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[dramatic music]

Titanic..

It's very name evokes a chill.

And the tale of its
sinking is legendary.

Captain Smith was the
man of the hour.

A hero of the era.

You have crew who
were the best

that White Star
could offer.

There were stories of heroism;

the way the band played
until the end.

[soft music]
[people screaming]

[Narrator] But are
these stirring tales

of a heroic captain
and crew actually true?

Since the tragedy,

Titanic historians
have sought to acquire

the personal papers
of Lord Mersey.

The man charged in Britain with
investigating the disaster.

His private journals
may hold the answers.

Now, for the first
time since 1912,

these critical documents
will be revealed.

A hundred and eight years later,
here we go.

[Narrator] Will this
information alter

the accepted story of how
and why Titanic sank?

They didn't think that
they would need to have

lifeboat drills.

Titanic told 'em to
shut up and go away.

Nearly the entire response
was completely improvised.

Californian could have
galloped to the rescue

like the 5th Cavalry.

[bleep]

[Narrator] What new light

can the contents
of this box shed

on one of history's
most enduring disasters?

[dramatic music]

? ?

[ominous music]

[Narrator] April 17, 1912.

Two days since
Titanic's demise.

The Mackay-Bennett, a 269
foot cable repair ship

in service since the 1880s

is dispatched from Halifax,
Nova Scotia on a grim task:

Sail into an icy hell

and retrieve Titanic's dead.

[dramatic music]

Richard McMichael is a
historian at the

Maritime Museum of
the Atlantic in Halifax.

As you can imagine, this is
a nightmarish situation.

The crew's main role is to
repair sections

of damaged Transatlantic cable.

There's nothing in
the job description

about fishing women and children

out of the icy waters
of the North Atlantic.

[Narrator] Mackay-Bennett's
journey takes 36 hours.

And, when they enter
the death zone,

they find several
hundred corpses.

Men,

women,

children.

[ominous music]

[Richard] Fifty-one we have
taken on board today.

This is the first day out.

The sea still seems strewn.

With the exception of
ourselves and the bosun bird

is the only living
creature here.

Put yourself in the
position of these men.

One day alone, Mackay-Bennett
recovers 128 bodies--

127 men, one woman.

[solemn music]

[Craig Sopin] There are
photographs that exist

of those people
being buried at sea.

Very solemn just to look at.

And then they would
keep a log in real time.

[Richard] 8:00 p.m.

The tolling of the bell
summoned all hands to the folks,

as the weighted body
plunges into the sea,

there to sink to a depth
of about two miles.

Splash,

splash,

splash.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] As the gruesome
details of Titanic's fate

filters back to both continents,

a horrified public
demands answers.

[dramatic music]

Mark Chirnside is a
maritime historian,

and author of 10 books on
British Royal Mail Ships.

It was such a huge disaster.

The questions were rightly
being asked about how the

largest and most luxurious
ship in the world

could possibly sink
during its maiden voyage,

and with such a
catastrophic loss of life.

There was such public
interest in what had happened

that the British
government determined

that they needed to appoint
a wreck commissioner.

[Narrator] Lord John Charles
Bigham, First Viscount Mersey,

is a well-connected barrister,

judge and politician.

And he's chosen for a
monumental task.

Find out exactly
what went wrong

on Titanic.

Charles Haas is an historian,

author and president of the
Titanic International Society.

Lord Mersey was
bringing to the table

considerable legal knowledge,

hopefully a sense of fairness,
a sense of balance.

All of the things that a judge,
if you will, needs to have.

The thing that we have
to keep in mind, however,

is that the investigation
in England

was a Board of Trade
investigation,

which means that, essentially,

the very organization that had
allowed Titanic to go to sea

is now investigating
itself to some degree.

[ominous music]

[Narrator] Across 36 days
of testimony

from nearly 100 witnesses,

answering 25,000 questions,

an exhaustive inquiry
comes to a close.

While the report's final
conclusions do levy criticism,

some observers wonder if the
hundreds of pages of notes

Lord Mersey took in his private
journal during the trial,

and stored in a
leather-bound box

go much further than his
public pronouncements.

[dramatic music]

[solemn music]

After a century tucked away

in their private
family archives,

Lord Mersey's estate has
agreed to share the contents

of the box publicly.

[Craig] Some judges
think out loud.

Lord Mersey did not
think out loud.

Lord Mersey thought on paper.

And it's only now
that we get to see

what some of his
private thoughts were.

[birds cawing]

My name is Ned Bigham, and
I'm the fifth Viscount Mersey.

My great, great grandfather

was John Charles Bigham,
Lord Mersey.

I don't think anyone
has actually sat down

and gone through the box
or the materials and said,

"What exactly have we got here?

What is its significance?"

It had just sat there
for all these years.

[dramatic music]

So, 108 years later,
here we go.

[dramatic music]

For the first time
in recorded history,

we're gonna open the box.

[solemn music]

[Narrator] Mersey's drawings,
observations and ruminations

will be examined by several
renowned Titanic experts

who will explain
the significance

of this "lost evidence."

And through the lens of
this new information,

Titanic's journey
will be reconstructed,

beginning with problems that
arose before she set sail.

[soft music]

[Charles] The early part
of the 20th century,

the United Kingdom was
clearly a world power.

Its influence stretched
literally around the world.

The shipping industry
is front and center

in terms of the
importance to the country,

and for that matter,
to the world.

[Narrator] One of the most
dominant shipping companies

of the day is Britain's
White Star Line.

Founded in 1845, White Star
made its fortune

delivering the Royal mail

while also providing
top-flight passenger service.

[Mark] The extra size of these
ships enabled White Star

to increase the number
of first class passengers

that were carried, and
have even more luxurious

first class accommodations

than the world had
previously seen.

[Narrator] And White
Star's newest steamer

is the most luxurious.

Titanic.

[dramatic music]

But the massive ship, at
more than 882 feet long,

weighing more than 46,000 tons

and costing more than 180
million in today's dollars,

has a major problem few
people remember today.

With the departure date
in April fast approaching,

half the cabins are empty.

So White Star makes
a fateful decision.

It brings famed Captain
Edward Smith out of retirement

to shore up ticket sales.

If you wanna hire somebody
from central casting

to be captain of a ocean liner

in the early part of
the 20th century,

it's E. J. Smith,

whether or not he knew how
to run a boat or not.

It doesn't matter, you know.

He just looks the part.

Edward Smith was one
of the captains who

played up that sort of
ship's captain thing.

He invited the rich and the
famous to the captain's table,

hence his nickname,
the Millionaire's Captain.

[Narrator] When April arrives,
Titanic,

with Smith at the helm,
is ready to sail.

But the Millionaire's Captain
also brings plenty of baggage

with him onto the
spit-shine deck

of the Titanic.

[dramatic music]

Inside Lord Mersey's box
is a red leather journal

that he kept by his side
throughout the inquiry.

He used it to write down
his notes and discoveries.

On page 114, there's
a notation referencing

that most of Titanic's crew
had been on the Olympic.

Why did Mersey think this
detail was important?

In 1911, Captain Smith
and his fellow officers

who later served on the
Titanic's doomed voyage

crewed Titanic's sister ship,
the Olympic,

on her maiden voyage.

While docking in New York,

the Olympic collided
with a tugboat.

Then, three months later,

Smith's Olympic did
something far worse.

[Charles] In 1911, the Olympic
was leaving Southampton,

and the British Naval
cruiser, Hawke,

was in the vicinity.

[ship horn blows]

Somehow, the Hawke managed
to collide with the

Olympic in the stern.

[dramatic music]

Olympic was severely damaged
and she experienced flooding.

Smith is on the bridge

and therefore in
charge of the vessel.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] Coming up.

They didn't think that
they would need to have

lifeboat drills.

He could have detailed one
of the lower ranking officers

to walk from boat to boat,

but he didn't even do that.

And Lord Mersey wrote
in his journal

that he found that
to be unusual.

Indeed it was.

Titanic did receive a
series of ice warnings.

We know the Titanic
received these messages.

It should have been
taken seriously.

Lord Mersey was
asking the question,

"Why didn't they slow down?"

[dramatic music]

The fact is that lifeboats
went into the water

with less than a full capacity.

Those crewmen should
have been pulling people

by their collars to put
them into the life boat.

[dramatic music]

[birds cawing]

[ship horn blows]

Titanic left Southampton
on the 10th of April, 1912.

It was a bit of a gusty,
cold day by all accounts.

[solemn music]

It was a proud moment
for White Star.

She came out to the dock,

went round to the left

and then proceeded
down the river.

All the indications were
that Titanic was set

for a successful maiden voyage.

[ship horn blows]

[Narrator] As hundreds of
well-wishers arrived dockside

to cheer Titanic off,

the ship's reputation
precedes it.

[dramatic music]

Both the press and
White Star espoused

a perception of invincibility.

But who could blame them?

Titanic is spectacular.

[dramatic music]

[ship horn blows]

Sixty-six hundred tons of coal

powers massive 17-foot
propellers.

The ship is the length of two
and a half football fields

and can ferry 3,547
passengers and crew.

She is the largest
manmade moving object

on earth.

[dramatic music, crowd cheering]

For the passengers on board,

the first four days of
the journey are euphoric.

That's especially true
for the wealthy,

soaking in their world-class
accommodations.

[Charles] When Titanic
comes out,

it was actually referred to
as The Millionaire's Special.

Because it could not be imagined

that someone would be able
to spend that much money

on a Transatlantic crossing.

If you look at the best
accommodations in the ship,

$4,350 for a crossing.

That's the equivalent
of 10-year's salary

to an average American in 1912.

[Narrator] The first
class price tag is steep,

but it comes with perks.

[dramatic music]

Among them is access to
Titanic's state of the art

Marconi wireless system.

[Sean] The Marconi, this was
modern technology

for a modern ship.

Part of the whole idea

was this sort of
showman's thing.

You're there, you're rich,
you're powerful.

You're right at the edge
of modern technology.

And you could send messages

to tell your friends in
New York or London or Paris

what you were doing.

These were young men on ships

tapping away on a
Morse code player.

They were using lots of slang

and lots of, rather,

sort of relaxed way of
talking to each other.

The fellows that worked
in the wireless rooms

on board the ship we're
not part of the crew.

In most cases, they were
employees of the

Marconi Company.

[Narrator] The Marconi
operators independence

has a glaring risk.

If people were being employed
by Marconi to send messages

on behalf of private passengers,

did they then perhaps omit to
look at the safety messages--

which should have
been their priority.

[Narrator] Titanic will end up
receiving 21 ice warnings,

via Marconigram, on its
four days at sea.

But Captain Smith, like
many Transatlantic veterans,

is skeptical of
the new technology.

Someone who had sailed back
and forth across the Atlantic

for so long, without the aid
of any sort of technology,

didn't really take something
like wireless very seriously.

[clicking]

[Narrator] Another
thing Captain Smith

might not have
been prepared for...

the lifeboat situation.

While White Star fitted
Titanic with 20 lifeboats,

four more than were
required by regulation,

it still isn't enough
for a ship this large.

At full capacity,
Titanic's lifeboats

could hold just half of the
ship's 2,240 passengers.

While that fact
is well known,

less known is that,
according to the Mersey box,

Smith and crew may not
have trained sufficiently

with the lifeboats
they did have.

Titanic's lifeboats
were raised and lowered

with a new crane system
called "Welin davits."

Dave Brown is a
Titanic historian

and retired commercial
ship captain.

The crew, they were
all certified seamen,

but the only thing

that they didn't have a
lot of experience with

is Welin davits which were
fairly new and coming online.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] As Sunday,
April 14th dawns,

four days into
Titanic's maiden voyage,

the crew is scheduled for
a routine lifeboat drill.

Though his men
are new to Titanic

and her lifeboat apparatus,

Captain Smith cancels
the drill.

I cannot say why Captain Smith
failed to do that.

At a bare minimum,
he could have detailed

one of the lower ranking
officers to walk from

boat to boat and check the
lines and check, you know,

any pulleys had been greased
or whatever was necessary.

But he didn't even do that.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] During the inquiry,

a Titanic lookout
named Archie Jewell

testified that although
they tested lifeboats

before leaving Southampton,

there were only two boats
lowered away out of 20,

and they were not even
put into the water.

In his private journal,
Mersey notes:

This unusual.

[dramatic music]

And Lord Mersey wrote
in his journal

that he had found
that to be unusual,

indeed it was.

You really need to
have a lifeboat drill.

[Richard] They didn't think
that they would need to have

lifeboat drills.

And this goes back to hubris.

Why bother having
lifeboat drills

when the ship simply can't sink?

[dramatic music]

Titanic did receive a
series of ice warnings.

[Sean] Almost like some sort
of music creeping up in the

background, are these messages
from other ships saying,

"Be careful, there's
danger ahead."

They were traveling at 21 knots,

which is practically full
speed for the Titanic.

This was at night.

This was in an
environment where they

knew that there was ice.

[radar beeping]

[dramatic music]

[solemn music]

[Narrator] April 14, 1912,

early evening.

It's moonless and the seas
are eerily calm.

Titanic is steaming
towards the Grand Banks

in the North Atlantic,

at a brisk 22 knots,

or 25 and a half
miles per hour.

[dramatic music]

At 7:30 p.m., Second Officer
Charles Lightoller

raises his sextant.

In the era before GPS,

this device is used to
plot a ship's position.

According to information
in the Mersey box

and other sources,

this moment initiates a
series of fatal errors

by Titanic's officers.

[dramatic music]

The sextant was the critical
instrument of navigation.

When you look through
the telescope,

one side sees the horizon.

The other side here
sees the sky.

So if I put it up like
this and I adjust it,

what I'm going to do

is I'm gonna bring the
celestial body down

till it sits on the horizon.

I call out, "mark."

And then the guy who's
got the hack watch

writes down the exact
moment of the hack.

When Lightoller took
this reading at 7:30,

he either was wrong

or the hack watch was
off by a few seconds.

[Narrator] A sextant in
conjunction with a hack watch

and a nautical chronometer

can accurately determine
a ship's position.

But if the officers taking
the readings make a mistake,

the ship can veer off course.

If you're off by a
minute of time,

is a mile of latitude.

It can grow very big.

[solemn music]

[Narrator] While historians
have long suspected

that Titanic was lost en route,

proof of the navigational
errors has been elusive.

That's because
Titanic's log book,

the equivalent of a black box,

containing notes on
every important decision

of a ship's journey,

has never been found.

Typically, it was put in
a waterproof bag,

sealed, and the highest
ranking officer

would take it onto
the lifeboat.

[Dave] Theoretically, you carry
all the records off the ship,

but the captain who knows
that it's got some information

that he would
rather not disclose,

will probably throw five
pounds of rocks in the bag

and throw it overboard.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] Despite
25,000 questions

across a month of testimony,

Lord Mersey's private box
doesn't contain

a single reference to
the missing log book.

[Craig] There may be something
in there that Captain Smith

didn't want the world
to know about.

It could have been something
damning to the White Star Line

and the Board of Trade.

We don't know.

[Narrator] Months before
the inquiry,

steaming through
the North Atlantic,

Titanic is not only lost,

she's heading into danger.

Throughout the day
on April 14th,

Titanic's Marconi operators
receive disturbing news

from other ships in the area.

Titanic did receive a
series of ice warnings

from ships that lay
ahead of its path.

These ice warnings
were fairly specific

in terms of latitude
and longitude.

They were taken to the bridge,

and the position was noted
on a Transatlantic chart.

And there, it could be examined
by each shift of officers

as they came on duty.

[trans coder beeping]

Almost like some sort of
music creeping up

in the background, are these
messages from other ships

saying, "Be careful,
there's danger ahead."

[ominous music]

[Narrator] Nineteen and a half
miles due North from Titanic,

the SS Californian, a
freighter bound for Boston

sees an ice field
around 7:30 at night.

Her skipper, Captain
Stanley Lord,

isn't about to take
any chances.

[dramatic music]

The Californian stops in ice.

It realizes it's dangerous.

The wireless operator sent
a message to tell people

that ice was around.

Titanic didn't say,
"Thank you very much.

I'm very glad you
told us about this."

They told them to shut up
and go away effectively.

They were busy sending
private messages.

They didn't wanna know about it.

[Narrator] While Captain Lord
hunkers down in the ice field,

to his south, Captain Smith
powers Titanic ahead

with his engines steaming
at near capacity.

In his final report,

Lord Mersey does note
Titanic's excessive speed.

And in private, he expresses
grave concern.

Within Mersey's box,
tucked inside his journal,

he writes that there was
no reduction of speed.

And then, Mersey points
it out again.

[Ned] Okay. So now this
is interesting.

Speed, 21 knots

and never reduced up to
time of collision.

Notwithstanding, weary
that icebergs in vicinity,

and that she would be
likely to meet them.

[dramatic music]

[Craig] They were traveling
at 21 knots,

which is practically full
speed for the Titanic.

This was at night.

This was in an environment
where they knew

that there was ice.

[Richard] We don't need
to reduce speed.

We're not gonna have any
issues with any icebergs

that we come across
because we are Titanic.

After all, it is
unsinkable, isn't it?

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] Sunday evening,
April 14, 1912.

Under the command of
Captain Edward J. Smith,

Titanic is just
past the midpoint

of her journey to New York.

Steaming at nearly full speed,

she's scheduled
to arrive on time

Wednesday morning at
White Star's pier 59

along Manhattan's West side.

Nine other ships are also
traversing the North Atlantic,

heading west and east along
the same shipping lanes.

But just south of the
Grand Banks,

the ice field looms.

Four miles wide and
extending north and south

as far as the eye can see.

As each ship hits
the danger zone,

they sound the alarm.

[radar beeping]

Wireless messages were
sent by ships

who were traveling
in the same waters,

and they were alerting each
other to potential risks.

They thought it was dangerous

and they let the other
ships know around them.

We know the Titanic
received these messages.

We know they acknowledged
some of these messages too.

It should have been
taken seriously.

[radar beeping]

[Narrator] The Marconi
messages not only reveal

where the ice is,

they also contain
important details

on how big and dangerous
the icebergs are.

Kristin Serumgard
is the commander

of the International Ice Patrol.

She's familiar with
the types of icebergs

the ships might have reported.

[Kristin] There's floes formed
from frozen seawater.

There's a growler, which is
about the size of a piano.

And then all the way up
to what we call

a very large iceberg is
over 200 meters.

[Narrator] In Titanic's
day, just like now,

hitting an iceberg
could rip a ship apart

and endanger the passengers.

A fact that wasn't lost on
Lord Mersey in his black box.

[ominous music]

Inside his journal,
Mersey hones in

on two specific ice warnings
that reached Titanic:

"Two vessels informed her.

Icebergs,

growlers,

floes."

Lord Mersey drew some images--

things that the Titanic
clearly would've passed

on its way to the
big monster iceberg.

That also should have given
the Titanic some pause.

It would have warned them
that things were getting bad.

[Narrator] Lord Mersey
also scribbles down

that the temperatures
were falling,

and that this,
to indicate ice.

And then, finally, and
perhaps most crucially,

he notes and underlines,

no reduction of speed.

[Ned] This was obviously
fairly significant for him.

Quite understandably, he
was asking the question,

"Why didn't they slow down?"

If we didn't have
this journal,

we wouldn't have known that
Lord Mersey was taking in

all this information and clearly
recognized the problems.

It was getting more and more
towards criminal negligence

in this case.

[Narrator] Historians
have spent countless hours

deliberating this question.

Why didn't Captain
Smith slow down?

One theory centers
around the behavior

of one of Titanic's most
influential passengers,

J. Bruce Ismay.

Ismay was the chair
of the White Star Line.

It was his role to run it and
grow it into the 20th century.

[Narrator] On White Star's
pride and joy,

Ismay reigned supreme.

Hobnobbing with wealthy
passengers and keeping tabs

on Captain Smith and his crew.

Ismay is on deck
around 2:00 p.m.

when Titanic receives an
ice warning from the Baltic,

another White Star-owned ship,

about 230 miles to the East.

What happens next
would give fodder

to a century of
conspiracy theorists.

And it's a moment Lord Mersey
also focuses on.

There was a paper
written Marconigram

delivered to Captain Smith,
that he showed to Bruce Ismay,

that Bruce Ismay took,
stuck into his pocket.

Why did Captain Smith give
Bruce Ismay the telegram?

[Narrator] Mersey references
Ismay's own testimony

from the British inquiry.

On page 222, Ismay underlined,

Captain handed me
the Baltic message,

which Ismay held
on to for a while.

So, this is obviously quite
significant for Lord Mersey.

[dramatic music]

[Craig] Why would Ismay have
stuck it in his pocket?

Was there something he didn't
want the bridge crew to see?

Did he not want
them to slow down?

[Sean] He didn't want the
Titanic to be late.

The press would be
waiting on the docks.

People would be there waiting.

There had been theories
that Ismay was keener

to get there on time
than to get there safely.

Captain Smith asked Ismay
for the ice warning back

that Sunday evening,

so that he could put it
in the chart room.

[Narrator] The Baltic
message is posted alongside

the six other ice warnings
received throughout the day.

Then at 9:20 p.m.,

Captain Smith heads to
his cabin to go to sleep,

handing command to
his senior officers.

[Dave] The North Atlantic
was extremely calm

as they went into sundown
and into the night.

That made it more difficult
to find the iceberg.

You can't see it.

If it's very calm out,

there's no waves breaking
on the edges of the iceberg--

you're not gonna even
see that it's there.

[Charles] The lookouts are
above the canvas dodger

of the lookout's nest.

Their face is being whipped by
a 25-mile an hour cold wind,

which inevitably could
cause tearing to take place,

which in turn could
hurt their vision.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] At precisely
11:39 p.m.,

crow's nest lookout
Frederick Fleet

spots the gigantic,
dark mass.

He strikes the lookout
bell three times.

[bell dinging]

[dramatic music]

Fleet lunges for the telephone,

reaching Sixth Officer
James Moody on the bridge.

Iceberg!

Dead ahead.

When you're traveling
at 21 or 22 knots,

and you see iceberg
dead ahead,

there wasn't enough
time to turn.

It was already too late.

The ship was doomed.

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music]

[ominous music]

[Narrator] April 14, 1912.

RMS Titanic has been at sea
for four and a half days.

At 11:39 p.m., 375 miles off
the coast of Newfoundland,

Titanic's seven ice warnings
received throughout the day

are no longer a warning.

They're a frightening reality.

[bell dinging]

Iceberg!

Dead ahead.

[Narrator] With the iceberg
spotted 1,500 feet ahead,

and with Titanic bearing down
on it at 26 miles per hour,

First Officer William
McMaster Murdoch

has less than 45 seconds to

determine the fate
of thousands.

[dramatic music]

He says, "Full to port."

Murdoch signals the engine room.

Ring, ring, ring.

[Narrator] But by the
time Murdoch makes

his desperate maneuver,

the iceberg is already on them.

At reportedly 60 feet high,

it's even with
Titanic's crow's nest

and it's estimated
400-foot length is greater

than a football field.

Scientists say it could
have weighed up to

one and a half million tons,

the equivalent of 15 fully
loaded aircraft carriers.

The iceberg packs the punch
of a granite mountain.

When you compress
carbon under pressure,

you get this very
strong diamond,

and that's kind of
the similar concept

of compressing the fresh water
into a glacier

that forms an iceberg.

Dense, glacial ice has a
much higher probability

of causing significant
damage to a ship.

[Narrator] At 11:40 p.m.,

Titanic makes contact.

[ominous music]

The iceberg scrapes
along her starboard side

for eight seconds...

gouging the double-plated
steel hull.

The collision takes place,
opening its side to the iceberg

so it can cut into it
like a tin of sardines.

[Narrator] The forward
compartment, three cargo holds

and two engine rooms
are blown open.

And the frigid sea pours in.

Meanwhile, some 90 feet above,

those first class
passengers still awake

catch an ominous
glimpse into their fate.

When the iceberg struck,
they felt something,

but they weren't
sure what it was.

And they went to the
portholes of the ship

and actually saw pieces of
ice coming off the iceberg

onto the deck through
the portholes.

[Narrator] Moments
after impact,

First Officer Murdoch
orders full stop,

and he engages Titanic's
high-tech watertight doors.

Down in the tank top level,

bells started going off and
doors started closing.

It must've been
sounded pretty much

like the hammers
of hell down there.

Murdoch did not know whether
there was damage or not.

He's just got to close
the watertight doors

and then find out.

That's all he can do.

[Narrator] Murdoch's
decision to seal the doors

is rooted in ship science.

When activated, the
watertight doors keep

Titanic from foundering

by walling off the
flooded areas

from the rest of the ship.

You wanna close them so
the water doesn't escape

and make the ship bow
or aft heavy.

You wanna stop the water from
coming in and spreading.

[Narrator] The head
of the British inquiry

trains his investigative eyes

on those crucial first minutes

after the doors are activated.

Lord Mersey learns that
some of the watertight doors

were then manually
raised by crew

to move around hoses and pumps.

But he notes and underlines

that the doors were
then all left open.

Lord Mersey obviously
thought that was important

that no one ever requested
the doors to be re-closed.

He certainly recognized
the fact

that there were
some problems here.

[Narrator] Captain Smith,
who had gone to sleep

for the evening at 9:20 p.m.,

suddenly snaps to attention.

He felt a ca-thud and heard
the ship's engine bells ring.

I can't imagine what that must
have done to his heart rate.

[Narrator] Smith
rushes to the bridge.

He asks First Officer Murdoch
what they struck.

"An iceberg, sir."
Murdoch replies.

Smith's first priority
upon arrival at the bridge

is to immediately
send down people

to determine just what's
going on down below.

How bad is it?

[Narrator] In testimony,
Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall

recounts that he did
not find any damage.

With Boxhall's
assessment in hand,

Captain Smith issues an
order to the engine room

that causes Lord Mersey
to sit up and take notice.

An order that flies
in the face

of what we think we know
about Titanic's story.

According to history,
Titanic hit the iceberg,

the crew shut the
watertight doors

and the ship came
to a dead stop.

But is that what
really happened?

[Craig] Lord Mersey wrote down
during Frederick Scott's

testimony that the ship was
ordered half-speed ahead

and then stop and ahead.

What was all this?

Captain Smith may have
been trying to speed up

in hopes that things
really weren't so bad.

There may have been some
talk about moving ahead

to try and calm the passengers,

letting them think that the
ship is moving normally.

[Narrator] For 20 minutes,

Smith decides to keep
the ship pressing forward

at half speed instead of
coming to a full stop.

Moving the boat forward was
something that increased

the influx of water and
was a very dangerous,

if not disastrous thing to do.

If there were
openings in the hull,

you'd push them open more.

Any weaknesses, you would
exploit them.

[Charles] If we start moving
through the water

and there is damage
of some sort

on the starboard
side of the ship,

any forward motion is going
to increase the water flow

through that crevice,

and might have an effect on
how quickly the ship sinks.

[Narrator] With precious
minutes ticking by,

Captain Smith summons Titanic's
carpenter to sound the ship.

A nautical term for assessing
a ship's seaworthiness.

When the report came
back to captain Smith,

it wasn't a very
good one at all.

Lord Mersey made a note of
that fact in his journal.

[Narrator] The carpenter
is said to have reported

seven feet of water
in a few minutes.

At that point, the
damage was already done.

The ship was doomed.

But Lord Mersey may have been
taking more note of that fact

than Captain Smith was.

It should have led the
captain to other choices.

For instance, immediately
lowering those lifeboats.

Putting everybody on
those lifeboats

that he possibly could.

[ominous music]

[Narrator] Then,
shortly after midnight,

22 minutes after
hitting the iceberg,

Thomas Andrews,
Titanic's chief designer

arrives grim-faced
on the bridge

after surveying
the decks below.

Titanic, Andrew says,
has only two hours left.

Captain Smith, he seems
really overwhelmed by it all.

Almost to the point of a
paralysis taking place.

Here's a guy at the
end of his career,

retirement is in sight,

and everything that he had
achieved in 30-some-odd years

with the White Star Line
is now at risk.

And not only that, he is at risk

along with 2,200 other people.

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music]

[crash]

After the collision,

the amount of water flooding
into Titanic was fatal.

The flooding was far beyond

the capacity of the pumps
to keep up with.

They struggled to
even slow it down

and Titanic was simply doomed.

[Narrator] Twenty-five minutes
after the collision,

Captain Smith orders
his senior officers,

Murdoch and Lightoller,
to prepare the lifeboats,

which can only hold half

of the more than
2,200 lives on board.

Worse still, as Lord Mersey
noted during the inquiry,

the crew is unfamiliar
with the lifeboat

state-of-the-art crane system.

They canceled the drill
earlier in the trip.

Regardless, they're now
faced with a thankless task.

Having to spread the word.

We can be given a warning.

Somebody can walk up to us and
say, "This ship is sinking."

But if we look around and see

it looks like we're
floating just fine,

then we question that warning
that we've been given,

and we actually need to see
that the ship is sinking

to see that something is wrong.

[ominous music]

[Narrator] Though
his passengers

may not have
believed the warning,

Captain Smith is fully aware
of the slow motion catastrophe

unfolding around him.

He makes a beeline for
the Marconi wireless room

and its operators,

25-year old Jack Phillips and
22-year old Harold Bride.

[clicking]

Who else can you turn to

other than these two
wireless operators

who suddenly are his
only source of help.

[trans coder beeping]

This was now their only lifeline

for contacting
the outside world.

And Captain Smith
must've wondered,

perhaps this was the miracle
that would rescue him.

[Narrator] Of course,
Smith has no idea

that Lightoller's
erroneous sextant reading

from earlier in the evening,

places his ship at
a different position

than the coordinates he's
sending out for help.

Still the SOS fans out, and
some ships respond instantly.

"Putting about and
heading for you."

Replies veteran
Captain Arthur Rostron

of the SS Carpathia,
58 miles away.

Despite having 740
passengers of his own,

he lights up his coal burners

and sets a course for
Titanic's position.

[dramatic music]

Meanwhile, on board
the Californian,

about 20 miles
north of Titanic,

and the closest ship to her,

Captain Lord has stopped
down in the ice field

and the Marconi
is switched off.

In those days, the
fellows that worked

in the wireless
rooms on board ship

clocked off at a certain time.

At that point, the Californian
was deaf to the world.

It didn't know.

[Narrator] With the
Californian hunkered down

for the night, across
the same ice field,

a chaotic scene is
unfolding on Titanic.

More than an hour
after the collision,

the first of Titanic's
lifeboats begins lowering

into the sea.

[dramatic music]

Around 12:45 a.m.,
Captain Smith gave an order.

And that order was
to load the lifeboats

with women and children.

[Narrator] This leads
to the next revelation

from inside Lord Mersey's box.

During the British inquiry,

Mersey makes a
note in his journal

referencing the testimony of
Second Officer Lightoller,

who says that he didn't load
the lifeboats to capacity

because he worried
the new davits

wouldn't hold the weight.

Obviously, Second
Officer Lightoller

had to have some excuse

for not loading the
lifeboats to full capacity.

That was his excuse.

I can't believe that Lord
Mersey would have bought it.

[Narrator] Ultimately,
Mersey did not.

In his final report,

he discovers there are
a number of explanations

why the lifeboats weren't full.

Specifically, he writes
that Lightoller's worry

about the weight proved to
be an unfounded apprehension.

The fact is that lifeboats
went into the water

with less than a full capacity.

Those crewman should
have been pulling people

by their collars to put
them into the lifeboat.

[Narrator] As Officer
Murdoch fires the first

of eight distress rockets
into the night sky,

the makeshift
evacuation continues.

On deck, confusion reigns.

Dr. Samantha Montano studies
human response to disasters.

In 1912, there was no
formal emergency management

in the way that
we have it today.

Because there was
that lack of training,

that lack of planning
about what to do

in a situation like this,

nearly the entire response
was completely improvised.

[Narrator] With Titanic's
bow sinking lower,

and the stern slowly rising

against the blackness
of the sea,

the panic begins.

The remaining passengers
of all stations,

surge toward the few
remaining lifeboats.

It's life or death.

We do see more of that panic.

It tends to be when people
feel the threat is imminent,

there is still a
chance of escape,

but that chance is dwindling.

[Narrator] With the window
of escape closing fast,

White Star Lines chairman,
Bruce Ismay,

makes his way across the deck

towards one of Titanic's
few remaining lifeboats.

One of the crew says,
"Mr. Ismay,

there's a space in this boat."

And Ismay's got split
second to make a decision.

When the opportunity
presents itself,

he gets into the boat.

[Narrator] Ismay is
one of many men

who displaces women
and children

during those last
desperate minutes.

Lifeboat 15 was one of the
last lifeboats to be lowered

on the starboard side,

and the vast majority of
its occupants were men.

It opens the question as to
why there weren't more

women and children
in the lifeboat.

[solemn music]

[Narrator] Inside the box,
Mersey notes his concern.

Here's another
interesting section.

This is May the 10th,

and it's a testimony
by Samuel Rule,

who was a steward, talking
about the lifeboats,

and in particular talking
about lifeboat 15.

Sixty-eight who were saved
who went in the lifeboat,

were made up of 61 men,
double underlined,

and seven women and children.

[Craig] This was an age
in England

where honor and
chivalry prevailed.

Now at the end, 61 men are,
in a sense, rushing

to get into this lifeboat

with only seven or
so women and children

who may have been left.

How could that possibly be?

What happened to the women
and children first rule?

Was it a case that men
had rushed the boats?

[solemn music]

[Narrator] At 2:00 a.m.,

with the ship
minutes from sinking,

Titanic's eight-member band

under the direction
of Wallace Hartley

segues into a rendition of

"Nearer, My God to Thee."

All while the last of the
remaining lifeboats

are launching.

One of the last orders
attributed to captain Smith

was poking his head
into the wireless shack

and basically telling
Phillips and Bride,

"It's every man for himself,
boys."

He knew of the
magnitude of the tragedy

that was going to unfold
when the ship sank.

Some of the firsthand
accounts say

that he goes to the bridge,
locks himself in

and waits for the
tide to come in.

[Narrator] Titanic's
bow submerges

and the stern rises nearly
perpendicular to the water.

It's propellers
completely aloft.

Just then, the once mighty
unsinkable Titanic

splits in two...

and slides into the icy depths.

[solemn music]

At 2:20 a.m., April 15th, 1912,

just over two and a half hours

after hitting a one and a
half million ton iceberg,

the seemingly unsinkable
Titanic...

breaks in two.

For many of the thousand-plus
free falling victims,

the end, while horrific
and violent,

is also swift.

Some of these people
may have been injured,

hit by falling objects,

hit by a lifeboat,

battered by the sinking
of the ship.

If the person gets submerged,

they're gonna get a lung
full of very cold salt water,

and they're gonna drown
almost immediately,

and they're gonna die.

[Narrator] Those
who survive the smack

into the subfreezing ocean,

experience excruciating pain.

Second Officer Charles
Lightoller would equate it

to a thousand knives
driving into the body.

Shiya Ribowsky is a medical
legal investigator

and forensics consultant.

That makes sense
because extreme cold

is going to feel
like extreme heat.

At 28 degrees,

there's a physiologic
response that happens

also known as a
cold shock reflux.

And that's followed by

repeated, very rapid gasping.

You know, your brain is saying,

"Hey, get me out of this water."

And your arms just laying
there at your side,

because they're no longer
under your voluntary control.

[gurgling water]

I remember talking to
a survivor, Eva Hart,

and her saying,

"Charles, it was not the
screams that unhinged me.

It was the silence
that came afterwards

when the cold had
done its work."

[gurgling water]

It gives you an idea of just
how deadly this exposure was.

Because of the 1,500 or
so people that perished,

we can assume that
hundreds perhaps

could have been rescued.

Only around 40 or so people

were pulled out of the
water and survived.

[Narrator] Those 40 are
picked up by two lifeboats

that turned back for them.

They are the only ones out
of 20 lifeboats to do so.

Another boat,
lifeboat number one

turns away from the
victims in the water,

despite having
enough room for them.

Here's an instance
where a lifeboat

left with only 12 people,
instead of 42.

The boat could have easily
gone back and picked up others.

[Narrator] When a crewman
on lifeboat number one

urges everyone to turn back,

two first class passengers,
Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon,

and his wife, Lady Duff-Gordon,
refuse.

Sir Cosmo decides to give
the crew five-pound notes.

It certainly didn't
smell too good.

The Duff-Gordons were called
to the British inquiry

to testify, and of
course they simply denied

they were bribing the crew not
to go back and rescue others.

[Narrator] The Duff-Gordons
are the British inquiry's

only testifying passengers.

[dramatic music]

As Titanic sinks to the bottom,

RMS Carpathia is less
than 30 miles away

and heading to the rescue.

Captain Rostron,

he went charging off in
the middle of the night,

into an ice situation

that had already sunk
the world's largest ship.

Rostron became the
hero of the day, you know.

What'd he do?

He risked all those
people's lives.

[solemn music]

The sun was about to come up
over the horizon

when he found the lifeboats.

[Sean] And so they brought on
as many of the survivors

they could find...

responding in a human way

to the suffering of
people around them.

[solemn music]

One boat to come alongside

was the boat that
carried Lightoller,

and he was immediately
escorted to the bridge.

And Rostron said to him,

"Where is the Titanic?"

And with his voice cracking,
Lightoller said,

"She's gone down, sir."

[ominous music]

[Narrator] As the morning
sun arcs over the horizon,

the last of Titanic's lifeboats

paddles up alongside Carpathia.

Escorted on board, is
White Star president,

J. Bruce Ismay,

quaking from the cold.

[Sean] For the owner of the ship
to come home in a lifeboat

was seen as shameful.

He was immediately
accused of cowardice

and seen as being
someone who failed

to stand by his captain,

stand by his ship,
stand by his passengers.

The ship that had made his name

was now threatening
to ruin his name.

Ismay was in such a
delicate frame of mind

that the surgeon of the
Carpathia put him on opiates

to ease the pain.

[solemn music]

[Narrator] Rostron sets sail
for New York,

where Carpathia is expected
on the evening of April 18th.

Meanwhile, Titanic's Marconi
operator, Harold Bride,

is plucked from a lifeboat

and dispatched to
the wireless room.

An anxious world awaits.

A ship containing some of
the richest, most powerful,

best known people in
the world had sunk.

Everyone wanted to
know what had happened.

The president of United States
wanted to know

about his friends who
were on board the ship.

What happened to
Colonel Astor?

What happened to
Benjamin Guggenheim?

[dramatic music]

[Sean] The rest of the world
was screaming at the Carpathia

to let it know what had
happened to the Titanic.

And they chose to
rebuff information,

and they chose not to answer.

[solemn music]

[Narrator] But that doesn't
stop a now lucid Bruce Ismay

from sending a cryptic
message of his own

to White Star offices in London.

Titanic crew aboard Carpathia
should be returned home

earliest moment possible.

Suggest you hold Cedric Sailing.

Yamsi.

I think the use of
the reversal of the name

to say Yamsi rather than Ismay,

it might now look
rather suspicious.

And you wonder what's going on.

Ismay sent this message,

have all the crew
taken back to the UK

so that there could
be a debriefing

and to come up with
a unified story.

So if there was an inquiry,

everyone would be singing from
the same page of the hymnal.

[dramatic music]

You've probably got
20 to 25 crew members

who really have stories to tell.

You wanna get them
back to Blighty.

You wanna find out what
their stories are

before the Americans
could get to 'em.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] After
rescuing the last

of Titanic's 705 traumatized
grief stricken survivors,

Captain Rostron's
Carpathia sets a course

back from where she started...

New York City.

But on board, White Star
president, J. Bruce Ismay,

is becoming increasingly
panicked.

It doesn't take an
Einstein to figure out

that if you've just sunk the
biggest ship in the world

with a lot of people dying,

that there's going to be
a reporter or two around

when you get to the dock.

[dramatic music]

There's that editorial
cartoon of Ismay

looking like a
maniac in a lifeboat

filled with nothing
but grieving women.

And of course, the
byline is J. Brute Ismay,

instead of Bruce.

[Narrator] In Washington,
William Alden Smith,

a hard charging
Senator from Michigan

is gearing up to lead
an American inquiry

into the sinking.

It's set to begin the day
after Carpathia's arrival

in New York.

So Ismay is desperate
to dash back to London.

And he thought, "Let's
just get out of here.

Let's get everyone back home.

We don't wanna get
caught up in this

'cause this isn't
gonna look good."

But unfortunately for him,

Senator Smith's plans
put a stop to that.

[Narrator] Turns out
Senator Smith was tipped off

by the U.S. Navy,

which intercepted
Ismay's telegram.

So Smith prepares
subpoenas to give to Ismay

and Titanic's officers

upon arrival in New York

on the evening of April 18th.

Lining the banks of the
Hudson River

were 100,000 people.

From the battery all the way up

to the White Star Line pier
at West 14th Street.

All of new York's
policemen had been summoned

to patrol the crowds,
'cause people knew

this was gonna be mayhem.

[Narrator] As Carpathia
snakes its way up the Hudson,

a tug boat filled
with photographers

follows the ship to pier 54.

The flash of cameras
lights up the sky.

Revealing Carpathia's decks

crammed with
terrified passengers.

For those without knowledge

of what had become
of their loved ones,

the hurt,

the pain of Titanic's loss

was continuing and
maybe even deepening.

What became of my father?

What became of my husband?

[ominous music]

[Narrator] Halfway across
the Atlantic Ocean,

the terrible fate
of all those men,

women and children
is all too evident.

The crew of the cable
repair ship, Mackay-Bennett,

joined by the SS Minia,
have completed the grim task

of recovering over 300 bodies,

One hundred and sixteen
of which were buried at sea.

On April 26th,
the Mackay-Bennett

steams back toward Halifax.

For the living, the
voyage is surreal.

The wind and motion
of the ship

causes the tarpaulins
to rise and fall

producing the illusion that
the bodies have come to life.

Must've been absolutely
horrific for the crew

because you're walking around
doing your daily duties,

and of course you
turn your back,

and the next thing
you turn around,

the canvas is blowing
out over slightly

and you could see an arm exposed

and then you sorta
tucked that arm back in.

How more nightmarish
can this get?

[solemn music]

The arrival of Mackay-Bennett
in Halifax on April the 30th

was a huge deal.

All the church bells in
Halifax ring a death knell

for the Titanic victims.

[bell ringing]

There's a fleet of
horse-drawn hearses

waiting at the dock

to take the bodies off to
the Mayflower Curling Club

to be processed,
to be identified.

And that's just one
more surreal touch

to add to the whole thing.

[Narrator] With nearly
200 distended corpses

laid out on the
curling rink ice,

each body is tagged,

numbered,

noted.

[gentle music]

[Richard] This is Fairview Lawn
Cemetery here in Halifax,

and for 121 of
Titanic's passengers,

this is where the
maiden voyage ends.

This whole series
here of headstones

have one thing in common:
no names.

Just, died April 15th, 1912.

For every identified body
in Fairview Lawn Cemetery,

there's two that are not.

This is all classes,
walks of life represented.

And that speaks volumes as
to the tragedy of Titanic.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] While the dead
are being brought to Halifax,

600 miles away in
New York City,

the next phase of the
spectacle is beginning.

In a packed ballroom
in the Waldorf Astoria,

a day after the
Carpathia arrived,

Senator Smith gavels in
the United States inquiry.

A moment not lost on his
counterpart in Britain.

Inside Lord Mersey's
personal papers

are two copies of the official
United States Senate inquiry

into the sinking of
RMS Titanic.

The hearings start on
April 19th, 1912,

two weeks before
the British inquiry.

The American inquiry is
like a three-ring circus.

And you have Senator
Smith from Michigan,

who is doing his utmost
to make Bruce Ismay

look like the worst villain
since Pontius Pilate

turned Jesus over to the Romans.

[Narrator] Ismay is the
first witness called,

and his testimony is damning.

He claims that he was just
a voluntary passenger,

and that no one else
was on deck

when he decided to
save himself.

Senator Smith roasted Ismay
left and right,

and condemned him

in the speech that he
gave before Congress.

[Narrator] The vitriolic
American attack on Ismay,

a leader in the
shipping industry,

crosses the line.

The United States inquiry is
seen as an affront to honor

and a threat to Britain's
national interests.

This wasn't just a ship--

the Titanic was the
pride of Britain.

It was very important
for the British government

that Britain's maritime
interests weren't threatened

as a result of Titanic disaster.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] When Lord Mersey
is selected to lead

the British inquiry into
the Titanic disaster

on April 22nd, 1912,

he's celebrated as a
man of integrity.

[dramatic music]

We have a copy of
the Daily Mail,

which is Wednesday,
April the 24, 1912.

And it's got a
little piece on him.

A man who fears nobody,
Lord Mersey.

As a barrister, he
earned the nickname,

the Little Terrier of Toxteth,

for his sort of
dogged determination

to extract the truth from
those he was cross questioning.

I think for him, the Titanic
must've been an opportunity

to really get to the bottom
of this appalling tragedy.

[Narrator] As the fallout from
the hard hitting U.S. inquiry

continues to rain down
on Great Britain,

the eyes of the world
are on Mersey.

He awaits his turn

on the dais.

He knew what his position was.

He knew what he had to do.

He knew what his charge
from the crown was

in terms of getting to the
bottom of the disaster.

[Narrator] The British inquiry
begins on May 2nd, 1912.

During its first week,

many of Titanic's surviving
crew members testify.

Soon though, the focus turns
to another ship entirely:

The Californian.

The ship that didn't hear
Titanic's distress calls

because they'd turned off
their wireless

and gone to bed.

[dramatic music]

Inside his personal box,

Mersey's copy of
the American inquiry

contains the bruising
examination of its captain,

Stanley Lord.

Stanley Lord has really posed

these difficult,
difficult questions.

Captain Lord's testimony
in the American inquiry

would probably serve as
a kind of a pointing tool

as to where Mersey
might go further.

[Mark] Lord Mersey wanted
to investigate

how far Californian
was from Titanic.

And what action could
Californian have taken

in order to try and rescue
Titanic's passengers and crew

and come to
Titanic's assistance.

[Narrator] Earlier,
the Californian

was 19 and a half miles
north of Titanic's position

when it saw the ice field
and telegraphed the warnings.

[tapping]

The wireless operation
on board the Californian

sent a message.

"We're here, we're stopping,
it's dangerous."

And it was received by the
Titanic as almost like an aside.

They were told to shut up.

The wireless operation
on board the Californian

then went to bed at
the end of his day.

And at that point, the
Californian then was cut off

from the outside world.

[solemn music]

Captain Lord was now
finding himself

amongst all these powdered
wigs in central London,

far from the sea as you can get,

and he's being
grilled mercilessly.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] Captain Lord asserts

that his ship was 30 miles
from Titanic when she sank.

But separately,

Californians crewmen testify
that they were close enough

to spot ship lights and flares

that could have been Titanic's.

[dramatic music]

These witnesses made
the inquiry think

that they were in sight
of the Titanic

and failed to act.

There's a very
serious accusation.

[Narrator] Among a stash
of saved letters

in Lord Mersey's box,

is one from Rear Admiral
Arthur Gough-Calthorpe,

a Naval assessor and
senior legal advisor

to Mersey during the inquiry.

Rear Admiral Calthorpe
is really throwing doubts

on the whereabouts
of the Californian.

Obviously, this was a very
hot topic for the inquiry

and the guilt or
innocence of Captain Lord

depended very much on it.

[Narrator] Gough-Calthorpe
writes Mersey

a passionate letter, refuting
Captain Lord's sworn testimony

that he was too far away
to mount a rescue.

There is a strong presumption

that Californian was not
where she says she was.

So he's casting doubt

on the assertion
made by Captain Lord,

who clearly stated
that the Californian

was well out of
range of the Titanic.

What does this do?

This now tells Lord Mersey

that what he heard
may not be accurate,

even if he found Stanley Lord
to be credible.

[Narrator] When Lord Mersey
issues his final judgment

on July 30th, 1912,

he blames the collision
on excessive speed,

with the disaster compounded
by a lack of lifeboats.

Despite concluding that
Titanic's captain,

Edward Smith, made a very
grievous mistake,

Lord Mersey states that,
"It is in my opinion impossible

to fix Captain Smith
with blame."

[solemn music]

However, Mersey's final report

did take aim at the
Californian.

Concluding that Captain Lord
could have come

to the assistance
of the Titanic.

Had she done so, she might
have saved many,

if not all of the lives
that were lost.

Captain Lord, he was blamed
for not doing enough.

The personal impact on him
was probably stronger

than the financial impact of it.

He tried to clear himself,

but time ran out on him.

Californian could have
galloped to the rescue

like the 5th Cavalry.

[bleep]

matic music]

[ominous music]

[Narrator] Since Titanic's
demise in 1912,

a century worth of historians
have sought access

to Lord Mersey's
innermost thoughts.

Wondering whether they differ

from his public pronouncements.

[ominous music]

The notes in his journal
were kept private

throughout the years until now.

If we didn't have these notes,

we wouldn't have known

that Lord Mersey was taking
in all this information

and clearly recognized
the problems.

[Narrator] After a
careful review,

it's clear.

His final public judgment
largely matches

what is in his private box.

There exists no
evidence to prove

Lord Mersey was
compromised in any way.

In the view of many historians,

Lord Mersey's inquest was fair,

his judicial responsibility
uncompromised.

The British inquiry was
not a criminal trial.

No one ever went to jail,

and there were very
few lawsuits filed

against White Star or
the Board of Trade.

And so, with Captain Smith
going down with his ship

and his crew largely absolved,

popular perception
of the disaster

has been open to interpretation.

Many who have retold
Titanic's story

have latched on to the
narrative of a

tragic act of God,

but Mersey knew better.

Mistakes were made

and more than 1,500 men,
women, and children

lost their lives.

[soft music]

While the story of
Titanic never faded,

the ship itself
disappeared from view.

And then,

seven decades later,

a final piece of lost
evidence emerges.

[solemn music]

In 1985, oceanographic
explorer, Robert Ballard,

made the discovery
of a lifetime.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] Ballard spots
Titanic's boilers.

Its telltale bow,

and confirm something
equally significant.

When Titanic was finally found,

its position was about 13 miles

from where it was
reported to be.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator] The discovery
of Titanic's position

on the ocean floor, may
speak to one last mystery.

Could its passengers
have been saved

if only SS Californian had
heard her distress call

and come to the rescue?

Maybe not.

When Titanic hit the iceberg,

her Marconi operators
sent out an SOS,

but they gave the
wrong location

because Titanic officers had
taken a bad sextant reading

earlier that evening.

Carpathia was only able
to find survivors

because her crew
had seen a flair

fired from one of
the lifeboats.

The absolute miracle
that night,

was that in going towards
the distress position,

which we now know is
not accurate at all,

that the Carpathia
stumbled into the place

where the lifeboats were.

[Narrator] Does this
exonerate Captain Lord

of the Californian?

Had he steamed immediately
to the location of the SOS,

he would have found nothing.

Years later, the British
government reassessed the role

of Californian in the disaster.

In 1992, there was
a subsequent inquiry

that exonerated the captain.

[solemn music]

Even if the Californian had
left immediately on receipt

of the first distress message,

it could not have arrived in
time to make any difference.

[solemn music]

[Narrator] Today,
the Titanic lies

in an eerie state
of decomposition.

Rusting on the bottom
of the Atlantic,

but it's still as mesmerizing
and captivating to the public

as it was 108 years ago.

[soft music]

? ?

We're fascinated by the Titanic

because it is like a myth;

it's like something
from a Biblical story.

[dramatic music]

It contains greed,

human ambition,

vanity.

This vast, modern
and beautiful ship,

full of hope and ambition
collided with fate

and in a spectacular way.

Although this was an accident,

it was clearly an avoidable one.

The crew didn't steer away
from the iceberg.

They didn't reduce the speed.

They didn't load the lifeboats
like they should have.

Many more lives could
have been saved.

[Richard] The Titanic is
the one event

that the last century will
always be remembered for.

It's the combination
of pride, hubris,

playing fast and loose with
the regulations of the time,

and it's an incredibly
tragic event

the world will never forget.

[ship horn blows]

[Narrator] Lord Mersey's
British inquiry

led to crucial shipping
industry changes

across the globe.

Adding more lifeboats
to passenger ships,

24-hour radio communications,

and the formation of the
International Ice Patrol,

to name a few.

One hundred and six years
after it was created,

no ship heeding the
warnings of the Ice Patrol

has struck an iceberg.

Titanic's legacy lives on.