A Night to Remember

by Walter Lord

In No. 1, Fireman Charles Hendrickson sang out, “It’s up to us to go back and pick up anyone in the water.” Nobody answered. Lookout George Symons, in charge of the boat, made no move. Then, when the suggestion came again, Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon announced he didn’t think they should try; it would be dangerous; the boat would be swamped. With that, the subject was dropped. No. 1—12 people in a boat made for 40—rowed on aimlessly in the dark. In boat after boat the story was the same: a timid suggestion, a stronger refusal, nothing done. Of 1,600 people who went down on the Titanic, only 13 were picked up by the 18 boats that hovered nearby. Boat D hauled in Mr. Hoyt because he planned it that way. Boat 4 rescued eight—not because it rowed back but because it was within reach. Only No. 14 returned to the scene. Why the others didn’t is part of the mystery of why trained men in the identical situation should react so differently.