Panic/Chaos

What Sort of Chaos Was Occurring and How Was It Caused

As the Titanic was sinking, there was a lot of chaos and panic being spread throughout the entire ship and many people caused by different reasons.

Source 2: Why Didn't Passengers Panic on the Titanic

By Kenney Caitlin and Zoe Chace

Summary by Frankie Montoya

Revisers: Ezequiel Rosas and Calvin Viola

Abstract

The article begins by talking about how while the Titanic was sinking, people would’ve thought that everybody that was aboard the ship was panicking to save their own lives. But, in reality, there wasn’t much panicking. Women and children were boarding the ship calmy, musicians were playing soft music, and some men were relaxing by smoking a cigar. David Savage, an economist at Queensland University in Australia, studied the survivors’ testimonies and after came to the conclusion that it their behavior was, “very very orderly”. A few years after the Titanic sank a similar ship called the Lusitania sank, but one difference between them both was that when the Lusitania was sinking it was very chaotic and people were panicking. Another difference is that the Lusitania sank in twenty minutes and the Titanic sank in two and a half hours. Finally, the article ends off by telling the story of a man who survived the Titanic by waiting for other people when the people on the lifeboat told him to get in. He was considered a coward and was derided for getting on the lifeboat.

Notable Quotes

“As the Titanic was sinking and women and children climbed into lifeboats, the cellist and violinist from the ship's band stood and played. They died when the ship went down. Men stood on the deck and smoked cigars. They died, too” - Paragraph 1.

"There was no pushing and shoving," says David Savage, an economist at Queensland University in Australia who has studied testimony from the survivors. It was "very, very orderly behavior" - Paragraph 3.

"If you've got an event that lasts two-and-a-half hours, social order will take over and everybody will behave in a social manner," Savage says. "If you're going down in under 17 minutes, basically it's instinctual" - Paragraph 7.

Source 4: Exploring the Titanic

By: Robert D. Ballard

Researcher: Arlon Baluyot

Revisers: Calvin Viola and Ezequiel Rosas

Abstract

In this book, Robert Ballard tells the tale of the biggest ship in human history, the RMS Titanic. In the book, he also recollects all the little details like how they ignored the iceberg warnings, how the captain was very calm and not very cautious. He even talks about the panic that transpired at the moment the Titanic was sinking.

Notable Quotes

“Immediately, the officer on the bride ordered the wheel turned as far as it would go. The engine room was told to reverse engines, while a button was pushed to close the doors to the watertight compartments in the bottom of the ship” (Ballard 113).

“Ruth helped her mother dress the children quickly but they only had time to throw their coats over their nightgowns and put on their shoes and stockings. In their rush, they forgot to put on their life-jackets” (Ballard 114).

“At 12:45 the first lifeboat lowered. It could carry sixty-five people, but left with only twenty-eight people aboard.Indeed, many of the first boats to leave were half empty” (Ballard 116).

Source 6: Vivid Account of How the Titanic Sank by Survivor Jack Thayer, 17, Resurfaces in Time for Centenary

By Philip Sherwell

Researcher/Revisers: Calvin Viola and Ezequiel Rosas

Abstract

In this article, it talks about a person named Jack Thayer and his perspective of what happened on the RMS Titanic. What happened was that there were 2,224 passengers aboard in total and when the ship sank, 786 passengers were rescued either by staying on the ship, jumping into the water, and/or staying on a lifeboat. About 1,500 passengers were still on the Titanic clinging together only ready for their doom. But before all this happened, Jack was saying goodnight to his parents until he felt the engines stop on the Titanic. One of the designers told Jack and his dad that the Titanic was not going to survive for 1 hour. They then went to the mother and the maid who were on life suits. And by the time they exited out of their cabin, people were called to the port of the ship to get on lifeboats, that's when the father was separated, then sadly died because of the sinking of the ship. Only the mother and him survived and were rescued.

Notable Quotes

" 'About one in every 36 who went down with the ship was saved, and I happened to be one,' he noted" (Sherwell) - Paragraph 13.

"Shortly after 12.45am, stewards passed the word "All women to the port side" as lifeboats were lowered into the water, with people scrambling for spaces" (Sherwell) - Paragraph 21.

"For while 710 people, mainly female passengers, of the 2,224 aboard survived, almost all of them had escaped in lifeboats launched before the ship went down. Only about 40 who were thrown or jumped into the sea were rescued - and Jack was among them" (Sherwell) - Paragraph 12.