100 different things had to go a certain way for the disaster to occur. If one link in the chain could have gone differently, either the ship or her passengers/crew could have been saved. I've heard the term "Swiss Cheese Disaster" before. You lay 20 slices of swiss cheese on top of each other, and every once in a while, you get a hole on every slice to align with one another. It seems like every force in the universe was working against that ship that night. Such a sad, tragic, and yet endlessly fascinating story.
I think one of the first links to break was the lookouts in the crows nest failure not having binoculars, If they had....chances are they would have seen and avoided the iceburg
@@curtrose527 The binoculars would have been useless even if they had them. It was a moonless night, the water was calm, and there was that false horizon created by the cold weather mirage which made spotting the iceberg impossible.
@@goku-san Bang on. The superior mirage is in my view the single biggest contributor to the iceberg not being seen till it was too late. Looking at modern images of superior mirage effects is sobering. I saw an 1100 foot supertanker completely disappear except its superstructure due to this phenomena.
I stumbled upon a raging argument on another video about what sank the Titanic. Everyone was blaming one thing..iceberg, coal fire, bad design, weak steel, poor decisions by the crew...Everyone trying to prove Titanic’s fatal flaw. In reality there was no fatal flaw. Just as you said, change any factor, significant or not, and you have a completely different outcome. It is because of this reason that my opinion is that Titanic is the greatest tragedy of all time. There are SO many slices of the story (swiss cheese) that had to align PERFECTLY to give us the story we know today, and they did..to give us this incredible tale. You can’t move one slice without also moving the whole block after it.
It's honestly amazing how much went wrong for that ship to sink. Anyway, I don't how I found your channel but I'm glad I did. I love anything about Titanic history. If you aren't a teacher you need to be.
It’s heartbreaking - I can only imagine how upset the crew of the Californian must have been when their radio guy woke up the next morning to hear what happened. The guilt when they realised they had just stood there, watching a ship sink, must have been brutal.
@@ChickVicious237 Californian was actually sending communication to Capt Smith on the evening of the sinking. Now why would Titanic have anything to do with Californian prior to the collision?. Because in my view it strongly suggests that Californian was waiting in the ice field waiting for further instructions from Titanic to come to the rescue. Capt Lord was rested on the sofa close to the bridge all night waiting for further instructions from his officers and any signs of coloured flares. I don't know how obvious this can be, yet this gets ignored. Lord was made a scapegoat. And how was Californian able to sail from England like Titanic when there was a shortage of coal, apparently carrying no passengers except 3000 woollen blankets and sweaters.
@@mauretaniafan1133 They were too far away to be able to do anything, their wireless had closed down for the night. They only heard what had happened in the morning.
But it could/should have been a lot worse. It stayed above water for 2:40 vs 1:00 thanks to some watertight/airtight events discussed in another video on this channel.
I think the fact that it was so avoidable is what still fascinates people today and because of this one tragedy we have rules in place that now seem like common sense
I'm so happy to hear you talk about the cold mirage. It's one of the most facisnating yet eerie details about that night. It's worthy of its own video.
Apparently, both Operator Phillips and Operator Evans were alone in their respective cabins at the time the _Californian_ radioed the _Titanic._ Phillips didn't so much as take off his headset, as it's more accurate to say he threw it off. He never heard the ice warning. Because both Phillips and Evans were alone in their cabins at this point, the only way this scene would work and be historically accurate would be with subtitles. (It's safe to assume that Phillips told Bride later on of what happened) The only reason we know what was said by the _Californian_ is because the transcripts survive from both the _Californian_ and other ships in the area. After Phillips's rebuttal, Evans, who didn't take it as an insult, continued listening in on the _Titanic's_ end of the conversation (Because the _Californian's_ wireless set wasn't strong enough to reach Cape Race) for a few minutes before turning in. According to Fourth Officer Boxhall, he estimated approximately a dozen rockets were fired. Now, Second Officer Stone and Apprentice Gibson of the _Californian_ weren't even sure until the second rocket fired that what they were seeing were pyrotechnics. I think that it's possible that some of the _Titanic's rockets were "missed" by the _Californian's_ crew, so only eight were spotted by them, like if they were facing away from the mystery ship. As for the _Californian_ herself, she was actually somewhat famous before the _Titanic_ disaster: At the time of her construction, the _Californian_ was the largest ship built in Dundee, Scotland. She was so big that the boilers, which were transported through Dundee to the ship, caused a great deal of damage to the streets. One of the spars of a mast also got entangled in a set of telephone wires, which naturally severed. The _Californian_ actually does have a bit in common with the _Britannic:_ They sank within Greek waters. Within 200 miles of each other, no less! The _Californian_ had been sunk by the German submarines _U-34_ and _U-35_ on November 9, 1915.
You hit the nail on the head when you said Lord, or the officer on watch, could simply have awakened the radio operator in an attempt to clarify the situation. Whether even after learning that the Titanic was in distress the Californian could have done much is a topic for some other time.
It’s mind boggling to me that, after not getting a coherent response from the Morse lamp, they took it to mean everything was fine. That’s incredible. That should have told them everyone was NOT fine, right?!
So, the crucial variable is how long it took the Californian to reach the Carpathian next morning. I think it was over an hour - in daylight! Given that the Titanic started firing rockets about 1:15 before sinking it is doubtful that it could have reached the site in time. And, to be effective a ship would have to reach the site about an hour before the sinking.
@@Harcorwrestler So the mean life time for somebody in the water was under 15 minutes from the time they hit the water. That's under the time necessary to launch a boat!
I had no idea about the rockets should be launched in 1 minute intervals signaling for distress. Thank you! I always wondered why Titanic never blew the ships whistle in an effort to get the attention of the Californian. Titanic could see the Californian on the horizon as well.
Titanic was venting the boilers for a while which would be heard for miles, maybe further than the ships whistle. The Californian heard nothing. They were probably further away than people realise.
It’s agonizing to think if Titanic had hit the ice berg an hour sooner, or if it hadn’t been going so fast, or if the radio operators weren’t busy sending the personal messages, or if the rockets were sent a minute apart, they would have been saved. So many ifs and so many lives lost. 😞
They got a very thorough going-over at the Public Inquiries in the US and UK, when their inaction was condemned as verging on criminal negligence. Lord's failure to rouse his wireless operator stands in stark contrast to the bravery of Rostron of the Carpathia who charged at full speed for the scene, knowing that he might be risking his own ship and professional reputation.
There were Admiralty tribunals in New York and London that were held after the disaster. While no officers of the California were found guilty of crimes, the Captain and First Mate's reputations were destroyed and they never commanded a ship afterwards.
@@davidjones332 Strictly speaking I don't think so much that the crew did anything technically wrong. But every action they didn't take stood out in stark contrast to everything the Carpathia did do.
There's one story of the Californian that could also have been another missed opportunity to save the day, the plight and bad luck of third officer Charles Groves, he was fascinated by the new technology of radio and would spend any free moment not on duty in the Californians marconi room listening to the headphones, (he could understand Morse code) just as titanic was sending out the first distress calls he signed off for the night, went to the radio room and turned on the headset, but due to him not knowing how to switch it on properly he didn't turn on a vital component that meant when he listened he heard nothing, think of it like getting into a car, starting the engine, putting the car in gear and then trying to drive off but the car doesn't move and then giving up and walking off (you left the handbrake on)
Cyril Evans, the wireless operator on "Californian" made a mistake when he attempted to contact "Titanic" at 11pm. It was standard wireless protocol, if you were cutting into someone's transmission to send off a little signal first to ask if you could cut in. (It was the wireless equivalent of knocking on a door before opening it.) Evans forgot to do so, and that was another reason Phillips was irritated at him. Evans himself later said that he realized his error and that he took no offence from Phillips' brush-off
There's a theory that I heard about if Californian did respond to Titanic's distress calls, she still wouldn't have made as out of all the ships in the area, Californian was the closest but also the slowest while the Cunarder Carpathia, thanks to her turbines, was the fastest. This was just something I've heard.
That is true in my opinion, especially if you consider that operator Philipps gave them all the wrong coordinates of the Titanic which was why they searched at the wrong site as they arrived. It was a lucky occurrence that through the mirage effect the crew on the Carpathia was able to spot a lifeboat on the false horizon and changed their wrongly set course. On the other side the Carpathia was lucky not colliding with an iceberg herself by steaming full force through ice at a moonless night and without ramming a lifeboat considering they had the wrong coordinates as all other ships.
@@scabbycatcat4202 Neither the Californian nor the Carpathia would survive WWI, both were torpedoed and sunk; the Californian in November 1915 and the Carpathia in July 1918, with a combined six deaths
It would be interesting - if you haven't already done it - to have a follow-up story on what became of Captain Lord. The Titanic sinking haunted him the rest of his life.
From what I read he worked as a ship captain up until the around 1930. And he retired and died in 1962. He was dispealded as how he was depicted in the 1958 movie.
And side note he was only 34 years old when titanic sank. As he the youngest sea captain on the Atlantic. Which is relatively young for being in his position. Kind of like being a mayor or the governor at that age. As the rest of the captains around were 10/25 years older generally. Captain of the Carpathia was in his early 40s and as we know captain Smith on titanic was in his 60s planned to retire
SS Californian was later sunk on November 9, 1915 by either the German Submarine U-34 or U-35 in the Mediterranean. The Wreck has still sadly never been found. They say she is 10,000 - 13,000 Feet down (Around Titanic’s depth). She is also just less than 200 miles from where HMHS Britannic sank 1 year and 12 days later..
Interestingly- The Edmund Fitzgerald was also known as' The Titanic of the Great Lakes' She broke in half, just like the RMS Titanic. And just like Titanic, she lies in the watery,ice cold abode of Davy Jones Locker.
Man I know they couldn’t really see or know exactly what is going on but if you see a ship listing and firing rockets, nothing can be going good. Imagine if they got to them in time
These are really great viewpoints and stories. Bravo. It makes me think less harshly to the people involved in the accident, because they're always multiple sides to a story, and it's easy for us to complain from the comfort of our own homes in the future. But in a panic, without hindsight, and historical insight to the laws then, it's easy to understand how and why it happened and have more sympathy, because I know just as well, any of us could have done the same thing had we been in there situation.
I can't understand why people are so mad at the Californian. She was surrounded by ice and it was night time, so even if they had received Titanic's distress signals, they wouldn't be able to go help without sinking themselves. And even if they didn't sink, they would have to be so slow and always zigzagging to avoid the icebergs, that they would probably reach the scene of the tragedy the same time the Carpathia did. I think that's why Captain Lord was so calm at the sight of the possible distress rockets and didn't bother to wake the Marconi operator up.
It's worth noting that, at the time, radio communication wasn't "owned" by the ship, but was a private (Marconi) operation that just so happened to have an office on a ship. So there was (at least on most ships) no really clear priority for messages regarding ship operation over passenger messages. Also, there was no law requiring a 24/7 radio watch, this changed only after Titanic. I certainly can understand the captain of the Californian. The ship was stopped surrounded by ice, most of the crew was resting and the boilers were down to low pressure to conserve coal during the wait. He had only a single radio operator that he would desperately need in the morning when he starts to navigate the ice. The other ship was sending out company signals and didn't react to requests by Morse lamp. But even if the Captain decided to wake up the radio operator and come to help, he probably would have been way to late. He needed to raise steam, then very slowly navigate an ice field in the dark with less than optimal viewing conditions. I rather doubt he could have covered the 10 or so miles in anything less than 3-4 hours. I often hear people saying "but the Carpathia went there full steam ahead". Yes, it did. And it was reckless beyond believe. She steamed above her design speed into a near-invisible ice field that already stopped one ship and caused another to sink. Viewing conditions hadn't changed much and Carpathia was much less capable of withstanding a collision with an iceberg. The crew of Carpathia is often touted as heros, but personally i think of them in the same way as i think of the operators of Chernobyl reactor 4 - just that the Carpathia crew was a bit more lucky. On the other hand, i think the crew of the Californian did (mostly) the right thing. They stopped for the night, made sure the most important crew members were fresh in the morning for the dangerous trip through the ice field and they DID try to contact the Titanic with the resources they had available for the night shift, first via radio (which Titanic clearly didn't like), then with signal lamp. And the fact of the matter is, the Californian did survive the night without damage, Titanic plowed full speed into an iceberg, and only sheer luck saved the Carpathia from the same fate.
What kind of idiot compares the heroes who steamed full steam ahead to save lives to reckless nuclear facility operators, and lauds the negligent captain of a ship which could have, but failed to help, or even turn on it's morse receiver briefly, as "mostly doing everything right"? You have your priorities totally wrong. The Californian should have turned on its wireless, plain and simple
The Carpathia's crew gets remembered as heroes because they ultimately succeeding in rescuing Titanic's survivors. Rene's point is that history could have easily gone differently. Carpathia could itself have struck ice and sunk. Or had a massive boiler explosion due to having over-pressured them to gain speed. And the night of April 14-15, 1912 would forever be remembered for having *two* major maritime disasters. It was a huge risk. Fortunately for both the people on Carpathia and the people in Titanic's lifeboats, it was a risk that paid off.
Agreed, though I wouldn't go so far as to compare them with the reactor crews. Carpathia broke all kinds of regulations, and could have easily added more to the casualty tally. I think videos like these are great cause they help dispel a lot of myths and simplifications. I think a lot of people may unfairly blame the Californian and her crew for not coming to Titanic's aid, without realizing that they followed international regulations to the T, and were in no conditions to render assistance quickly anyways - or at least as quickly as some people believe.
I agree with the videos being informative. I knew of the Californian, though I admit that I had previously been under the impression that her crew was either negligent in recognizing the Titanic was in distress, or outright disregarded it. This video enlightened me and I now have MUCH more respect and understanding for her actions that night. As for the Carpathia... All I can think of really is that there's a fine line between heroism and stupidity... And sometimes they overlap...
AMEN! No matter how detailed you explain to lesser informed.... they still come back whine under defending what you already debunked. The real heroes were most of Titanic crew esp. the coal shippers and engineers fighting in the boiler rooms. But also the musicians and of course Captn Smith doing most right when little different decisions could have worsened much. The Carpathia Captain was nuts and gambled lucky he hasn't lost his ship either with possible more casualties. Aftermath is one thing, real time not knowing what will unfold the other. Listening to the Marconi communication Titanic gave little info plus wrong position. Never ever did they communicate a timeframe or how dramatic it is for the unsinkable ship. Thomas Andrews calculated 60-90 minutes, they managed twice as long. But the info known quite early must have stayed in between higher ranked Officers. Or the panic would have not just unfolded at 2am after 2 hours. Cape Race was not much of a help as such an important shore outlet at Newfoundland. They acted like just another small ship being to far away. Start to end. To me that's the most bind boggling they didn't organize as higher authority (even if not official but still respected by all seaman) and try to wake California up. I bet nobody of those attacking you ever heard the Marconi communication and seen the real time computer animated sinking with no lovestory distraction to get a bigger picture besides their Hollyweird Happy End Mindbubble!
In the movie"Titanic" it's been said that a time traveller goes back in time to ensure that the Titanic sinks. If the girl had jumped, then the ship would not have hit the iceberg because they would have turned around to search for her.
A night to remember is my favourite Titanic movie as the one I grew up with, thankful for learning something new I had no previous knowledge of cold water mirage. Excellent content thankyou 👏
I watch you every day! Because you make me smarter. You are the only reason I love to draw ships and show my friends and families. You have the BEST ship documentaries!
I have also heard a story that there was an illegal whaling vessel out there as well that either didn't help cause they were afraid of being busted or that was the ship the California saw. There was something also about the color of the rockets that was being seen.
The theory is that Titanic saw the illegal vessel since Californian's crew testified that they saw "the brightly lit decks of what was clearly a large liner" on the horizon.
@@paulheenan9098 One other detail though. Testimonial from the Californian also mentioned how the the rockets weren't clearing the masthead lights. This tends to lend credence to the presence of a third ship between the Titanic and the Californian. The captain of the whaling ship , the Samson, also confessed to being between the two ships.
@@paulheenan9098 The same crew members testified that at 23.40 (Groves) or 23.56 (Gill) that the ship stopped and all lights went off immediately. We all know hopefully that the lights stayed on until she sank, due to the altruistic help of the crew members... So that cannot be possible the Titanic. Gill stated also that he could see all the lights distinctly and therefore identify it as a passenger steamer. Considering the distance and the mirage effect it was not possible for him to make such an observation. For the same reason morse lamp lights could not be distinctly seen as stated in the video. Because the lights fuses into one glare in a distance which can consist of more or less lanterns and lights. It was to tiny to see. Gill was obviously not telling the truth. The inquiry was very sloppy. as cited: "On more than one occasion during the inquiry, Lord Mersey also displayed his ignorance of maritime matters. This is evidenced amply on page 53 of the official report of the investigation. Lord Mersey had strongly argued at length with literally all the legal and nautical advisers present in court that the lights of a ship, apart from emergency lighting, would, of necessity go out the moment a ship’s main engines are stopped." (Williams, Thomas B. Titanic and the Californian . The History Press. Kindle-Version.) At the very least you have to come to the conclusion that Lord Mersey tried to make the result fit to the statements of the Californian`s crew member. No real investigator is allowed to contrive such an atrocity. He ignored willingly his own nautical advisors and stated that the lights of the Titanic must have been gone off as soon as she stopped for technical reasons which is pure imagination as his own nautical advisors told him... On this contrived and sloppy inquiry is the myth of the Californian based... Paul Heenan meant the sealing hunter ship Samson obviously. And the Mount temple is another candidate for the mystery ship.
@@jp-legal Your statement is incorrect. The fact is that MOST of the lights would go off when the main engine shuts off because it was the main engine that created the electricity to run the majority of the lights. Remember, the batteries of that time could not keep that amount of lights on. And most of the lights did go off as soon as the main engine was flooded. But the emergency lights did remain on as testified by survivors and the lookouts from the Californian. Those had a separate system intended to keep them on for much longer for emergencies because they were far fewer lights and did not require the tremendous power output of the main engine. The mystery ship was only a mystery until all had arrived in NY, whereupon it was discovered it was the Californian.
@@paulheenan9098 even so they probably didn't have radios. they were whaling vessels. and as far as illegal goes?? I don't think they had laws regarding whaling in 1912. even today we have very few laws regulation that in international waters.
A Night to Remember was about the Titanic Disaster. Titanic was a chick flick about two crazy kids in love with the sinking of the Titanic as a backdrop.
It's been suggested to me it would have been very difficult, if not impossible, for the Californian to reach the Titanic trying to navigate through the huge icefield in the dark. Stanley Lord himself is quoted as saying "I'm not going to try to find my way around that until daylight." Why no one thought to simply turn on the radio and find out what was going on is mind boggling.
In all likely hood Californian would be putting themselves in danger going to rescue the survivors. But they could have radioed other ships to help out.
@@retrostuff8976 Perhaps the Californian should have been more aggressive in trying to contact the Titanic. They could have kept pestering the Titanic until the radio operators listened to their message. Just a thought. It's too late now. How soon before Titanic hit the iceberg did Californian try to radio them and was told to stay out?
And once again we come back to the same problem with the Californian. The Carpathia sailed through those same waters to come to the assistance of the Titanic and Capt. Rostrum obviously did not find it "impossible" but extremely urgent that he navigate the ice hazards.
Firstly, congratulations on all your new subscribers. I love how happy you are about it. This is a great channel though; so you deserve it. Secondly, it's nice in ANTR to see a Morse operator holding the key properly. Normally in films they do that 'tap-tap' thing from the top. Thirdly (and you might cover this, I paused the video), I'm a big fan of the legal fallout from the sinking (lawyer, so kinda geeky about things like that). One thing that has come to light is that it may well have been that the bridge crew saw the Iceberg before the crow's nest lookouts. That's because, from the higher angle, the lookouts would have been trying to see the iceberg first against the seas. Whereas, even in the light conditions at the time, the lower elevation of the bridge meant the berg would have stood out more above the horizon.
In 1912 all radios used "Spark Gap" transmitters which transmitted a very powerful electric spark of static across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Not only could everyone hear everyone else's transmission, but if you had an urgent message to send you had to wait for a pause in the others transmissions in order to break in. There was a docudrama years ago about the Admiralty Court inquiry on California's officers. It's a new perspective on their actions.
My father, who had been a radio officer in WW2, told me that as a result of this event a code was devised which would set off an alarm on any ship close enough to receive that signal. This is all I know about it (hey, he told me this some 70 years ago).
@Historic Travels , I believe that you should do a part 2 or a second look at the Californian and Titanic that night. 1. The Californian was a much smaller and slower ship than either Titanic and the Carpathia. 2. Not enough room to place all rescue those passenger had they tried. 3. Due to the pack ice and distance, had Californian made an attempt to rescue, they would have arrive the same time Carpathia did. 4. The Californian didn't have Marconi wireless before. So it was all new to them. 5. Titanic gave the wrong coordinates because when Carpathia came to the coordinates given, they couldn't find Titanic survivors. They had to sail further to find Titanic survivors. 6. The Californian was further then 10 nautical miles then from Titanic. 7. There was a 3rd ship in the area, the Mount Temple. Mount Temple was planning to go to Titanic's rescue till they were told by their owners to stay put and that it was too dangerous. The ships owners told the captain if the Mount Temple got into an accident, he would be the sole blame. 8. Mount Temple passengers and crew openly vented when they got back home, the Mount Temple let Titanic suffer. 9. The documentary Abandoning the Titanic is one of the few groundbreaking Titanic docs along with Nat Geo's Titanic: Case Closed. 10. Captain E.J. Smith should carry more blame for his role that night. While Captain Stanley Lord did everything by the book. 11. That's right I'm a Stanley Lord supporter.
I would love to have a discussion with you on this topic. :) I think that would make a good collaboration video. Was the mystery ship the Californian or a different ship?
Co-Signing all points with the exception of 10. Captn Smith done an outstanding job. Much more could have gone accelerating wrong listening to his officers, engineers and senior seaman that the water in-flow was rather minor and advised to keep on sailing. He still insisted to call on Thomas Andrews for a personal look. He was that experienced and respected. Not many other Captains frankly had over-exaggerated this little incident for THE UNSINKABLE SHIP calling the chief ship constructor out of his bed shortly before midnite. If this had failed in the beginning all hell broken lose very soon with basically no survivors at all. Only minor thing he should have made an overall emergency action call to entire crew members to find the red signal flares just as overcautious after getting the 60-90 minutes timeframe. Rather 60-90 minutes passed before shooting non-coded flares. Instead of relying to Marconi only and way later a little morse attempt. I put minor as even that had not changed a thing in the aftermath. Just to few life boats and to cold water. Californian was just to far away and noone needs to put his own ship/crew on high risk in a ice-field they initially even rather stopped for the entire night. Would the Mount Temple (if even 100% true! It's not a mystery for a century for nothing!) had acted differently on red than white, if the concern was major for the own safety not hitting on ice as well. I mean they heard telegraph and were not asleep. They hadn't even needed any flare.
Such a tragic (and maddening) story. I think that Walter Lord's comment was that Captain Lord should have showed more "initiative" (meaning -- what you said -- that he should have awakened the wirelss operator). I would like to know your opinion concerning the theories surrounding the proximity (and visibility?) of the Mt. Temple.
Too bad that the double bottom of the Titanic wasn't carried up the sides of the ship to give it a double hull. Her sister ship Olympic did have some retrofit work done to improve safety like adding a double hull, more life boats and increasing the height of the water tight bulkheads and so on. Thanks for your time and hard work. Always learn something new here.......
It's one of those little nuggets of interesting information to me, that Arthur Rostron and Stanley Lord were both from the same part of England; Bolton, Lancashire.
Sam, you're beyond expectations. Congrats boy! I imagine how amazing would be listen from your mouth other historical tragedies like the killing of tsar Family or facts like French Revolution, etc. Well done. I watch your channel everyday.
I was on an old Victory Ship converted to a research ship and we still had these Speaking Tubes installed. There is a brass closure with a hole in it. You blow into it first. This makes a whistling sound to get the receivers attention. Then with your thumb, hold down a lever which opens the closure with the hole in it to speak.
I Seriously love your videos as a young boy who loves history these videos I would finish before I watch any other video it’s just amazing this information is finally getting out and it’s been 109 years since titanic sank and now it’s story is finally getting completed as more information of titanic sinking come out I would love to see the day where finally titanic mystery has been solved hats off to you and all other historians who show theses :D
I've always held the belief that there was nothing the Californian could have done. Even if they had reacted from the moment of the first radio distress signals from the Titanic, the ship had stopped for the night. How long would have it taken to get the crew up and the ship under way? Then they had to navigate the ice field that they were in. Also we have no real idea as to how close they were to the Titanic. It was nearly a hour after the iceberg that the Titanic even fired her first rockets. At best I feel as though the Californian would have gotten there well after the ship had sunk but before the Carpathia and maybe been able to save a few more people if they were super lucky and were able to locate the ones who had been exposed to the water first.
Now lets assume the Californian did manage to get there before the Titanic went under, then what? They probably wouldnt have been able to get close to the Titanic. They'd have to lower their own lifeboats and almost certainly have to row them to the Titanic which would take time. Then theres the issue of getting passengers onto the lifeboats which would be fairly difficult I believe. Pulling people out of the water after the Titanic had gone under would have been a major issue as well. Mainly for the same reasons the Titanics lifeboats didnt return for awhile, the people in the water would have almost certainly have swamped any boat that came near.
The radio officer did warn the titanic of ice. The arrogance of their officers put paid to any hopes of rescue. It always pays to be humble and courteous.
Read about the american inquiry many years ago. Since survivors were brought to New York, this was the first inquiry. All surviving crew were kept under house arrest until inquiry was finished, White Star didn't pay them to be there and were dependant on charity to survive. Secondly wireless operators were not anserably to the Captain. They were employees of the Marconi Company. Third,. During American inquiry, when Captain of Californian insisted the rockets seen were not from Titanic, a senator replied "don't care if it was the whole Spanish Armada, why didn't you go investigate?" Fourth, senior surviving officer was asked at what point did you leave your ship? Answer:. I never left my ship, claimed he went down with the Titanic a air bubble drove him to the surface next to a life boat and was hauled on board. Very melodramatic and implausible I would think. Fifth, upon arriving in New York,. Carpathia first went to Titanic's berthing spot and dropped off the lifeboats, then went to it's own berth to tie up. Still more dramatic story telling typical for the era
The Californian was 20 miles away and couldn't do much anyway. Captain Lord became a pariah, blamed as if he could have saved everyone. In reality, the Californian would only hold around 100 passengers and crew.
Completely agree, they couldn`t have squeezed many more in if they tried. It would have taken 2 decent size ships to do a full rescue. The odd thing was that Lord kept asking about the colour of rockets fired from that mystery ship, as though he was expecting something to happen, and as far as he was aware, nothing did until he heard about it early next morning. Given his position and with wireless switched off for the night, he would normally have been excused from any involvement, but it appears there are some that had other ideas.
great video . The comments on it were more interesting to me because I doubt if many of the authors have ever been to sea for a living, I have and experienced two sinkings and one close call in my working life
I was a young kid when I first became fascinated with Titanic. Let me tell you a few years into my reading everything I could find about Titanic and I found out about the Californian I was dumbfounded and in disbelief. I remember running outta my room and telling my Mom all excited and shocked and her just looking at me and she just said "Okay Jazz" 😂😂😂😂
Thanks for this video! I’ve always found it very annoying that people parrot off the false narrative of the SS Californian ignoring the Titanic as she sank. Just a quick point, while the British Inquiry’s final report concluded that 8 rockets were fired by the Titanic before she sank, the testimonies of the crew taken together shows that the actual number of rockets fired was more than that, likely 14-16. The fact remains that the Californian saw 8 rockets, and it wasn’t clear that they were distress rockets.
Because the rockets were fired off with five minute intervals which per nautical communication at the time meant the Titanic was having navigational difficulties.
That was the assumption but never shown to be the case. The scrap log was not kept as a permanent record but was periodically disposed of under normal circumstances.What isn't clear to me was what the circumstances were that determined when a scrap log was no longer of value and could be discarded.
You ever hear that story about a possible third mystery ship that was between the two ships? I remember reading about it in one of the many Titanic books I read as a kid.
Another “like” that was very well earned!! (I’m already now a subscriber otherwise I’d subscribe all over again too!) My friend, I don’t know what career or careers you are planning but I have no doubt, with your level of “attention to detail”, you will do very, very well. You will be a great asset to any company that hires you. And if you ever decide to teach at any level or environment, I believe you will be LEGENDARY!!! You have the gift of communication and the natural skill of effective conversation that keeps your audience interested and engaged. Thank you, again… for an excellent presentation and covering yet another area of the Titanic story that most (including me) did not know. You did an outstanding job!! 🤠👍🏻👏👏👏
one thing that changed after the Titanic sunk (a lot of changes happened after the titanic's sinking though, the way sea crews operated and such at the time really wasn't efficient and safety wasn't so big as it was untill after the fact) was the signal of rockets. they changed it where any sign of rockets meant distress and nothing else because yeah, rockets were used in many ways back then but after the titanic they removed all the confusing aspects of rockets and simplifed it to not be as confusing as it was. it's crazy to imagine how many lives could've been saved had the Californain been there.
Here's a what if scenario: would it have been possible for titanic to sail toward the Californian even though that would mean taking on more water. I think it could have, it was only 20-30 minutes away... Even if Titanic lost 1 hour due to moving on a compromised hull that still leaves more than enough time to get almost everyone off the ship and onto the Californian... I would have tried it...
It's worth mentioning that Californian couldn't physically arrive on the scene before 2:45 AM. The first distress rocket was fired at 12:45 AM, but Cpt. Lord was informed only at 1:10 AM. So he had literally no time to help Titanic, as it would take at least 1 hour to get through the ice and navigate to Titanic. That's another sad fact. Even if they woke up the wireless operator, even if they steamed the hardest towards Titanic, they would only witness the sea full of dead bodies. Even if they teleported, there wouldn't be enough time to transfer all the people as it would take the whole day using life boats. 1500 people didn't have a chance, and that's the most shocking.
She could’ve arrived in time to save at least some of the lives that were lost, though. Captain Lord didn’t officially realize the Titanic really sank and start moving again until about sometime between 4:30 and 5:00. Not only did it take the Carpathia about 4 hours to find the first of the Titanic’s survivors after she started her dash, but following this, it took her an additional 4 and a half hours to find and pick up every one of the survivors since the lifeboats didn’t stay together in one group. Some of the Titanic’s lifeboats even tried to row toward the Californian in attempt to get her attention, but unfortunately, the Californian picked up the message about the Titanic sinking and started dashing in the wrong direction before they could get close enough which is why she didn’t arrive at the scene of the Titanic sinking until about 9:00AM about a half hour after the Carpathia finished picking up the survivors.
Well, the Californian could’ve at least arrived in time to help some of the Titanic’s people. The Carpathia found the first survivors sometime around 4:00AM and following this, it took her an additional 4 and a half hours to find and pick up every one of the survivors and the survivors were exhausted, crying, shivering, and hurting terribly when they were rescued so they really would’ve appreciated it and felt better if the Californian came to help them too. Some of the Titanic’s lifeboats even tried to row toward the Californian in attempt to get her attention, but unfortunately, the Californian picked up the message that the Titanic sank and had been calling for help and started moving in the wrong direction before those lifeboats could get close enough. Also, the Californian’s crew actually did witness the sea full of dead bodies when they arrived at that scene of the sinking to see if they could do anything to help with the situation about a half hour after the Carpathia had picked up the last of the survivors and stayed behind for some time to search for any survivors the Carpathia might have missed so the Carpathia could start heading back to New York City.
Your channel is amazing! I have always been interested in the Titanic, and I love the work and research you do to explain the events!! I just subscribed!
I live in New Brunswick so it was cool seeing the map that shows my home province because we’re one of those forgotten places that nobody has ever heard of despite having the oldest city in Canada
The thing is that nobody knew of the role Californian played in the sinking at first. Carpathia had no idea that she had been sitting only a few miles away when the crew saw the tramp steamer zig zagging its way around the ice field to come and assist them in retrieving the survivors. Since Carpathia had largely collected them all by the time Californian arrived, the latter vessel continued on her voyage and quietly arrived in port. It was then that the ship's involvement became public when the crew immediately went to the papers to tell their stories.
Whether you want to call it a Mirage or super refraction it doesn't matter. There was some site anomalies that definitely affected viewing for everybody including the Titanic. I grew up in the South and it's no different than seeing a heat Mirage in the sense that you see water on the highway when it really isn't there. Great work and to all who are trying to be overcritical...whatever...your awesome!!!
Another thing is the ice field wouldn't be that far south again until the 60s or the 70s. Another sad story among many is that a passenger who was a good swimmer said we was going to swim for the lights in the distance, lights which Boat No.1 would also see and head for until she steamed out of sight. These lights being from the Californian.
It was the Mount Temple that was the ship in the distance. When the Titanic was found the position given on the night of the sinking was found to be incorrect. The Californian was stopped for sometime and had time to log a more accurate position than the hurried calculations on Titanic. Titanics true position was near the point logged by Mount Temple.
My biggest issue with this theory is the Titanic was in communication with the Mount Temple. So if it was shouldnt the lights on the horizon been getting brighter as the ship got closer?
@@timwebster8122 Haha love it!!! You know I feel bad for kids of today who didnt grow up with classic movies like Back to The Future. I told this kid about the movie once, kid was around 12 and she said meh I dont like watching old movies. I just looked at her and was like WHAT!!!!! When did Back To The Future become a old movie!!!!
@@HistoricTravels how about the Lancastria as your next study. Many thought all the BEF got out of France at Dunkirk but lots didn't only to drown on the Lancastria. Another interesting fact is the Captain survived and later commanded the Laconina. Also another fascinating story. Keep up the good work with your channel. Best wishes from Yorkshire England
The S.S.Californian was a scapegoat. The S.S. Mount Temple opreated by Canadian Pacific Lines and Captained by James H. Moore at the time essentially got a free pass. Michigan's Senator Republican William A. Smith chaired the Senate hearings in NYC at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel; which started on April 19th. This was just a few short days after the sinking. In the investigation and interviews the Committee became target fixated on the S.S. Californian and Captain Stanley P. Lord. This could be accounted for various reasons. Lack of knowledge about the S.S. Mount Temple. The Committee rushing to find who was "responsible" and bring closer to this tragic sinking. Also, look at the time period. If this hearing was drawn out long term and left unresolved. Can you imange the negative outcome on the shipping and passenger liner industries? It would've been catastrophic. Love your content and what your doing Sam. Keep up the great work. Every time I get a notification about your videos I immediately press play on them.
Another great video filled with information. I read somewhere that rockets are only a sign of distress and nothing else. That was the rule in 1912. What I read was obviously false information. Good job on your research. I learn so much from you. Keep up the great work!!
Titanic is one of those events where 100 different things had to go a certain way for the disaster to occur. If one link in the chain could have gone differently, either the ship or her passengers/crew could have been saved. I've heard the term "Swiss Cheese Disaster" before. You lay 20 slices of swiss cheese on top of each other, and every once in a while, you get a hole on every slice to align with one another. It seems like every force in the universe was working against that ship that night. Such a sad, tragic, and yet endlessly fascinating story.
I think one of the first links to break was the lookouts in the crows nest failure not having binoculars, If they had....chances are they would have seen and avoided the iceburg
@@curtrose527 The binoculars would have been useless even if they had them. It was a moonless night, the water was calm, and there was that false horizon created by the cold weather mirage which made spotting the iceberg impossible.
It’s also called Murphy’s Law. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Bad luck comes in threes you know.
@@goku-san Bang on. The superior mirage is in my view the single biggest contributor to the iceberg not being seen till it was too late. Looking at modern images of superior mirage effects is sobering. I saw an 1100 foot supertanker completely disappear except its superstructure due to this phenomena.
I stumbled upon a raging argument on another video about what sank the Titanic. Everyone was blaming one thing..iceberg, coal fire, bad design, weak steel, poor decisions by the crew...Everyone trying to prove Titanic’s fatal flaw. In reality there was no fatal flaw. Just as you said, change any factor, significant or not, and you have a completely different outcome. It is because of this reason that my opinion is that Titanic is the greatest tragedy of all time. There are SO many slices of the story (swiss cheese) that had to align PERFECTLY to give us the story we know today, and they did..to give us this incredible tale. You can’t move one slice without also moving the whole block after it.
It's honestly amazing how much went wrong for that ship to sink. Anyway, I don't how I found your channel but I'm glad I did. I love anything about Titanic history. If you aren't a teacher you need to be.
It’s heartbreaking - I can only imagine how upset the crew of the Californian must have been when their radio guy woke up the next morning to hear what happened. The guilt when they realised they had just stood there, watching a ship sink, must have been brutal.
This is understated. We tend to forget the weight of human conscience following something so dreadful.
They couldn’t have cared less they said to the Carpathia “We just sailed into this area and heard about Titanic. Is there anything we can do to help?”
@@carter2.005 how does that mean that they don't care? they are offering to help in any way they can.
@@ChickVicious237 Californian was actually sending communication to Capt Smith on the evening of the sinking. Now why would Titanic have anything to do with Californian prior to the collision?. Because in my view it strongly suggests that Californian was waiting in the ice field waiting for further instructions from Titanic to come to the rescue. Capt Lord was rested on the sofa close to the bridge all night waiting for further instructions from his officers and any signs of coloured flares. I don't know how obvious this can be, yet this gets ignored. Lord was made a scapegoat. And how was Californian able to sail from England like Titanic when there was a shortage of coal, apparently carrying no passengers except 3000 woollen blankets and sweaters.
@@mauretaniafan1133 They were too far away to be able to do anything, their wireless had closed down for the night. They only heard what had happened in the morning.
Sadly a lot of things went wrong that night that could have saved more people.
But it could/should have been a lot worse. It stayed above water for 2:40 vs 1:00 thanks to some watertight/airtight events discussed in another video on this channel.
I think the fact that it was so avoidable is what still fascinates people today and because of this one tragedy we have rules in place that now seem like common sense
@@katiesnyder6296 is that not always the case
I'm so happy to hear you talk about the cold mirage. It's one of the most facisnating yet eerie details about that night. It's worthy of its own video.
Apparently, both Operator Phillips and Operator Evans were alone in their respective cabins at the time the _Californian_ radioed the _Titanic._ Phillips didn't so much as take off his headset, as it's more accurate to say he threw it off. He never heard the ice warning. Because both Phillips and Evans were alone in their cabins at this point, the only way this scene would work and be historically accurate would be with subtitles. (It's safe to assume that Phillips told Bride later on of what happened) The only reason we know what was said by the _Californian_ is because the transcripts survive from both the _Californian_ and other ships in the area. After Phillips's rebuttal, Evans, who didn't take it as an insult, continued listening in on the _Titanic's_ end of the conversation (Because the _Californian's_ wireless set wasn't strong enough to reach Cape Race) for a few minutes before turning in.
According to Fourth Officer Boxhall, he estimated approximately a dozen rockets were fired. Now, Second Officer Stone and Apprentice Gibson of the _Californian_ weren't even sure until the second rocket fired that what they were seeing were pyrotechnics. I think that it's possible that some of the _Titanic's rockets were "missed" by the _Californian's_ crew, so only eight were spotted by them, like if they were facing away from the mystery ship.
As for the _Californian_ herself, she was actually somewhat famous before the _Titanic_ disaster: At the time of her construction, the _Californian_ was the largest ship built in Dundee, Scotland. She was so big that the boilers, which were transported through Dundee to the ship, caused a great deal of damage to the streets. One of the spars of a mast also got entangled in a set of telephone wires, which naturally severed.
The _Californian_ actually does have a bit in common with the _Britannic:_ They sank within Greek waters. Within 200 miles of each other, no less! The _Californian_ had been sunk by the German submarines _U-34_ and _U-35_ on November 9, 1915.
The Carpathia too was torpedoed by a U-boat of the southern coast of Ireland in WW-I in about 500 feet of water.
the wreck of the Californian still has not been located
@@nicholasmaude6906 it's just Carpathia
@@brainstewX It's now been fixed.
You must do RUclips videos with all this info 😅 I bet you have more info like this. People would love it. At least, I do. 😁
The atmospheric effect you're talking about is called "super refraction."
How could they see the "Californian" but not the iceberg
@@KurtMidas1510
Because icebergs absorb light, they don't reflect it.
Because the Californian had her masthead & port/starboard lights on.
@David Santiago
Pardon me. Atmospheric refraction is what I should have said.
Yes I remember watching a documentary a long time ago where they had written notes stating they had refraction a lot of refraction.
The more I learn about the Titanic, the more I see a tragic domino effect ob so many levels. Well done on the research Sir!
You hit the nail on the head when you said Lord, or the officer on watch, could simply have awakened the radio operator in an attempt to clarify the situation. Whether even after learning that the Titanic was in distress the Californian could have done much is a topic for some other time.
It’s mind boggling to me that, after not getting a coherent response from the Morse lamp, they took it to mean everything was fine. That’s incredible. That should have told them everyone was NOT fine, right?!
@@kevin6293 Right, and if not then, definitely after they saw rockets.
So, the crucial variable is how long it took the Californian to reach the Carpathian next morning. I think it was over an hour - in daylight!
Given that the Titanic started firing rockets about 1:15 before sinking it is doubtful that it could have reached the site in time. And, to be effective a ship would have to reach the site about an hour before the sinking.
@@hypothebai4634yeah, but they could’ve saved many people in the water when they got there. One person saved is better than no person saved.
@@Harcorwrestler So the mean life time for somebody in the water was under 15 minutes from the time they hit the water. That's under the time necessary to launch a boat!
As I've said before, I needed this about 19 years ago when doing a school report on the titanic
I had no idea about the rockets should be launched in 1 minute intervals signaling for distress. Thank you!
I always wondered why Titanic never blew the ships whistle in an effort to get the attention of the Californian. Titanic could see the Californian on the horizon as well.
@@leilaj8895 whoa! Nice to meet you too LJ!
I wondered about the whistle to. It can be heard for miles, at least ships close by would have heard them.
Titanic was venting the boilers for a while which would be heard for miles, maybe further than the ships whistle. The Californian heard nothing. They were probably further away than people realise.
It’s agonizing to think if Titanic had hit the ice berg an hour sooner, or if it hadn’t been going so fast, or if the radio operators weren’t busy sending the personal messages, or if the rockets were sent a minute apart, they would have been saved. So many ifs and so many lives lost. 😞
It really was the perfect storm :(
Things must have been super-awkward on the Californian after they found out.
I don't think it was "awkward" more like they had to live with remorse for the rest of their lives...
They got a very thorough going-over at the Public Inquiries in the US and UK, when their inaction was condemned as verging on criminal negligence. Lord's failure to rouse his wireless operator stands in stark contrast to the bravery of Rostron of the Carpathia who charged at full speed for the scene, knowing that he might be risking his own ship and professional reputation.
There were Admiralty tribunals in New York and London that were held after the disaster. While no officers of the California were found guilty of crimes, the Captain and First Mate's reputations were destroyed and they never commanded a ship afterwards.
@@davidjones332 Strictly speaking I don't think so much that the crew did anything technically wrong. But every action they didn't take stood out in stark contrast to everything the Carpathia did do.
And now that same telegraph is laying at the bottom of the ocean in the wreck of the Californian
There's one story of the Californian that could also have been another missed opportunity to save the day, the plight and bad luck of third officer Charles Groves, he was fascinated by the new technology of radio and would spend any free moment not on duty in the Californians marconi room listening to the headphones, (he could understand Morse code) just as titanic was sending out the first distress calls he signed off for the night, went to the radio room and turned on the headset, but due to him not knowing how to switch it on properly he didn't turn on a vital component that meant when he listened he heard nothing, think of it like getting into a car, starting the engine, putting the car in gear and then trying to drive off but the car doesn't move and then giving up and walking off (you left the handbrake on)
Cyril Evans, the wireless operator on "Californian" made a mistake when he attempted to contact "Titanic" at 11pm. It was standard wireless protocol, if you were cutting into someone's transmission to send off a little signal first to ask if you could cut in. (It was the wireless equivalent of knocking on a door before opening it.) Evans forgot to do so, and that was another reason Phillips was irritated at him.
Evans himself later said that he realized his error and that he took no offence from Phillips' brush-off
I have never heard about the false horizon phenomenon before. Thanks for informing me!
You always have the .out wholesome and friendly attitude the way you start all your video. Bless y'all
There's a theory that I heard about if Californian did respond to Titanic's distress calls, she still wouldn't have made as out of all the ships in the area, Californian was the closest but also the slowest while the Cunarder Carpathia, thanks to her turbines, was the fastest. This was just something I've heard.
That is true in my opinion, especially if you consider that operator Philipps gave them all the wrong coordinates of the Titanic which was why they searched at the wrong site as they arrived. It was a lucky occurrence that through the mirage effect the crew on the Carpathia was able to spot a lifeboat on the false horizon and changed their wrongly set course. On the other side the Carpathia was lucky not colliding with an iceberg herself by steaming full force through ice at a moonless night and without ramming a lifeboat considering they had the wrong coordinates as all other ships.
The Carpathia did not have turbines. She was a quadruple expansion steamship built for about 15 knots.
@@scabbycatcat4202 Neither the Californian nor the Carpathia would survive WWI, both were torpedoed and sunk; the Californian in November 1915 and the Carpathia in July 1918, with a combined six deaths
This is something people fail to see.
@@jp-legal the Californian didn’t need the coordinates of Titanic because they could see where the Titanic was with their own eyes.
Very interesting presentation. I never knew about the false horizon...
It would be interesting - if you haven't already done it - to have a follow-up story on what became of Captain Lord. The Titanic sinking haunted him the rest of his life.
From what I read he worked as a ship captain up until the around 1930. And he retired and died in 1962. He was dispealded as how he was depicted in the 1958 movie.
And side note he was only 34 years old when titanic sank. As he the youngest sea captain on the Atlantic. Which is relatively young for being in his position. Kind of like being a mayor or the governor at that age. As the rest of the captains around were 10/25 years older generally. Captain of the Carpathia was in his early 40s and as we know captain Smith on titanic was in his 60s planned to retire
SS Californian was later sunk on November 9, 1915 by either the German Submarine U-34 or U-35 in the Mediterranean. The Wreck has still sadly never been found. They say she is 10,000 - 13,000 Feet down (Around Titanic’s depth). She is also just less than 200 miles from where HMHS Britannic sank 1 year and 12 days later..
So informative, great job, I'm very interested in seeing something on the Edmund Fitzgerald
Have u read about the MV Derbyshire.
Interestingly- The Edmund Fitzgerald was also known as' The Titanic of the Great Lakes'
She broke in half, just like the RMS Titanic. And just like Titanic, she lies in the watery,ice cold abode of Davy Jones Locker.
Man I know they couldn’t really see or know exactly what is going on but if you see a ship listing and firing rockets, nothing can be going good. Imagine if they got to them in time
Love to see your channel growing. You're a very good storyteller with a lot of interesting knowledge to share. Thanks!
These are really great viewpoints and stories. Bravo. It makes me think less harshly to the people involved in the accident, because they're always multiple sides to a story, and it's easy for us to complain from the comfort of our own homes in the future. But in a panic, without hindsight, and historical insight to the laws then, it's easy to understand how and why it happened and have more sympathy, because I know just as well, any of us could have done the same thing had we been in there situation.
this guy is that cool history teacher you always want but never got
I can't understand why people are so mad at the Californian. She was surrounded by ice and it was night time, so even if they had received Titanic's distress signals, they wouldn't be able to go help without sinking themselves. And even if they didn't sink, they would have to be so slow and always zigzagging to avoid the icebergs, that they would probably reach the scene of the tragedy the same time the Carpathia did. I think that's why Captain Lord was so calm at the sight of the possible distress rockets and didn't bother to wake the Marconi operator up.
wow i honestly had no idea about the flares and the 1min interval till now. cheers
It's worth noting that, at the time, radio communication wasn't "owned" by the ship, but was a private (Marconi) operation that just so happened to have an office on a ship. So there was (at least on most ships) no really clear priority for messages regarding ship operation over passenger messages. Also, there was no law requiring a 24/7 radio watch, this changed only after Titanic.
I certainly can understand the captain of the Californian. The ship was stopped surrounded by ice, most of the crew was resting and the boilers were down to low pressure to conserve coal during the wait. He had only a single radio operator that he would desperately need in the morning when he starts to navigate the ice. The other ship was sending out company signals and didn't react to requests by Morse lamp.
But even if the Captain decided to wake up the radio operator and come to help, he probably would have been way to late. He needed to raise steam, then very slowly navigate an ice field in the dark with less than optimal viewing conditions. I rather doubt he could have covered the 10 or so miles in anything less than 3-4 hours.
I often hear people saying "but the Carpathia went there full steam ahead". Yes, it did. And it was reckless beyond believe. She steamed above her design speed into a near-invisible ice field that already stopped one ship and caused another to sink. Viewing conditions hadn't changed much and Carpathia was much less capable of withstanding a collision with an iceberg. The crew of Carpathia is often touted as heros, but personally i think of them in the same way as i think of the operators of Chernobyl reactor 4 - just that the Carpathia crew was a bit more lucky.
On the other hand, i think the crew of the Californian did (mostly) the right thing. They stopped for the night, made sure the most important crew members were fresh in the morning for the dangerous trip through the ice field and they DID try to contact the Titanic with the resources they had available for the night shift, first via radio (which Titanic clearly didn't like), then with signal lamp. And the fact of the matter is, the Californian did survive the night without damage, Titanic plowed full speed into an iceberg, and only sheer luck saved the Carpathia from the same fate.
What kind of idiot compares the heroes who steamed full steam ahead to save lives to reckless nuclear facility operators, and lauds the negligent captain of a ship which could have, but failed to help, or even turn on it's morse receiver briefly, as "mostly doing everything right"?
You have your priorities totally wrong. The Californian should have turned on its wireless, plain and simple
The Carpathia's crew gets remembered as heroes because they ultimately succeeding in rescuing Titanic's survivors.
Rene's point is that history could have easily gone differently. Carpathia could itself have struck ice and sunk. Or had a massive boiler explosion due to having over-pressured them to gain speed. And the night of April 14-15, 1912 would forever be remembered for having *two* major maritime disasters.
It was a huge risk. Fortunately for both the people on Carpathia and the people in Titanic's lifeboats, it was a risk that paid off.
Agreed, though I wouldn't go so far as to compare them with the reactor crews. Carpathia broke all kinds of regulations, and could have easily added more to the casualty tally.
I think videos like these are great cause they help dispel a lot of myths and simplifications. I think a lot of people may unfairly blame the Californian and her crew for not coming to Titanic's aid, without realizing that they followed international regulations to the T, and were in no conditions to render assistance quickly anyways - or at least as quickly as some people believe.
I agree with the videos being informative. I knew of the Californian, though I admit that I had previously been under the impression that her crew was either negligent in recognizing the Titanic was in distress, or outright disregarded it. This video enlightened me and I now have MUCH more respect and understanding for her actions that night.
As for the Carpathia... All I can think of really is that there's a fine line between heroism and stupidity... And sometimes they overlap...
AMEN!
No matter how detailed you explain to lesser informed.... they still come back whine under defending what you already debunked.
The real heroes were most of Titanic crew esp. the coal shippers and engineers fighting in the boiler rooms. But also the musicians and of course Captn Smith doing most right when little different decisions could have worsened much.
The Carpathia Captain was nuts and gambled lucky he hasn't lost his ship either with possible more casualties. Aftermath is one thing, real time not knowing what will unfold the other. Listening to the Marconi communication Titanic gave little info plus wrong position. Never ever did they communicate a timeframe or how dramatic it is for the unsinkable ship. Thomas Andrews calculated 60-90 minutes, they managed twice as long. But the info known quite early must have stayed in between higher ranked Officers. Or the panic would have not just unfolded at 2am after 2 hours. Cape Race was not much of a help as such an important shore outlet at Newfoundland. They acted like just another small ship being to far away. Start to end. To me that's the most bind boggling they didn't organize as higher authority (even if not official but still respected by all seaman) and try to wake California up.
I bet nobody of those attacking you ever heard the Marconi communication and seen the real time computer animated sinking with no lovestory distraction to get a bigger picture besides their Hollyweird Happy End Mindbubble!
I’m late to this video, but it’s honestly so refreshing to just relax and learn about history from uou
In the movie"Titanic" it's been said that a time traveller goes back in time to ensure that the Titanic sinks. If the girl had jumped, then the ship would not have hit the iceberg because they would have turned around to search for her.
A night to remember is my favourite Titanic movie as the one I grew up with, thankful for learning something new I had no previous knowledge of cold water mirage. Excellent content thankyou 👏
It's an excellent movie. Kenneth Moore was brilliant as Lightoller and it has the added gravitas of real footage of Titanic leaving Port.
Found your page a few days ago and have been non stop watching your videos! Thank you for all your research 😃
I'm going to look back when you are at 100k been with you since 40k
I LOVE your Titanic videos!!!
I watch you every day! Because you make me smarter. You are the only reason I love to draw ships and show my friends and families. You have the BEST ship documentaries!
I have also heard a story that there was an illegal whaling vessel out there as well that either didn't help cause they were afraid of being busted or that was the ship the California saw. There was something also about the color of the rockets that was being seen.
The theory is that Titanic saw the illegal vessel since Californian's crew testified that they saw "the brightly lit decks of what was clearly a large liner" on the horizon.
@@paulheenan9098 One other detail though. Testimonial from the Californian also mentioned how the the rockets weren't clearing the masthead lights. This tends to lend credence to the presence of a third ship between the Titanic and the Californian. The captain of the whaling ship , the Samson, also confessed to being between the two ships.
@@paulheenan9098 The same crew members testified that at 23.40 (Groves) or 23.56 (Gill) that the ship stopped and all lights went off immediately.
We all know hopefully that the lights stayed on until she sank, due to the altruistic help of the crew members... So that cannot be possible the Titanic.
Gill stated also that he could see all the lights distinctly and therefore identify it as a passenger steamer. Considering the distance and the mirage effect it was not possible for him to make such an observation. For the same reason morse lamp lights could not be distinctly seen as stated in the video. Because the lights fuses into one glare in a distance which can consist of more or less lanterns and lights. It was to tiny to see. Gill was obviously not telling the truth.
The inquiry was very sloppy. as cited:
"On more than one occasion during the inquiry, Lord Mersey also displayed his ignorance of maritime matters. This is evidenced amply on page 53 of the official report of the investigation. Lord Mersey had strongly argued at length with literally all the legal and nautical advisers present in court that the lights of a ship, apart from emergency lighting, would, of necessity go out the moment a ship’s main engines are stopped."
(Williams, Thomas B. Titanic and the Californian . The History Press. Kindle-Version.)
At the very least you have to come to the conclusion that Lord Mersey tried to make the result fit to the statements of the Californian`s crew member. No real investigator is allowed to contrive such an atrocity. He ignored willingly his own nautical advisors and stated that the lights of the Titanic must have been gone off as soon as she stopped for technical reasons which is pure imagination as his own nautical advisors told him... On this contrived and sloppy inquiry is the myth of the Californian based...
Paul Heenan meant the sealing hunter ship Samson obviously.
And the Mount temple is another candidate for the mystery ship.
@@jp-legal Your statement is incorrect. The fact is that MOST of the lights would go off when the main engine shuts off because it was the main engine that created the electricity to run the majority of the lights. Remember, the batteries of that time could not keep that amount of lights on. And most of the lights did go off as soon as the main engine was flooded. But the emergency lights did remain on as testified by survivors and the lookouts from the Californian. Those had a separate system intended to keep them on for much longer for emergencies because they were far fewer lights and did not require the tremendous power output of the main engine.
The mystery ship was only a mystery until all had arrived in NY, whereupon it was discovered it was the Californian.
@@paulheenan9098 even so they probably didn't have radios. they were whaling vessels. and as far as illegal goes?? I don't think they had laws regarding whaling in 1912. even today we have very few laws regulation that in international waters.
Dude I like your presentation. No negativity. Just places the facts rightly
That radio scene was crucial to the story! I wish they had not left it out of the final cut.
A Night to Remember was about the Titanic Disaster. Titanic was a chick flick about two crazy kids in love with the sinking of the Titanic as a backdrop.
@@doncarlton4858 such a great movie! Really holds its own after 70 years
They had to cut a lot out to make the 1912 part last 2 hours and 40 minutes!
Amazing video mate - recently found your channel and I binge watch it daily now. Thank you.
It's been suggested to me it would have been very difficult, if not impossible, for the Californian to reach the Titanic trying to navigate through the huge icefield in the dark. Stanley Lord himself is quoted as saying "I'm not going to try to find my way around that until daylight." Why no one thought to simply turn on the radio and find out what was going on is mind boggling.
In all likely hood Californian would be putting themselves in danger going to rescue the survivors. But they could have radioed other ships to help out.
@@retrostuff8976 Perhaps the Californian should have been more aggressive in trying to contact the Titanic. They could have kept pestering the Titanic until the radio operators listened to their message. Just a thought. It's too late now. How soon before Titanic hit the iceberg did Californian try to radio them and was told to stay out?
And once again we come back to the same problem with the Californian. The Carpathia sailed through those same waters to come to the assistance of the Titanic and Capt. Rostrum obviously did not find it "impossible" but extremely urgent that he navigate the ice hazards.
Firstly, congratulations on all your new subscribers. I love how happy you are about it. This is a great channel though; so you deserve it.
Secondly, it's nice in ANTR to see a Morse operator holding the key properly. Normally in films they do that 'tap-tap' thing from the top.
Thirdly (and you might cover this, I paused the video), I'm a big fan of the legal fallout from the sinking (lawyer, so kinda geeky about things like that). One thing that has come to light is that it may well have been that the bridge crew saw the Iceberg before the crow's nest lookouts. That's because, from the higher angle, the lookouts would have been trying to see the iceberg first against the seas. Whereas, even in the light conditions at the time, the lower elevation of the bridge meant the berg would have stood out more above the horizon.
Fallout vid's been made!
The visuals you put in the video were very helpful. Thanks!
Great story telling young man ! BRAVO !
I look forward to future episodes !
SBF
In 1912 all radios used "Spark Gap" transmitters which transmitted a very powerful electric spark of static across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Not only could everyone hear everyone else's transmission, but if you had an urgent message to send you had to wait for a pause in the others transmissions in order to break in.
There was a docudrama years ago about the Admiralty Court inquiry on California's officers. It's a new perspective on their actions.
My father, who had been a radio officer in WW2, told me that as a result of this event a code was devised which would set off an alarm on any ship close enough to receive that signal. This is all I know about it (hey, he told me this some 70 years ago).
The Californian is always a hotly debated topic that is truly hard to wrap your head around
@Historic Travels , I believe that you should do a part 2 or a second look at the Californian and Titanic that night.
1. The Californian was a much smaller and slower ship than either Titanic and the Carpathia.
2. Not enough room to place all rescue those passenger had they tried.
3. Due to the pack ice and distance, had Californian made an attempt to rescue, they would have arrive the same time Carpathia did.
4. The Californian didn't have Marconi wireless before. So it was all new to them.
5. Titanic gave the wrong coordinates because when Carpathia came to the coordinates given, they couldn't find Titanic survivors. They had to sail further to find Titanic survivors.
6. The Californian was further then 10 nautical miles then from Titanic.
7. There was a 3rd ship in the area, the Mount Temple. Mount Temple was planning to go to Titanic's rescue till they were told by their owners to stay put and that it was too dangerous. The ships owners told the captain if the Mount Temple got into an accident, he would be the sole blame.
8. Mount Temple passengers and crew openly vented when they got back home, the Mount Temple let Titanic suffer.
9. The documentary Abandoning the Titanic is one of the few groundbreaking Titanic docs along with Nat Geo's Titanic: Case Closed.
10. Captain E.J. Smith should carry more blame for his role that night. While Captain Stanley Lord did everything by the book.
11. That's right I'm a Stanley Lord supporter.
I would love to have a discussion with you on this topic. :) I think that would make a good collaboration video. Was the mystery ship the Californian or a different ship?
@@HistoricTravels , according to Abandoning The Titanic, Mount Temple was the mystery ship.
@@HappyRoach1 I watched that documentary as well, very interesting
Co-Signing all points with the exception of 10.
Captn Smith done an outstanding job. Much more could have gone accelerating wrong listening to his officers, engineers and senior seaman that the water in-flow was rather minor and advised to keep on sailing. He still insisted to call on Thomas Andrews for a personal look. He was that experienced and respected. Not many other Captains frankly had over-exaggerated this little incident for THE UNSINKABLE SHIP calling the chief ship constructor out of his bed shortly before midnite. If this had failed in the beginning all hell broken lose very soon with basically no survivors at all.
Only minor thing he should have made an overall emergency action call to entire crew members to find the red signal flares just as overcautious after getting the 60-90 minutes timeframe. Rather 60-90 minutes passed before shooting non-coded flares.
Instead of relying to Marconi only and way later a little morse attempt. I put minor as even that had not changed a thing in the aftermath. Just to few life boats and to cold water. Californian was just to far away and noone needs to put his own ship/crew on high risk in a ice-field they initially even rather stopped for the entire night.
Would the Mount Temple (if even 100% true! It's not a mystery for a century for nothing!) had acted differently on red than white, if the concern was major for the own safety not hitting on ice as well. I mean they heard telegraph and were not asleep. They hadn't even needed any flare.
@@BEEyonced Andrews was summoned by the Captain, but wasn't in bed during the collision! He was awake working!
Such a tragic (and maddening) story. I think that Walter Lord's comment was that Captain Lord should have showed more "initiative" (meaning -- what you said -- that he should have awakened the wirelss operator). I would like to know your opinion concerning the theories surrounding the proximity (and visibility?) of the Mt. Temple.
Your content is great for Titanic buffs! And you have such a pleasant personality! I love your stories!
EXCELLENT VIDEO! Great info and excellent presenter. Thanks!
This guy is good. Knowledgeable, insightful and very clear in his presentation of facts. Well done! Keep up the good work.
I learned so much, but then again I always do from your videos. Thank you!
Too bad that the double bottom of the Titanic wasn't carried up the sides of the ship to give it a double hull. Her sister ship Olympic did have some retrofit work done to improve safety like adding a double hull, more life boats and increasing the height of the water tight bulkheads and so on. Thanks for your time and hard work. Always learn something new here.......
It's one of those little nuggets of interesting information to me, that Arthur Rostron and Stanley Lord were both from the same part of England; Bolton, Lancashire.
This is why it made it difficult to see the iceberg
Sam, you're beyond expectations. Congrats boy! I imagine how amazing would be listen from your mouth other historical tragedies like the killing of tsar Family or facts like French Revolution, etc. Well done. I watch your channel everyday.
The Captain never lived it down. What a terrible burden to have to live with!
Ted Bundy would have loved to be on a lifeboat smiling as the ship went down
I was on an old Victory Ship converted to a research ship and we still had these Speaking Tubes installed. There is a brass closure with a hole in it. You blow into it first. This makes a whistling sound to get the receivers attention. Then with your thumb, hold down a lever which opens the closure with the hole in it to speak.
The Titanic has to be greatest example of Murphy's Law. Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong
They challenged God and lost
Very informative and well presented. I always learn something new watching your content.
I Seriously love your videos as a young boy who loves history these videos I would finish before I watch any other video it’s just amazing this information is finally getting out and it’s been 109 years since titanic sank and now it’s story is finally getting completed as more information of titanic sinking come out I would love to see the day where finally titanic mystery has been solved hats off to you and all other historians who show theses :D
Absolutely loved these videos you are doing.
Cheers!! Always wondered why there were so many icebergs as April is normally a warm part of the year in the Northern Hemisphere
I love your videos they are so great to watch and are very informative
I've always held the belief that there was nothing the Californian could have done. Even if they had reacted from the moment of the first radio distress signals from the Titanic, the ship had stopped for the night. How long would have it taken to get the crew up and the ship under way? Then they had to navigate the ice field that they were in. Also we have no real idea as to how close they were to the Titanic. It was nearly a hour after the iceberg that the Titanic even fired her first rockets. At best I feel as though the Californian would have gotten there well after the ship had sunk but before the Carpathia and maybe been able to save a few more people if they were super lucky and were able to locate the ones who had been exposed to the water first.
Now lets assume the Californian did manage to get there before the Titanic went under, then what? They probably wouldnt have been able to get close to the Titanic. They'd have to lower their own lifeboats and almost certainly have to row them to the Titanic which would take time. Then theres the issue of getting passengers onto the lifeboats which would be fairly difficult I believe. Pulling people out of the water after the Titanic had gone under would have been a major issue as well. Mainly for the same reasons the Titanics lifeboats didnt return for awhile, the people in the water would have almost certainly have swamped any boat that came near.
your channel is amazing, I always learn so much from your videos, every video teaches me something new every day, keep up the great work
The radio officer did warn the titanic of ice. The arrogance of their officers put paid to any hopes of rescue. It always pays to be humble and courteous.
Leslie Reade wrote a good book called 'The Ship That Stood Still', if you haven't read it, is a good book to check out.
Thanks for the recommendation
Love your storytelling💕
watched a bunch of your videos - great job man. Great explanations and narration. Thank you!
Very well explained. Nicely done
Read about the american inquiry many years ago. Since survivors were brought to New York, this was the first inquiry. All surviving crew were kept under house arrest until inquiry was finished, White Star didn't pay them to be there and were dependant on charity to survive.
Secondly wireless operators were not anserably to the Captain. They were employees of the Marconi Company.
Third,. During American inquiry, when Captain of Californian insisted the rockets seen were not from Titanic, a senator replied "don't care if it was the whole Spanish Armada, why didn't you go investigate?"
Fourth, senior surviving officer was asked at what point did you leave your ship? Answer:. I never left my ship, claimed he went down with the Titanic a air bubble drove him to the surface next to a life boat and was hauled on board. Very melodramatic and implausible I would think.
Fifth, upon arriving in New York,. Carpathia first went to Titanic's berthing spot and dropped off the lifeboats, then went to it's own berth to tie up. Still more dramatic story telling typical for the era
Wonderful work Sam. Thank you for the effort you put into these videos. Entertaining and educating.
My god…. Just EVERYTHING went wrong that night. 😣
If you watch "Titanic case closed" it explains this perfectly.
Will it ever be closed?
I'm so glad for your success and enjoy your vidios very much. I'm very happy to enjoy the ride with you. You are becoming iconic! Carry on.👍😃
The Californian was 20 miles away and couldn't do much anyway. Captain Lord became a pariah, blamed as if he could have saved everyone. In reality, the Californian would only hold around 100 passengers and crew.
Completely agree, they couldn`t have squeezed many more in if they tried. It would have taken 2 decent size ships to do a full rescue. The odd thing was that Lord kept asking about the colour of rockets fired from that mystery ship, as though he was expecting something to happen, and as far as he was aware, nothing did until he heard about it early next morning. Given his position and with wireless switched off for the night, he would normally have been excused from any involvement, but it appears there are some that had other ideas.
great video . The comments on it were more interesting to me because I doubt if many of the authors have ever been to sea for a living, I have and experienced two sinkings and one close call in my working life
I was a young kid when I first became fascinated with Titanic. Let me tell you a few years into my reading everything I could find about Titanic and I found out about the Californian I was dumbfounded and in disbelief. I remember running outta my room and telling my Mom all excited and shocked and her just looking at me and she just said "Okay Jazz" 😂😂😂😂
Thanks for this video! I’ve always found it very annoying that people parrot off the false narrative of the SS Californian ignoring the Titanic as she sank. Just a quick point, while the British Inquiry’s final report concluded that 8 rockets were fired by the Titanic before she sank, the testimonies of the crew taken together shows that the actual number of rockets fired was more than that, likely 14-16. The fact remains that the Californian saw 8 rockets, and it wasn’t clear that they were distress rockets.
Because the rockets were fired off with five minute intervals which per nautical communication at the time meant the Titanic was having navigational difficulties.
Scrap log book was destroyed. Only reason that would happen would be to conceal their true proximity to Titanic.
That was the assumption but never shown to be the case.
The scrap log was not kept as a permanent record but was periodically disposed of under normal circumstances.What isn't clear to me was what the circumstances were that determined when a scrap log was no longer of value and could be discarded.
Great Videos! Thanks for doing this.
You ever hear that story about a possible third mystery ship that was between the two ships? I remember reading about it in one of the many Titanic books I read as a kid.
The Samson!
Another “like” that was very well earned!! (I’m already now a subscriber otherwise I’d subscribe all over again too!) My friend, I don’t know what career or careers you are planning but I have no doubt, with your level of “attention to detail”, you will do very, very well. You will be a great asset to any company that hires you. And if you ever decide to teach at any level or environment, I believe you will be LEGENDARY!!! You have the gift of communication and the natural skill of effective conversation that keeps your audience interested and engaged. Thank you, again… for an excellent presentation and covering yet another area of the Titanic story that most (including me) did not know. You did an outstanding job!! 🤠👍🏻👏👏👏
one thing that changed after the Titanic sunk (a lot of changes happened after the titanic's sinking though, the way sea crews operated and such at the time really wasn't efficient and safety wasn't so big as it was untill after the fact) was the signal of rockets. they changed it where any sign of rockets meant distress and nothing else because yeah, rockets were used in many ways back then but after the titanic they removed all the confusing aspects of rockets and simplifed it to not be as confusing as it was. it's crazy to imagine how many lives could've been saved had the Californain been there.
Here's a what if scenario: would it have been possible for titanic to sail toward the Californian even though that would mean taking on more water. I think it could have, it was only 20-30 minutes away... Even if Titanic lost 1 hour due to moving on a compromised hull that still leaves more than enough time to get almost everyone off the ship and onto the Californian... I would have tried it...
Thank you for making these video's, there really entertaining.
It's worth mentioning that Californian couldn't physically arrive on the scene before 2:45 AM. The first distress rocket was fired at 12:45 AM, but Cpt. Lord was informed only at 1:10 AM. So he had literally no time to help Titanic, as it would take at least 1 hour to get through the ice and navigate to Titanic. That's another sad fact. Even if they woke up the wireless operator, even if they steamed the hardest towards Titanic, they would only witness the sea full of dead bodies. Even if they teleported, there wouldn't be enough time to transfer all the people as it would take the whole day using life boats. 1500 people didn't have a chance, and that's the most shocking.
She could’ve arrived in time to save at least some of the lives that were lost, though. Captain Lord didn’t officially realize the Titanic really sank and start moving again until about sometime between 4:30 and 5:00. Not only did it take the Carpathia about 4 hours to find the first of the Titanic’s survivors after she started her dash, but following this, it took her an additional 4 and a half hours to find and pick up every one of the survivors since the lifeboats didn’t stay together in one group. Some of the Titanic’s lifeboats even tried to row toward the Californian in attempt to get her attention, but unfortunately, the Californian picked up the message about the Titanic sinking and started dashing in the wrong direction before they could get close enough which is why she didn’t arrive at the scene of the Titanic sinking until about 9:00AM about a half hour after the Carpathia finished picking up the survivors.
Well, the Californian could’ve at least arrived in time to help some of the Titanic’s people. The Carpathia found the first survivors sometime around 4:00AM and following this, it took her an additional 4 and a half hours to find and pick up every one of the survivors and the survivors were exhausted, crying, shivering, and hurting terribly when they were rescued so they really would’ve appreciated it and felt better if the Californian came to help them too. Some of the Titanic’s lifeboats even tried to row toward the Californian in attempt to get her attention, but unfortunately, the Californian picked up the message that the Titanic sank and had been calling for help and started moving in the wrong direction before those lifeboats could get close enough. Also, the Californian’s crew actually did witness the sea full of dead bodies when they arrived at that scene of the sinking to see if they could do anything to help with the situation about a half hour after the Carpathia had picked up the last of the survivors and stayed behind for some time to search for any survivors the Carpathia might have missed so the Carpathia could start heading back to New York City.
Your channel is amazing! I have always been interested in the Titanic, and I love the work and research you do to explain the events!! I just subscribed!
I live in New Brunswick so it was cool seeing the map that shows my home province because we’re one of those forgotten places that nobody has ever heard of despite having the oldest city in Canada
The thing is that nobody knew of the role Californian played in the sinking at first. Carpathia had no idea that she had been sitting only a few miles away when the crew saw the tramp steamer zig zagging its way around the ice field to come and assist them in retrieving the survivors. Since Carpathia had largely collected them all by the time Californian arrived, the latter vessel continued on her voyage and quietly arrived in port. It was then that the ship's involvement became public when the crew immediately went to the papers to tell their stories.
I had a direct relative who was a crew member on the California, great video
The Carpathia deserves more attention and credits she was the only one who came to the rescue and saved over 700 passengers ...
Whether you want to call it a Mirage or super refraction it doesn't matter. There was some site anomalies that definitely affected viewing for everybody including the Titanic. I grew up in the South and it's no different than seeing a heat Mirage in the sense that you see water on the highway when it really isn't there. Great work and to all who are trying to be overcritical...whatever...your awesome!!!
I think a video on the carpathia would be great!🤗
Yo that false horizon stuff was so crazy, I had no idea. I just wondered if the lookouts really had no binoculars like it was depicted in the movie.
Another thing is the ice field wouldn't be that far south again until the 60s or the 70s. Another sad story among many is that a passenger who was a good swimmer said we was going to swim for the lights in the distance, lights which Boat No.1 would also see and head for until she steamed out of sight. These lights being from the Californian.
It was the Mount Temple that was the ship in the distance. When the Titanic was found the position given on the night of the sinking was found to be incorrect. The Californian was stopped for sometime and had time to log a more accurate position than the hurried calculations on Titanic.
Titanics true position was near the point logged by Mount Temple.
My biggest issue with this theory is the Titanic was in communication with the Mount Temple. So if it was shouldnt the lights on the horizon been getting brighter as the ship got closer?
@@HistoricTravels possibly. I suppose like most Titanic related theories we will never know what really happened unless we can find a Delorean
@@timwebster8122 Haha love it!!! You know I feel bad for kids of today who didnt grow up with classic movies like Back to The Future. I told this kid about the movie once, kid was around 12 and she said meh I dont like watching old movies. I just looked at her and was like WHAT!!!!! When did Back To The Future become a old movie!!!!
@@HistoricTravels how about the Lancastria as your next study. Many thought all the BEF got out of France at Dunkirk but lots didn't only to drown on the Lancastria.
Another interesting fact is the Captain survived and later commanded the Laconina. Also another fascinating story. Keep up the good work with your channel. Best wishes from Yorkshire England
The S.S.Californian was a scapegoat. The S.S. Mount Temple opreated by Canadian Pacific Lines and Captained by James H. Moore at the time essentially got a free pass. Michigan's Senator Republican William A. Smith chaired the Senate hearings in NYC at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel; which started on April 19th. This was just a few short days after the sinking. In the investigation and interviews the Committee became target fixated on the S.S. Californian and Captain Stanley P. Lord.
This could be accounted for various reasons. Lack of knowledge about the S.S. Mount Temple. The Committee rushing to find who was "responsible" and bring closer to this tragic sinking. Also, look at the time period. If this hearing was drawn out long term and left unresolved. Can you imange the negative outcome on the shipping and passenger liner industries? It would've been catastrophic.
Love your content and what your doing Sam. Keep up the great work. Every time I get a notification about your videos I immediately press play on them.
Another great video filled with information. I read somewhere that rockets are only a sign of distress and nothing else. That was the rule in 1912. What I read was obviously false information. Good job on your research. I learn so much from you. Keep up the great work!!
Red rockets are for distress!