Loss of the Titanic, The (Titanic #13)

DESCRIPTION: "The beauty of the White Star Line, the Titanic, sailed the seas." Off Cape Race "she struck what's called a growler." "Captain Smith and his brave crew, they never left the deck But saved the helpless passengers and went down with the wreck."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
April 14/15, 1912 - Shortly before midnight, ship's time, the Titanic strikes an iceberg and begins to sink. Only 711 survivors are found of 2224 people believed to have been aboard.
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 965-966, "The Loss of the Titanic" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9940
RECORDINGS:
Ned Rice, "The Loss of the Titanic" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. all the other Titanic songs (plot)
NOTES [140 words]: To give Captain Smith of the Titanic credit for saving the "helpless passengers" strikes me as a little much, since it appears that much of what went wrong was his fault. But the bravery of the crew mentioned by the song cannot be denied. While the loss of life was very large, it was largest among the crew: According to Lincoln P. Paine's Ships of the World, 60% of the first class passengers survived. 42% of second class passengers survived, and 25% of steerage passengers -- but only 24% of the crew, even though many crew members were put aboard the ship's boats simply to keep them afloat and steer them.
For an extensive history of the Titanic, with detailed examination of the truth (or lack thereof) of quotes in the Titanic songs, see the notes to "The Titanic (XV)" ("On the tenth day of April 1912") (Titanic #15) - RBW
Last updated in version 5.0
File: Pea955

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