[an error occurred while processing this directive]Now the only boats left were the rafts, Collapsible C carrying the stunned director of the White Star Line and President of IMM, Joseph Bruce Ismay. Lightoller later recalled that Officer Wilde had told him to get in. He knew that there was going to be an inquiry soon afterward, and witnesses were needed. Quartermaster Rowe, who put down the the remaining rockets in disgust that the other ship was not responding, recalled that Ismay went in without a word from any officer. Meanwhile, Lightoller was busy getting Collapsible B free, Murdoch busy with A. Second class passenger Edwina Troutt thought that it was"wicked" that single women be saved while married men be forced to drown and decided to go down with the ship. Suddenly a man ran up to her and asked if she would take care of his baby. That was reason enough to be saved. A woman see that Edwina had volunteered to take care of a child so advanced into the sinking said, "You're foolish." Edwina snapped back. "You nasty little thing!" and got in Collapsible D. The wireless operators were released from duty, but Phillips had kept tapping the key hoping to get more help. Bride had come in with the lifejackets, and tried to get Phillips to save himself. A then fireman appeared, trying to take Phillips's jacket. Bride and Phillips beat the fireman up and went quickly outside. Strains of "Autumn", or "Songe d'Automne" rang through the air, soon shots were fired. Two men had tried to steal away in a raft and
were shot. The officer, most likely Chief Officer
Wilde, soon after shot himself. When those left, there were still hundreds of people
stranded on the ship. At 2:10, the ship set into her final death throes. She was beginning
to sink violently fast, a wave caused by a weight shift smashed into the bridge and
released the collapsibles. Colonel Archibald Gracie and First Officer Murdoch were
struggling get Collapsible A away when a huge wave came and swept them overboard. At 2:18
a. m., Titanic, which fought the Atlantic long and hard succumbed. She broke apart and her
bow began her final descent. Some on the stern , like third class passengers Rosa Abbott
and her two children, Eugene and Rossmore, breathed a sigh of relief. The stern was
settling back. Then there was a sickening roll to port as the stern pivoted up and
disappeared from sight. Legend says the band played "Nearer, My God to Thee" as
their last song. Many, including Violet Jessop and Edwina Troutt said they did.
"She's gone." the men on the overturned Collapsible B breathed. Indeed, Titanic,
the unsinkable queen of the seas, had gone down in 2 hours and 40 minutes after hitting
the iceberg with over 1,500 aboard. And at 2:20 A.M., the worst wasn't over yet. Now
unfortunate ones were clinging madly to dear life in 28 degree water. Thrashing about,
trying to grab on to something to stay afloat, working futilely to find a way to a
lifeboat. The wailing became one continuous moaning chant, and it seemed to call,
"Save one life! Save one life!" In Lifeboat #8, the same women who pleaded
Captain Smith to let their husbands in were now in an uproar to not row back. After all,
there were hundreds back there. They would be swamped. The men at the oars refused to
budge. No one except 4 wanted to go back. These gallant few were the Countess of Rothes,
Gladys Cherry, Ellen Bird, and Seaman Thomas Jones. Appalled and frustrated at the
reactions of most of the people, Jones stood up and said, "Ladies, if any of us are
saved, remember, I wanted to go back. I would rather drown with them than leave
them." Lifeboat #1, only 3/10 full, sat there and did nothing, Lucille Duff-Gordon
was deeply afraid of being swamped and felt "most unwell." One of the crewman
said that with the ship gone, they would not be able to receive pay. Sir Cosmo
Duff-Gordon, out of pity, gave them £5 for their services, which somehow got twisted
around to be known as a bribe. In Lifeboat #6, Molly Brown insisted that the women in the
boat turn around to save the people struggling in the water. She was met with strong
protest from Quartermaster Hitchens, and called the people in the water
"stiffs." He also scared the women with the possibility of being swamped, and
the after effects of suction, so clearly proved when the New York almost slammed into them
back in Southampton. Lifeboat #13 was full to the brim. They couldn't afford to pull in
any people at all, and to shout out the death agony of 1,500 some people, they began to
sing "Pull for Shore, Sailor." Ruth Becker noticed that the stokers escaped with
only sleeveless shirts and trousers on and gave them her blankets. She noticed that one of
them had a finger that was nearly cut off, and she gave him one of her handkerchiefs for a
makeshift band-aid. Nearby, a German woman was crying. When asked what the matter was, she
replied that her baby was swaddled so heavily she was afraid her baby was mistaken for
luggage and thrown overboard. It seemed beyond all possibility that Collapsible A could go
back for more people. The water was coming over the gunwales even after several
unsuccessful attempts to raise them. Still, swimmers close by climbed in, and the raft
sinking slowly, but steadily, into the frozen sea. On Collapsible B, twenty-two people
stood on top of the overturned bottom, including Harold Bride, Archibald Gracie, and
Charles Lightoller. Following Lightoller's orders to keep the raft balanced, the men
shifted their weight from side to side, literally surfing for life. One of the survivors
looked up and saw a shower of shooting stars. She then remembered the old legend of when
someone dies, there would be a falling star. Never had there been so many meteors before,
and never had they ever been so bright.