Titanic Sinks Tonight

This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting

SCREAMING

METAL CREAKING LOUDLY

CRASH

SCREAMING CONTINUES

LOUD GASP

SCREAMING STOPS

I fell into a mass of people.

Everything I touched seemed to be... women's hair.

Children crying...

..women screaming.

Their hair in my face.

My God, if only I could forget those hands and faces.

He told me that, apparently, we'd struck something.

BELL DINGS

Iceberg, dead ahead!

LOUD CRASH ALARM RINGS

I didn't become alarmed.

There was no danger, they said.

MORSE CODE BEEPS

I told her to come at once.

We were sinking.

Can you imagine the chaos and the fear and the terror

of finding water in your cabin,

and you're in the bowels of the ship?

It makes me panic, just thinking about it.

The story of the Titanic is the human condition spread out,

pinned on a board for us to examine.

Then came the terrible cry, "Women and children,

"women and children."

Two men lifted me up and put me in a boat.

It's these small decisions, these little butterfly-effect moments

that change the outcome.

GUNSHOT

It really was every man for himself.

SHOUTING LOUD CRASH

My heart stood still.

Pull!

If we're going to die...

LOUD CREAKING SCREAMING

..best to die gripping something.

It's a split-second decision.

What would you do? What would I do?

MUFFLED SCREAMING

It was a terrible sight.

Men swimmin' and sinkin'.

DISTANT SCREAMING

I'd been brought up to believe in a hell...

..after death.

But now I think I went through a hell that night.

The last word in luxury.

The ship - palatial.

The food - delicious.

The rudder alone weighed 100 tonnes.

I sailed first-class from Southampton.

We called at Cherbourg and, from there, to Queenstown.

Everyone was counting the days till we'd see

the Statue of Liberty.

My father and mother were invited to dinner that night,

so I dined alone.

Afterward, I took a few turns around the deck.

Being 17 years old, I was all over the ship.

The Titanic is a ship of dreams.

The epitome of modern technology,

of luxury and opulence.

It looks like a cross between The Ritz

and an English grand country house.

Titanic was the showpiece for the shipping line.

Built by Harland & Wolff,

the famous shipyard in Belfast.

She is absolutely huge - ten decks, 840 cabins.

An absolute masterpiece of human engineering.

I was afraid of the sea.

Please turn.

But Harvey, my husband,

and our eight-year-old daughter, Majorie, and I decided

to go to America that way.

The first few days, I was a bit seasick

and kept to my cabin most of the time,

but on Sunday, April 14th,

I was up and about.

After I'd eaten, I listened to the orchestra for a little while,

then I went back to my cabin.

There was no moon.

A brilliant starry night.

I'd never seen the sea smoother.

It had become much colder.

It was indeed a night for bed,

warmth and cosy thoughts.

How good it was to be in my bunk at last, devouring magazines.

At 23, I was the youngest stewardess on the ship.

I was enjoying the trip tremendously.

The first three days were... very calm.

We were another three days before we would reach New York.

It was a pleasure to go to bed.

My pretty little cabin,

with its electric heater and pink curtains.

I hadn't meant to sail on the Titanic.

Urgent business in New York forced me to take

the first available boat.

But everything aboard this lovely ship reassured me.

It's a Sunday.

First-class passengers have probably spent the day enjoying themselves.

They had eaten roast duckling and sirloin of beef

and foie gras and truffles and lamb with mint sauce

and stuffed zucchini and chocolate eclairs.

Maybe they've gone to the sauna in the Turkish baths

or they've played a round of squash

or gone to the gym.

Perhaps the men had gone to the smoking room,

they'd had a cigar, a pipe, they'd played a round of cards.

Maybe the women had gone to the reading and writing room

to have a moment of quiet.

They've had a joyful, relaxing day.

They're full of anticipation that they're going to be arriving

in New York in two or three days' time.

It's been the perfect day.

IRISH DANCING MUSIC PLAYS

My name is Celiney Yasbeck.

My husband and I were on our way to America

to make our home.

He had been to America before, where he had a business.

It's a misconception that Titanic was first and foremost

a luxury ship.

Titanic was primarily an emigrant ship,

and it was to ferry people, working people,

from Europe to America.

About three quarters of the Titanic's passengers

are in second or third-class,

and it's really not surprising that people did not want to go to bed.

This might be the first time they've been away from home.

And maybe it's the first taste of freedom

from very oppressive environments.

They are young people embarking on a new life to a new world.

It would have been wonderful.

I was a bride of 50 days.

By collating all of these memories from different parts of the ship -

memories that could easily have been lost to history -

that's the way in.

That's how we understand the story of the Titanic.

LAUGHTER INDISTINCT CHATTER

Need more in the back!

INDISTINCT SHOUTING

I joined her in Belfast,

while she was still in the builders' hands.

The biggest and finest ship in the world.

On that night of April 14th,

the First Officer took over from me.

We both remarked on the ship's steadiness,

how comfortably she was slipping along.

We knew perfectly well we were entering the region

where ice might be sighted

and had taken precautions.

As none of these bergs lay on our course, well...

..they didn't directly concern us.

I passed on the course, speed, weather conditions,

wished him joy of a few perishing cold hours, and went below.

It doesn't matter whether it's a ship,

all the way down to a section of Marines, in my circumstance.

There is a system in command structure.

Everyone had a job to do,

and this is the point where the ship just begins to tick over.

The navigation crew that are at the top of the ship

are settling into their evening routine.

The engineers that are down in the boiler room

are working on a four-hour shift to just keep the ship moving.

The Captain is retired to his cabin, comfortable that his crew,

that ultimately have been at work since the ship left Belfast,

are very much in control.

Really, it's the beginning of what should be another

calm night on the Titanic.

DISTANT MORSE CODE BEEPS

I joined the Marconi staff last July,

and was transferred to the Titanic at Belfast.

I didn't have much to do aboard, except to relieve Phillips,

the Senior Operator.

CLOCK TICKS MORSE CODE CONTINUES

I went to bed.

I was conscious of waking up

and hearing Phillips sending telegrams.

From leaving Southampton,

we'd got through about 250 telegrams.

BEEPING

It's a tense situation in the wireless room

because the equipment broke down the day before.

And so he's got this great backlog of work to do.

And he's focused on it, he's concentrating on it.

The last thing he wants is new information coming in.

It came out that vital messages received in

the wireless room that night

had never been delivered to the bridge.

Warning all ships of heavy ice in an area

right ahead of the Titanic.

And what was still worse... not far away.

Lightoller is trying to say,

"I knew this was important.

"It should have gone to the bridge, and it didn't,

"and it's the wireless operator's fault."

But that's not true because the message didn't have

the crucial prefix of MSG - Master Service Gram -