That Unforgettable Night When the Titanic Went Down

Eva Miriam Hart

Second-class passenger

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My father was a builder, and things in that trade were not good in England in 1912 so when a friend of his returned from Canada telling him of the wonderful opportunities there, he decided to sell his business and join his friend. He had a sister living in New York whom he had not seen for many years, so he decided to travel to Canada via New York and visit her.

He had booked our passages on the S.S. Philadelphia, but owing to a dock strike, she did not sail and we were offered accommodation in the Titanic. This he accepted with alacrity, as the opportunity of sailing in the world's largest and most luxurious liner was something not to be refused. One sixth of a mile long, 46,328 gross tons, and capable of carrying 3,000 people the Titanic was indeed a floating town and the last word in comfort and luxury.

My mother was not at all happy and declared that the claim made by the owners that the ship was unsinkable was, to use her own words, "...flying in the face of the Almighty!" She grew more and more apprehensive as the sailing date approached, so much so that when we arrived at Southampton and saw the gigantic ship, she quietly declared that she was certain that it would never reach the other side of the Atlantic, and that something would happen to it in the night! Consequently, she would never go to bed during the voyage.

This was a strange reaction from someone as level-headed as my mother, who was not given to any form of superstition, and my father was completely at a loss to understand her. However, she persisted, and would rest all day, and sit, fully-dressed, reading and sewing at night.

The night before the disaster, my mother heard what she thought were some untoward sounds and roused my father, insisting that he went up on deck to see what was the matter. He eventually gave way and after a while returned to say that, of course, there was nothing the matter, that the ship was travelling at a very high speed and that it was terribly cold.

When the actual collision came on the following night, my mother said she felt the whole ship shiver, although as we were on the opposite side of the ship to the actual point of impact, it was quite slight. Had she been asleep it is doubtful whether we would have got to the boat deck as soon as we did, and very well might not have got into a lifeboat, particularly as there were not nearly enough for all the people aboard.

She had great difficulty in arousing my father, who said that he certainly wasn't going up on deck for nothing again. She got me out of bed, and wrapped me up, all the time begging my father to dress, and eventually he did. We got to the boat deck to find huge boulders of ice everywhere, and soon the deck was swarming with activity.

The lifeboats were lowered, and my mother put into one, and then my father lifted me up to put me in too, and when I clung to him he said quietly, "Go with Mummy, and stay close to her, like a good girl." He stood back, and young as I was, I seemed to realize that I should never see him again. He was a very powerful swimmer and I have always been haunted by the thought that he must have tried, despite the intense cold, to swim for his life. The sea was perfectly calm, with brilliant starlight, and we could see the huge ship, all her lights on, towering above us as we pulled away.

From the time of the collision to the actual sinking of the ship was over two hours, and the grim tragedy of insufficient lifeboats was played out during that time. 1,500 people had to wait for their end whilst we 5000 were all that could be saved.

We could see the lights of another ship so we were hopeful that she would come to our aid, but she didn't, and she stayed where she was, and the feelings of the pour souls in the lifeboats can be well imagined.

The Carpathia was fifty-eight miles away but dashed to help us, and when the dawn came up – a wonderful sight – with the sunshine glinting on the ice – we saw her coming to our aid.

Soon after the Titanic sank the officer in charge of our lifeboat called all the other boats together and found they were not all full, so he transhipped us, putting some into each of the other boats, until ours was empty. He then returned to the spot where the Titanic sank to see if he could pick up any other survivors. What few he did manage to get died of exposure the next day – how much better to have seen that the boats were filled to capacity originally. During the process of transhipping us, I was parted from my mother, a truly terrifying things for a child of seven.

The Carpathia arrived at eight o'clock in the morning and we were taken on board, the children put in baskets and hauled up over a winch, the adults climbing a rope ladder into a luggage hatch in the side of the ship. It was some hours before my mother found me and both she and I were distraught, and fearing that the other had drowned.

The Carpathia was only a small ship and with her extra load of 700 souls turned back to New York, from whence she had sailed a few days previously. We survivors were lying on improvised beds on the floor all over the ship; in fact, anywhere that an inch of space could be found.

During the voyage to New York, we experienced almost every kind of weather, ice fields, thunder and lightning, choppy seas, and worst of all, fog. The weird hooting of the fog sirens as we had to stand still for a whole day played havoc with everyone's nerves. The disaster took place on a Sunday night and it was not until the following Thursday that we reached New York.

I am often asked do I really remember the sinking of the Titanic. Every moment of this tragic night is so clearly etched in my memory that I cam certain I shall never forget it as long as I live.