April 10th - Day 1/Part II - Sail Away TITANICA

"Famed artist Ken Marschall and his entourage then wander past and I’m introduced. Conversation ensues about the quality of the original photographs used in the mosaics of the TITANIC wreck."

Check in and boarding was a remarkably simple process. With only a little over 450 passengers on Azamara Journey  there were no lines at all.  The main departure hall of Pier 88 was specially decorated with a row of welcome banners featuring larger than life size portraits of several historic figures from TITANIC. J. Bruce Ismay, Molly Brown, Captain E J Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Isadore Straus.  


Azamara Journey is a small but beautiful ship. Well, at least small when compared to my more regular venue of the Queen Mary 2! My first impression from the inside is that the Journey exceptionally Edwardian in style. Carved woodwork, elegant details, brass railings, marble, very well suited for this special type of voyage.  


I first dropped off my bags in the cabin, grabbing my video camera and tripod.  One quick call and I found Bill Miller up on Deck 9, pool deck with Harry Liu, the Manager of Royal Caribbean Public Relations, whom, it turns out, was actually was one of Bill’s students many years ago in Hoboken, NJ. I was also introduced to Andrew Phare, the chief representative on board of Miles Morgan Travel, the organizers of this 100th Anniversary sailing,  as well as the Balmoral voyage which left Southampton heading Eastbound to rendezvous with us this Saturday, April 14th over TITANIC.  We quickly learned that the Balmoral had to return back towards the United Kingdom for an Air Evacuation due to an urgent illness onboard. This news was shortly blasted from BBC America over the televisions. 


The atmosphere is exceptionally friendly.  Many folks were already attracting instant attention by strolling the decks in period costume. Ladies with large feathered hats and busseled skirts on the arms of men with bowlers were turning heads and camera lenses.  CNN is covering the developing events as well as the New York Post, some radio stations and several international correspondents. 


There is already some talk and interest from the organizers to possibly do a reading of excerpts of my play 41W 50N next week as we head back to New York after the memorial. It seems chilling, yet perfectly suited to tell this story here, from the perspective of those trying to get facts and discover the truth following this horrific tragedy. 


We slowly pulled away from the dock and made our way down the Hudson River, just as the OLYMPIC did just about 100 years ago. Many more gathered at the rails under a cool, breezy New York sky. Bill Miller immediately drew crowds as he indicated the now TGI Fridays style blue, red and white painted piers where TITANIC was supposed to have docked. Others overhearing would then ask more questions and “Mr. Ocean Liner” himself began to enthrall more and more with his vast knowledge of not only all things Maritime, but the very history of New York; pointing out, for example, the Pier where CARPATHIA arrived and the nearby hotel where many of the survivors were accommodated.  

Already the folks on board are absolutely fascinating. Two separate couples had relatives who missed TITANIC and ended up on other ships, one who had a relative on CARPATHIA.  Ten year old Maya and her Mom came on this voyage as Maya has been enthralled with TITANIC ever since seeing Cameron’s film two years ago.  A woman and her friend who went to TITANIC site in 1996 when an expedition tried to raise a section of TITANIC’s shattered hull, only to have it sink again over 2 miles deep.  When asked by a reporter from a German television station why the fascination with TITANIC she replied “Reincarnation.. so many people have had to be there... there must be a past life connection”.  Another gentleman had the White Star Line flag tattooed on the back of his calf! For some it is a total obsession with the history and facts.  


I have always loved all things Ocean Liners and have had an appreciation for TITANIC ever since Walter Lord, author of A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, spoke at my school when I was eight. However, for me it is a fascination, not an obsession. In an odd way, the thought that came to mind is it’s like being at a Star Trek convention if you loved the TV show, but are not necessarily a full blown Trekker. 


After sailing past the new World Trade Center tower, now soaring up to 100 stories, past Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, then underneath the Verazzano Bridge, it was time to unpack and settle in.  Folks seemed to disappear for a while, exhausted from the day’s travel, coming from all over, California, Canada, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany and beyond.  Dinner was relaxed and delightful as Bill and I were joined by John Langley, President of the World Cunard Historical Society and his wife Judy, both from Halifax. John is one of the other lecturers on board with talks on his home port and a keen insight into the heroic actions of Captain Henry Rostron and the Cunard Liner CARPATHIA, among other discussions. 


After an evening wandering around the ship, I found myself with laptop in hand in the beautiful period style wood paneled Library where a lone passenger was softly playing a sleek black grand piano under a tapestried hand painted glass skylight that looks like something out of a grand White Star Liner. Famed artist Ken Marschall and his entourage then wander past and I’m introduced. Conversation ensues about the quality of the original photographs used in the mosaics of the TITANIC wreck dating back to the Bob Ballard days. Of course, Ken’s intricate drawings, created from thousands of photographs and videos, painted a much more accurate and stunning view of the entire ship as she lay on the bottom. His artistic mastery is simply legendary.  This is all rather surreal and delightful.

Titanic and Prophecy

"Similarities are chilling..both liners were “unsinkable”, both hit icebergs, both met with disaster in the month of April, and both ships were approximately 400 miles from Newfoundland traveling at over 20 knots."

The page reads:

“And with her keel cutting the ice like the steel runner of an iceboat, and her great weight resting on the starboard bilge, she rose out of the sea, higher and higher–until the propellers in the Stern were half exposed–then, meeting in easy, spiral rise in the ice under her port bow, she heeled, overbalanced, and crashed down on her side, to starboard.” 

The dramatic text continues:

“The holding down bolts of 12 boilers and 3 triple expansion engines, unintended to hold such weights from a perpendicular flooring, snapped, and down through a maze of ladders, gratings, and fore-and-aft bulkheads came these giant masses of steel and iron, puncturing the sides of the ship.” 

And further still:

“Amid the roar of escaping steam, and the bee like buzzing of nearly 3000 human voices, raised in agonized screams and calling from within the enclosed walls, and the whistling of air through hundreds of open dead lights is the water, entering the holes of the crushed and riven starboard side...”

This is not an excerpt from the New York Times or London Illustrated News in April of 1912, rather this text is quoted from Morgan Robertson’s novella “The Wreck of the Titan”, originally published as “Futility” in 1898, fourteen years before the Titanic’s fateful Maiden Voyage.  Other similarities are chilling, besides the very names being so close. Both liners were “unsinkable”, both hit icebergs, both met with disaster in the month of April, and both ships were approximately 400 miles from Newfoundland traveling at over 20 knots.

Published in 1976, Clive Cussler fans enjoyed further adventures of action hero Dirk Pitt in Cussler’s fantasy novel “Raise the Titanic”. Along with the subsequent film adaptation of the novel released in 1980, here was another uncanny precursor to actual events connected with Titanic. 


In “Raise the Titanic” a rare substance, byzanium, is needed for a major defense project. The only known quantity of this substance sank in the cargo holds of the RMS Titanic back in 1912. In order for his world saving mission to succeed, Pitt must locate Titanic and find a way to access the byzanium.  Pitt and his team locate the sunken wreck using deep-sea submersibles, sonar and other technology that would foreshadow the stunning real life efforts of Bob Ballard in 1985. Ballard discovered the debris field surrounding Titanic and then found the remains of the great White Star liner herself on the bottom of the Atlantic.  In Cussler’s version, Titanic’s hull was intact and was brought to the surface,  Perhaps Ballard may have been inspired by this written and cinematic fantasy to create reality, but nonetheless it’s a remarkable connection.

Without question, these works of fiction were created prior to the true events of history. Perhaps there is some sort of ethereal energy or connection with “the other side” where future visions were channeled into the minds of these authors to share a projection of what was to come.  Contemplate, for just a moment, what other works of contemporary fiction of disaster, innovation or modern development will prove true in the decades to come. It cannot be as simple as common logic, which would dictate these futures, for the details of both “The Wreck of the Titan” and “Raise the Titanic” are far too specific to real life events.

Captain Arthur Henry Rostron - Brief Portrait of a Hero

"Rostron worked on multiple Cunard liners, becoming First Office of LUSITANIA 1907. He then took the helm of CARPATHIA as Captain in January of 1912"

Sir Arthur Henry Rostron

Shortly before midnight on April 14th, 1912 CARPATHIA Marconi Operator Harold Cottom was undressing for bed, still with headsets on, waiting for a reply from nearby Allen liner PARISIAN.  As a courtesy Cottom, who heard press communications coming from Cape Cod for TITANIC, called the White Star Liner asking him if he was aware that Cape Cod was sending messages for him. Back came a stunning reply that changed history: “Come at once!”  Cottam, along with First Officer Horace Dean, burst into Captain Arthur Henry Rostron's cabin delivering the incomprehensible news that TITANIC had struck an iceberg and was sending out distress calls.

Harold Cottam

Rostron, known to be a solid and responsible Captain with twenty-seven years of experience, joined the Cunard Line seventeen years earlier in 1895. Originally Fourth Officer on the UMBRIA, Rostron worked on multiple Cunard liners, becoming First Officer of LUSITANIA 1907. He then took the helm of CARPATHIA as Captain in January of 1912, just a few months before this collision with fate.  Without hesitation, Rostron turned around the Eastbound CARPATHIA steaming its way towards the last reported coordinates for TITANIC of latitude 41.46 longitude North 50.14 West.


With all the focus and strength of a true hero, Captain Rostron worked through a massive preparation check list he carefully coordinated with his most capable crew.  The following excerpt, from my new play 41W 50N  adapted from actual 1912 TITANIC Senate Hearings held by Senator William Alden Smith, show in Rostron’s own words how he wasted no time preparing for whatever circumstances awaited at the scene of disaster:

Mr. ROSTRON

Have all hands on call to have coffee and tea ready to serve out to all our crew, in addition to each saloon along with blankets in saloons, at the gangways, and some for the boats. We must see all rescued are cared for and that all their immediate wants are attended to. My cabin and all officials' cabins are to be given up. Smoke rooms, library, dining rooms, and so forth should be utilized to accommodate the survivors.  All spare berths in steerage are to be utilized for Titanic's passengers. Have all our own steerage passengers grouped together.   

Mr. HUGHES 

May I suggest, Sir, that all stewards should be placed in each alleyway. This will reassure our own passengers, should they inquire about noise in getting our boats out or the working of engines.  

Mr. ROSTRON 

To all I strictly enjoined the necessity for order, discipline and quietness and to avoid all confusion. Hankinson, I will need you and all officers, all the hands, to prepare and swing out all boats. All gangway doors to be opened with Electric sprays in each gangway and over side. Have a Boatswains' chair at each gangway, for getting up sick or wounded. Also, pilot ladders and canvas ash bags to be at each gangway which will be of great assistance in getting the infants and children aboard. Lastly, rockets to be fired at 2:45 a. m. and every quarter of an hour after to reassure Titanic.

One of the more historic images of Captain Rostron shows him receiving a “Loving Cup” from Margaret “Unsinkable Molly” Brown for his noble actions in saving the TITANIC survivors.  Rostron eventually took command of several of the greatest Cunard Liners, including the BERENGARIA and his favourite the MAURETANIA, being made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1926.  In 1928 Rostron became Commodore of the Cunard fleet, one of the highest honors which, in modern day, has included some familiar names such as Commodore Ronald Warwick and Commodore Bernard Warner.

 It is written that Rostron was confirmed to sail on the MAURETANIA’s final voyage to the breakers, but could not set foot upon her when the emotion became overwhelming. Rostron chose to stay landside and bid adieu to his beloved lady. Sir Arthur Henry Rostron was laid to rest 4th November 1940 at the age of 71. Coming soon, more profiles of the key players connected with TITANIC on that fateful night of April 14th/15th 1912.... 


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Bill Miller Interview - Part II

"This is not the 92nd anniversary, this is the 100th anniversary where we are going right to the very spot where it happened. "

In Part 2 of my interview with Maritime Historian and Author Bill Miller, “MR. OCEAN LINER”, we continued to discuss the the Costa CONCORDIA incident and then talked more about our upcoming voyage on the AZAMARA JOURNEY to the site of the TITANIC disaster on the 100th Anniversary of her sinking. Below is a preview clip from MR OCEAN LINER - The Life And Times of Bill Miller, available online from www.MrOceanLiner.com

RNM - So Bill,  we talked about what has changed in light of the CONCORDIA accident. What do you think has NOT changed in 100 years since TITANIC?


BM - It's a combination of the mechanical and the human element, just like any form of transport -  hideous accidents can occur and today a ship can sink, just as we've seen with the CONCORDIA or other disasters that have occurred within the last last 50/60 years or so. Also, the fact that human error will continue until the very end of time. There will always be that element of miscalculation, simple mistakes, simple things that could have been so easily avoided. Not even a major or highly technical area, just simple things.  This will always be the case and that has not changed.  So, although ships are no longer being described as “unsinkable,” they are still - just like the TITANIC was - very subject to the elements and all the things that go with travel and voyages.


RNM - What do you think you're looking forward to most about this upcoming TITANIC 100th Anniversary sailing?


BM - I'm looking forward to two things:  One, it's taking part in what I consider to be a very historic event. This is wonderful for someone like me because it's useful for future writings,  for lectures.  It’s taking part in a pivotal event, something that's very significant.  This is not the 92nd anniversary, this is the 100TH anniversary where we are going right to the very spot where it happened.  The second part is participating with all the fellow speakers and passengers who are all all interested in the topic.  It's sort of like going to the bowling club - You don't have to ask “Do you bowl?” You know they bowl! They are all there for that reason, so we all share, in an indirect or direct way, an interest in ocean liners and TITANIC. So, to spend 8 days with them I think is fascinating.


RNM - What do you think you will take away from this voyage?


BM - The memory of being there and experiencing this event.  You know,  I can't predict how I will feel 11:40 at night, or over the spot at 2:20 am when we are standing on the deck. It might be chilly,  just as it was 100 years ago. In a way it’s going back, but at the same time bringing it forward. I'll always be able to say I was somehow directly connected the TITANIC because I was on the 100th anniversary cruise.  So I think that's what I'll bring back. It’s also a kind of spiritual feeling, perhaps, and as I said earlier the connection to it will intensify.  Commodore Ronald Warwick [of the QE2 and Queen Mary 2] told me that when he went down in the diving submersible he felt so much closer to the whole thing because he was right there next to the wreckage... next to the TITANIC on the bottom of the Atlantic. I'm not going down to the bottom, but this will be getting as close as most ordinary folks can get by being on the very site, on the very moment, 100 years later.


RNM - Would you want to go down in a submersible to TITANIC if you could? Would you go?

BM - I would go, yes.  I would certainly go.  I'm not an adventurer, someone who would hike up the Himalayas or jump out of planes,  but I would take a chance and go because of the value of doing something like that would be tremendous. Think of the experience!  You can relay that to others through lectures and writing. I think it would be very fascinating and I’d make a big issue about it if I went down. I'd make a big issue of telling people about it.


RNM - Many have commented over the years that many similar elements and artifacts from TITANIC’s time are in existence today because of her sister ship OLYMPIC - much of the same  woodwork,  the design, plus other historical items of that era, clothing, dishes,  memorabilia.  Peoples ask “Why do we need to go to TITANIC?” when most everything that was on TITANIC can be found elsewhere.  What are your thoughts on this?

(Cristoforo Columbo 1st Class Lounge Source: Brochure)

BM - I suppose when it comes down to the bottom line it's because it's not the real McCoy.  Some items exist from the OLYMPIC, but it's the items directly connected to the TITANIC that people want.  They push the envelope a little further, I think.  If someone had a chair from the CRISTOFORO COLOMBO, the sister of the ANDREA DORIA, they might say “Well it's not from the ANDREA DORIA ... that's the ship I wanted it from.” Some people want exactly the real thing. Some would be quite happy with something from the OLYMPIC or the COLOMBO, but many people want the real thing.”

RNM - Any closing thoughts?

BM - It's now about three weeks before the voyage and I can feel my own sense of excitement mounting. I'm looking forward to it. It will be special, unique.  And, it’s because I'm doing three special trips this year -  the second is the Queen's Jubilee sailing on the QUEEN MARY 2 and the QUEEN ELIZABETH. Then P&O's 175th anniversary in July when their seven liners all sail from Southampton all at the same time.  So, I feel I'm very lucky this year to participate in the top three ocean liner events. This is a year of celebrations. I feel, not in the same way as the Titanic which is much more spiritual and emotional, but I feel connected with these pivotal links to ships and other aspects their history. It intensifies the link to these sorts of things.   Plus we will relay this, share it, get new insights into TITANIC from people on board like Ken Marschall, John Langley, and Günter Bäbler, others like that.  People can look forward to scribblings, future writings.  I will write about it. I’ll be able speak more afterwards through my lectures, perhaps in book form. To tell the story with clarity, once I've been there, and then bring it to the podium or with a word processor.


RNM - I want to thank Bill Miller, once again, for his time and wonderful insights. There will be much more to come as we get closer to the April 10th 2012 departure of AZAMARA JOURNEY from the New York West Side piers and as we set sail on a course to rendezvous with history. 

Bill Miller Interview - Part I

Bill Miller is considered an international authority on the subject of ocean liners & cruise ships.   This includes those great ships of the past “floating palaces,” as well as the current generation of cruise ships.   Called “Mr. Ocean Liner,” he has written over 70 books on the subject:  from early steamers, immigrant ships and liners at war to other titles on their fabulous interiors. 

In all, Bill has also written over 1,000 articles for newspapers, magazines and nautical journals & newsletters.  He has appeared in some three dozen video & television series, both in the USA, Britain, Europe and Australia, including Castles of the Sea, The Floating Palaces, The Superliners, Inside the World of a Cruise Ship, Disasters at Sea and Deco: Age of Glamor.  He has also appeared on TheToday Show, CBS Evening News, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America and many other news broadcasts. 

He has been guest lecturer aboard over 50 different liners.  As a public school teacher, in middle school and for social studies for 32 years Bill was named “Teacher of the Year” in 2002. His remarkable life story has been documented in my film “MR OCEAN LINER” www.MrOceanLiner.com  which made it’s New York premiere in 2011 at Lincoln Center as well as an International premiere on board the Cunard Liner RMS Queen Mary 2. 

Bill Miller & Robert Neal Marshall
at MR OCEAN LINER premiere
on Queen Mary 2 (photo: Peter Knego)

Bill sat down with me for an interview about this upcoming Titanic 100th Anniversary Cruise. 

Part I

RNM -  Bill, Why do you think that people are so fascinated, perhaps even obsessed, by the TITANIC history?

BM - I think there are many reasons but I think two of the most common would be that it was defiance of what you might call the “Powers of the Almighty” by creating a ship said to be unsinkable. It would be like giving birth to a human and saying it can't die. So they created a ship that turns out sinks - not later in its life - but on the maiden voyage!  It was as if to say “I'm going to show you!"  And then the very fact that the whole thing was a disaster, a loss of over 1500 lives that was really unnecessary. Of course, no ship could be unsinkable so I think it's also that twist on tempting fate, plus creating something that is supposed to be invincible.

RNM - What does it mean to you, personally, to be on this voyage and to go to the site of TITANIC on the 100th anniversary?

BM - I can say it only enhances the closeness,  and I might even use the word “intimacy” with the TITANIC. It’s the whole history of it and the disaster. To be right there at the very spot 100 years later where it all occurred. I remember in the late 1990's going on the Royal Yacht BRITANNIA up in Edinburgh and I thought to myself “Wow! I'm standing on the Royal Yacht,” which I never thought I would get aboard. You're suddenly brought right to it, which is certainly true of the TITANIC. On that night when we think of the tragedy right on the spot, surrounded by people who are fascinated by it. It will create this tremendous closeness, or for lack of a better word “intimacy” with the TITANIC.

RNM - You will be presenting several lectures on board the AZAMARA JOURNEY. Can you talk a little bit about your topics?

BM - I'll be talking more about the overview of the great liners that would have been  TITANIC's contemporaries back in the Edwardian period, World War I, the era of the great liners. I’ll also be talking about the history of New York Harbor where TITANIC was destined. I’ll share anecdotes about the rich and famous and how liners were the principal form of transport until the jet changed everything. I will talk about the current booming cruise industry which, oddly enough, people say is not as glamorous ... I'm not sure it is not as glamorous,  but it's much more comfortable with more and more people traveling now than ever before.  So, I'm going to bring what surrounds the TITANIC then and now.. and the supporting cast of the whole TITANIC event.  I'm not specifically an expert on TITANIC, so I will leave that to the experts who will be on board. 

RNM - How would you compare the TITANIC tragedy to the Costa CONCORDIA disaster 100 years later?

BM - There are a number of things. There is the factor of human error which occurred in both situations. Certainly the CONCORDIA was not called "unsinkable," but you would not have thought hitting a reef would have done such hideous damage.  The same with TITANIC...in both cases it is huge losses.  The CONCORDIA of course hasn't sunk, but most likely she's going to be scrapped. There is also a very strong similarity of human error. All the tentacles that have come out of it. There are endless stories, tens of thousands stories about the TITANIC, but in the case of the CONCORDIA,  the Captain “tripping” into the lifeboat with the Coast Guard ordering him back, unqualified crew in lifeboats, and more.  In a modern age, 100 years later, it shows that  accidents are by no means eliminated. Even simple things like unchartered reefs can be devastating.

RNM - What do you think has changed since the TITANIC regarding safety and maritime law?

Wilhelm Gustloff (photo courtesy of 
Michael Pocock at www.maritimequest.com)

BM - One of the biggest things that has changed is the increase in safety. No ship can set out without adequate safety equipment since the TITANIC.  Although there have been many disasters since then, there is a much greater chance to survive than before TITANIC when there were not enough lifeboats. God only knows about the WILHELM GUSTLOFF  during World War II when when over 9,000 perished in the worst maritime tragedy of all. That being said, of course, you have better methods in general of handling a ship, detecting things like an iceberg, going through fog, it is much safer today than it would have been 100 years ago, although I do not preclude or eliminate the fact that accidents can still occur. (To be continued.....)

Check back soon for Part II of my interview with Bill Miller where he talks more about the CONCORDIA accident, what he hopes to take away from the TITANIC 100th Anniversary commemoration, and his thoughts on going down in a submersible to the final resting site of the historic White Star Liner.