TABLE OF CONTENTS
What Caused the Titanic Tragedy? by Stacey
Why Do I Love the Titanic by Sofie
Titanic: The New Musical by Amanda Meek
On Home Video: Shakespeare in Love by Nicole
Buddy Holly by Lars-Åke H
THAC-Hitler, Cyril Evans
Poetry by Robin Knight
What Caused the Titanic Tragedy? by Stacey
April 14, 1912 will be a day that no one will ever forget, especially the few who are still alive that know from first hand experince what really happened that tragic night aboard the Titanic. Children will learn the history of the disaster in school, movies will and have been made, documentaries will show again and again on TV, books have been written and are still being written as more information come from the finding of the Titanic 2 1/2 miles to the bottom of the Atlantic in 1985, but what caused the Titanic to hit the icerberg and sink and could it have been prevented?
Many things took place that fateful night to have Titanic and it's 1500 passengers meet their fate. First, let's take a look at Mother Nature's doings in order to set the mood for an inevitable accident. April 14, 1912 was a moonless night. If there had been a moon the light from the bright glow of the moon would have glistened on an iceberg, making it clearer to see from a distance. Also, the sea was calm. Had there been some wind to make the ocean more choppy the waves of the ocean would crash against the icerberg making foam around it's base. The lookouts, Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee would have noticed the foam forming and know from experience that there was an iceberg ahead. The temperature also dropped to an almost freezing 31 degrees causing even more concern for icebergs and growlers to form.
Then there were the human factors which, together, all led up to a disastrous ending. One of the Titanic's lookouts-George Symons brought to the attention of Officer Lightoller that the binoculars were nowhere to be found. Lightoller promised to look into it immediately but could not find them anywhere or anyone who knew where they could be. Actually, the binoculars were aboard but nobody knew it at the time. There had been a last minute reshuffling of the officers on the Titanic and the officer responsible for the binoculars was no longer on the ship. Officer William M. Murdoch was originally assigned to chief officer but his limited experience with large ships concerned Capt. Smith so he asked for Henry Wilde, his chief officer aboard the Olympic. Murdoch was bumped down to first officer which meant that Lightoller, originally first officer, was bumped down now to second officer. The man Lightoller replaced, David Blair, was left behind in Southampton. For some reason, Blair had ordered the binoculars to be removed from the crow's nest and locked in a locker in his cabin. The shuffling of officers was at the last minute with Wilde arriving just hours before they sailed. In the confusion, Blair either forgot to tell someone he had locked the binoculars in his cabin or whoever he told had forgotten about them and therefore nobody knew where they were. If they had the binoculars, would thay have been able to see the iceberg and avoid it in time?
Then there was the way helm orders were given back then. In 1912, helm orders were still given by the earliest days of sail, that is, by the direction the tiller bar was pushed in order to turn the ship, not the directon the rudder was turned. Murdoch's order of "hard a starboard" meant that the wheel would be turned to the right which caused the big rudder motor to turn to the right, making the rudder pivot left. (It wasn't until the mid-1930's that the helm controls were set up for the wheel and the rudder to move in the same direction.) Could this have caused the Titanic to hit the iceberg instead of turning in the right direction to miss the collision?
Theories have been made that if the Titanic had hit the iceberg head on, it would have been able to stay afloat, possibly all the way to New York as originally intended. Experts state that if the Titanic had hit the iceberg head on, only the first couple compartments would have been flooded and would have been able to sail safley to their destination. Could this be true? Was the order to try to avoid hitting the iceberg a wrong decision? No one could have known at the time nor will we ever really know.
Not enough lifeboats were added to the Titanic in fear the deck would look cluttered. Only 16 lifeboats were added and at the last minute, four collapsible lifeboats were added as well. The four collapsible lifeboats were located above the officer' quarters as not to have the added "clutter". In reality however, the Titanic had actually met the Board of Trade regulations for lifeboats aboard the Titanic. Though the Titanic was said to be "unsinkable" they still had to comply with the regulations-Any ship over 10,000 tons must carry 16 lifeboats with the capacity of 5,500 cubic feet, that is, space for 550 people, plus enough rafts and floats to equal 75% of the capacity of the lifeboats. For the Titanic, this meant that there was a capacity of 9,625 cubic feet, room for 962 people. Actually, the Titanic had exceed the regulations since they had added 4 collapsible lifeboats. With the collapsibles and the 16 lifeboats, that gave the Titanic a capacity of 11,780 cubic feet and enough room for 1,178 people. Nobody seemed to realize however that the Titanic could carry over 3,000 people, leaving the lifeboats, eventhough they exceed regulations, not enough for all aboard. Unfortunately, the regulations were written for ships half the Titanic's size and were never updated. If there were enough lifeboats, possibly all of the 2200 passengers could have been saved.
Did Bruce J. Ismay play any role in the Titanic disaster by suggesting to Capt. E. J. Smith to speed up the Titanic in order to make a record breaking crossing? As arrogant as Ismay could have been, Titanic could never have made a record breaking crossing. Olympic and Titanic, although the largest and most luxurious ships, were never able to beat the speeds of the Lusitania and the Mauretania. The Olympic and Titanic had 55,000 shaft horsepower, allowing a maximum speed of 24 1/2 knots possible. The Lusitania and Mauretania had 68,000 shaft horsepower, giving them a maximum speed of 26 1/2 to 27 knots. However, did speed indeed have a part in the inevitable accident? Should they have gone that fast knowing the threat of icebergs were a serious matter on night like this one?
Could the design of the Titanic cause the Titanic to founder after hitting the iceberg? Had the watertight compartments been sealed at the top, water would not have been able to flow over to the next compartment, and to the next, and so on. There were 16 watertight bulkheads on the Titanic however they did not go very high. The designers determined that the first two and the last five watertight bulkheads need only go as high as D Deck while the middle eight compartments only went up to E Deck, which is barley fifteen feet above the waterline. With this design of the Titanic, the public, along with the magazine Shipbuilder, duped the Titanic "unsinkable."
It has been suggested that possibly if Capt Smith could have steamed over to the "mystery ship" seen on the horizon that he possibly could have been able to save all on board the Titanic. This could not have been possible and with Capt Smiths experience, he may have known this. If the ships structure had been damaged, trying to steam forward may have made the damage worse and drive the bow right under in a matter of minutes. (Three years later the Lusitania had sank in less than 20 minutes after being struck by a German torpedo during WWI. Her speed of 18 knots was a major contributor in her sinking-her forward momentum literally drove her bow right into the water.)
What if the Californian had responded to Titanic's distress signals? It was clear that the rockets were seen by officers on the Californian and did inform Capt. Lord. Capt. Lord requested they try to contact the ship by Morse lamp. They did so, but the Titanic did not respond to the lamp and they figured after they no longer saw rockets, or the port light of the ship in the distance that it had sailed away. In all actuality, the reason they no longer saw the port light was because the Titanic had already sunk! Also, the Californian's wireless operator, Cyril Evans, had retired for the night and was unable to hear the CQD call coming from the Titanic. Wireless operators were not required to have a 24 hour duty and therefore Evans had shut down the wireless and gone to bed. Capt. Lord did not even bother Evans to try to contact the ship firing rockets through the wireless. Had he insisted it, possibly the Californian could have assisted the Titanic hours earlier than it took the Carpathia to arrive, saving many more lives, if not all.
So who is to blame? Can we blame at all? Was it "meant" to happen under all the circimstances surrounding the Titanic disaster and what led up to the collision with the iceberg? No one will ever really be able to pin point just what happened to cause the Titanic tragedy yet it will always remain in our hearts forever.
Why Do I Love the Titanic? by Sofie
My passion with the Titanic started when I saw the movie "Titanic" of James Cameron. There was something in the plot: a ship that was called Titanic and everyone thought that it was unsinkable but it sank. I felt close to the story it was like it could happen to me. After the movie I started reading some books and saw some documentaries.Two weeks later I saw the movie again and it was so emotional. I really felt their pain, anger and their fear of drowning. I started to cry because it was as if I was on that ship, that I drowned! So I wrote a poem:
Like a Rose
You look like a rose
Gracefull and pretty
But like a rose you died
And lots died with you
It wasn't your fault
They decided for you
And THAT was a mistake
Titanic: A New Musical by Amanda Meek
Titanic. The marvelous ship of dreams. What a great movie by James Cameron. Ok, wait a minute. They're making a musical? How cheesy! And what could they possibly even make in a musical that's worth seeing anyway?
This was my first impression when I learned that there was to be a Titanic musical. Mostly, I thought musicals were cheesy and horrible. But I had gotten into them recently when I went to see Les Miserables. I cried for 20 minutes after this musical and it touched me.
I have loved Titanic for a very long time. And let me tell you- I try to see everything related and I will buy all Titanic merchandise. My mom asked me one day if I wanted to see the Titanic musical. I agreed since it was something Titanic. Most of my friends had seen it and said it was great. It turns out my mom got tickets through a close family friend of ours. Her sister in law was in the production playing Eleanor Widener. So I got up early one morning and traveled a few hours up to Cleveland to see this musical.
I had no idea what it was about or how they could possibly pull this one off. I was truly skeptical the whole time but I was also excited. We walked through the parking deck and down the long corridor. We reached the lovely Allen Theater. The inside actually looked like Titanic, a nice coincidence. They had up maps of the Titanic's decks all over the walls. When we got inside we found pictures of the movie, book covers about Titanic, and several other memorabilia. I bought a souvenir book and got my program. We met with our friend's family and sat down. Only this time, I wasn't miles away from the stage like I had been for Les Mise. I was in the FIFTH ROW BACK! Only 4 rows between me and the stage. It was awesome. When we got situated, I noticed that on the stage was a large diagram of Titanic compared to the statue of liberty. Of course, I began throwing out the useless yet interesting facts I knew about Titanic to those who don't research Titanic like a maniac.
The lights dimmed and the stage was alive. Thomas Andrews started out across the stage with his plans of the wonderful ship. He sings "In Every Age." It's a wonderful song about how in every age, man tries to make something that is magnificent and impossible. In the last of the lines he sings "Our task was to dream upon and then create a floating city! Floating city! A human metropolis, a completely civilization." It was a high point in the song and he holds up a model of the Titanic. Then it's off to Southampton. The screen with the Titanic diagram lifts and reveals that well known boarding scene- the White Star boarding plank is up and there are many who look at the ship (in non-existence, but they look above the audience) The next song is "How Did They Build Titanic." It is a short little verse sung by Frederick Barrett (a stoker) He asks how it was built and is truly amazed at the floating palace before him. Then is onto the song "There She Is." Barrett starts this one off by saying good-bye to his girl. And then Harold Bride, wireless operator, says good-bye to his, and Lookout Fleet says good-bye to his. They bump into each other and introduce themselves. "Loading Inventory" is next sung by the crew. It shows the large amount of food and other accessories needed for the voyage. All the officers are introduced as well as the captain. "The Largest Moving Object" is sung by Captain Smith, Bruce Ismay, and Thomas Andrews. This is the one time that they are all on the same level and at peace. "I Must Get on that Ship" is my personal favorite song. It is mostly sung by the third class passengers. Here Kate Murphey, Kate McGowan, and Kate Mullins are introduced. They are the 3 Kates. It's a rather cute scene. They try and get the officer to take their tickets and let them on because, as the title says, they must get on that ship.
The passengers are called up and they board. Then they sing on the ship, "God speed Titanic." It was such an emotional scene that I cried through the entire thing. It was an awesome entrance, and their singing was so very moving. We then go to the bridge where Ismay is pushing for a higher speed. And he gets his way. Barrett, in the coal rooms, sings about how it is not a good idea and what it is like to be down below. This scene is a favorite because there is "fire" coming up out of the floor and the men are shoveling "coal" into it (it is actually air). The fire consists of silk with air behind it. There is light on it to make it look like real fire. The crowd was in awe during this point.
In the third class, everyone is having a great time playing and talking. Kate McGowan stands up and begins to sing about how she wants to be a lady's maid. Then everyone else joins in with their wonderful wishes for this new world. Another cute scene was between Barrett and Bride. Barrett sneaks up to the wireless room where Bride is. He asks if he can send a message to his girl back in England. When Bride gives the price, Barrett begins to leave because it is too much. Bride says he can give a friendly discount. How would that cost? "Nothing." he says. Barrett sends his message that he will marry his sweet heart when he returns and Bride sings of a "thousand voices tapping out each word." To pass the time of the days they were on board, there is a scene in the first class dining saloon, and the bell boy passes after a small conversation between Smith and Ismay about how fast they are going and how fast they should be going. With each pass, the boy announces the next day until it is April 14th.
There are a few main couples that this musical focuses on. That is Jim Farrell and Katie McGowan (third class, they just met and Katie likes Jim a lot), Edgar and Alice Beane (second class, Alice wishes to rub elbows with the first class and does everything in her power to do so), Charles Clarke and Caroline Neville (second class, have just eloped and are having a lovely time), and Isador and Ida Straus (first class, owner of Macy's department store, are older and are still completely in love). We hear throughout about these couples and their problems.
The scenes follow that everyone is having a lovely time, the captain goes to sleep, and Fleet spots the iceberg. There is a large rumble in the theater and you feel as if you're on it hitting the iceberg. The on stage, we see a starlit backdrop, and a miniature ship steaming along the bottom of the stage. That was another one of my favorites. Then the lights fade out and the lights in the house come on. Time for a break. Whew! Riveting! Very very exciting. Can't wait to get back! My mother and I wade to the crowd and make it to the bathroom where the interesting pictures of Titanic are. We make it back in time and are in our seats for the final half of the production.
The next scenes start off with Guggenheim walking through the halls looking strangely at the ship and listening. He knocks on the door of another passenger. He comes out and asks what is the matter. "What do you hear?" He asks. "Nothing." is the reply. "Exactly. The engines have stopped." Stewards come along the doors awaking first class passengers first. Then it fades out on them and then comes onto the captain asking for a damage report. It then fades in on the second class passengers being awakened and instructed to the grand staircase. This is Alice Beane's chance to be with first class passengers like she's dreamed. Then we see the captain again asking for further information. Then the third class passengers are awakened but instructed not to go up yet. They are all held at the back of the ship.
The next scene is in the first class dining saloon where Guggenheim and others are making fun of some others who have their pajamas on, and in the dining saloon? How absurd. They sing about how odd it is and that it is merely a minor delay. Nothing to worry about, they should be moving soon. There are 4 groups singing at once and all of a sudden, a cart moves by itself... from left to right. They all stand in awe and fear when they realize this means their ship is sinking... slowly tilting.
In the wireless room, Andrews, Smith, Ismay, and Bride are together, attempting to radio another ship. Bride knows that the Californian is nearby but he cannot get an answer. The closest is the Carpathia which will be there in 4 hours. They begin to argue when Ismay blames Andrews for poor design. Then Andrews blames Ismay because he pushed for speed over safety and that he had no control over the design because Ismay had pushed for more cabins than more water tight compartments. Then Smith joins in when accused of steering right into the berg. And it erupts into one big scream until they hear a beep from the wireless. But it was only a false alarm.
Another great scene starts off with a backdrop that appears as if you are looking up a massive stairwell. Then, lying down on the stage are the 3 Kates. The optical illusion is absolutely awesome. Then from the side comes Barrett and Jim Farrell. They all sing about how they are to get up when there are gates blocking their way. Barrett tells of a way he took to get up to the wireless room and no one knew he did.
On boat deck, the passengers have gathered and the women are being taken aboard but then they try to get back from the lifeboat when they realize they must leave their men aboard. Mr. and Mrs. Thayer are separated and they tell their son that his father is only staying on board for a little while and will see them in the morning. Ida Straus is offered a spot on the boat but refuses because Isador would not be with her. She has been married for 40 years and cannot leave her husband. They go off together. Katie McGowan refuses to get on without Jim Farrell. They both end up getting in. The eloping couple have to been torn apart by officers and Barrett knows he will not get in so he sings to his fiancee back in England. They all sing "We'll Meet Tomorrow" which is about their hopes of seeing their loved ones again when they know they will never see them again. "Keep us together ever more."
Now my mother and I are very emotional people and we cry at almost anything. Our friend is the same way. The next scene was the one that made them cry the most. In the song "Still," Isador and Ida Straus are standing on deck. The butler brings them champagne and tells them it has been a wonderful time serving them during all their traveling years. He walks off and they are left along. They sing about how they've been together and how they are still in love. It was such a wonderful and emotional scene and my mother, friend, and I cried and cried and cried.
Then on deck, the passengers attempt to hold on as the ship tilts and they almost cannot hold on. Andrews sings "Mr. Andrews' Vision." He talks about how they will fall one by one into the sea and die. And water will rush up over the ship and the sea will swallow her.
The final song is "In Every Age (reprise)." The survivors are standing on the Carpathia wrapped in blankets. They "sing Titanic to sleep." Then in the best scene in the entire musical, the black screen lifts and it is Southampton. The people who died are there doing exactly what they did in the opening scene. The people in blankets go over to them as if they could touch them. And the dead don't see them. It is as if the survivors are ghosts. They attempt to touch them but can't. They then all sing the final words of the song. "Sail on, Sail on, great ship Titanic! Cross the open sea. Pray the journey's sound till your port be found. Fortune's winds sing God speed to thee. Fortune's winds sing God speed to thee."
The cast came out and most of us gave them a standing ovation. It was such a riveting musical. And I got to go back stage afterward and see the props, costumes, dressing rooms, and stage. It was such a great optical illusion and I hope someday I could be a part of this production.
From my first thoughts, this was nothing like I had expected, nor could ever hope for. I hope you have all enjoyed my description. It was an awesome experience and I hope one day you may also get to see this masterpiece.
Letter from William Moss by Sofie DuBois
To Angela my lovely daughter,
You once asked me why I was afraid of water and ships. Well, here's my story.
I was only 17 when they asked me if I wanted to
work on a ship. I had 3 brothers and 4 sisters and
I was the oldest. I said that I wanted to work on
that ship. It was April 10, 1912 when the ship
started her first trip to New York. I still don't
believe who was on board:
John Jacob Astor,Guggenheim and the Straus'.
Because I worked hard I was appointed a position
on the first class deck. I was so proud that I
sent a wire to my family:
Dear mom and dad-work very hard-may serve at first
class-love you-William Moss
My job was the 1 class saloon. There I saw John Jacob Astor where he asked me for a whiskey. The days went by and it wasn't until April 14th that I realised that the ship where I worked wasn't unsinkable. The last day I worked in the saloon. I was giving a passenger a drink when I heard a noise outside. Everybody was afraid. We were called to the bridge and they told us that we had struck an iceberg and the ship was sinking. The job of the crew was to keep everybody calm but we were all in a panic. How could we calm the passengers?
Sometime past midnight, the first boat was
loaded with woman and children. They were all
first class and I wondered where the others from
third class were. About at one o'clock a lot of
boats were gone and finally the third class
passengers came to the boatdeck. I helped some
woman and children in a boat. At that moment I
thought that I was going to die with my ship. So I
tried to rescue as many woman and children as I
could but soon all the boats were nearly gone.
Once again we were called to the bridge and now
Smith himself told us to save ourself. Their was
only one boat left and I went with that boat I
said that I could help with the boat. I lied, but
I wanted to see my family again. I saw how the
gracefully Titanic went down and broke in 2
pieces. Until the day I die I will hear all the
screams of my friends who were still in the water.
If there was only one ship that was near to us
they all could be saved.Once in New York I sended
a wire to my family:
Dear mom and dad-I'm alright-going to work here.
Love you-William Moss
So I said goodbye to them because I was so afraid of their reactions and afraid of taking another ship. I still regret that I lied but I'm glad at still lived after the tragedy. Please remember me as your father and as a liar.
With lots of love,
William Moss your father
On Home Video: Shakespeare in Love by Nicole
ON HOME VIDEO: Have you seen the movie of 1999? If you haven't I highly recommend renting Shakespeare in Love. It stars Joseph Fiennes Elizabeth) as Shakespeare, Gwenyth Paltrow (Great Expectations, The Talented Mr. Ripley) as Lady Viola/Thomas Kent, Judi Dench (Mrs. Brown) as Queen Elizabeth I, Geoffrey Rush (Shine, Elizabeth) as the owner of the Rose Theater, Ben Affleck (Dogma, Armageddon) and Colin Firth (The English Patient).
The premise--Young Will Shakespeare has writer's block. His new play, Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter, isn't coming along so great. Enter Viola, his muse and a woman who wants to be an actor. Unfortunately she is betrothed to Lord Wessex (Colin Firth) even though she doesn't love him. Will Shakespeare overcome his writer's block and he and Viola find true happiness? You'll just have to rent it to see.
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