The Story of the RMS Titanic - Part 13

At 12:01pm, Titanic's wireless operator Harold Bride, the only one to survive the disaster, assists Carpathia's wireless operator Cottam wit his work. Cottam has been working all night, sending messages from Titanic's survivors, as well as his own workload and other official messages. Even though Bride has badly frost bitten feet, he is determined to do what he can to help, probably to take his mind off the loss of his work partner Jack Phillips.

Captain Arthur Rostron requests that a complete list of survivors is compiled and sent as soon as possible.

More news slowly gets to New York, but there is still no definitive details of what happened. Speculation still circulates around New York. The families of the passengers on Titanic crowd at the White Star offices demanding news.

Finally, the R.M.S. Olympic sends a message to New York simply saying, "Titanic has gone down". Panic ensues throughout New York. Families demand to know if their loved ones are safe. Newspapers go wild with headlines. Survivor numbers are corrected, names omitted and edited as more reports come through. No one will know the full facts until Carpathia reaches New York.

To be continued...