The Titanic Disaster Hearings: The Official Transcripts of the 1912 Senate Investigation

by Tom Kunz (Editor)

Merely a day after Titanic survivors arrived in port in New York City, a United States Senate committee began an investigation into the wreck of the great "unsinkable" ship. For the first time in book form, here is the dramatic testimony of crew and passengers from all walks of life, as they recall the sights and sounds of the night of April 14, 1912. From the manners of the day to the conduct fo those boarding the lifeboats, from acts of kindness to palpable greed, here is an unforgettable portrait of human nature in the face of the "Titanic" tragedy, in the words of the men and women who survived... J. Bruce Ismay, British officer of the White Star Line, who hopped into a lifeboat to save himself and never looked back to see her go down... Second officer Charles Lightoller's harrowing plunge as the sinking ship's force of suction pulled him under water... On-duty lookout Frederick Fleet's admission that the iceberg might have been avoided if the crew had been equipped with binoculars... Passenger Daisy Minahan, who recalled the refusal of an officer in her lifeboat to aid those adrift in the frigid waters... and many more witnesses to one of the most shattering events of our century. Illustrated with historical photographs, The "Titanic Disaster Hearings" is a vital piece of the puzzle that has sparked worldwide fascination.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, 20th Century, Historical, Reference

571 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Barry Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

really just astonishing documents tbh! and one of the best audiobooks i've ever listened to.

[Stacia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book doesn't have all of the transcripts (but there is a list of witnesses at the back of the book & it marks which testimony is included in this volume) but still is a hefty volume at 500+ pages. (At least the type is large-ish.)

I found it fascinating reading.

Kudos to US Senator William Alden Smith for instigating the hearings almost as soon as the survivors arrived in the US. The outcome of the investigation led to many findings that resulted in safer maritime practices that are still in use today. As anyone who has been on a cruise ship will know, you muster at your assigned lifeboat with your life jacket on. This was just one of the safety practices enacted after the Titanic tragedy.

Also, under the heading of "nothing new under the sun", part of the testimony revolved around the Marconi wireless operators on the ship being paid for giving their stories exclusively to the New York Times & the ethics of that jockeying to sell their stories for monetary reward.

I have to add the captain of the Carpathia, Arthur Rostron, was a true hero, the right person in an emergency. Tragically, the captain of the Californian, Stanley Lord, did not render aid in a timely manner even though his was the ship closest to the Titanic when it sank; it is thought that if he had, many more from the Titanic would have survived.

Fascinating to read the first-person testimony of survivors & experts. Recommended for non-fiction fans even if you're not a Titanic junkie.

[Elizabeth]

Hoopla has this, but in an abridged format. The unabridged version still appears to have been edited. I don't know to what extent the editor changed the original text. Does "edited" mean he reworked parts of it, or left out parts? Or does it just mean that he gathered the sources and published them as-is? Your guess is as good as mine. But because it isn't clear, it is difficult for me to rate the book's value. This hearing's transcripts should be an indispensable primary source for anyone interested in learning about the Titanic disaster. I'm just not sure to what extent this—an abridgment of an edit—is useful. Did I read the actual record, or just a modern person's retelling of it? The version I heard was an audiobook with a multicast group of readers, so that was exceptionally well-handled. But I also have no idea whether the words are authentic or modern. A mixed bag.

[Ioanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

1912, U.S.A. Merely a day after the survivors of the Titanic arrive in New York, a preliminary hearing organized by the United States Senate takes place. The transcripts of the hearing, kept locked away for a very long time, were published in this book for the first time. No fictional elements, no experts’ opinions, just pure history.

This is the complete transcripts of the hearing, full of interviews of the survivors, with the focus being mainly on the surviving members of the crew. Why did the ship sink? Why didn’t the crew have binoculars on the lookout? Could the collision have been avoided? Did the life boats come back for the freezing people in the sea? Could more ships have arrived in time to help the vessel in distress?

You will not find conclusions here, and this is the think I liked more about this book. You will only see the answers the witnesses gave, and you can form your own opinion on the matter. Definitely better than any Titanic documentary you have ever wached, if you are a history addict, this is the book for you!

[Chloe Timmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

[AUDIOBOOK] The voice actors were awesome! Creative way to transform this book into an audiobook!

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me so much longer to read than I intended. I thought that my interest in the Titanic disaster was great enough that I could sit down and crank this book out in just a few days. Unfortunately, no amount of interest in the event could have pushed me to read this any faster than I did. Every time I picked the book up, I read roughly 20 words before I found myself falling asleep. Which is no fault of the editor, it is just the nature of the content itself. A girl can only read "so what did you see?" "I saw the boat sink" "So you saw the boat?" "Yes" "And the boat was sinking?" "Yes" so many times before the reading gets tedious.

However, even with my naps interspersed between my reading, there were several parts of the transcripts that were incredibly eye opening. It's so interesting to see how even just a couple of days after such a traumatic event led to wildly different accounts as to what happened from eye witnesses. Did the Titanic break in half, or did she go down in one piece (we now know, of course, that she broke in two. But several eyewitnesses swore that she went down without breaking)? Were third class passengers held back from reaching the boat deck (it appears so)? Could the entire event have been avoided had the lookouts been given binoculars (I had no idea that they hadn't)? Was the Californian close enough to rescue all the passengers of the Titanic (it certainly seems so)?

I probably wouldn't recommend this book unless you are REALLY into the Titanic. If definitely isn't a light read designed for the casual reader. If the Titanic is totally your thing, go for it! If not...you can probably skip this one.

[Morgan (youarethelibrarian) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It feels weird to rate this because it’s the Senate hearings transcript from their investigation into what happened when the Titanic sank. But sometimes I had to wonder if the Senate committee chairman was deaf, because he repeated almost everything the witnesses said, right after they’d said it, in question form, to which they then had to reply “Yes, sir.” Which made it take an unnaturally long time, I assume, to hear some of the testimonies.

Besides the testimonies about how the ship sank, how the lifeboats were loaded, questions about the ice warnings, etc., there was considerable time given to questions about the Marconigrams, how the distress signals were regulated, and the fact that Mr. Marconi allowed his operators to sell their stories to the press.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterclass in pov.

My favorite piece of testimony was from the second-class passenger who spent the first two pages of her affidavit complaining about her room accommodations. She really said “White Star Line is NOT getting away with this.”

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating stuff, if quite chilling. The accounts are hair-raising and really sobering. It makes me feel guilty for having ever griped about boat drills on ships.

There's enough in here to make just about anyone a conspiracy theorist. I'm quite certain Mr. Lightoller perjured himself on Day Five of the hearings. I'm almost convinced that the Californian watched the Titanic sink from a few miles away, hung around for a few hours without making its presence known or helping in any way and then ran like hell, though I can't imagine why it wouldn't respond to the rockets. And I'm only half-way through!

[Lucas G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever wanted to know what really happened during the historic disaster of the Titanic? “The Titanic Disaster Hearings: The Official Transcripts Of The 1912 Senate Investigation” is an excellent showing into the inner details of the disaster of the Titanic. The book is, quite frankly, exactly what the title says, being the official transcripts of when the Senate interviewed various survivors and witnesses of the disaster. The editor does a great job of letting the reader know who is talking and knowing what is what. The book is separated into days, where a senator asks questions about things such as where they were when it happened and what they did, among other details.
The senators questioned many survivors of the event, ranging from passengers and staff, to workers of boats nearby the Titanic when the disaster struck. Each individual states their own point of view from the event, painting an extremely detailed picture of the whole event from start to finish. The event is told via a series of questions, with the people’s testimonies making a vivid description of the event from descriptions of how people reacted, to even the deepest details of the ship itself and how it functions.
The people in the book all speak very formally, as to be expected when knowing the time it was set in and the importance of speaking to the governor of all people. I thoroughly enjoyed the testimonies of many of the people there, as even though they are talking about the same events, the differences in setting and personality in the people make each testimony unique and gripping in their own right. Because there are so many people, a few of the testimonies can be a bit slow at times, usually just being questioned on various schematics of the boat and confirming information stated by previous people, which I personally found to be boring and even a bit of a slog to get through at times, but those are few and far between.
Even so, I liked far more of the book than I disliked, and the way that they talk is very descriptive of the actual event. Overall, the book is nothing short of great, giving a deeper insight into the events of the Titanic, but not without some of its slower points. The book is certainly an acquired taste, and may seem boring to some, but to people well versed in aquatic terms and ones who love to learn more about history, this is sure to be a perfect read.

[Anne Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is for anyone who wants to know as much as possible about the Titanic. This book gives the exact accounts from the survivors of the Titanic crew (officers, seamen), passengers from the first, second, and third class, and wireless operators who survived as well as who were from other ships who received messages from the Titanic. Bruce Ismay, managing director of the White Star Line, was questioned a lot. Many thought of him as a traitor and coward for boarding a lifeboat when only women and children were being called. Nothing seems to be left out. It gets very repetitive with account after account of what happened from the time of the impact to boarding the ship Carpathia. But it’s interesting to hear different points of view of what happened, especially from the passengers.
Some observations that I made while reading this book and picturing in my mind the movie:
When the ship struck the iceberg, some people noticed ice coming on deck. Someone even took some ice, thinking it would be worth a lot someday! But nothing was mentioned about seeing people playing with the ice as seen in the movie.
Surprised that many said everyone was calm.
Surprised that certain people said that no more women were around when boarding the lifeboats.
It was mentioned there was a gate that prevented steerage passengers from getting on upper decks, but that was soon opened. It was concluded that it didn’t matter what class one was from when the ship was in distress.
Didn’t catch anyone mention about the ‘unsinkable’ Molly Brown.
Didn’t remember the movie mentioning anything about the lifeboat passengers seeing a light from a ship or anyone on the Titanic mentioning a ship in the distance.
Only one first class passenger mentioned the band that continuously played.
Much was mentioned about the press (New York Times) that wanted to pay the wireless operators a lot of money for their story before they told anyone else. It was a big scandal. But I liked the answer of the engineer of the Marconi wireless telegraph Co. According to him, the wireless officers weren’t paid much, so selling their story to The NY Times as they got off the Carpathia would benefit them.
I liked at the end of the book where it mentioned new laws that ships must abide by to ensure the safety of their passengers.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the April 15, 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, due to its unfortunate collision with an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean, a special subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee was founded and presided by Michigan Republican Senator William A. Smith, to investigate the disaster, through interviews with surviving passengers and crew. Commencing on April 19, 1912, the hearings began at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City and then moved to the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. In 1998, this edition that I read was published by Pocket Books as an exact reprint of the hearing transcripts with a preface by Director James Cameron of the 1997 blockbuster movie, “Titanic.”

Witnesses testified about their experiences. Reading about their experiences helped me learn a great deal more about the tragedy. Some of it was quite moving. There were stories of women leaving their husbands to get on the limited number of lifeboats. There were those who saw the ship sink while they were in the lifeboats, and some who looked away purposefully. There were recalls from the survivors of the desperate screams they heard of those in the freezing water before their deaths. There are some contradictions, such arguments as to whether the Titanic sank full or split in half. Some witnesses said that they thought the ship had broken in half and others felt sure it had sunk in one piece. (Only after its discovery in September 1985, was this argument satisfied that she had split in half before her sinking.)

Many conclusions were established based on these hearings and I think it was important how quickly Senator Smith and his committee invested the disaster while it was still very fresh in the minds of those they interviewed.

[Cindy Wiedemer · Rating 4 out of 5]

while I am obsessed with all things Titanic based, this one taught me things I didn't know. the author took transcripts from the hearings that he felt told the best story of the investigation. some I felt were unnecessary, and other pieces gave light to new information. there were points I was reading so intently I would forget I was reading and could myself and my emotions completely drawn in. my anger towards the crew and captain of the ship Californian grew and grew throughout the book and especially at the end. while conspiracies abound about the sinking of the Titanic, this likely would create more, but also answers some others. this book is highly recommended to fellow Titanic enthusiasts, but likely, you will feel just as angry as I did while reading.

[peachrings · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d call this a must-read for any Titanic enthusiasts. There are lots of great books out there on the ship and the sinking and those aboard, but sometimes you just want the word-for-word account rather than a particular author’s interpretation or summary of what was said. With other books or online articles, I’d often find myself reading something like “so-and-so behaved in such-and-such a way during the hearings” and think, well, what does that mean? What precisely was said? With this, you can interpret for yourself.

[Cathlina Bergman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read for any history buffs interested in The Titanic. Testimonies are humorous and tragic by turns and deeply human. (Nearly every witness claims they were in the LAST lifeboat. An impossible but understandable claim.). One fact I hadn't heard before: young Mrs. Astor (18 years old and five months pregnant) saved a weeping Irish 3rd class passenger's life by covering him with her shawl so he appeared to be a woman and was allowed to stay on the lifeboat. He was 21.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

As valuable and insightful as these testimonials are, I was surprised by the editors choice to not include the voices of more women (particularly since it is a majority of women who survived), children and third class passengers. The lack of diverse experiences included in this collection was disappointing but it's an important text nonetheless.

[Literary_Octopus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping this book would be transcriptions of the stories from the survivors. I was not expecting 600 pages of arguing about how full lifeboats were, and who was or was not rowing. All in all, it was pretty interesting, but lacked the human connection to the tragedy I was hoping for.

[Birgitte · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heart-breaking account.

[Dkettmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb audiobook. Gripping to hear the accounts from so many people off all types. A+ voice talent really adds emotion and bite to the words from the transcripts.

[Granger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not put this down.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

audio version
transcripts were as you would expect. At the end of the day the trial itself was focused on pointing fingers

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cut and dry transcripts. Some is fascinating, some is boring as all get out, but the language this people spoke in just 100 years ago might as well be 100 centuries ago. The poise, the veiled insults, the flattery...truly mezmerizing. One thing that was really good to note was in James Cameron's forward, was that PTSD was not recognized yet (and wouldn't be for some time), therefore so many of these mismatched first-person accounts were so skewed because of how differently everyone handles trauma. For a Titanic-history nerd like myself, this was a must-have for my shelf.

[Jenna Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intensely riveting. Every Titanic buff and armchair historian NEEDS to read this book.

The Titanic Disaster Hearings is a collection of excerpts from the Senate investigation of the disaster, taken from testimony given by survivors just a few days after the Titanic foundered in the middle of the Atlantic.

There are so many interesting tidbits and insights in this book. We get to hear Second Officer Charles Lightoller desperately attempt to smooth everything over, defending the White Star Line and Bruce Ismay to the point of most likely committing perjury (pg 230) on the stand. We hear directly from Ismay, trying to explain why he ended up in a boat when so many others didn't. You read multiple stories from various survivors telling of how the ship broke in two as she went down, but because Lightoller emphatically stated that the Titanic went down in one piece, that was what was accepted as fact for over 70 years.

Many, many statements from crew and passengers alike are recorded about the ship's lights that could be seen within a few miles of where the Titanic was going down. You can feel the confusion and disbelief of the passengers; the naivete that caused many people to lose their lives because they just couldn't believe the ship was actually going to sink, and if she was, that another ship wasn't going to rescue them in time.
Especially fascinating to me was the section covering the Olympic's panicked wireless messages to other ships, frantically trying to uncover what had happened to her sister ship. It offered a glimpse into part of the reason why so many erroneous stories were reported in the aftermath of the sinking, stories such as all the passengers being saved, or that the Titanic was going to be towed into Halifax.

Another interesting story that is related in here, and one that really showcases the humanity within the story of the Titanic is the affidavit of Imanita Shelley, where she tells of the terrible accommodations and service they received while on board, and then to top it all off, the ship sinks!

Speaking of humanity, that is ultimately what you take away from reading this book; how most people did their best while trying to deal with an unprecedented situation, the mistakes that were made, the things that were done right. When you read about this disaster, you can start to think of it in very factual terms: the Titanic set sail from Southampton on April 10, 1912, stopped in Cherbourg the same day, stopped again in Queenstown on April 11, struck an iceberg on April 14, sank on April 15, etc. This book brings you out of that. Amazing, amazing, amazing, and well worth the read!

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not only an invaluable resource for those working on "Titanic" related projects, it is fascinating for those interested in the ship and its disaster in general.

Though edited down to 500-some-odd pages from the original super-hefty transcripts, there is still a massive wealth of knowledge to be gleaned here. The true knowledge of the disaster and goings-on that night isn't really in the pages, it's reading between the lines. Between the second officer's perjuring of himself on the stand during his massive white-washing of White Star, Ismay, and basically all actions of anyone having to do with the ship that night ("There were no shots fired" being one of the most interesting to me), to Ismay's repeated claims of "I do not know" (it seems he was entirely ignorant of everything having to do with the ship he partially owned and was actually sailing on, and he wasn't in the least bit interested in changing this status before or after the sinking), to lookout Fredrick Fleet's testimony, which would be hilarious if not for the sad circumstances of the disaster. And then there's Harold Bride's, which is one of the most amazing tales of disaster at sea ever told...

With repeated testimony by people who reported seeing "Titanic" break in half before sinking, it is truly fascinating that Charles Lightoller's (him again!) word that she went down intact is taken at face value, considering how massively he was outnumbered. There are tales of how everything on the ship is "the best of everything," and then there's a single affidavit read in one the final day by a Mrs. Shelley that has many very unkind things to say about "Titanic," her service, and her second-class experience (freezing cold "cells," unfinished ladies' restrooms, etc.). This is unique, as I have seen literally no other testimony from anyone in second or third class speak of these things.

I have done 15 years of research about "Titanic," and the story itself is about far more than just the events of April 14/15, and this book further backs up my conclusions on that matter.

A truly fascinating book. Highly recommended.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two days after the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation began a 17 day investigation with multiple hearings, starting in New York and later moving to Washington. As soon as the RMS Carpathia docked in New York, the survivors began being summoned to testify about the disaster. It is heartbreaking at times to listen to the survivors who had to recount the sinking they lived through days before. The confusion was evident, such as in the case of the ship splitting in two. A few thought it might have split, but most did not. It took till 1985 to prove that it did. Numerous laws were put in place after the hearing in regards to safety. It was interesting to see such a massive historical event in regards to how events play out today. You can read the confusion, the hurt, the anger, and the loss. Much like in recent events with the Deepwater Horizon, Benghazi, Sandy Hook, etc. It made it more interesting than a normal historical tome because it's all spoken word frozen from that moment.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The hearings began the day after Titanic survivors arrived in New York. Questions were answered, accounts of what happened recorded while everything was fresh and raw in the survivor's minds. Some accounts were too painful to tell but were persuaded, encouraged to answer the questions asked so the tragedy could be understood and hopefully prevented from happening again in the future. At times this was very hard to read. The trials printed in the book are broken down by days and who testified on that particular day. For instance, "First Day: J. Bruce Ismay, managing director of White Star Line; Arthur Henry Rostron, Captain of Carpathia; Charles H. Lightoller, 2nd Officer on Titanic; Harold T. Cottam, wireless operator on Carpathia; Alfred Crawford, 1st class bdrm steward on Titanic." There's 17 days of testimonials, epilogue, appendix, list of witnesses and digest of testimony. Very complete and a must for Titanic library/collections.

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling because they are the actual words of the survivors rather than a pastiche of remembrances collected and spun out by and author. Yet because most of the witnesses told their story of the same event it got more than just slightly repetitive. It was the very aspects where the witnesses differed with one another that deepens the mystery and the myth. The witnesses that were most riveting were those who did not get in a lifeboat but when down with the great ship and ended up atop the overturned collapsible lifeboat. For all the accounts that Bruce Ismay was ordered into a lifeboat by an officer, he still seems to be a rank coward, most of all for hiding himself away once on board the Carpathia. Yet one other point which is interesting is the erroneous reports of the ship being towed to Halifax and not such, the source of which was never discovered.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an abridged edition of the 1912 US Senate Hearings, giving the highlights of the testimony given before the committee. I found the majority of the book to be an interesting eyewitness account of the disaster given a very short time after the event. Some witnesses said they saw the Titanic break in two before sinking, while others denied it, stating they watched the ship sink in one piece. We know now that the Titanic did, in fact, break in two when the ship was discovered and photographed in 1985.

The index in the back is useful for locating interesting information. The book is divided into sections by hearing date. Each witness's testimony is introduced by a "key testimony" summary. This makes it easy to page through the book and read only the sections that look interesting.

[Jeannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been fascinated by the fate of the Titantic... like a bad accident that you don't want to see yet can't look away from. This book was excellent because it was "the real thing" rather than someone's take on the incident. It was fascinating to read accounts from actual survivors.

Even 100+ years later the story still makes me sad. Such a senseless tragedy that could have so easily been avoided. And sadder still to learn that everyone could have most likely been rescued... yet another senseless tragedy. The real reasoning behind the poor decisions most likely could only have been answered by the captain himself. So we'll never really know the entire story, will we?

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book includes both the American and British Disaster Hearings that were held immediately after the sinking of the great ship. I would not recommend this book for kids or even some young teens as I think the legal setting, and the fact that this took place in 1912 might be a tad confusing to some. Though I do think most teens will be able to grasp the language, and adults will find this interesting and informative. Purchased this last year, I've read it several times since then.