Neil
16-Oct-2008, 09:23 AM
I've always been fascinated by the sinking of the Titanic. It's like a little apocalytical bubble. A few thousand people in a little nightmare situation one night! The drama and horror of it can't be imagined!
Anyway, I was reading some information about one of the crew, 'Harold Godfrey Lowe' (played by Ioan Gruffudd in the Cameron film).
He was the seaman who organised a boat to go back after the Titanic had sunk to search for survivors. Infact his boat was the only one to go back!
Anyway, here's a little section of what I read:-
After the cries from the people in the water had subsided a bit he deemed it safe to return to pick up survivors. "You could not do otherwise because you would have hundreds of people around your boat and you would go down." He then asked for volunteers to go back with him - this was when he discovered the 'Italian' (later identified as a foreigner, not necessarily an Italian). "I caught hold of him and pitched him in (a lifeboat tied to his)". Along with his volunteers, he then rowed back to the wreckage and picked up 4 survivors - one, Hoyt of New York, died later in the boat. " I went right around (after that) and, strange to say, I did not see one female body, not one, around the wreckage." One of the others was one of the Chinese sailors, the identity remains unclear, as Charlotte Collyer later recorded:-
A little further on, we saw a floating door that must have been torn loose when the ship went down. Lying upon it, face downward, was a small Japanese. He had lashed himself with a rope to his frail raft, using the broken hinges to make the knots secure. As far as we could see, he was dead. The sea washed over him every time the door bobbed up and down, and he was frozen stiff. He did not answer when he was hailed, and the officer hesitated about trying to save him.
"What's the use?" said Mr Lowe. He's dead, likely, and if he isn't there's others better worth saving than a Jap!"
He had actually turned our boat around; but he changed his mind and went back. The Japanese was hauled on board, and one of the women rubbed his chest, while others chafed his hands and feet. In less time than it takes to tell, he opened his eyes. He spoke to us in his own tongue; then, seeing that we did not understand, he struggled to his feet, stretched his arms above his head, stamped his feet, and in five minutes or so had almost recovered his strength. One of the sailors near to him was so tired that he could hardly pull his oar. The Japanese bustled over, pushed him from his seat, took the oar and worked like a hero until we were finally picked up. I saw Mr Lowe watching him in open-mouthed surprise.
"By Jove!" muttered the officer. "I'm ashamed of what I said about the little blighter. I'd save the likes o' him six times over, if I got the chance."
Wonder what happened to this Chinese man? How lucky he was! Seems no account ever mentions his name, or what happened to him, just the fact one of the survivors pulled from the water was Chinese...
http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-biography/harold-godfrey-lowe.html
Anyway, I was reading some information about one of the crew, 'Harold Godfrey Lowe' (played by Ioan Gruffudd in the Cameron film).
He was the seaman who organised a boat to go back after the Titanic had sunk to search for survivors. Infact his boat was the only one to go back!
Anyway, here's a little section of what I read:-
After the cries from the people in the water had subsided a bit he deemed it safe to return to pick up survivors. "You could not do otherwise because you would have hundreds of people around your boat and you would go down." He then asked for volunteers to go back with him - this was when he discovered the 'Italian' (later identified as a foreigner, not necessarily an Italian). "I caught hold of him and pitched him in (a lifeboat tied to his)". Along with his volunteers, he then rowed back to the wreckage and picked up 4 survivors - one, Hoyt of New York, died later in the boat. " I went right around (after that) and, strange to say, I did not see one female body, not one, around the wreckage." One of the others was one of the Chinese sailors, the identity remains unclear, as Charlotte Collyer later recorded:-
A little further on, we saw a floating door that must have been torn loose when the ship went down. Lying upon it, face downward, was a small Japanese. He had lashed himself with a rope to his frail raft, using the broken hinges to make the knots secure. As far as we could see, he was dead. The sea washed over him every time the door bobbed up and down, and he was frozen stiff. He did not answer when he was hailed, and the officer hesitated about trying to save him.
"What's the use?" said Mr Lowe. He's dead, likely, and if he isn't there's others better worth saving than a Jap!"
He had actually turned our boat around; but he changed his mind and went back. The Japanese was hauled on board, and one of the women rubbed his chest, while others chafed his hands and feet. In less time than it takes to tell, he opened his eyes. He spoke to us in his own tongue; then, seeing that we did not understand, he struggled to his feet, stretched his arms above his head, stamped his feet, and in five minutes or so had almost recovered his strength. One of the sailors near to him was so tired that he could hardly pull his oar. The Japanese bustled over, pushed him from his seat, took the oar and worked like a hero until we were finally picked up. I saw Mr Lowe watching him in open-mouthed surprise.
"By Jove!" muttered the officer. "I'm ashamed of what I said about the little blighter. I'd save the likes o' him six times over, if I got the chance."
Wonder what happened to this Chinese man? How lucky he was! Seems no account ever mentions his name, or what happened to him, just the fact one of the survivors pulled from the water was Chinese...
http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-biography/harold-godfrey-lowe.html