Captain Rostron being the best captain for 4 minutes [A Night To Remember]
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- čas přidán 18. 04. 2023
- the virgin Stanley Lord vs the chad Arthur Rostron
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As a matter of interest both houses of the US Congress passed the following motion unanimously and without further discussion.
The committee deems the course followed by Captain Rostron of the Carpathia as deserving of the highest praise and worthy of especial recognition. Captain Rostron fully realized all the risk involved. He doubled his lookouts, doubled his fireroom force, and notwithstanding such risk, pushed his ship at her very highest limit of speed through the many dangers of the night to the relief of the stricken vessel. His detailed instructions issued in anticipation of the rescue of the Titanic are a marvel of systematic preparation and completeness, evincing such solicitude as calls for the highest commendation. The precautions he adopted enabled him to steer his course between and around icebergs until he stopped his engines at 4 o'clock in the morning in the vicinity of the accident, where he proceeded to pick up the Titanic's lifeboats with the survivors.
He was subsequently awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Taft
He was also knighted and got a street named after him
Where Titanic was the ruin of Stanley Lord's career and the end of Edward Smith's, it became a defining moment of Arthur Rostron's. The man had never before responded to a single distress call in his life. Looking at his actions that night, you'd think that fact was made up to make the feat seem even bigger, but it's true. Titanic was his very first distress call, and even more amazing, there was no standard practice, training, or regulation on how to perform a mid-ocean mass rescue. After the disaster, Rostron's actions and orders were taken almost verbatim to draft the regulations on how to perform a mass rescue at sea.
The man was also eventually knighted as Knight Commander of the British Empire and later was made commodore of the Cunard fleet before eventually retiring.
My brother who is a retired Merchant navy officer, went to the same school as Captain Arthur Rostron - HMS Conway, in North Wales, although it does not exist today and is a national heritage site I believe.
Today's congress would reprimand him for bringing illegal immigrants to New York and say the Irish were "poisoning the blood" of our Anglo Saxon nation.
@@3321far Well I read that any Titanic survivors who did not have the necessary paperwork and relatives to support them in the US were deported. There was a particular case of two boys possibly about nine or 10 years old. They were saved but they only avoided deportation when a campaign was mounted to find their relatives.
A consummate professional who prepared his entire life for a situation he did not know was coming, but was the EXACT person needed on that night. Also this just shows how much better of a movie it truly was compared to the more recent versions.
Yes
Incorrect titanic 1996 more accurate of the actual events ( love story aside ) that actually happened , even the sets were piece by piece exactly the same
So was Harold Cottam. He didn’t normally stay up as late as he did the night the Titanic sank and he was on no official duty at all, just wearing his headphones while getting undressed for bed when he just accidentally heard the Titanic’s distress call. He was definitely needed that night too, especially considering the fact that all of the other ships that responded were too far away to even get there before the Carpathia could find and pick up every one of the survivors.
@@Gary-le7dz Absolute bullshit.
@@escapetheratracenow9883 His passengers too, waking to the scene of the rescue dash to help the crew with making their hospitality preparations and selflessly giving up their warm clothes, blankets, and even cabins for the Titanic’s survivors.
"...tell him... ...another two hours."
God, how gut-wrenching it must have been, to say that.
At least he didn't try to give anyone false hope by saying say " tell them we'll be there any minute"
Imagine the deathly silent hell in that radio room for two hours after Titanic stopped transmitting and you're still so far away.
@@whovianhistorybuffhe was a straight shooter for sure. Had another ship received the distress signal things might have been very different.
@@badgercdlyons Yes, and they would have noticed Titanics signal getting weaker till it was gone. Knowing what that likely ment.
And imagine how gut-wrenching it must’ve been for the other ships that responded to the Titanic’s distress call like for instance, the SS Frankfurt who told the Titanic that they would be there to help them at about 11:00 AM.
I'll always like how within seconds of him being angry at his junior bursting in unannounced, that he's straight into action.
Rostron knew Cottam wouldn’t have just barged in on him like that unless it was an emergency. The former was known for his ability to think on his feet and this scene portrays it pretty well
Same. Even more, I'll always admire that he ordered First Officer Dean to turn _Carpathia_ around, and only *after* that did he question Cottam as to his certainty about the distress signal. Not a wasted second. That is leadership, and trust in his people.
I have heard his story a few times. Guy cut through any foolishness and was an absolute hero.
@@Roddy556 I’d be curious to know the historical accuracy if he was angry at first like this scene shows or if he just instantly sprung into action
@@Eliteshot135 oh I don't know for sure if that's artistic license, maybe it is. But some other ships had thought the rockets were for celebration and didn't take it serious. In contrast Carpathia pushed her boilers so hard under his command to get there fast that they were seriously damaged.
His sharp attention to detail, leadership, and organizational skills are well represented.
Edited to add: I'm not going to fault a hardworking Captain for how he acts immediately after he is woken up 😉
IMHO, 'A Night to Remember' knocked the socks off Cameron's 'Titanic'. No Hollywood glitz, just a good and solid portrayal of British 'stiff upper lip' and 'keep calm and carry on' determination and improvisation in extreme adversity. Something just made me think of the Italian Captain of the cruise ship Concordia and why he is currently in jail for deserting his ship and responsibilities. It just makes you wonder what would happen today, God forbid, should anything like this happen again.
The captain of the Costa Concordia got a 16 year sentence in 2017 but according to Italian law, you are liable for parole at 1/2 of your sentence (8 years in his case) so if he is granted parole he will be out by 2025. There was a public outcry at the time that the sentence was too lenient but the judge had the final word.
@@astrovortex6307 The conversation between the Italian Coast Guard and the captain of the Concordia is on youtube it's an absolute classic if you can find it.
something like this generally doesnt happen anymore, because of the titanic. after this desaster, security measures were vastly improved all across the shipping industry. at the time, it was considered that if a ship sank this far away from shore, it wouldnt be possible to save the passengers anyway, so the shipping lines didnt prepare for it. they lifeboats were there more as a way to travel between ships i think. nowadays, there are enough lifeboats on every ship that are easily reachable from all decks. of course that doesnt account for situations like the concordia.
@@freebeerfordworkers He slipped and fell into a lifeboat.....
Completely agree. I even went so far as to chop all the unnecessary romance in the 2nd half of the '97 version and noticed how more neutral the movie was. I cut out everything after rose tells him to leave her alone.
What was not really said or shown here but was important is that Captain Rostron also doubled the watch to look out for icebergs. A couple of captains at the time critized his actions of going full speed when icebergs had been sighted. But he accounted for that and set many more on watch duty. What was also not said here is that most of the passengers on Carpathia also assisted and helped look after the survivors. Did not matter what class the Carpathia's passengers were they all worked as one complete unit. So to the Captain, crew and passengers of RMS Carpathia. I thank you all for your efforts in endeavoring to save as many of the RMS Titanics passengers as humanly possible.
Agreed. Not enough has ever been said about , The Captain, Crew and Passengers of RMS Carpathia
He is, however, shown as the competent, heroic, bad ass Captain that he was. I would watch a three hour movie titled "Carpathia" before I would "Titanic."
@@Roddy556 I've wished that someone would write a book and/or make a movie about: "The Charge of the Carpathia!"
@@Tim.NavVet.EN2 Sadly, they would insert a romantic angle, and possibly show how the transgender and minority passengers were the real heroes.
This guy is an absolute hero to be perfectly honest. He did everything he could irl and saved as many people as possible.
Being 58 miles away and taking 4 hours in that blind crap is heroic, but the Californian was only 10 miles away and could have saved hundreds of more lives, just Horrible and Tragic!!!!!
@@MaritimeEvents It don't matter what color those flares or rockets were, in the middle of the night anyone with any sense knows there's something terribly wrong!!!!!
@@scottmiller6495 Yeah, it’s just too bad Captain Stanley Lord wasn’t nearly as big of a gentleman as Captain Arthur Henry Rostron was.
@@scottmiller6495 Lord was asleep when the rockets were sighted. He was awoken by the OOW and told about them. He asked what colour they were and told the OOW to keep him informed. The OOW returned to his duties and saw no further rockets: indeed, it appeared to him as though the ship had sailed away. Only when the Carpathia's wireless op resumed duty in the morning was the news made known to all aboard and action taken. It should be noted that, in keeping with many ship's captains of the day, Lord was a strict disciplinarian and as such the OOW was reluctant to wake him.
@@throttlegalsmagazineaustra7361 That doesn't satisfy me or millions of people who with any common sense knows that in the middle of the night if rockets or flares are being fired in icy waters and in the film a night to remember one of the officers said that the titanic was listing,then you know something is very wrong!!!!!
While the captain and his crew should be rightly lauded, we can’t forget the passengers of the Carpathia. They worked together to help the survivors of Titanic, giving them extra clothes and even rooms.
Yeah, I’ve been reading a lot about who those passengers were and how they were just sleeping peacefully that night until they were unintentionally awakened by how cold their rooms had gotten due to the heat being turned off so more steam could be produced to drive the engines, but once they found out what was going on, they joined the crew in making those very efficient and selfless hospitality preparations for the Titanic’s survivors.
The excellent portrayal is by Anthony Bushell, 1904-97.
He was a tank squadron commander with the Welsh Guards, British Army, in World War II.
Mr. Bushnell was an actual hero in the war.
His experience well informs his portrayal of Capt. Rostron.
He played an excellent role in a little known film about bomb disposal by Powel and Pressburger called "The Small Back Room". It was only a small part at the end, but you could see just how good he was. Well worth watching if you ever come across it.
And was the disbelieving Army cdr in the superb 1958 BBC TV B+W Drama "Quatermass And The Pit". Available to buy on BBC DVD.
@@davidlally592Now that was a great movie. Even though I am not in the USA, I saw it under its alternative title: _Five Million Years to Earth._ As SF movies go, it's up there with _The Thing From Another World_ and _Forbidden Planet._
@@davidlally592amazing to see that same attitude that saves so many Titanic passengers is turned to stop Prof Quatermass.
@@dp-sr1fd I thoughts I was familiar with Powell & Pressburgers work but never heard of that. I'll definitely check it out
I always use the term "brutally competent" to describe Rostron.
I’d say that is an accurate description. Captain Rostron had never in his life had to respond to a distress call, until Titanic. Looking at his actions that night, you’d never believe that to be the case. Furthermore, back then, there weren’t really any guidelines on how to perform a rescue at sea. After all this, Rostron’s actions and orders that night were adopted almost verbatim.
@@Historymaker-2001 He seems like a guy who could think ahead and anticipate problems and their solutions before they happened. I imagine him thinking something like this:
"We'll need light to work by...and we should open the gangways now to save faffing about later when we'll be in a hurry...and some survivors might not be able to climb aboard, so slings would be handy...what else, oh yes, our own passengers coming out to gawk and getting under everyone's feet, so we'll confine them to their cabins...better keep in contact with the Titanic while we're en route and getting things ready..." I bet he was a formidable chess player.
@@Holdit66 the difference between a good captain and a great captain. A great captain is a master mariner, is always 10 or more steps ahead of the ship and everyone else, and, as a leader, communicates effectively, and has exceptional people skills, that elevate the quality of his crew’s work. Whether or not you agree with his religious faith, you can’t argue that, of all the captains that were involved in the Titanic disaster, Rostron was the one who showed he earned the 4 bars on his shoulders that night.
BTW “Ahead of the train” is a phrase used in the railroading world to describe the need to think ahead. Not just what you are doing now, but what is coming up. I assume similar phrases are used in other industries.
And yes, I would say Rostron would make a VERY good chess player.
@@rbell7666 it was actually fourth officer Joseph Boxhall that calculated the updated position. The theory is that the position was incorrect due to an incorrect time of day adjustment being used, as the position is roughly 24 minutes of time longitude out of place.
Both coordinates were wrong, of course. Boxhall’s were closest. Smith got the latitude right, but his longitude was, as you stated, about 20 miles due west.
Boxhall was off by 13 miles west-northwest.
It’s interesting to note that the incorrect coordinates may have actually assisted in the rescue. The Carpathia was steaming straight towards Boxhall’s coordinates, and, in doing so, it put her right on course to intercept Titanic’s lifeboats, which had drifted south on a current.
When the Olympic offered to help the search, Rostron asked them to stay away. There were already enough ships, and he thought the sight of the Titanic's sister ship would distress the survivors needlessly. Not so brutal.
Captain Arthur Henry Rostron was a brave, caring, selfless, loving gentleman. He immediately sprang into action upon being informed about the Titanic’s distress call, gave orders to turn the Carpathia around and made great efforts to reach the Titanic as quickly as possible as well as made great preparations for the hospitality of the survivors. He was definitely a real captain!
He was knighted in 1926 and became Sir Arthur Henry Rostron
The captain of the French liner Ile de France did the same to rescue the passengers and crew of the Italian liver Andrea Doria that collided in fog with the Swedish linet Stockholm in the Atlantic in 1956.Although in theory he was to get away he turned his ship and headed as fast as possible to her reported position and found her I don't know if he had heard if Carpathia and Titanic and was following Captain Rostrum 's example or simply acted in his own initiative but he certainly saves a lot of lives by his action
@@ronnieince4568 I doubt that there was a single passenger liner Officer from 1913 onwards until the end of the "liners" who didn't know of Sir Arthur Henry Rostron, Knight Commander of the British Empire!!!
@@Tim.NavVet.EN2ah, back when they used to give honours to real heroes.
Best Titanic film ever made
I swear this is the pinnacle of British character actors, sets, special effects and dialogue all from 1958.
Captain Rostron also had a very strong Christian faith. When talking about sailing towards the Titanic he said he felt his ship was 'guided' that night. He was a hero and a gentleman.
Listening to his account on an old BBC broadcast was amazing. The crisp, concise old English and a voice with a commanding presence from years at sea. He was probably a captain you'd hate at first for being demanding and unrelenting but like a teacher that years later you realized was just trying to make you excel.
Why didn't god just guide the titanic instead? He sure does work in mysterious ways
@@patrickdottridge4392
I remember when pictures of an altar in Notre Dame were circulating, an altar that hadn't been burned in the fire, and all the Christians were saying God had protected it and none of them could explain why that same protection hadn't extended to the rest of the building so beloved by the believers in France.
@@patrickdottridge4392 Well, the way they tempted God and chose to do a lot of what was wrong for their voyage is what caused that disaster to happen, but God did help guide them in that disaster and had those who lost their lives in it come to him in Heaven where he protects them all and leads them to eternal happiness. Many who survived even knew they had gained guidance from God and officer Charles Lightoller even wrote in the testimony of his survival “With God all things are possible”.
@@patrickdottridge4392 the way I see it, humanity had become too big for its britches, and wasn’t heeding the other more subtle warnings that we were exceeding our grasp. I don’t believe God steps in to correct the situation if we do something stupid, but regardless of any belief, humanity had to learn the lessons of Titanic somehow.
He truly was the best captain. It's no wonder he eventually became the commodore of the Cunard Line. In fact, I heard a story about him, not related to the Titanic. When the Mauretania was about to go to the breakers' yard in 1935, the retired Rostron was invited aboard, but he declined, preferring to remember the ship as she was when he commanded her.
This past Friday, I saw something about the Titanic on the History Channel, and like I've always said, if it's on the History Channel, it's gonna contain a good amount of BS. One of the people they interviewed was some know-it-all captain, who I guess is a Titanic expert because... he's a captain. He criticized Rostron for the decision to head full-speed for the Titanic through an ice field.
To that I say, what in the actual hell? What the hell was Rostron supposed to do, just take his sweet time while Titanic sank and he was the closest ship to respond to her distress calls? Yes, it is dangerous to put your ship at full-speed through an ice field, but I think the situation demanded it. The fact that he successfully steered around all six icebergs he encountered along the way shows that he knew damn well what he was doing. Sorry, I just had to rant about that. Like I said, it's the History Channel, it's full of BS like aliens.
The Virgin Captain Lord: rockets on the horizon? imma gonna lay down in the chart room, im sure its nothing
The Chad Captain Rostron: a distress call??? change course immediately, full steam ahead. That's not enough steam? Shut off literally everything except the engines. Overclock the engines from 14 knots to 17 knots. Station men at every gangway door with ropes and ladders. Clear out the lounges and prepare beds for survivors. Get the doctors ready to treat any wounded. Maintain constant radio contact with Titanic until the last possible minute.
@@CaptainJZH Definitely. I'm sure the guy they interviewed for the History Channel was a Captain Lord. Whether or not you think the Californian could have made a difference, the fact remains that Lord was informed of rockets being fired and chose to do nothing.
@@CaptainJZH That's the sign of a great and dedicated captain, screw the Californian who didn't do anything and they were 10 miles away! The stupid crew of the Californian said I wonder why they're firing rockets? In the middle of the night what are you kidding me! Only 705 survived and about 1500 died, what an unforgivable tragedy!!!!!
I Agree 💯 percent!
@@NorthWestern1919 That's correct, The Californian is to blame for not responding being only 10 miles away, when they saw the rockets being fired at 100 in the morning and wondering why, then not waking the wireless operator and the captain to find out what was going on! Are you kidding me, it's wrong, horrible and unforgivable as well PERIOD!!!!!
The captain of the Carpathia took great risks to get to the Titanic that night. She didn’t have the speed of the Titanic but she was still steaming at a very fast speed considering the danger that icebergs posed. He ordered the heat and hot water to be turned off and ran the engines so hard that it caused permanent damage to them. It’s a shame that they weren’t much closer. More might have been saved. But despite the distance, he made it there quick enough to get the survivors out of the frigid lifeboats and into the warmth of the once again heated interior of Carpathia. I wish that this movie had captured how the passengers of Carpathia pitched in to help search for and pull the survivors aboard and then how they helped the crew to feed them, provide fresh clothing, and find them space to sleep inside the warmth of the ship. Everyone on that ship deserved to be honored for what they did that frigid morning.
Expertly portrayed by Anthony Bushell, Arthur Rostron was a first rate captain..
Expertly indeed, and mesmerising in “Quatermass and the Pit”.
Definitely did his job extremely well indeed! "A Night To Remember" is arguably the best of the films made about the sinking of the Titanic!
Not arguably, it IS the best film of the disaster! Cameron’s movie is pure trash compared to it.
Agree. The book of the same name is also excellent.
@@jimcrawford5039 I agree. However the ship tearing itself apart. In the 1997 film is terrifying. and I found myself gripping my chair tighter than I needed to.
I believe, although I could be mistaken, that Captain Rostron's rescue of 700 survivors from Titanic was the largest blue water rescue in history at the time (in other words, the largest rescue far from shore)
@@jimcrawford5039 maybe that's too harsh, I like both movies and they both have their strengths and weaknesses
It’s heartbreaking when he says to tell the Titanic they’re still two hours out and you can tell be his resigned tone that he knows that’s going to be too late. Especially when you see the clock and realize the Titanic is going to be gone in half an hour.
Well I hope he knows it wasn't his fault. He did everything he could to get there as soon as he could. He even almost broke the Carpathia's engines by making it go way faster than it was supposed to.
He was a hero
And that was by pushing the Carpathia's engines to the very limit.
Yes
All the ships near the Titanic were stopped for the night. Before they hit an iceberg.
It must have torn Captain Rostron up knowing he would not arrive till after the Titanic had foundered.
Yeah, Captain Rostron was sad that he was unable to get there in time to save everyone, but his work was still very well appreciated because he got there hours before any other ship and the survivors were well healed thanks to his and his crew and passengers’ hospitality
@@DANIELLE_BREANNA_LACY Yes I agree. The actor did a wonderful job in his portrayal of Captain Rostron.
@@DANIELLE_BREANNA_LACY Also, please remember that these were open lifeboats, and many more would have died from exposure before the SS California finally "got her rear in gear".....
@@Tim.NavVet.EN2 Yes, of course. The survivors were really exhausted, crying, shivering, and hurting terribly and it took until about 8:30 AM for the Carpathia to find and take all of them aboard. The Californian didn’t bother to take any action until around sunrise when they finally had their radioman awakened to check on that very curious event they saw in the distance overnight and were informed about the Titanic sinking by the SS Frankfurt who was also trying to dash to the Titanic’s rescue and said they would arrive to help them at about 11:00 AM. The Californian just pulled up next to the Carpathia at around 9:00 AM and then just stayed behind to search for any survivors the Carpathia might have missed so the Carpathia could start heading back to New York City.
@@DANIELLE_BREANNA_LACY The RMS Carpathia got "there" at 4am, and since the radioed position was wrong had to search.
Sources vary but she started picking up people around 4:20am or 4:30am. (Perhaps the 4:20am was when see sighted and the 4:30am was when she received the first survivor.....
Certainly Captain Rostron was a clear thinking, concise and extraordinarily competent Captain. The idea man in such circumstances...but let us also remember that he was portrayed to perfection by that fine character actor Anthony Bushell, who portrayal captures the spirit of a great seaman.
This is not only about him being a great captain during these critical hours, it is also about him having created a good crew on his ship that was well trained and ready to execute his orders
And having great passengers on his ship who helped him make very efficient hospitality preparations for the conduct of the Titanic’s survivors and selflessly gave up their warm clothes, blankets, and cabins for them while providing as many comforting words as possible.
He ended up Commondore of the Cunard Line, well deserved.
Rostron and the crew of the Carpathia really pushed everything to save as many as they could, on the way they pushed the Carpathia to 17 knots, her maximum was 14. When they neared where the Titanic was going down they were dodging ice that had surrounded the Titanic’s site yet they didn’t let up until there was truly nothing more they could do, a true display of heroism from them all.
There is a story - I don't know if it is true - that the chief engineer on the Carpathia put a cap over the steam gauge in the engine room so the engine gang could not see how much over maximum allowed pressure they were pushing the engines.
@@ISIO-George She may not have been the prestigious Lusitania or Mauretania... but I bet the Chief Engineer of the Carpathia during the Titanic rescue wore that title as a badge of honour for the rest of his life.
And don’t forget the passengers of the Carpathia too. They were all awakened by how cold their cabins had gotten due to their heat being turned off so more steam could be produced to drive the engines, but once they found out what was going on, they joined the crew in making great hospitality preparations for the Titanic’s survivors, selflessly gave up their warm clothes, blankets, and cabins for them and provided as many comforting words for them as possible.
"He's a great captain," the verdict of my father, who was a merchant seaman in the 50's and 60's. He was also very impressed with the captain of U-96 in Das Boot..."You'd sail anywhere with him...".
Far and away the best film about RMS Titanic. No other film comes close.
It is obvious the Captain had tremendous respect for the Marconi operator.
He sure did. He really explained his Marconi Operator’s actions to the inquiries in a very honorable manner which earned Cottam great honor and helped teach the lesson that all ships needed to keep watch for distress calls 24/7.
The Carpathia and it's captain and also their wireless man were heros and should be remembered for all they did to save many Titanic survivors PERIOD!!!!!
And don’t forget the rest of the Carpathia’s crew who sacrificed their good night sleep to work hard along with Captain Rostron to reach the Titanic as quickly as possible and its passengers who selflessly gave up their warm clothes, blankets, and cabins for them!
Rostron, his Crew And Carpathia herself did everything they could and more
And his Passengers
Kenneth More played Lightoller. He had two sons killed in World War 2. One on the second day of the war and one with just a month left before the end. He also captained his yacht to help rescue British soldiers at Dunkirk.
Really? I didn't know that. Is there a site where I can read about this?
@@astrovortex6307 pull up his biography.
@@jamesfields2916 I checked his biography as you suggested and it's all there.Very interesting indeed. Thanks for the tip!
I watched a video on CZcams of Capt Rostron recalling the tale in his own words before watching this video. It can't be overstated how accurate his depiction in this movie was to his recorded account. Almost every line he speaks in this video is inspired by his real life words.
His actions that night further proved why he was called “The Electric Spark.”
Captain Arthur Rostron was known to his colleagues as "The Electric Spark", given for his tireless energy and devotion to his craft. A pious man who would during times tip his cap a little back on his head and say a prayer. He issued 23 orders to his crew to prepare when the Titanic survivors would be brought on board, including hot food and beverages at the ready when survivors were boarding. Urging every turn he could out of the engines, with A.B. Jones the Chief Engineer they got 17.5 knots out of the Carpathia when her maximum speed was 14 knots by shutting off all nonessential uses of steam including heating the passageways. He charged through the ice field by staging extra lookouts for icebergs and arrived in 3 and a half hours when best estimates put it at 4.
He was alert and did a job beyond his call of duty. Greatest captain of the sea so far in my opinion.
A man of action. I love how he orders Dean to turn the ship around BEFORE he has Cottam confirm the fact that the Titanic is sinking.
And I love how Dean apologizes for not believing Cottam and doesn’t protest against Rostron’s orders.
Law of the sea, you do everything you can to rescue others, he knew the size of Titanic and her passenger capacity, so he turns the ship to the right general direction, goes as fast as he can and gets his radio operator to find out further details, it's the same reason he immediately stops shouting at Cottam, the moment he is told that the Titanic is sinking it over rides every other rule, a ship sinking is pretty much the only reason for not knocking (either your own ship or a nearby one)
As Walter Lord noted 9 out of 10 Captains would have done it the other way
Captain Rostron was potentially an unsung hero of the Titanic tragedy. Carpathia had a max operating limit of 14 knots but he ordered all power to the engines and managed to go 17.5 knots and raced to the titanic scene in 3.5 hours. If it wasn’t for Rostron’s intervention the majority of the 705 souls he rescued might not of been saved
Indeed, because the other ships that were informed of the Titanic’s sinking didn’t start to arrive at the location until around 9:00 that morning about a half hour after the Carpathia had picked up the last of the survivors and the survivors were exhausted, crying, shivering and hurting terribly when they were rescued.
@@DANIELLE_BREANNA_LACY Yep. Scary to think what would of happened if the Carpathia didn’t turn up
I know right!? And the fact that he was able to swerve through the ice field while going full speed ahead is astounding, And how he manages to make his men prepare the blankets and the necessities of the coming survivors without causing any commotion or distress on his own passengers is so awesome. He's definitely my Favourite Ship Captains of all time.
Not quite unsung. His actions DID get him knighted after all.
I only quibble on one point, Rostron got the proper credit, but the unsung heroes were the Engineers and "black gang" who sweated and lumbered to keep the coal fires stoked and the steam pouring into the engines with shovels and a strong back..
There is clear blue water between this film (A Night to Remember) and all of the others both before and after. A masterpiece.
Something I enjoy about A Night to Remember is the sound of the rotary inverters spinning up to provide the HT for the spark transmitters together with the sound of correctly sent Morse code.
A lot of veterans who would have caught an inaccurate code transmission shortly after WW2, safer to make sure of its accuracy.
The most definitive account of the disaster. They didn't elaborate on it with peripheral love stories but told it as it was including the vast social divide that existed in 1912.
I love how after snapping orders off Rostron gives little nods and reassurances to his subordinates showing he's in command but making sure they understand without being overbearing. Too bad he wasn't in charge of the 'California' that could have saved thousands of people. The captain of the 'California' by contrast seemed like he was just a tired old seadog that'd seen it all but didn't have the spark Rostron had.
Perhaps he was. Heroes are rare, after all.
And fools like Captain Smith who charge recklessly ahead when they should slow down or stop to avoid killing people, are also rare, I suppose.
@@SeattlePioneer Titanic was on her normal cruising speed of 21-22 knots. At that time, until immediate danger was spotted, ships weren't slowed down.
Another reason was they took far southern route to avoid icefields based on their warnings. They didn't expect ice in that route. The icebergs should've had melted by the time they reached this South route but they didn't.
@@gokulgopan4397 Thanks for repeating the foolishness that sank the Titanic.
It doesn't matter a bit what the Titanic's "normal" cruising speed was. The captain had received ice warnings and was a fool not to have slowed down or stopped, as had the nearby Californian. Perhaps he should have been on the bridge, paying attention to business instead of being in the dining room, socializing.
The captain was a fool and his faulty decisions killed 1500 people. All the "woulda, shoulda, couldas" you can assemble don't change that fact.
Nobody knows for certain how close the Californian was to the Titanic as she foundered. Certainly the court of enquiry unofficially blamed its captain, Stanley Lord (and he spent the rest of his life trying to clear his name) for not doing more, but at the end of the day he was never told that the Titanic was in danger or was sinking, just that there was an unknown ship firing off rockets for some reason. The watch officers all assumed it was some sort of company signal because at the time there was no specific procedure or law which stated that rockets should be fired for distress reasons.
In addition to the Californian, there were also other ships in the area, notably the Mount Temple which was probably closer to the Titanic, and may indeed have been the 'mystery ship' spotted by several of Titanic's survivors as they were getting in to lifeboats and pulling away from the doomed vessel. Nobody will probably know for sure. A lot of them saw a two or three masted barque in the area, but nobody to this day is sure which ship this was and it never came forward in the enquiry afterwards.
It is also unclear why, after the collision, Titanic did not try to turn towards the ship(s) spotted on the horizon. They just remained dead in the water - a lot of experts believe they could have at least tried to go back wards towards the distant vessels (forwards would have pushed even more water into the stricken vessel) as they had steam for a good half an hour after the collision.
@@xj900uk I've read some interesting theory that with all of the billionaires on board opposed to eliminating the gold standard it was a way to get rid of them. It would explain the inactivity of close ships ordered to stand down. Who knows really what the elites do.
This is not about bravery.
This is about leadership.
Rostron was a mild mannered, God fearing pious man.Yet like most mild mannered men had loads of Testosteron in him.The way he responded proves this point.
A man who should never be forgotten. The entire crew of Carpathia are heroes.
Passengers too!
Talk about coincidences; Captain Arthur Rostron of the Carpathia, was born in and went to school in my home town of Bolton (north of Manchester, UK); Captain Stanley Lord of the Californian was also born in Bolton. Additionally, Second Officer Charles Lightoller of the Titanic, was born just six miles away in the town of Chorley.
Yes Sharples of all places and he went to Bolton School
@@freebeerfordworkers When Bolton and District Civic Trust was more active, I arranged for a blue plaque to be made and I fixed it to a house on Blackburn Road (it’s still there) in February, 1999, where Arthur Rostron was a child.
His grandson, David Rostron, was guest of honour and the Mayor of Bolton unveiled the plaque. Members of the Merchant Navy Association were in attendance and their Red Ensign lowered in respect as the plaque was unveiled.
Most links to news items have vanished, but this one is still there under:
The Bolton News ‘I cannot watch the new Titanic film, the cries and screams are …..’
@@freebeerfordworkers Try again (CZcams didn’t like this for some reason)
A picture of the plaque is under the search for ‘Arthur Rostron blue plaque’.
I’ll leave out the website address, that may have deleted it previously.
Cheers.
@@freebeerfordworkers Final PS.
Another associated with the Titanic was an engineer called William Parr born 1883.
He served apprenticeship as an engineer at Horwich Locomotive Works and lived on Lee Lane, Horwich. He moved on to Harland and Wolff and was part of the engineering team onboard for the tragic voyage.
A blue plaque was erected on his original house.
@@derekmills1080 Many thanks I looked it up. His family home was as they say very modest so something of an achievement to become the Commodore of a major international shipping line.
He was deservedly showered with honours and according to Wikipedia a Silver Cup he was presented with was sold a few years ago for about £200,000. It didn't say who owned it at the time.
A night to remember the best Titanic movie
The Titanic and Carpathia were really built by companies that were bitter rivals at the time of the Titanic disaster, but that sure didn't stop the Carpathia from making making an extremely mad dash to the Titanic's rescue! It is so great that the brave, generous, hard working captain and crew of the Carpathia payed absolutely no attention to the White Star Line/Cunard Line rivalry throughout the time of that disaster since they knew that saving the lives of those in danger greatly overcomes corporate competition.
No matter the rivalry, seamen and captains honour distress calls from each other. A good example is the Arthur Anderson going back out into a frankly, near hurricane storm to look for the FitzGerald on Lake Superior in the 70's. I can't remember if they're from rival companies or not, but it shows that they look out for one another as they only have each other out in the water.
May you rest in peace. You are a hero for what you did. RIP sir
I always loved this film. My mum used to cry when it was on. Carpathia was sunk by a U-Boat unfortunately a few years later but Captian Rostron was on another ship by then. So many stories about the Titanic. when they were filming the 'Night to Remember' they said when they moved the set to a new position in the sinking phase it made those huge creaking noises you hear towards the end. They decided to leave them in as it sounded so realistic. I love many parts of this film. Some like the steerage passengers on seeing all the silverware on the upper decks restauarants are wide eyed in awe as they say "first class..." when they see the opulence before them. A lot of things in the film are realistic like the breakers coming in when the lights are shorting at the end...
Rostron was the epitome of a ship's captain! A true hero for his actions!
When you are on board a ship, captain's order must be followed.
"There is no one like God on Earth like a captain on his ship..".
The scene at 01:54 really hits hard as he realises exactly the harrowing reality of what's imminently going to unfold on the Titanic and presumably the loss of life and wants to be able to tell them something more positive but knows that isn't possible.
THE hero of the Titanic disaster, along with his crew.
And passengers
One disappointing thing about James Cameron’s movie is they didn’t include captain rostron which I thought was disrespectful considering how important he was
I agree with you , not even in deleted scenes they included Arthur , that’s quite disrespectful since he was such a big part of the Titanic story , James Cameron slipped up there I think .
@@Paralyzer I'd have had him at the end seeing to the survivors.
@@Paralyzer actually, Rostron did cameo in the Extended Carpathia deleted scene. He is seen in the Carpathia’s gangway door, and is the only individual to have four stripes on his sleeve and a gold braid on the bill of his cap. I believe Chief Officer Hankinson (three sleeve bars) also cameo’s in that scene.
Soo true
Sadly, Cameron was too busy shoving the Rose/Jack love story in our faces for most of the movie. I am in the minority but I truly hated the 97 film lol.
He also accepted the invitation of Árpád Lengyel (the medical officer of the Carpathia) to Budapest in 1912, where Rostron was greeted by the mayor and saw a friendly football match between the Cunard Line's team and the MTK of Hungary :)
Captain Rostron pushed Carpathia so hard, getting almost 17 knots out of a 14 knot steamer, that her engines were never the same again.
And I imagine the engines of the other ships that tried to dash to the Titanic’s rescue were probably never the same again, either.
I always cry during this Titanic film. None of the others affect me as much.
Sir Arthur Rostron knew what his mission was and got on with the job, knowing that he might not be able toget there in time. increasing his ships speed cutting all lights and heat to get more steam out and pretty much damaging his ships engines in the process. Not enough is told about this man.
Thank you for this. Roston really was a hero.
I have a friend born in 1958, he's been extremely successful and is worth over a quarter of a billion US dollars today. We met in a supermarket I was working at when he used my till and we got to talking about the Titanic, this was in April 2012 when Cameron's film was about to re-release in 3D.
Anyway he told me that, growing up, Captain Rostron was his personal idol and A Night To Remember was his favourite film.
Rostron ordering more speed is, perhaps, the only recorded instance of the TV and Movie trope "Divert power from life support to the engines" for real
in a night of heroes, he was a champion nearly wrecking his ship and charging among the bergs that did for titanic, to rescue human souls
I agree---- and even more for the courage and decisiveness of the radio operator to go to the captain without delay, even if that risked the wrath of the captain.
No pussy footing or indecision by either of them.
I don't remember the name of the actor playing Rostron, but he did a REMARKABLE job. We watch him as Rostron, going from pissed off that one of his crew didn't follow protocol by not knocking before waking him up, to, upon confirming the news, acting quickly and decisively, and showing by example what a Captain SHOULD be. Yet his humanity comes out at his despair at not being able to arrive in time, knowing even then that he's going to be too late, to the distress as he speaks and tells the CALIFORNIAN (who SHOULD have been on the scene) in a breaking voice that no more can be done.
To think, that like TITANIC, Carpathia is still out there. The Carpathia was sunk during World War I on 17 July 1918 after being torpedoed three times by the German submarine U-55 off the southern Irish coast, with a loss of five crew members.
Competence, decisiveness... a lost talent.
Sir, I applaud you.
Sullenberger???????
Sir Arthur Rostron, legend of the North Atlantic. Were I to serve aboard any ship, from any time in history, it would be one under his command, preferably RMS Mauretania. His time as Master of that ship exemplified the Golden Age of Ocean Travel.
Sir Arthur H. Rostron did something that that night, that most people don't know about! There wasn't any instructions for someone to follow. However, the Vast Majority of the Instructions he gave that night are, almost word for word, now in the Instructions for how to conduct a cold water rescue!!! About the only changes are due to more Hypothermia knowledge and better (more modern) gear that required "tweaks" to the ones he gave.......
Yeah, after the Titanic disaster, his actions were used to conduct new standards of training for sea captains! He won wide praise for his efforts and taught many lessons on how to safely travel the seas especially for emergencies and give those they rescue what they need!
When he did what he did, Rostron was responsible for the largest open sea rescue in history. 700 people from the jaws of death far from the shore, is something that had never happened before.
He played Eugen MIllington-Drake, the british envoy to Uruguay in the Graf Spee movie, The Battle of the River Plate. Great flick and fine actor.
There's an audio recording of Captain Rostrum on CZcams.
If you want to hear the man himself talk about that night,
I think it was recorded in the 1930s
It’s Rostron, not Rostrum.
He'll always remain as Colonel Breen to me, the stiff-necked officer form "Quatermass & the Pit" who ultimately turned to stone...
A true hero that made the "turn & burn" immediately. RIP Commodore Arthur Rostron & Carpathia.
It was a good (and correct) touch; Rostron orders the ship about before anything else. Get her sailing in the right direction and chart the exact course after....
What is not shown is the contempt the senior officers displayed to the new guy and his fancy gadget. When dismissed, he declared NO, I am going to the Captain.
One of James T. Kirk's Great great great great granddads. Seriously,though I salute you Sir Arthur 07
Jack Phillips stayed at the telegraph calling for help although he had been dismissed and he ended up saving everyone by reaching Carpathia. Smith, Murdoch, Wilde, Moody, Andrews and others gave their lives so that other people could survive. Those working in the engine room sacrificed themselves to more people had the chance to escape. The band played until the end. Captain Rostron risked his own and his crew's lives going at full speed among all those icebergs to save as many people as possible. There were so many selfless heroes that night and they should all be remembered ❤
And don’t forget the Carpathia’s passengers too! They quickly joined the crew in making great hospitality preparations for the Titanic’s survivors after they were unintentionally awakened by how cold their rooms had gotten due to the heat being turned off so more steam could be produced to drive the engines to make the Carpathia go faster and selflessly gave up their warm clothes, blankets, and even cabins for them while providing as many comforting words for them as they could.
Classic movie...
Holy shit that is an amazing performance.
Competence....on full display.
Captain Rostro is great. On the lighter note I laugh at the immedate knee jerk reaction of the captain being woken up ""What the hell is going"" 🤣🤣
The RMS Carpathia was a 15 knot ship, but that night, they got her up to almost 17 knots. They say the engines never ran all that well afterwards. She would then be torpedoed and sunk on July 18th 1918.
She was actually a 14 knot ship and they actually got her up to about 17.5 knots. It may have weakened her engines, but it was worth it because even those who survived the Titanic sinking were exhausted, crying, shivering and hurting terribly and thus still needed her to arrive as quickly as possible especially considering the fact that she got there hours before any other ship and only 5 of her crew members died in explosions when she sank.
In an interview later in life Cotton implied that Rostron said certain words one didn't say in polite society back then when woken. In all fairness he was startled by the waking but knew if he were woken this way there was a good reason for it.
I’m surprised Republicans haven’t attacked that scene for promoting the idea of being “woke.”
@@brianarbenz1329 Why? I may as well say it I find both in that arena a joke.
@@brianarbenz1329 And so you attack Republicans for something they did not do? Do you feel as foolish as you look right now? Must you people inject politics into everything?
“Everything that was humanly possible has been done.”
Obviously, this portrayal of Captain Rostron is slightly romanticised for film purposes but the overall effect of this and the rest of the film give an idea of what happened. No histrionics, no overblown notions of being a hero, just a straigtforward telling of the story and its tragedy but still done in an entrtaining way.
Greatest movie on the Sinking of the Titanic. In 1958, just 46 years later, the movie had direct input and feedback from the survivors, so it had to be something special. Hollywood films often focus on the sensual or the sensational but this British film was different for it was brutally honest, perhaps with a little bias thrown in by the English.
Not much bias. It was about as soundly self critical as you could expect a British film to be.
@@hagamapama Good comment! I didn’t word that correctly, the film is the most historically accurate version ever made of the Titanic, because it’s made from the point of view of those, the British survivors of the sinking, many of whom were still alive as of 1958.
I do wish they made a Carpathia rescue big-budget movie, like they did with Titanic. I would have loved to watch it. :o
Yes, indeed and maybe have that movie feature the roles of the other ships that tried to dash to Titanic’s rescue too!
Thats all you have to do when you're Captain--Be there, when it counts
If you get the chance to watch A Night to Remember do so, it's the definitive version. James Cameron's version was spectacular, but A Night to Remember told it as it was
ANTR is definitely my favorite telling of the Titanic legend.
It's absolutely true. That early morning 'Everything which was in the human possibility has been done'. Capt. A. Rostron. Only one thing: I just can't imagine the pain and the sofference of that poor people.
Agree that this is the best Titanic film.ever made. Second best starred Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck.
To be honest if Arthur rostron was captain of the titanic, history would have played out much differently I’m sure . A real hero , rest in peace Arthur, you rescued over 700 people, god bless you and the rest of your crew that night ❤a night to remember
Wholly uninformed comment. Captain Smith was one of the most celebrated and experienced captains in the business. While you could argue some mistakes made he only did what any captain in his time period would have done. Rostron even defended Smith at both enquiries
@@jameswg13 Charles Lightoller the surviving second officer on the titanic testified that captain smith seemed confused and couldn’t coordinate the launching of the life boats . When lightoller asked smith “ shouldn’t we get the women and children into the boats , smith didn’t respond
He had to ask two more times . I think smith had some sort of mental breakdown , he was incoherent.
And steaming full speed ahead on a moonless night knowing the area is full of icebergs is plain
Stupidity , I’m
Not a captain but even I understand that he should have slowed down during the night , posted extra lookouts .
Some
Ships
Even telegraphed the titanic telling them
They had stopped for the night because of iceberg warnings
Personally I think smith was delusional, he had no place on that bridge .
I know
Ismay may have told him that they should arrive in New York as fast as possible but he was still responsible for the safety of everyone onboard . It was his decision, not ismays
@Paralyzer as someone who has also looked at the enquiries in detail.
To paraphrase rostron "no captain least of all Smith would have listened to anyone else who wasn't crew while at sea" in response to what you said about Ismay.
Secondly, again, it was common practice at the time backed up by multiple captains, including Rostron, that captains just wanted to get through bad conditions as soon as possible so they wouldn't slow down.
As for the ice warnings. Titanic had at least 6 that day. If they had been plotted, yes, they might have been more aware of the ice field, but they had already put standard procedures and practice in place, including with the lookouts.
The Californian was the only ship that stopped for ice and while she did warn the titanic and her position was not given because Jack Phillips cut her off as he was working cape race. The titanic wireless operators were swamped with backlog as they only got the wireless working again that day ( which they broke the rules to do btw). Californians wireless operator went to bed as he had been up a while and the were no rules in place for such systems to being manned 24 hours.
The carpathias operator had been up 24 hours it was pure luck he messaged the titanic before bed.
Rostron himself tried to get there as soon as possible and damm the ice.
I'm not saying Smith was blameless. He was retiring after the voyage anyway. But to call him delusional and spout half arsed conspiracy theory that have been disproven so many times is BS.
@@jameswg13
And he squandered that experience by running Titanic against an iceberg which caused her to sink with great loss of life, which was avoidable had he slowed or stopped the ship.
A tragic fool, who should have done better.
@@jameswg13 further info concerning the Californian’s wireless operator, he, like many others earlier that day, failed to prefix his message with MSG (Master Service Gram) which denotes a message that is required to be delivered to the bridge. By failing to do so, his message changed from urgent (“Be on sharp watch, There is ice in your path, we were just stopped by it”) to conversational (“hey, bro, we got stopped by ice. Weird, huh?”).
Brilliant, just brilliant!
A true hero to save titanic’s
survivors!
Some of the best scenes in a truly spectacular movie filled with great scenes.
I've just seen the new film, Unsinkable, which deals with the aftermath. Giving evidence at the senate enquiry, Rostron is the only one to emerge with any credit
Such was the British merchant navy, real men and sailors !
Amen.
An additional note: The SS Carpathia was a troop carrier in July 1918 en route from Liverpool to Boston just south of Ireland when she was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank.
And only 5 crew members died in explosions while everyone else had safely evacuated and were rescued by the HMS Snowdrop.
It happened on July 17th, 1918 from U-Boat U55. The torpedo attack killed 3 firemen and 2 trimmers. Carpathia was torpedoed at least 3 times and took almost 2 hours to go down, as if she was holding up as long as possible to let everyone off, including Captain William Prothero at that time. A very sad ending for such a heroic ship. Grateful she still exists though. Would rather have the Carpathia underwater than end up being scrapped.
Typical bloody Germans.
The Chad Captain Rostron
Captain Rostron was a SAILOR !
Mr. Deen, first officer of the Carpathia was no slouch either.
Actually ,when Wireless Operator Cottam came up on deck to report about a distress call from the Titanic and how she was sinking.
Dean and the officers just laughed at him and said that Cottam was misguided and that the Titanic wasn’t sinking. So cottam rushed to the captain’s quarters and opened the door without even knocking , waking him from his sleep, first Arthur was understandably angry but then he heard the news from cottam the titanic was sinking and sprung into action .
Mr deen didn’t take cottam message seriously and laughed at him .
@@Paralyzer I'm sure Dean probably soon regretted laughing at him, though. I read that in reality, Dean followed Cottam to Captain Rostron's room where he was given the orders to turn the ship around and head for the Titanic's location briefly after Cottam awakened Rostron to inform him of the Titanic's distress call like he did in this movie. Look at him at 0:08 in this video and just think about how must've felt at that part in reality.
@@DANIELLE_BREANNA_LACY indeed as Titanic was seemed practically Unsinkable, I think deen didn’t take it seriously at first but when it became apparent Titanic was in distress , I think he realised the seriousness of the situation, I think me and everyone else if we were in deens position would react the same “ Titanic sinking? “ she’s unsinkable and merconi wireless equipment was relatively new at the time .
Captain Rostron also had a very strong Christian faith. When talking about sailing towards the Titanic he said he felt his ship was 'guided' that night. He was a hero and a gentleman.
@@Paralyzer FFS Dean with a capital D not deen
Superb .
We need a film to made on the Jervis Bay, a armed merchant ship that took on a Nazi Battleship, giving precious time for the convoy ships to scatter.
Stay calm...always
This movie. This movie.
I first saw it on television 55 years ago, when I was 6. I cried and cried, and still remember doing so.
And each time I see a scene from it even now, I find myself affected.
Magnificent film. James Cameron is but a hack.
Didn’t this man also drive Mauritania like it was an express