Saturday marks the 100th anniversary of one of the worst maritime disasters in history. The Titanic sank in the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean on April 14th, 1912, on its maiden voyage from Great Britain to the United States. As WMUK’s Gordon Evans reports, A U.S. Senator from Michigan led the American investigation that followed the disaster. U.S. Senator William Alden Smith was determined to get answers after the Titanic sank. Smith was born in Dowagiac, although his family moved to Grand Rapids when he was 12. The Republican had served 12 years in the U.S. House when he was elected to represent Michigan in the Senate in 1906. Jennifer Quail, Museum Educator at Southwestern Michigan College in Dowagiac, says Smith wanted to be in charge of the Titanic investigation and wasted no time to subpoena surviving passengers and crew from the liner:
(Jennifer Quail “Smith had already had in mind, ‘Why did this happen?’; ‘How do we prevent this from happening again? ‘What do I need to do to make this committee affect those changes?’ ‘How do I make sure I talk to everybody?’ He knew who he wanted to talk to as soon as he saw the survivor lists. He was waiting in New York”.)
Quail says Senator Smith’s background as a railroad attorney and his interest in transportation safety made him the ideal person to lead the investigation. The British press saw it much differently, attacking Smith and describing him as “ignorant”. They noted seemingly simple questions that he asked during the hearings. But Quail says Senator Smith knew what he was doing:
(Jennifer Quail: “He asked questions that might seem stupid, that he understood sounded stupid. It wasn’t because he was dumb, it was because he wanted people at home to understand. He was using media in an early way. He didn’t have C-SPAN yet but he was asking for the prototypical C-SPAN viewer. And he didn’t want the witnesses to be able to hide behind a complicated answer to a complicated question”.)
During the hearings, Smith asked Titanic Fifth officer Harold Lowe if he knew what an iceberg was composed of. Lowe answered “Ice, I suppose sir.” The Curator at the History Center at Courthouse Square in Berrien Springs, Bob Myers, says Smith already knew that icebergs may also include rocks and dirt:
(Bob Myers: “He was trying to answer a lot of questions and concerns that the American public had, as any politician would. His constituents, the people that were coming to him, the survivors and especially the families of the victims, and he wanted to answer their questions. And sometimes that set up the opportunity for the press to ridicule him. Because he was asking questions that he knew the answers too, but he needed to get it on the record”.)
Myers says, in fact, transcripts show that Smith used his training as an attorney to “wear down” witnesses and bring out the truth.
The American hearings found that while the Titanic had more lifeboats than were required by the British Board of Trade at the time, it still was only enough for fewer than half of the passengers on board. Another key finding was that radio – then a relatively new technology - was not continuously monitored by all ships. Passenger ships often used their radio rooms to send personal messages for passengers, interfering with emergency communications. Southwestern Michigan College’s Jennifer Quail says Senator William Alden Smith was especially critical of the operators of the Californian. The ship was nearest the position where the Titanic sank but its radio operator was asleep when the distress signal was sent and nobody woke him up. Quail says if that signal had been received, more lives could have been saved:
(Jennifer Quail: “The week after this occurred, they were passing legislation requiring ocean going vessels operating under the U.S. flag, all of the Great Lakes ships, put in 24 hour wireless. Passenger messages even if they’re paying for them are second to being available to send and to hear, most importantly distress signals”)
The Californian also figured in the response, or lack of it, to distress rockets fired from the Titanic. Bob Myers of the History Center in Berrien Springs says the hearings led by Senator Smith showed that crew members of the Californian had seen distress rockets fired by the Titanic:
(Bob Myers: “The captain of the Californian said, well, he thought they were company signals because ships would send up rockets as signals. And after that it was an offense to send up rockets for anything other than distress signals. So, large and small pieces of legislation come out of that that contributed to maritime safety in a great way”.)
Myers says given Smith’s career in the Senate and in business, it’s surprising that there isn’t an historical marker in his hometown of Dowagiac. Southwestern Michigan College’s Jennifer Quail agrees that Smith’s contributions were important:
(Jennifer Quail: “He really was one of the most important people, particularly in the history of transportation and transportation safety, which is something that’s obviously still very relevant today when we look at the TSA, 9/11, Costa-Concordia. He was such an important figure in developing the modern way of viewing that. He certainly rates more attention than he gets. But hopefully with the 100th anniversary of the sinking, he’s going to come back into public awareness again”.)
William Alden Smith served two terms in the Senate and decided not to run for re-election in 1918. Smith died in Grand Rapids in 1932.
Jennifer Quail and Tracy Gierada of the North Berrien Historical Museum will be presenting a lecture on the Titanic on April 17th at the North Berrien Historical Museum, beginning at 7:30pm.
Another lecture will be presented September 13 at the Heritage Museum and Cultural Center in St. Joseph.