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Did the Official 1912 Titanic Investigations Go Far Enough?

By: Greg Daugherty

Updated: June 22, 2023 | Original: November 18, 2020

When the RMS Titanic went down on the night of April 14-15, 1912, people on both sides of the Atlantic frantically awaited further news. An official investigation wasn't far off, but during the immediate aftermath, solid intelligence about the tragedy was hard to come by.

The newspapers pieced together what little information they could obtain from wireless telegraph messages sent by the Titanic and other ships at sea, often relying on speculation to fill the gaps. More than one major paper assured readers that all the passengers had been saved and the wounded liner was slowly making its way to Nova Scotia. It wasn’t until the rescue ship Carpathia arrived in New York on April 18 that fuller details began to emerge. Even then, rumors were rampant.

Fortunately, for the sake of history, government officials in both the United States and Great Britain moved aggressively to find out what had happened and why. Their inquiries, beginning on April 19 and May 2 respectively, put on record much of what the world now knows about the disaster—that the ship was traveling too fast for the icy conditions, that its design made it more vulnerable to sinking than anyone realized, that it was carrying far too few lifeboats for the people onboard and much more.

An American Senator Begins the Titanic Investigation

Sen. William Alden Smith (R-Mich.), a lawyer by training, led the U.S. Senate inquiry. He wasted no time in rounding up key witnesses, in part out of concern that they would leave the U.S. and return to England before they could be questioned. Smith and his entourage met the Carpathia at its New York dock to serve subpoenas on the surviving members of the Titanic’s crew, the Carpathia’s captain and J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line and a survivor of the wreck.

The inquiry began the next morning at a New York hotel before moving to Washington, D.C. a few days later.

Smith would call 82 witnesses in all, including four Titanic officers, 34 crew members and 21 passengers. Their eyewitness accounts testified to the ship’s reckless speed, the captain’s apparent indifference to iceberg warnings sent by other ships, the crew’s ill-preparedness in handling lifeboats and, most damningly, a mysterious nearby ship that refused to come to the Titanic’s aid despite seeing its distress rockets. Smith pointed the blame at the freighter SS Californian and its captain, Stanley Lord, whom he also subpoenaed and treated to a vigorous grilling.

The report Smith’s subcommittee issued on May 28 was praised for its detail and remains an essential document for Titanic historians to this day. His behavior, however, was another matter. A London paper accused him of “browbeating, bullying and baiting” witnesses—particularly Ismay, who, in saving himself, had become a villain in the American press. Newspapers around the world called out Smith’s lack of nautical knowledge and ridiculed many of his questions to the Titanic’s crew, most famously: “Do you know what an iceberg is composed of?” (To which Titanic Fifth Officer Harold G. Lowe replied, “Ice, I suppose, sir.”).

But The New York Times , which did its share of mocking Smith, acknowledged that, for all his faults, “he has brought out what we all wanted to know and had a right to know about the loss of the big ship” and “enabled us all to form a clear idea as to where the responsibility, direct and indirect, for that loss lies.”

Smith’s report may also have served another purpose. As one American magazine observed, the testimony Smith had put on record made it all but impossible for the British inquiry to simply whitewash the disaster, as many feared it would.

A British Barrister Takes up the Probe

The second major inquiry, which began about two weeks after the sinking, was conducted on behalf of the British Board of Trade—a body that Smith had harshly criticized, saying its “laxity of regulation and hasty inspection” was a major cause of the disaster.

Chosen to lead the court of inquiry was Lord Mersey, otherwise known as John Charles Bigham, a lawyer with experience in shipping cases.

“What was to surprise many observers, but not those who knew Lord Mersey well, was the surprising objectivity that the court was to display during the next five weeks,” writes Titanic historian Daniel Allen Butler in his 2009 book about the disaster and its aftermath, The Other Side of the Night . Even the Board of Trade, Butler adds, “would not escape Mersey’s keen eye or sharp tongue.”

Mersey also had the benefit of the evidence amassed by William Alden Smith’s subcommittee. When his personal papers relating to the Titanic—including his private notes on the inquiry, which will be explored on the HISTORY show "History's Greatest Mysteries"—their contents included two copies of the American report.

Mersey’s court of inquiry called 97 witnesses and issued its report at the end of July. While it covered much the same ground as the American report, “the British investigators paid far less attention to the human facets of the disaster and focused more exclusively on nautical and navigational matters,” writes Wyn Craig Wade in his 2012 book, The Titanic: Disaster of the Century. “How the Titanic was damaged and subsequently flooded was covered in considerable detail.”

The British report disappointed some observers, who expected the Titanic’s captain, E.J. Smith, to be more harshly criticized for failing to reduce speed. It absolved him of negligence but admitted he had made a “very grievous mistake.” J. Bruce Ismay got off the hook, as well, the report concluding that, “Had he not jumped in [the lifeboat], he would merely have added one more life, namely, his own, to the number of those lost.”

Captain Stanley Lord wasn’t so lucky. If anything, Mersey gave him a more thorough working over than Smith had. In the final report, he concluded that, “When she first saw the rockets, the Californian could have pushed through the ice to the open water without any serious risk and so have come to the assistance of the Titanic. Had she done so she might have saved many if not all of the lives that were lost.”

(More recent investigations, based on the location of the Titanic’s wreckage, discovered in 1985 , have concluded that the Californian was too far away to have saved many, if any, lives. Some historians still fault Lord for taking no action to aid a ship in distress, while defenders maintain he was blameless.)

The British inquiry’s major contribution may have been its list of 24 recommendations for making sea travel safer. While the American report had made similar recommendations, the powerful British shipping companies seemed more likely to take them seriously, coming from their own government.

The recommendations included providing a sufficient number of lifeboats; adequate training to crew members on how to handle them; greater government authority over the design of ships and their watertight compartments; the installation of wireless telegraphs on all ships; and the hiring of enough operators to staff them around the clock. Many of those recommendations became part of international maritime law in 1914.

As to the two very different men who’d led their countries’ inquiries, both Smith and Mersey moved on to other projects. But for Mersey, the Titanic inquiry proved to be valuable preparation. In 1915, he would lead the investigation into another sea disaster that riveted the world: the sinking of the RMS Lusitania . 

HISTORY Vault: Titanic's Achilles Heel

Did Titanic have a fatal design flaw? John Chatterton and Richie Kohler of "Deep Sea Detectives" dive the wreckage of Titanic's sister ship, Britannic, to investigate the possibility.

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At approximately 12 p.m. on April 10, 1912, the new Royal Mail Steamer Titanic , flagship of the White Star Line, cast off from Southampton, England, on her maiden voyage to New York. She stopped at Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland, picking up additional passengers and mail, as well to debark cross-channel passengers.

Steaming west from Queenstown, she carried 2,208 passengers and crew - an eclectic mixture of Edwardian society. From the affluent first class, the likes of Astor , Straus and Guggenheim , to the largely forgotten third class and crew, with names such as Kirkham , Sage and Ward - each with their own unique story to tell.

Titanic's speed had been steadily increasing during the voyage as additional boilers were brought online, and on Sunday, April 14, the vessel was making approximately 21.5 knots. Throughout the day and into the night the temperature outside had been falling until some time shortly before the collision when it dipped below the freezing point.

At 11:40 p.m. Frederick Fleet , one of the lookouts stationed in the crow's nest , noticed something in the distance. He rang the warning bell three times, signalling the bridge of an object directly ahead, and picked up the bridge-crow's-nest telephone. A terse exchange over the telephone effectively warned the bridge of the impending danger, however, the warning had come too late to avert a collision.

First Officer William Murdoch was entering the bridge from the starboard wing when the warning came and quickly ordered the ship's helm turned hard astarboard. He was hoping to maneuver Titanic's bow away from the danger, then attempt to work the stern around but the iceberg was too close. The ship brushed along a submerged spar of the iceberg along her starboard side, opening several varying sized holes along her length an inrush of water.

Thomas Andrews , the ship's designer from Harland and Wolff, informed Captain Smith that the pumps were incapable of keeping up with the amount of water entering the vessel and would only buy them some extra time. The crew began hastily uncovering and readying the lifeboats to evacuate the vessel. Being aware there was barely enough lifeboat accommodation for slightly more than half of those on board must have weighed heavily on the captain's mind.

At 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after the collision, the vessel broke in two and sank, taking with her over 1,500 lives.

The Cunard Company's steamship Carpathia arrived on the disaster scene shortly after 4 in the morning. Her captain, Arthur Henry Rostron , expected to see Titanic , but was instead confronted with a lone green light, lying low on the water, one of Titanic boats.

As daylight crept over the disaster area, lifeboat after lifeboat was sighted as they closed in on the Carpathia's position. The following hours were expended embarking the survivors and retrieving what little remained of Titanic , her boats.

Shortly after sunrise the Leyland steamer Californian , commanded by Captain Stanley Lord , arrived. Rostron requested that the Californian continue searching the area for any survivors. He then turned Carpathia west and steamed for New York with 705 survivors.

The world that morning began hearing news of the collision. Early stories of the disaster were often rushed and erroneous, relying on fragmented information coming from various stations listening to the tragedy unfold.

Carpathia hadn't helped matters very much. Her Marconi operator, Harold Cottam , along with Harold Bride from Titanic , began sending out lists of survivors and ignored requests for details of the disaster. During the following days question followed question with very few answers forthcoming. Both in America and England pressure rapidly built to determine the factors leading to this disaster.

This site contains the complete transcripts of both the US Senate and British Board of Trade inquiries into the disaster, along with their final reports.

American Inquiry

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 Day 16 | Day 17 | Day 18

Final Report

British Inquiry

Expenses Index of Minutes Witnesses

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 Day 16 | Day 17 | Day 18 Day 19 | Day 20 Day 21 Day 22 | Day 23 | Day 24 Day 25 | Day 26 | Day 27 Day 28 | Day 29 | Day 30 Day 31 | Day 32 | Day 33 Day 34 | Day 35 | Day 36

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- Lusitania Inquiry - Empress of Ireland

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Review: i survived the sinking of the titanic, 1912.

James Cameron is one of those visionary directors who can change the way one views the world. His movies are not merely blockbusters but immersive world experiences. One of the best examples is the experience of Avatar , where things like disability and the plight of indigenous peoples were underlying themes. Even now, more than ten years after it debuted, it still is part of the public imagination.

Another element in his movies that often gets overlooked is his storytelling ability. H not only pulls you into these worlds, but drawn to these characters. This is what made his movie Titanic so memorable. It had some of us questioning how one would survive something as harrowing as a ship sinking. In Lauren Tarshis ‘ I Survived series, she asks this very question. In I Survived The Sinking of the Titanic 1912 , we meet one such protagonist who doesn’t know his life is about to change.

We are taken to April 14, 1912, where we meet George Calder and his little sister, Phoebe, who is fortunate enough to be sailing on the Titanic, thanks to his aunt, Daisy, as we soon find out the lost their other due to an accident. The siblings would go exploring on the ship but eventually George would strike out on his own, where he finds trouble in the lower decks, as he runs into an unsavory character, whom he escapes from, but right then, the ship hits an iceberg, causing the ship to take water. George, Phoebe and Aunt Dais would put on their life vests, as a precaution, but as the vessel starts to submerge, their hope starts to dim. They would soon find themselves topside, as they start to evacuate, but unfortunately George gets separated from Aunt Daisy and Phoebe, on the last rescue boat. He would eventually go down with the ship, and would tread water on a door, until a passing boat was within arm’s reach, for him to get into it. Eventually a hospital ship rescues them, and he is reunited with Aunt Daisy and Phoebe. As they arrive in New York City, the kids are reunited with their father, in what should be a happy reunion. Instead, the kids, mostly George, suffer post traumatic stress for most of his life. By the book’s end, George finds solace in his father, as the pain of seeing all those people die, remains tethered to his memories, knowing that he can never forget what happened on the Titanic.

Overall, I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 is an engrossing and thrilling story that gives another view of this traumatic event. The story by Tarshis is compelling. The art by Haus Studio is gorgeous. Altogether, an excellent book that more than enlightens, it humanizes.

Story: Lauren Tarshis Art: Haus Studio Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

Purchase: Amazon – Kindle – Bookshop

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• Shadow of the Titanic: The...

Shadow of the Titanic: The Extraordinary Stories of Those Who Survived

The newly-built Titanic was a vast and luxurious ship. To have the opportunity to sail on its maiden voyage must have been considered a wonderful adventure. Neither the passengers nor the crew could possibly know that the highly-anticipated initial ocean crossing on the luxury liner was doomed from the start.

"The personal stories behind the disaster, as recounted by Andrew Wilson, are no doubt what has kept so many people so fascinated with that horrific event. That the history of the tragedy has remained alive for so long is in part a testament to how strongly we are sometimes affected by dramatic human events, current or historic."

1,517 people lost their lives when the great ship hit an iceberg, suffered catastrophic damage, took on water, broke apart, and sank to the ocean floor. Because there were insufficient lifeboats and due to the fact that many that were launched were not filled anywhere near to capacity, countless lives that surely would have been saved were tragically lost. Those 705 suriviors who secured a spot in a lifeboat or who jumped off the ship as it was slipping down into the ocean --- and were later rescued by a lifeboat --- were witnesses to the horror of the screams of the dying and the sight of the great ship disappearing beneath the water. For countless passengers and crew, the sounds and sights of that night haunted them for the rest of their lives.

Eighteen-year-old Madeleine and her much older, wealthy husband, John Jacob Astor, were returning home on the Titanic after an extended honeymoon abroad. Madeleine was pregnant and did not want to be separated from John, but he convinced her to enter the lifeboat by telling her he would be along shortly. Of course, that did not happen, and within one short year Madeleine became a bride, an heiress, a widow, and a mother. She gave up the Astor fortune to marry her childhood sweetheart and bore two more sons. She seemed happy enough, but that did not last long.

Madeleine was restless and ended up divorcing her second husband before embarking upon another ocean voyage supposedly to calm her nerves. This trip also brought her endless grief. She met and was immediately attracted to an Italian prizefighter 15 years her junior who had a wife and child back home. Their attraction was immediate but flawed. Enzo was attracted to her wealth and celebrity, while Madeleine was obsessed with Enzo's youth and looks. Eventually they divorced, freeing Enzo to marry the older woman. But their marriage was a disaster from the beginning as Enzo physically abused his wife.

What a sad life Madeleine endured. If she lived during current times, her life story might have been made into a movie. For a young woman who should have led such a charmed existence, instead Madeleine found life to be extremely difficult. No matter what choices she made, they always seemed to be the wrong ones.

Jack Thayer was a 17-year old traveling with his mother and father. Young Jack refused a spot in a lifeboat --- the law of the sea was "Women and children first" --- and instead chose to jump feet first into the freezing water as the ship was sinking. He surfaced near a lifeboat, and a stoker pulled him aboard. When Jack was reunited with his mother, Marian, on the Carpathia , she was stunned that he had not seen his father. Mr. Thayer's body was never recovered. His widow dabbled in the occult in an effort to communicate with her late husband, while Jack went on to lead an exemplary life. He fought in the first World War and became a successful businessman and highly respected family man. But when his son died in the second World War and Marian passed away a few months later, Jack fell into a deep depression. He was one of the 10 Titanic  survivors whose lives were ended by their own hands.

Reputations were made or lost, depending upon how the passengers who survived behaved during the ordeal. J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line, was never able to overcome the stinging scandal that followed him his entire life. And Lady and Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon also lived under a cloud of ill will and scorn because of their inexcusable behavior. Being a Titanic survivor gave one instant celebrity. Margaret "Molly" Brown, a first-class passenger, became well known when a movie and a musical were produced about her life. Had she not been aboard the Titanic , she just might have been any wealthy woman, totally unknown to the world.

The Titanic sailing was to be the final voyage, and a triumphant one at that, for Captain Smith before he retired. Two young boys, who spoke no English, aboard the ship were being kidnapped by their father. Were it not for the publicity surrounding the tragedy, would they ever have been reunited with their mother? So many questions linger, and most of them will remain unanswered.

Does it seem strange that the events that occurred on one single night an entire century ago still reverberate down through the years? The personal stories behind the disaster, as recounted by Andrew Wilson, are no doubt what has kept so many people so fascinated with that horrific event. That the history of the tragedy has remained alive for so long is in part a testament to how strongly we are sometimes affected by dramatic human events, current or historic.

Reviewed by Carole Turner on March 22, 2012

Shadow of the Titanic: The Extraordinary Stories of Those Who Survived by Andrew Wilson

• Publication Date: March 26, 2013
• Genres: History , Nonfiction
• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books
• ISBN-10: 1451671571
• ISBN-13: 9781451671575

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I SURVIVED THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC , 1912

From the i survived graphic novel series.

by Lauren Tarshis ; illustrated by Haus Studio ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4, 2020

A fresh and interesting adaptation, making for an easy crowd pleaser.

A popular prose series gets a graphic revitalization.

Faithfully following its predecessor, the book introduces readers to 10-year-old George, an American boy traveling first class on the Titanic with his aunt Daisy and little sister, Phoebe. When the fateful collision between boat and berg occurs, Phoebe goes missing. As the arctic waters rise, George sets out to find her. Although panic mounts all around, it seems that George’s privilege will save him, until he is shocked to discover otherwise. After the Titanic goes down and he’s safe back at home, George wrestles with his anxieties in a way that is accessibly age-appropriate, albeit a bit facile. In the vein of other graphic adaptations of bestselling series (like the evergreen The Baby Sitter’s Club), the first installment of Tarshis’ sprawling prose disaster oeuvre for young readers is reimagined in visually interesting full-color comic panels that support its recognizable thrilling pace and convenient twists. Many of the most exciting scenes are largely wordless, spotlighting the propulsive action amid growing tensions. New backmatter includes interesting historical facts and photographs of persons and places of interest, including pictures of the first-, second-, and third-class cabins and of relics recovered from the shipwreck. Also included are lists of further reading, both fiction and nonfiction. George, Phoebe, and Daisy are white, as are nearly all the secondary characters as well.    

Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-338-12092-9

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS

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8 Must-Read Books About the Titanic

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On April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg. Within a few short hours, this ‘unsinkable ship’ was dragged beneath the surface of the Atlantic, taking many of the 2,224 people on board with it.

Countless others lost their lives through hypothermia, drowning, and injuries sustained from the broken parts of the ship.

A total of 1,503 people died on that fateful night, leaving just over 700 survivors, who the passing RMS Carpathia rescued.

The sinking of the Titanic was one of the most catastrophic maritime disasters in all of history. It’s been the subject of countless books, songs, poems, and paintings, and of course, there was that movie.

Even to this day, well over 100 years after it sank to the bottom of the ocean, historians and enthusiasts are scouring sources new and old for more information to fill in the blanks about what happened.

The titles on this list are some of the most authoritative, concise, and compelling books about the Titanic ever written. They detail the events of that night and tell the previously untold stories that were swallowed up by the ocean along with the ship.

Some make for a pretty difficult read , as the scale of the loss of human life is laid bare. Still, they’re fascinating nonetheless and provide a fresh perspective and new insights into what happened on that historic date in the Spring of 1912.

Table of Contents

1. A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

First published in 1955, Walter Lord’s A Night to Remember is a captivating blow-by-blow account of the events that took place onboard the Titanic the night she sank.

Chapters cover each element in stunning detail, from the catastrophic collision with the iceberg and the subsequent decisions made by the captain and crew to the behavior of passengers from each and every class on board.

Many brave individuals sacrificed their lives, giving up their seats in lifeboats and navigating the icy waters to save strangers, but others weren’t so noble.

These harrowing yet eye-opening accounts from survivors aren’t an easy read, but they provide a unique insight into the disaster while shining a light on the strengths and weaknesses of the human spirit.

2. The Discovery of the Titanic by Robert D. Ballard

In 1985, after a long, dramatic, and challenging expedition, Robert D. Ballard and his team finally discovered the wreckage of the Titanic.

In this first-hand account, Ballard describes the journey leading up to their discovery and the fascinating vessel exploration that followed.

He also recounts the events that occurred during the ship’s last night at sea, putting his findings into a human context and laying to rest some of the many mysteries surrounding the disaster.

3. Titanic Survivor: The Newly Discovered Memoirs of Violet Jessop

Violet Jessop had the misfortune of being on board, not one, but two ships bound for disaster; the Titanic and the Britannic.

As a stewardess serving the upper-class passengers on board the Titanic, she witnessed the terror and chaos of the ship’s final night, documenting it all in her diary and providing an invaluable and fascinating eyewitness account. 

And just four years later, Violet Jessop found herself onboard another doomed passenger liner, the Titanic’s sister ship, the Britannic. Though this disastrous voyage wasn’t as deadly as the first, it still claimed the lives of over 30 people. Yet mercifully, she survived this second tragedy at sea and went on to document her extraordinary experience again for the world to read.

Now both harrowing accounts are available in one compilation, giving us a never-before-seen picture of what it was like to live through two catastrophic maritime disasters.

Bonus Read: 9 Gothic Romance Novels to Send Chills Down Your Spine

4. Unsinkable: The Full Story of The RMS Titanic by Daniel Allen Butler

Unsinkable is a deep dive into every angle of the Titanic’s history, from her very beginnings in a shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to the most recent missions to salvage her remains from the ocean floor.

Author Daniel Allen Butler has dedicated more than 30 years of his life to researching the Titanic, compiling facts from primary sources, and collating them into one of the most comprehensive accounts of its history ever told.

Some of this ill-fated vessel’s story is familiar to us all, from her deadly collision with an iceberg to the moment she sank beneath the waves. Yet other elements are revelatory, such as the account of a passing ship, who, in fear of waking their sleeping captain, ignored the nearby distress calls for help. 

5. Her Name, Titanic by Charles Pellegrino

Dr. Charles Pellegrino’s groundbreaking book is a tale of two parts. The first is a detailed and eye-opening retelling of the night the vessel sank. The second is a fascinating first-hand account of the landmark recovery mission led by Robert D. Ballard, 77 years after the disaster, which exposed many previously unknown, hidden secrets.

Pellegrino is a master storyteller, bringing both stories, the sinking, and the rediscovery, in vivid, full-color detail. This easy-to-digest book is the perfect companion to Ballard’s iconic compendium, The Discovery of the Titanic, which is listed above.

6. Titanic – A Survivor’s Story by Archibald Gracie

This is the tale of Archibald Gracie, a soldier, writer, real estate investor, and one of the survivors rescued from the sinking Titanic in the nick of time.

His vivid account of the horrors he witnessed that night shines new light on the details of the ship’s final hours on the surface. He includes the names of those who perished saving others and those who, in a moment of desperation, jumped down into lowering lifeboats, endangering further lives.

Gracie suffered enormously from the physical and mental anguish brought on by his ordeal. Sadly, he passed away less than eight months later. He was the first adult Titanic survivor to die after the event.

Nevertheless, his unique perspective is invaluable in searching for a greater understanding of what really happened on board the ship on that tragic date in April 1912.

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7. Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy by John P. Eaton and Charles A. Haas

Hailed as the ‘definitive history of the Titanic,’ this detailed account of the sunken vessel was first published in 1986. More recently, it’s been revised and expanded to reflect new revelations in historians’ understanding of the disaster.

The book not only examines what happened the night the ship sank but also delves into the dramatic events that followed, such as the initial discovery of the wreckage and the subsequent attempts to recover the artifacts buried within it.

Plus, each chapter is complemented by high-resolution photographs, which provide a window into history in a way that words simply cannot.

8. Down with the Old Canoe: A Cultural History of the Titanic Disaster by Steven Biel

Down with the Old Canoe is more than just a historical account of the Titanic (although it offers some insightful details of the events before, during, and after the vessel sank). Instead, it also offers a deep dive into the response to the tragedy from a human cultural perspective.

The disaster of 1912 hit the headlines around the world, and communities throughout America had some fascinatingly diverse viewpoints on the catastrophe.

Countless groups used the Titanic as ammunition for their cause, from proponents of racial equality and their racist, xenophobic counterparts, to women’s rights campaigners and their staunch opposition.

Many Protestant church members cited the Titanic as a warning of the perils of modern consumer society, and some oppressed African American communities presented it as an emblem of misplaced white superiority and greed.

Biel’s book is unlike any other written on the subject of this ill-fated ship. It’s an exploration of the richly diverse, divided, and paradoxical America that still stands in the shadow of this great maritime disaster today.

As the largest ship ever to sail the ocean, the Titanic was billed as a miraculous feat of ‘unsinkable’ engineering. But history had other ideas, and instead, it was the victim of the deadliest peacetime disaster the oceans have ever seen.

So much has been written about this tragic event, and discoveries are still being made today. Still, the books on this list are among the most comprehensive and fascinating of them all.

Using first-hand accounts and years of historical and scientific investigation, the researchers behind these books shine new light on the events that occurred on that fateful day in April 1912. So, suppose you’re interested in delving into the true history of the Titanic. In that case, the titles above are a great place to start.

For more fascinating reads on historical events from around the globe, check out this list of the ten best history eBooks of all time.

And if you have any great Titanic-based book recommendations, let me know in the comments below!

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Book Review

Tonight on the titanic — “magic tree house” series.

• Mary Pope Osborne
• Adventure , Beginning Readers , Fantasy

Readability Age Range

• Random House

Year Published

This book has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine . It is the 17th book in the “Magic Tree House” series.

Plot Summary

Jack and Annie hear the rain hitting the window and believe it is calling them to the tree house. When they arrive, Morgan le Fay, the enchantress, is not there. Instead, they find a small terrier puppy and name him Teddy.

A note from Morgan informs them that the dog is under a spell. To free him, the children must gather four special gifts. The note also warns them that their Master Librarian cards will not help them on this particular mission. The first gift on the list must come from a ship lost at sea.

After the children find a book entitled The Unsinkable Ship and wish to go to the setting of the book, they find themselves between the smokestacks of a large ocean liner. Jack reads about the ship, including the date of its voyage: April 14, 1912. Before they can exit the tree house, the ship hits an iceberg. The children listen as the large chunk of ice scrapes along the hull. When the scraping stops, Annie exits the tree house to investigate, and the children discover they are on the Titanic .

Jack insists on going home, but Annie wants to stay and help. When they overhear the captain instructing a crew member to send an SOS, Jack looks in the book and learns no one will arrive in time to help the sinking ship. After the captain instructs the crew to begin loading the lifeboats, Jack reads more facts in the book. He finds out the ship needed twice as many lifeboats as it had to get all the passengers to safety.

After deciding to help someone find a lifeboat, Jack and Annie make their way to the third-class deck. While walking there, they encounter many calm travelers who are unaware of the danger. Annie warns them, but they don’t give her words much attention. With the help of Teddy, they find William and Lucy, two children traveling to New York to meet their parents.

As the four children run to the top deck, they continue to meet adults who aren’t worried about the state of the ship. Annie warns the travelers, but Jack urges their group onward, always wary of the time. On the top deck, Jack and Annie help a frightened William and Lucy find a lifeboat. Before Lucy boards the boat, she thanks Annie and Jack by giving them a silver watch on a chain, one of the four special gifts they need to collect.

Jack and Annie begin searching for the tree house as the ship’s stern begins to rise out of the water. When they get to the smokestacks, the tree house is not there. As the boat continues to sink, Teddy helps them find the tree house. They escape as the boat cracks in two. Once they return to their time, the two sit in silence, petting the dog and shedding a few tears for the people lost at sea.

Christian Beliefs

Other belief systems.

In this series, the tree house is magic. Jack and Annie, who live in Frog Creek, can see it, but others can’t. Morgan le Fay is an enchantress and the owner of the tree house. Her magic allows the tree house to transport Jack and Annie through time. They go to places they find images of in the books within the tree house. In a previous book, Morgan le Fay became trapped by a magic spell. She needs four items to break the spell. The children traveled through time to find those items for her. Then they went on quests to become Master Librarians.

Morgan’s note says the puppy in the tree house has a magic spell cast on him. The only way to undo the spell is to obtain four gifts. Later, Annie decides Teddy is a magical dog.

Authority Roles

Jack and Annie watch the captain make a decision to begin loading the lifeboats.

Profanity & Violence

Sexual content, discussion topics.

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

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Also included in Collections

by James Cameron

• Titanic Summary

The film opens with images of the Titanic ’s departure from Southampton in April, 1912. In the present day, treasure hunter Brock Lovett leads a team of submersibles down into the Titanic’s wreck. He finds a safe containing a drawing of a nude woman wearing a necklace he is seeking, called “the Heart of the Ocean.” Brock receives a phone call from a 101-year old woman claiming to be the subject of the drawing, and he flies her out to his research vessel to hear her story.

Named Rose Dewitt Bukater, she explains to Brock and his team that she had boarded the Titanic in Southampton with her fiancé, Cal Hockley , and her mother Ruth. Thus begins the flashback which will be most of the film's narrative. We see Jack Dawson , the penniless artist with whom she will soon fall in love, winning tickets for the Titanic 's voyage in a lucky round of poker in a nearby pub, and he boards the ship at the last minute. Rose describes the Titanic as “slave ship,” given how suffocated and unhappy she feels as Cal’s wife-to-be. After the ship departs from the harbor, Jack and his friend Fabrizio ecstatically rejoice at the ship’s bow. Rose dines in first class with other members of the upper crust, including Molly Brown , the shipbuilder Thomas Andrews, and White Star Line executive J. Bruce Ismay. Rose especially resents her mother and Cal’s controlling natures, and Ismay’s arrogance when describing the Titanic .

That night, Rose is about to commit suicide by hurling herself from the ship’s stern, when Jack happens upon her and convinces her to step back over the railing by saying he will jump in after her. White Star Line officials initially think Jack has attacked her, but Rose improvises a lie to exonerate Jack and conceal the motives behind her own behavior. Rose convinces Cal to invite Jack to dinner the following night. The next day, Rose strolls the deck with Jack, thanking him for his discretion. Initially shocked by his bluntness, Rose warms to Jack, especially impressed by his drawings. Molly lends Jack a tuxedo to wear to dinner in first class, where Jack charms the well-to-do with his carpe diem philosophies—all except for Rose's mother Ruth. After dinner, Jack secretly invites Rose to a raucous party below deck, where she drinks, dances, and feels liberated in the company of regular people.

The following morning at breakfast, after being informed of Rose’s behavior by his valet Lovejoy, Cal furiously scolds Rose. Ruth forbids Rose from seeing Jack again, reminding her that her marriage to Cal is crucial for remedying their family's precarious financial state. Jack tries to visit Rose in church, but is restrained by Lovejoy. Later that day, Rose strolls the decks with Thomas Andrews, noting that the ship only has lifeboats for half its passengers. Jack pulls Rose into a gym room and delivers an impassioned speech, worried that marrying Cal will extinguish the “fire” within her, but Rose tells him not to contact her anymore.

Later at sunset, Jack is standing at the bow of the ship when Rose approaches, saying she has changed her mind. Jack lifts her onto the railing, instructing her to close her eyes and spread her arms, and the two kiss. Rose invites Jack back to her first class cabin while Cal is at the smoking lounge, and asks him to draw her wearing only the Heart of the Ocean, which she retrieves from Cal’s safe. Jack draws her, and the two are later interrupted by Lovejoy. Jack and Rose sneak out the back entrance, and Lovejoy pursues them below deck. They run through the boiler room and wind up in a cargo area holding automobiles. They make love in one of the cars, and reemerge laughing on the ship’s deck, just as the ship is about to make contact with an iceberg.

The ship's lookouts ring the captain, and all over the Titanic , crew members work to throw the ship’s engines into reverse, to no avail. The ship collides with the iceberg, and Rose brings Jack with her to notify her mother and Cal about the collision, but Lovejoy and Cal frame Jack for stealing the Heart of the Ocean, and order the master-at-arms to arrest him. Below deck, alarmed third-class passengers see their cabins begin to flood, as above them, first class passengers remain largely oblivious to the severity of the accident. Thomas Andrews explains to Captain Smith, J. Bruce Ismay, and chief officer William Murdoch that the ship will sink in a matter of hours.

Rose shocks Cal and her mother by refusing to board a lifeboat, and instead goes searching for Jack, who has been handcuffed below deck under Lovejoy's charge. Thomas Andrews gives her directions through the crewman's passage to the rapidly flooding D-deck, where Rose finds Jack chained to a pipe. After failing to find a key, Rose runs through C-deck and finds an axe. She miraculously chops through Jack's handcuffs, and the two escape D-deck together. In C-deck, Jack helps the third-class passengers uproot a bench and ram through a gate preventing them from ascending to the upper levels.

Cal retrieves the Heart of the Ocean from his safe and stashes it in his coat. He finds Rose and Jack, and unwittingly gives Rose his coat with the diamond. He and Jack jointly convince Rose to board a lifeboat. Rose watches Jack as she descends, then leaps back aboard the sinking ship. Rose reunites with Jack, telling him, "You jump, I jump, right?" Enraged and jealous, Cal steals Lovejoy's gun and fires at Rose and Jack, sending them fleeing back down into the lower decks. He then realizes that Rose now has the Heart of the Ocean. Below deck again, Jack and Rose find a small child and try to rescue him, before being swept up in a current flooding the ship. They barely manage to escape the depths of the ship after Jack retrieves a pair of keys dropped by a fleeing White Star Line attendant.

Jack and Rose pass Thomas Andrews in the dining area, and he apologizes to Rose for not building a better ship. On deck, the ship's band plays while anarchy breaks loose. Cal finds a small, lost child and cynically uses her to board a lifeboat. William Murdoch, overwhelmed by managing the lifeboat triage, accidentally kills a passenger and then commits suicide. Captain Smith steps into the wheelhouse as it floods, killing him instantly. As the ship sinks by the bow, Jack and Rose run to the stern. The ship eventually snaps in half, and the front half sinks. Jack and Rose cling to the railing of the stern as the back half of the ship rises vertically into the air. Jack tells Rose to hold her breath as they finally go under.

Jack guides Rose to a piece of debris that she can use to stay afloat. Molly tries convincing the other people in her lifeboat to turn around and look for survivors, but is overruled. Jack makes Rose promise she will survive, and dies before the first lifeboat returns. Rose blows on a whistle to call the lifeboat, and is taken with the other survivors aboard the Carpathia the following morning. She registers the next day as "Rose Dawson" upon arriving in the United States. In the present day, Rose explains to Brock and the others that Jack saved her every way a person can be saved, and that Cal killed himself after the stock market crash in 1929. That night, Rose drops the Heart of the Ocean back into the sea. She goes to sleep and dreams she is back on the Titanic , kissing Jack, surrounded by smiling faces.

Titanic Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Titanic is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

how does the main character solve the problem?

Are you referring to Titanic? The problem isn't solved. The ship sinks: main characters die.

How do I submit a new Community Note?

I suggest you use the "Contact Us" button located on the bottom, left-hand side of the page.

What is the central idea of Below Deck: A Titanic Story?

Author please?

Study Guide for Titanic

Titanic study guide contains a biography of James Cameron, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Titanic
• Character List
• Director's Influence

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• Introduction
• Pre-production

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The Titanic Sisters: A Riveting Story of Strength and Family Kindle Edition

• Print length 322 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publisher Kensington Books
• Publication date January 26, 2021
• File size 1973 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
• Word Wise Enabled
• Enhanced typesetting Enabled
• See all details

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Editorial Reviews

About the author.

Esther Wane is a British actor and voice-over artist. After a career in finance, she fulfilled a childhood dream of going to drama school in London, and her life as an actor began at age forty. She has a lifelong passion for literature and can often be found browsing bookshops during any spare moments. Wane enjoys taking her listeners on a journeys in time and space and bringing the characters on the page to life in their imagination. She lives with her family and collection of books in Hertfordshire, just outside London.

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B087Z9ZYF1
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kensington Books (January 26, 2021)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 26, 2021
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 1973 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 322 pages
• #12 in Historical Irish Fiction
• #27 in Historical Fiction (Kindle Store)
• #32 in Literary Fiction (Kindle Store)

About the author

Patricia falvey.

Patricia Falvey is an Irish-born writer living in Dallas, Texas. She is the author of the critically acclaimed The Yellow House, and The Linen Queen. Both are historical novels set in Northern Ireland. Her third novel, The Girls of Ennismore, set in the west of Ireland and focusing on the Easter Uprising of 1916, was published in 2017. Her most recent novel, The Titanic Sisters, featuring two Donegal sisters who make their way to America on the ill-fated Titanic, was published in 2021.

Patricia immigrated alone to the U.S. at the age of 20 and forged a long and successful career in the financial services industry, rising to a Managing Director for a major consulting firm where she oversaw a national tax practice. However, she never lost sight of her dream of becoming a published author and in 2008 walked away from her old career to give her dream a chance. In 2010 her courage was rewarded with the publication of The Yellow House. She views this phase of her life as her “Second Act” and strongly encourages anyone with a dream to pursue it no matter what their age. It’s never too late!

When not traveling around the scenic backroads of her beloved Ireland doing research and visiting friends and family, Patricia likes hanging out with good friends in Texas and enjoying the “craic” - which loosely translated from the Gaelic means lively conversation, storytelling, laughter and good times. She also enjoys teaching and mentoring fledgling writers, speaking to book clubs, watching PBS British television programs, and attending the theater.

For more on Patricia and her books, visit her website at : www.patriciafalveybooks.com

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