There Weren’t Many Sailors in the Crew
Waiters, waitresses, and maids were referred to as stewards aboard the Titanic. Only 60 of the ship’s 421 stewards survived, 48 of whom were women. Steward Thomas Whiteley, pictured above, had his leg broken by a piece of falling debris while boarding a lifeboat. Violet Jessop, another stewardess, had been aboard Titanic’s sister ship, the RMS Olympic, when it crashed with a British warship the previous year. She survived the Titanic disaster, as well as the sinking of their other sister ship, the Britannic, four years later. She became renowned as “Miss Unsinkable.”The Captain Did Not Make the Tough Call
There Weren’t Many Sailors in the Crew
The Hard Call Was Not Made by the Captain
Titanic Captain Edward J. Smith had gone for the evening, leaving First Officer William McMaster Murdoch in command. When Murdoch received notification of the iceberg, he ordered the ship to turn quickly and shut down the engines. Unfortunately, it was too late. Due to the boat’s vast size, it failed to maneuver in time to avoid the collision, and the starboard side collided with the iceberg.
The Hard Call Was Not Made by the Captain
