The tragic sinking of the Titanic occurred in the early morning of April 15, 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. Of the 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, roughly 700 survived , making it one of the deadliest commercial disasters in modern history. The ship carried a variety of passengers, from some of the wealthiest people in the world to hundreds of immigrants from throughout Europe. Although over 1,500 passengers died in the accident, one of which the Captain Edward Smith, there are several documented accounts of the tragedy told by the survivors themselves. One of the earliest accounts of the disaster is a letter, written on stationery by first-class passenger Doctor Washington …show more content…
Dodge went on deck twice, where each time crew members told him that there was no threat to the passengers. In the letter Dodge writes, “Having been told that there was no danger, and believing such to be the fact from the general conduct of the passengers & such officers as I saw I insisted that my family remain in bed and await developments — Once more returning to the companion way I asked our steward who was standing in there was he had heard — He replied the order has just come down for all passengers to put on life preservers” (Gilder paragraph 3). This statement leads to the question of why the crew did not tell the passengers of the danger or if the crew was even informed. It also creates the possibility that if the passengers and crew had been informed quicker evacuating the ship would have been more organized and result in an increase in …show more content…
The interview starts similarly to his letter by beginning with how he and his wife discovered the danger onboard. However, in the interview he added the detail that his wife had woken him up. “We had retired to our stateroom, and the noise of the collision was not at all alarming. We had just fallen asleep. My wife awakened me and said that something had happened to the ship. We went on deck and everything seemed quiet and orderly” (The Bulletin paragraph 1). In his letter he stated that his family boarded lifeboat three, however, in the interview he says, “Everything was still quiet and orderly when I placed Mrs. Dodge and the boy in the fourth or fifth boat. I believe there were 20 boats lowered away altogether. I did what I could to help in keeping order, as after the sixth or seventh boat was launched the excitement began” (The Bulletin paragraph 4). These small changes of the account of the event cause doubt in the credibility of Doctor Washington Dodge. Although, the shock and impact of the tragedy could easily cause these mistakes to