0:00:02 > 0:00:04A century after it sank, it still fascinates us.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08Titanic.
0:00:09 > 0:00:14Gigantic, extravagant, doomed.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18And 100 years later, the ship that has become a legend.
0:00:20 > 0:00:21As she headed out to sea,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25she carried over 2,200 passengers and crew.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28The rich, the poor and everything in between.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31And it's their stories that I want to discover.
0:00:31 > 0:00:36When Titanic hit an iceberg, 1,500 men, women and children died.
0:00:36 > 0:00:41But the human cost was counted not just at sea,
0:00:41 > 0:00:44but on land, where the impact of
0:00:44 > 0:00:46the tragedy lasted for generations.
0:00:46 > 0:00:51And that is why, to this day, Titanic touches us all.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01'I'm Len Goodman, dance judge and ex-ship builder.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04'In this programme, I'll discover how in 1912,
0:01:04 > 0:01:09'the press were determined to point the finger of blame.'
0:01:09 > 0:01:12It's very unpleasant. It clearly was designed to create a...
0:01:12 > 0:01:15a bad impression of my great-grandfather.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20'How a respected sea captain lived for decades
0:01:20 > 0:01:21'with an undeserved reputation.'
0:01:21 > 0:01:26It's a miscarriage of justice in this country.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28'And the words of the man who died
0:01:28 > 0:01:30'after desperately trying to get help.'
0:01:30 > 0:01:34I'm a big old tough welder and it really breaks me up.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39When Titanic left Belfast in 1912,
0:01:39 > 0:01:44she joined dozens of ships already competing on the route to New York.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47Titanic wasn't the fastest, but she was the grandest.
0:01:47 > 0:01:52The wealthy paid thousands of pounds in today's money to travel on her.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56And the crew were eager to work for the rich clientele.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00When Titanic left Southampton, there were 2,200 people on board.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04Upstairs, 1,300 passengers and the crew below.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06And normally, their lives would never cross.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10But they were left entwined forever
0:02:10 > 0:02:13when they boarded the most luxurious liner of its day.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18100 years later, there's only one ship like it.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23And like Titanic, she's the biggest in the world.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28The Queen Mary 2, at 150,000 tons,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31she's three times as heavy as Titanic.
0:02:31 > 0:02:36At 1,100 feet, she's one-and-a-half times as long.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38- Hello, everyone. - ALL: Hello!
0:02:38 > 0:02:40Lovely.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47'Wherever you look, there are echoes of Titanic's luxury.'
0:02:47 > 0:02:50This is fantastic.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53These beautiful walkways, the murals on the walls,
0:02:53 > 0:02:55the luxury carpet.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Oh, my feet have never felt so good.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03The Titanic was crammed with the great and the good
0:03:03 > 0:03:06of British and American society.
0:03:06 > 0:03:07They were all there.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09Benjamin Guggenheim,
0:03:09 > 0:03:11JJ Astor,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff-Gordon.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17Multimillionaires, over 30 of them.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20And that's why the press called it 'The Millionaires' Special.'
0:03:23 > 0:03:27As it happens, I know what it's like to work on a luxury liner.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29This...
0:03:29 > 0:03:31This is fantastic!
0:03:31 > 0:03:33And I'm going to let you into a secret.
0:03:33 > 0:03:371970, I worked on a ship -
0:03:37 > 0:03:39The Empress Of Canada.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44And me and my partner Cherry demonstrated.
0:03:44 > 0:03:50All this luxury and glamour on the Queen Mary 2 gives an idea
0:03:50 > 0:03:55of what life would have been like for the rich passengers on Titanic.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00But on this ship, just like on Titanic, it comes at a price.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Well, I am excited.
0:04:04 > 0:04:05No!
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Jerry, I cannot believe that I'm on a ship.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11What sort of money would this cost?
0:04:11 > 0:04:14It costs around 25,000.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Look at it! And you can sit on this balcony
0:04:17 > 0:04:20overlooking semi-naked ladies.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23What more could you want out of life? Eh?
0:04:23 > 0:04:25If you think down there is good,
0:04:25 > 0:04:28come up here and have a look at this.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33The staterooms on Titanic were even more expensive.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37The best cabin cost £60,000 in today's money.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40That got you a parlour suite with a sitting room,
0:04:40 > 0:04:45separate bedroom, private bathroom and private deck space.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48And that's what made it so fantastic
0:04:48 > 0:04:51and why you got so many of the rich and famous
0:04:51 > 0:04:54cruising the first time on the Titanic.
0:04:56 > 0:05:01It took an army of staff to provide all that luxury.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03One of them was Violet Jessop.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06She was Irish, but she was born in Argentina,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08and she grew up an adventurous soul.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13Then, at 24, she signed on to Titanic as a stewardess,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16looking after first-class passengers.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18On the Titanic, some of those first-class passengers
0:05:18 > 0:05:21could really be a stuck-up bunch.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24And in her memoirs, Violet describes
0:05:24 > 0:05:27how they would really get on her wick.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29People like Miss Marcia Spatz.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32"Suddenly, like the meteoric person she was,
0:05:32 > 0:05:37"she arrived, packages, hat boxes and flowers galore.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39"She came with that determined look,
0:05:39 > 0:05:41"meaning to get service from the start."
0:05:41 > 0:05:45And how would you fancy waiting hand and foot
0:05:45 > 0:05:47on somebody like Miss Townsend?
0:05:47 > 0:05:50"She had been blacklisted by another famous shipping line
0:05:50 > 0:05:54"because of her utterly unreasonable behaviour
0:05:54 > 0:05:57"and her demoralizing effect on other passengers."
0:05:57 > 0:05:59But soon, the petty demands of the well-to-do
0:05:59 > 0:06:02was the last thing on Violet's mind.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08When Titanic stroke the iceberg, Violet was in her cabin.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12She dressed and took instruction from the officers.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15She ran upstairs to the passenger decks.
0:06:15 > 0:06:20Violet went from cabin to cabin, knocking on doors, waking people up,
0:06:20 > 0:06:25making sure they had their life jackets, warm clothes and blankets.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Violet watched the lifeboats gradually fill
0:06:30 > 0:06:33and the couples making their final farewells,
0:06:33 > 0:06:34and then it was her turn.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40She climbed into a boat, and as she was being lowered,
0:06:40 > 0:06:44an officer called out, "Catch this!" and a bundle landed in her lap.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48And she undid it, and there was a baby.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51For four hours, Violet comforted the baby
0:06:51 > 0:06:54until they were eventually rescued by the Carpathia.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Amazingly, Violet found the mother on board.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01But she never learnt the name of the child she'd saved.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05Then, just weeks later, Violet was back at sea.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Violet went on to do over 200 voyages.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12She circumnavigated the globe twice and was shipwrecked twice.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15And yet, she went on to retire in 1950.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18And then, to produce this - her memoirs.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20What a girl!
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Violet Jessop was a woman who loved the sea
0:07:24 > 0:07:27and one who would probably have been right at home
0:07:27 > 0:07:31on the Queen Mary, upstairs or down.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39But not every survivor was able to move on with their lives.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Some were left to struggle with a lifetime of guilt
0:07:42 > 0:07:45and a broken reputation.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49One very private Englishman had his character destroyed publicly
0:07:49 > 0:07:52in the pages of America's newspapers.
0:07:52 > 0:07:58In 1912, the Titanic disaster was the news story of the century.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00For months, Titanic was emblazoned
0:08:00 > 0:08:04across front pages around the world.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Editors were looking for stories
0:08:08 > 0:08:11about tragic victims, heroic survivors.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13And Titanic gave them plenty of both.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17Newspapers filled their pages with
0:08:17 > 0:08:19sensational stories
0:08:19 > 0:08:23of bravery, escape and disaster.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25All told in vivid detail through
0:08:25 > 0:08:28exclusive interviews with survivors.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32The press wanted more than heroics and tragedy.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34They were looking for cowards and villains.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37The public were outraged
0:08:37 > 0:08:41and the press needed to find someone to blame.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44And when they found him, they were merciless.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51The man they chose was J Bruce Ismay.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Ismay was the president of the White Star Line.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57He had commissioned and paid for Titanic.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00At 20 to midnight, he was asleep in his cabin,
0:09:00 > 0:09:05when he was woken by the sound of his ship hitting an iceberg.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07He asked the captain whether it was serious,
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and the captain said, "Yes, I'm afraid it is."
0:09:10 > 0:09:13At which point, Ismay went back to his room,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15put on an overcoat, put on his slippers
0:09:15 > 0:09:19and went on, went to the starboard side of the deck
0:09:19 > 0:09:24and immediately started loading women and children into the lifeboats.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29Around 1am, water was pouring over Titanic's bows.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Ismay was helping lower one of the last lifeboats.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36He saw there was still room for one more person,
0:09:36 > 0:09:41and he made a decision in an instant that would haunt him forever.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44He jumped into the lifeboat.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48Hundreds of men, rich and poor, chose to die to let others live.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53The injustice was that while they died on Ismay's boat,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55HE saved himself.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Ismay's account of his departure from the Titanic
0:10:01 > 0:10:05into Collapsible C was that he was helping as much as he could
0:10:05 > 0:10:06and then he took his chance.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08There was room in that lifeboat.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Had he not got in, there would have just been an empty space.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14I don't know what I would have done
0:10:14 > 0:10:16faced with the choice of certain death
0:10:16 > 0:10:18or taking a place in a lifeboat.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22But to the press in 1912, it was perfectly clear.
0:10:22 > 0:10:23At home and abroad,
0:10:23 > 0:10:25Ismay was scorned as
0:10:25 > 0:10:28a selfish coward.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30The American press singled out Ismay almost immediately
0:10:30 > 0:10:33as a criminal for having survived.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35They decided that he was guilty.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38And what he was guilty of was cowardice.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42The most aggressive criticism of Ismay came from the American press.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46But this was more than just an expression of public contempt.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50For 30 years previously, Ismay had been personally hated
0:10:50 > 0:10:52by the American newspaper baron
0:10:52 > 0:10:54William Randolph Hearst.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58Angus Cheap is Ismay's great-grandson.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02Randolph Hearst, who was the Rupert Murdoch of his day,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06and Hearst disliked Bruce Ismay very much, I think.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11And what happened on the Titanic gave Hearst a wonderful opportunity
0:11:11 > 0:11:15to have a go at my great-grandfather.
0:11:15 > 0:11:16And he didn't hold back.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18The two men were opposites.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21Hearst was outgoing and a self-made man.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Ismay was shy and had inherited his wealth.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29The result was a profound clash of personalities.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Randolph Hearst had met Ismay
0:11:31 > 0:11:33years before, when Ismay was a younger man
0:11:33 > 0:11:36working as a White Star agent in New York,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39and Hearst loathed him.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42He found Ismay's shyness to be arrogant. He thought he was aloof.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45He was the epitome of everything that
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Hearst disliked in an Englishman.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50This cartoon is typical of how
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Hearst's newspapers treated Ismay.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55It shows a ghoulish Ismay
0:11:55 > 0:11:57as the only man in a boat
0:11:57 > 0:11:59full of grieving women and children,
0:11:59 > 0:12:01escaping the sinking Titanic.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03And it suggests the emblem
0:12:03 > 0:12:04of the White Star Line
0:12:04 > 0:12:06be changed to the White Liver -
0:12:06 > 0:12:09the mark of a coward.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11This is from a New York newspaper,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13just on the 20th.
0:12:13 > 0:12:18So we are only talking five days or so after the Titanic went down.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20It's absolute vintage - it's Randolph Hearst.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24It's very unpleasant indeed.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28It clearly was designed to create a...
0:12:28 > 0:12:31a bad impression of my great-grandfather.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34How did it make J Bruce Ismay feel?
0:12:34 > 0:12:36It probably made him feel terrible.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38It'd make anyone feel terrible
0:12:38 > 0:12:40to have one's name blackened in this way
0:12:40 > 0:12:42by a newspaper proprietor.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45Despite the assault on Ismay's name
0:12:45 > 0:12:46by the press,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49he never publicly apologised
0:12:49 > 0:12:51for his actions on Titanic.
0:12:53 > 0:12:54Ismay never repented his actions,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57because he didn't think there was anything to repent.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59But I think he regretted his actions.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03I think on many, many occasions, he must have thought,
0:13:03 > 0:13:06"Why on Earth didn't I just go down with the ship?
0:13:06 > 0:13:09"What was the point of the rest of my life?"
0:13:09 > 0:13:12Certainly, my great-grandfather lived for the rest of his days
0:13:12 > 0:13:14under the shadow of doubt.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17Did they become quite reclusive, or...?
0:13:17 > 0:13:20Well, I think he certainly did, he certainly did.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23And my great-grandmother's way of dealing with it
0:13:23 > 0:13:26was to close the whole thing down and never discuss it.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28It was a non-subject.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31And indeed, until I left school, although I'd heard of the Titanic,
0:13:31 > 0:13:33I was really blissfully unaware
0:13:33 > 0:13:36that it had much to do with my family.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Titanic was Ismay's brainchild.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44He imagined it, commissioned it and paid for it.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46As he left Southampton on board his ship,
0:13:46 > 0:13:51Ismay might have expected his Titanic legacy to be glorious.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54Instead, it destroyed his good name.
0:13:54 > 0:13:59It was easy for J Bruce Ismay to jump into a life oat.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02The problem was, for the rest of his life,
0:14:02 > 0:14:03he could never climb out again.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07The press saw to that. He was always known as
0:14:07 > 0:14:10the man who saved his own skin.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21But Titanic has also left us men regarded as heroes,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24like the man responsible for successfully summoning help
0:14:24 > 0:14:26as Titanic sank.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29His actions ensured his reputation
0:14:29 > 0:14:32and that of the new technology he was in charge of.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40As soon as Titanic hit the iceberg,
0:14:40 > 0:14:42each of her officers drew on
0:14:42 > 0:14:45a lifetime's worth of seafaring experience.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48While they put their hands to ropes and pulleys,
0:14:48 > 0:14:52one man turned to brand-new technology
0:14:52 > 0:14:54in the hope of saving lives.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58In 1912, technology didn't come any more cutting edge
0:14:58 > 0:15:00than the Marconi wireless radio.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03It was developed at the turn of the century
0:15:03 > 0:15:07and allowed messages to be sent wirelessly between ships at sea.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11The man at the controls of the Marconigraph on Titanic
0:15:11 > 0:15:13was Jack Phillips.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Jack was only 24 when the Titanic sailed,
0:15:17 > 0:15:19but that didn't stop him being
0:15:19 > 0:15:22one of the most highly-rated wireless operators
0:15:22 > 0:15:24that the Marconi Company had.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27He had already served on the Lusitania, the Mauritania,
0:15:27 > 0:15:29the Oceanic, so highly-regarded liners,
0:15:29 > 0:15:31so he was regarded as one of the best.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35The Marconi room was located on the port side boat deck.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37But in 1912, the Marconigraph was
0:15:37 > 0:15:40still not yet installed on every ship.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42And on ships that did have it,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45it wasn't regarded principally as a safety measure.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49It was aimed at commercially-driven traffic,
0:15:49 > 0:15:53so it would transport messages about arrival times,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56arrangements for meeting people off of the ship,
0:15:56 > 0:15:58just novelty messages, like,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01"Guess where I am? In the middle of the ocean."
0:16:01 > 0:16:04Essentially, to give the upper classes
0:16:04 > 0:16:07something to amuse themselves with.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11The rich sent hundreds of Marconigrams to their friends and family,
0:16:11 > 0:16:14bragging about their time on Titanic,
0:16:14 > 0:16:15but if there'd been less of that,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18many more lives could have been saved.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20The simple fact is that Marconi operators
0:16:20 > 0:16:23were so busy sending messages from passengers
0:16:23 > 0:16:25that they didn't have the time
0:16:25 > 0:16:29to listen to ALL the warnings about ice from other ships.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33Jack Phillips was in the midst of trying to clear a backlog of traffic
0:16:33 > 0:16:37when a last ice warning came in at 9:40 from the Masaba,
0:16:37 > 0:16:42and for whatever reason, it ended up not making it to the bridge.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45If Phillips had had time to take that message,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48perhaps history would have been very different.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52But he didn't, and two hours later, Titanic collided with an iceberg.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56But from that moment,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Jack realised the importance of the Marconi machine.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01It was the only way to get help.
0:17:01 > 0:17:06With it, he could contact any ship within 2,000 miles of Titanic.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09The Carpathia was the nearest to respond,
0:17:09 > 0:17:11but it was still hours away.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15So Jack kept at it, frantically sending distress signals.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Captain Smith came to the wireless shack
0:17:19 > 0:17:21at about two o'clock, just after,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and relieved them of their post and said, "You've done all you can."
0:17:24 > 0:17:27By this point, it's likely that there was water coming into the cabin.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29They were quite near the bow of the ship.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34They both stayed and Jack remained for as long as he could.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38It was an extraordinary act of bravery.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41As the ship listed and sank, he chose to risk his life
0:17:41 > 0:17:44by staying on to send distress signals,
0:17:44 > 0:17:46desperately looking for help.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51These are a few of the Marconigrams that Jack Phillips sent
0:17:51 > 0:17:54just in the last hours of Titanic.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57I think it will show you the calmness of the man.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01This is at 12:25.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03"Come at once. We have struck a berg.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06"It's a distress situation, old man."
0:18:06 > 0:18:11Carpathia says, "Shall I tell the Captain? Do you require assistance?"
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Jack replies, "Yes, come quick."
0:18:15 > 0:18:19What is amazing is that even though they are under this pressure,
0:18:19 > 0:18:22he still takes the time to say "old man".
0:18:22 > 0:18:26The gentlemanliness of the whole scenario is amazing.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30"Come as quickly as possible, old man,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32"the engine room is filling up to the boilers."
0:18:32 > 0:18:36It's obvious that Jack is not panicking.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39He's just going along with the thing.
0:18:39 > 0:18:45In 1912, the distress signal was not yet SOS,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48but a French expression - CQD.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53And that is the final message Jack attempts to send at 2:17am.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56With Titanic's bell sinking beneath the Atlantic
0:18:56 > 0:18:58and water flooding the Marconi room.
0:19:00 > 0:19:01"CQ."
0:19:01 > 0:19:07Titanic signal ends very abruptly, as if power suddenly switches off.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10So he doesn't even have chance to get the D.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14It's just CQ... Gone.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17Moments later, Titanic disappeared
0:19:17 > 0:19:21beneath the waves, but Jack escaped.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24He was left clinging to an upturned dinghy in the freezing water,
0:19:24 > 0:19:29and thanks to the Marconigram, he knew help was on the way.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Without Jack Phillips and his Marconi machine,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35the Carpathia would never have come to their aid.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39But when it did come, it came too late for Jack.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42The Carpathia arrived four hours later.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46The first ship on the scene, it found 705 survivors
0:19:46 > 0:19:49huddled in lifeboats, drifting in the Atlantic.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51But Jack was dead in the water.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00The Titanic disaster proved the value of the wireless at sea.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Without it, no ship would have gone to Titanic's aid.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Following the tragedy, Marconi's invention
0:20:07 > 0:20:10was made mandatory on all ships,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12and the largest Titanic memorial in Britain
0:20:12 > 0:20:17was built in Godalming, in Surrey, to John Jack Phillips.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20I love Jack. I think he's such a hero.
0:20:20 > 0:20:26And he's just a man, he's alone in this little dark room.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29He's tapping away, the water is flooding in.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31He knows that he's not going to survive.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33But he stays there, he stays at his post
0:20:33 > 0:20:36until the very last second
0:20:36 > 0:20:38and goes down with the ship.
0:20:38 > 0:20:43This is so overwhelmingly sad that, honestly,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47I'm a big old tough welder and it really breaks me up.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00As the turbulent 20th century unfolded,
0:21:00 > 0:21:05you might have expected the Titanic disaster to fade from memory.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07And some that were involved in the tragedy
0:21:07 > 0:21:11may well have wished Titanic's legacy be forgotten about.
0:21:11 > 0:21:16The years went by, but the story of Titanic wouldn't go away.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21And in 1962, one man dies still trying to clear his name.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27Captain Stanley Lord was vilified by the British Inquiry
0:21:27 > 0:21:30as the man who could have saved all the lives on Titanic
0:21:30 > 0:21:33if he had taken action.
0:21:33 > 0:21:34But he didn't.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36His story is still controversial,
0:21:36 > 0:21:41but here's the version the 1912 Inquiry decided had taken place.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45As Titanic was sinking, ships raced to the scene.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48But the closest to Titanic was Stanley Lord's ship,
0:21:48 > 0:21:50the Californian.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52She was around 15 miles away.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54Her crew saw a ship on the horizon
0:21:54 > 0:21:57and rockets launched into the sky.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59But Lord did nothing.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02The British Inquiry came to the conclusion that if the Californian
0:22:02 > 0:22:06had responded early to the lights that she saw in the night sky,
0:22:06 > 0:22:10she could have saved many, if not most of the lives that were lost.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12But Captain Lord was indignant.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16He claimed he had no reason to believe Titanic was sinking.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19He received none of Titanic's distress signals
0:22:19 > 0:22:21because his radio room was unmanned.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24But that was common practice.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28And the rockets his crew saw gave no cause for alarm.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32In 1912, rockets at sea
0:22:32 > 0:22:35were not exclusively for purposes
0:22:35 > 0:22:37of indicating distress.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40They could be for any manner of reasons. They were frequently used for illumination,
0:22:40 > 0:22:44which wouldn't be, you know, unsurprising when you come into an ice field
0:22:44 > 0:22:47and you want to know the extent of that field, or whatever.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50It wouldn't be entirely surprising that rockets would be sent up.
0:22:50 > 0:22:57Nowadays, we are all familiar with red pyrotechnic at sea indicating distress.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00It was only post the Titanic disaster
0:23:00 > 0:23:03that red was introduced as a colour exclusively for distress.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05Nor did Captain Lord believe
0:23:05 > 0:23:08the ship he saw was actually Titanic.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10He believed it was a much smaller vessel.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14At the Inquiry, this gave rise to a complicated dispute
0:23:14 > 0:23:16over Titanic's final position.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21Either the mighty ship had got it wrong in her distress signals,
0:23:21 > 0:23:25or Captain Lord had mistaken the position of his ship,
0:23:25 > 0:23:26the Californian.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30The British Inquiry came to a decision and made a finding
0:23:30 > 0:23:35that the Californian stop position on that night was not accurate.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39Just try and imagine the level of prejudice and assumption
0:23:39 > 0:23:42that goes into concluding that it must be the small ship,
0:23:42 > 0:23:44the tramp steamer, that is to blame.
0:23:44 > 0:23:50And it couldn't be the magnificent, new, state-of-the-art super liner
0:23:50 > 0:23:52that has got its position wrong.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57Rear Admiral John Lang is a retired UK marine accident investigator.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01He believes the Inquiry's findings from the Californian
0:24:01 > 0:24:03may have been badly flawed.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05He studied both the evidence on Titanic
0:24:05 > 0:24:10and the way the inquiries were conducted.
0:24:10 > 0:24:11Quite honestly, they were appalling.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14The questions which were not asked,
0:24:14 > 0:24:16the witnesses were never called,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19misinterpreting the answers...
0:24:19 > 0:24:24I think Lord was being treated as really the villain of the piece...
0:24:24 > 0:24:26- Yeah.- ..which I think was unfair.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Lord was not on trial,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30but he was judged nonetheless
0:24:30 > 0:24:32by the press and by his employers,
0:24:32 > 0:24:34the Leyland Line.
0:24:34 > 0:24:35In 1912,
0:24:35 > 0:24:36the popular press and so on
0:24:36 > 0:24:39managed to inveigh against Captain Lord
0:24:39 > 0:24:40and weigh in against him
0:24:40 > 0:24:44and suggest that this man was a mass murderer.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48A director of the Leyland Line, which operated the Californian,
0:24:48 > 0:24:51suggested very strongly that Captain Lord had to resign
0:24:51 > 0:24:52because of popular opinion.
0:24:52 > 0:24:57Lord lost his job and, right up until his death in 1962,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00was still fighting to clear his name,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03as the Titanic story was told and retold
0:25:03 > 0:25:05in print and on the screen.
0:25:05 > 0:25:06It was not until
0:25:06 > 0:25:08over 20 years after he died
0:25:08 > 0:25:09that a key piece of evidence
0:25:09 > 0:25:13was discovered that may prove Captain Lord
0:25:13 > 0:25:15had been unfairly treated.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19In 1985, the case of Stanley Lord was thrown wide open
0:25:19 > 0:25:23when divers discovered the wreck of the Titanic,
0:25:23 > 0:25:25and she wasn't where she was expected to be.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28Titanic was found by a submarine
0:25:28 > 0:25:3013 miles further east
0:25:30 > 0:25:32than she had broadcast
0:25:32 > 0:25:33in her distress messages.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35It may prove Captain Lord was right
0:25:35 > 0:25:37and the Californian was nowhere
0:25:37 > 0:25:39as close to the sinking ship
0:25:39 > 0:25:41as the Inquiry chose to believe.
0:25:41 > 0:25:4470 years after the disaster,
0:25:44 > 0:25:49some experts believe this finally vindicates Stanley Lord.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53What killed people was actually hypothermia and being very, very cold.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56So, yes, he might have gone to the rescue,
0:25:56 > 0:25:58but with the best will in the world,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01I don't think he would have made much difference
0:26:01 > 0:26:02to what happened that night.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05But the way he has been treated, in my opinion,
0:26:05 > 0:26:07I think...I'd go so far as
0:26:07 > 0:26:10a miscarriage of justice in this country.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Captain Lord has been stripped out, hollowed out
0:26:15 > 0:26:19and turned into a...a mere cypher, you know,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23a destination for everybody's prejudices and dislikes,
0:26:23 > 0:26:26whereas, in fact, it's robbing us of the real truth,
0:26:26 > 0:26:28and that is a power ship could go to sea
0:26:28 > 0:26:30by permission of the Board of Trade
0:26:30 > 0:26:32with too few lifeboats,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34and that ultimately, the responsibility
0:26:34 > 0:26:39stays with the Titanic, going too fast in too dangerous conditions.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43Gambling with those people's lives and losing that gamble.
0:26:44 > 0:26:50In 1912, the world struggled to come to terms with the Titanic disaster.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54But one thing was clear, sea travel had to be made safer.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58On Titanic, there were only 1,200 lifeboat spaces
0:26:58 > 0:27:03on a ship built to carry 3,500 people.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07So an international agreement was drawn up - Safety Of Life At Sea.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09It is still part of Maritime Law.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15Details, life-saving appliances,
0:27:15 > 0:27:17construction of the ship,
0:27:17 > 0:27:19particularly the watertight subdivision,
0:27:19 > 0:27:21where you have a bulkhead deck
0:27:21 > 0:27:23to contain those compartments.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25That was a problem with the Titanic,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28the water came in and went over the top.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31- That no longer can happen.- No.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33There are also in there radio protocols,
0:27:33 > 0:27:34particularly emergency protocols,
0:27:34 > 0:27:38reporting and receiving reports on dangers
0:27:38 > 0:27:40and the International Ice Patrol.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43And so, even in our present crossings,
0:27:43 > 0:27:45we look at those reports every crossing
0:27:45 > 0:27:49to determine where the limits of the ice are and where we should avoid.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54And it was made mandatory to provide a lifeboat place for everyone.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58We have more than enough room for every man, woman and child on board.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03Since Titanic, no matter who you are
0:28:03 > 0:28:05or where you rank in society,
0:28:05 > 0:28:09your life is recognised as being
0:28:09 > 0:28:12as important as anyone else's.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16For me, the story of Titanic isn't about the ship.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20The ship is just rivets and metal and engines.
0:28:20 > 0:28:21It's about the people.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23It's about the people that built it,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26the crew and the passengers that sailed in it.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28And the bravery of some and the cowardice of others.
0:28:29 > 0:28:34If nothing else, 100 years on, the ship makes us ask,
0:28:34 > 0:28:36"Who would I be on Titanic?
0:28:36 > 0:28:39"And as she sank, what would I do?"
0:29:01 > 0:29:05Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd