1962 BBC Broadcast: Titanic's Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall

1962 BBC Broadcast: Titanic's Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall
Originally broadcast 22 October 1962, when Fourth officer Boxhall had retired and was 78 years old. He died five years after this broadcast in 1967.
A full transcript and further information can be found here:
www.titanicoffi...
And a detailed biography: www.titanicoffi...

[@rvt2239]

How lucky we are to live in a period of history where first-hand accounts like this are so available to us. Absolutely incredible stuff.

[@mithramusic5909]

There's like one minute and ten seconds of actual footage of the Titanic before the accident, at only like two angles, and yet our mental image of the ship is so crystal clear and detailed. We have so many pictures, documents, fragments, firsthand stories, the tragedy is still alive today in a lot of ways.

[@KingofKings11312]

More to come read the Bible

[@geigertec5921]

I actually met Joseph Boxhall once when I was a kid. Really funny how history works.

[@simonfisher836]

More years have passed since this recording than between the sinking and the recording.

[@andyp9203]

Crazy to think!

[@TheGermanRaiderz]

If you close your eyes und just listen to him...It feels like Mr. Boxhall takes you with him that night.

[@chrisd6736]

Dude is a really good storyteller. I feel like this is a skill we have mostly lost in 2023. Back then almost everyone could do it.

[@prismpyre7653]

except he didn't take anybody with him he ran like hell and saved himself and told everybody else to eff off

[@prismpyre7653]

and the 'lady' that he mentioned was an experienced rower who took charge of the boat because he was so useless so useless he wouldn't even go face the captain of the rescueing ship because he knew what a craven wretched vermin he was

[@jonimoroni7475]

At times, it also feels like a scene from an old movie.

[@bigjimmye]

Agreed number one

[@RandomYTshortvids]

What an amazing thing to have this piece of history preserved.

[@DeepScreenAnalysis]

Imagine hearing the screams of those people. You’d remember it all your life. You’d wake up in the night hearing it.

[@trulymeparker]

It would haunt me for the rest of my life

[@acidmack1041]

I remember reading the story of a survivor who went to live in Chicago or somewhere like that and lived near the city's baseball stadium but had to leave because the roar of the crowd sounded just like the sound of people on the ship as it went down...it sends a chill down my spine when i think about it when watching football matches and hearing the crowd cheer and thinking thats what he screams of the ill fated Titanic passengers sounded like

[@scottiebones]

I dare say you would remember everything in good detail. Not something one would just forget!

[@SoupSlayer94]

What's more haunting than the screams, is when the screams stop.

[@lucah1824]

A lot of Titanic survivors ended up committing suicide later in life due to the PTSD associated with the sinking

[@Americangirl1991]

Wish we could hear Murdoch and Moody's side of the story.

[@Cha-y412]

Boxhall's account of another ship steaming by the sinking of the Titanic 5 miles away and so close that he could see in the passing ships portholes is the only time I have ever heard that.

[@Jeowyn]

I'm reading a great book about it now called "The Other Side of the Night". The visible ship was the Californian, who had nobody on radio (he had gone to bed and there was nobody to replace him). They watched the rockets go up from the Titanic (they didn't know what ship it was) for over an hour but never came to help because their captain was like "Yeah, that's probably nothing, carry on." He could have saved hundreds.

[@jlpkbrb1086]

@@Jeowynsource?

[@Borninthe80s.]

@@Jeowynhe said the ship was steaming by Californian had stopped because of the ice so definitely wasn’t the Californian

[@FreeThinkingRealist]

"the screams went on for some time" - probably for the rest of his life. Such a sad event. Rest in peace all who perished.

[@ardiffley-zipkin9539]

RIP to all the victims and survivors of the Titanic disaster.

[@DANIELLE_BREANNA_LACY]

And the generous captain, crew and passengers of the Carpathia who gave into helping the Titanic’s survivors in every way they could.

[@andyfoxy3140]

Cam down dude......it's just a movie

[@TheQ-Continuum]

Something eerie about this. A voice from the past and to think he survived the sinking, and lived through two world wars !

[@sspdirect02]

I had the unique fortune of playing this man on stage in a production of Titanic The Musical.

[@gregorykayne6054]

Excellent. I played Mr. Kraler in "Diary of Anne Frank". Playing someone who looked death in eyes, changes the actor in their own life, I find. Did it affect you, too?

[@johnfranklin5277]

I saw that in LA. It was great!! Congratulations!

[@Helmut83]

It sounds strange to me that a tragedy like the sinking of the Titanic can be banalized in something as trivial and lightweight as a musical. Same goes for the story of Anna Frank.

[@beneddiected]

@@Helmut83 the musical has very very deep and emotional songs. Especially Andrews’ solo at the end

[@MakerInMotion]

@@Helmut83 Oh it gets worse. There was a Titanic themed strip show in Las Vegas. Once its been long enough that the generations who experienced it are gone, you get stuff like that. Someday there will be a 9/11 musical.

[@J.R.in_WV]

Carpathia picking up the first boat between 3:50 and 4:05 (depending on testimony) shows just how close the timing of the events was. Titanic’s lights remained on until approximately 2:10 and she went down at 2:20….that means Carpathia was coming in visual range of the wreck site within 90 minutes or so of the ship going down. Really amazing if you think of how far off she was. A ship designed to do 14 knots in her prime making over 17 knots is simply unheard of and yet thanks to Captain Rostron and Carpathia’s engineering crew and stokers many lives were saved. It’s just a shame Titanic didn’t have another 40-60 minutes in her to stay afloat. That little bit of extra time would have meant the world to the hundreds who died from exposure in the icy water.

[@ToreDL87]

Yeah they really pushed hard to get there, dodging no less than a dozen icebergs with a disabled the steam safety valves to get those 17 knots and sailed the snot out of her, some claim she never made her design speed again. That said, even those 30 extra minutes wouldn't have counted for anything, most people in the water had expired by that time, and still would have needed another 45-60 minutes, minimum, surveying the situation, come to a stop as close as possible, without smashing into lifeboats or milkshaking anyone in the water, and finally, assigning crew & launching lifeboats. If Titanic had any weakness (besides incompetent crew by todays standards) it's that she was too big for inter-compartment communication tech of the day, that it took too long to figure out she was even going to sink vs how far away the nearest capable ship (Carpathia) was. They ran around in the ship and "sounded" it, at least 2-3 times. If they had sent out the SOS immediately, and I don't mean 15 minutes after, 30 minutes after, I mean while the iceberg was still gashing her hull, and if they hadn't tried to run the engines after (which accelerated water ingress by tons and tons, accelerating the sinking) then yes, they would have made it earlier, but, to no avail. If Carpathia had made it there 1 hour before she sank, they might have saved some of the people in the water, and that's a big might. Again, Carpathia would have to lay up alongside without milkshaking anyone in the water or smashing into lifeboats, etc, in pitch black, moonless night with a mirage. Maneuvering these ships around to exactly where you want them to be, without the aid of tugs or harbor pilots etc, wasn't, and isn't, "wham bam done" like a lot of people think, accidents happened and still happens (with thrusters, gps auto positioning etc), on the regular. 2 hours before she foundered, that would have made a huge difference, tragically that's not how it went, would have been 45 mins into the accident, at that stage they hadn't even determined with certainty that the ship would sink, much less send out any calls of emergency (and even if they had, Carpathia would have had to make double the speed she actually made). In many ways they were blessed, if the waters had been any rougher than they were, they would have been extremely lucky to save as many as they did.

[@bovellois]

There are too many ifs to count. If vanity hadn't prevented filling the upper deck with life rafts, if the Titanic had done like the other nearby ships that night and stayed put, if the previous watchman in the crow's nest had been so kind as to lend his own binoculars to the next shift, just one night during this very dangerous part of the Atlantic, since the key to the case was not on the ship, if the rudder had been sized properly so as to steer this massive ship properly, if the Titanic's wireless man had paid attention to the loud (hence close by) warning about ice from the Californian instead of telling the radio operator to shoo away because he was busy clearing a backlog of passengers' trivial messages, if the "watertight" compartments hadn't been open at the top, if the rafts had been filled to capacity on this exceptionally quiet sea that presented no risk of tipping...

[@darthconquerus]

@@bovelloisbinoculars wouldn’t have helped, a) it was a dark night over lit by starlight, and the iceberg was hidden by a cold water mirage so even if they could see in the distance it wouldn’t have helped. The naked eye would’ve been much more useful than seeing through binoculars to spot dangers in those conditions, it was just the perfect storm of a very calm night and as it turned out, poor visibility

[@b3j8]

The real shame was that the Californian could have saved everybody if only their Radio Officer hadn't shut off his radio receiver earlier.

[@multiverser9585]

I wish they had put all children from all classes into the lifeboats first, including the mothers who had babies and toddlers. I know it would've been too impractical to organize so quickly, but I wish they had tried to save more of the children. What a horrible tragedy.

[@frankgonzalezofficial3010]

Onboard the Titanic was a Senator from Mexico. His name was Don Manuel Ramirez Uruchurtu. He was given a place in lifeboat #15 but later gave up his seat for a lady. He was never found. I believe there is a statue of him in Mexico City.

[@suzyqualcast6269]

@mimikins7748 hmm, point!

[@suzyqualcast6269]

Mexico City peeps, pls verify.......

[@abcdeshole]

@mimikins7748 this particular lifeboat was one of the few full ones, located at the rear and launched later.

[@frankgonzalezofficial3010]

@@suzyqualcast6269 I mean you could just Google it. There a whole documentary about it.

[@jackdundon2261]

"none" as in none of the information you have been told has been true. -- eventually, they OVERFILLED lifeboats. -- keep listening to OTHER survivors. You might learn something.

[@zyxw2024]

I was in elementary parochial school on Long Island, N.Y. when this broadcast was made. My maternal grandfather was still alive. His father was one of many engineers in Belfast, Ireland who built the Titanic.

[@zackfair6791]

2:00 Captain Smith's bedroom alone looks like it was slightly bigger than Boxhall's quarters. The Captain also had a private lavatory and sitting room. I hear James Moody (the 6th officer) complained that his quarters was the size of a broom closet. It would be cool to see a recreation of the Captains quarters, as well as the quarters of wealthy people like Astor, Guggenheim, and the Straus's.

[@TitanicsOfficers]

There is a CG recreation of Captain Smith's sitting room that I will be adding soon to my bio on Smith: titanicofficers.com/titanic_01_smith_09.html

[@suzyqualcast6269]

One was being engaged to accord the others safe and impressed crossing in luxury. What was wage of the senior officers and what price the tickets the wealthy trippers paid for the thrill of the sail ¿?

[@madisondean1074]

There's something special about the way Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall, tells his story about what he went through the night the RMS Titanic sank. I could've watched other things available to me, but I didn't. I became glued to this recording. It's chilling, yet also amazing to hear Joseph Boxhall tell his story.

[@Eyewonder3210]

Someone wrote the titanic is a story of "if only". If only one of any number things had been different, the outcome would have been vastly different.

[@jazzvictrola7104]

And I understand that is the way it is for many great tragedies, it isn't one big thing but a series of small instances that all seem harmless in themselves, but taken together they reach a point of no return. The same principle can apply in the downfall of civilizations.

[@thoji215]

To do with "what if", the wireless transmitter broke during the voyage. The 2 wireless operators were meant to leave it and use their emergency set for the rest of the voyage, but instead repaired it. If they hadn't repaired it because "why not?" the ship would not have been able to relay any proper messages to other ships. Imagine if that happened...

[@toyotasupra97]

How many if onlys are there every day that we aren’t even aware of. Close calls, near misses…

[@jazzvictrola7104]

@@thoji215 And its disappearance would always be a mystery. However, there would have been a debris field and human remains for days in the steamship lines, so they would know something happened, but not what or why.

[@maplebear6527]

@@jazzvictrola7104 This story would have been that much more dramatic. Imagine, the Titanic leaves for NY only for debris to be found scattered in the Atlantic.

[@Keikimainecoon]

I can not think of how frightening it must have been on a cold moonless freezing night in the middle of the ocean. How heart breaking truly

[@xokelis0015]

Imagine the same thing but with a storm...

[@diana2335]

Oh well, it was also followed by two World Wars, so we can only imagine the trauma…

[@suzyqualcast6269]

I was on a shool cruise from 🇬🇧 in 69, S. S. Uganda, off the N. African coast on a warm sunlit day when, suddenly, the sea flattened and a mist closed in, surrounding the ship. Looking over the rail, that sea seemed SO deep and frightened the wotsit out of me, so much more so than the during one nights sailing down there I awoke in my bunk in a tumultuous Bay of Biscay storm, many of my fellows being ssick etc, I quite enjoyed the up and D O W N motion of unpredictability. Didn't like the calmness of the flattened sea, though.

[@michaelmargaona1622]

I love the way he tells the story... U feel ur there...

[@alannothnagle]

Utterly fascinating. Like a time machine back to that terrible night.

[@Voxac100b]

He seemed a nice pleasant man Mr Boxhall. Bless him

[@multiverser9585]

I'm happy a few of the officers were assigned to lifeboats. They performed essential, strong roles right up to the rescue. And I've never blamed the Captain for anything. He gave the best orders he knew of under shocking circumstances. God bless him and the crew.

[@bowlingsam6620]

Yes he does, kind of like your favourite grandad. 😊

[@hez859]

​@@multiverser9585didnt the captain ignore advice to not go through the area where there were icebergs?

[@melgrant7404]

@@hez859 I think that is correct.

[@hez859]

@@melgrant7404 yeah, sounds like his arrogance got a bunch of people killed

[@maplebear6527]

9:20 It never ceases to amaze me just how much stuff from that ship has been found at the bottom of the ocean at the wreck site. Those flares he's talking about right there at the top of the screen. Incredible.

[@thecomedypilot5894]

I find that astonishing too. Like those were literally *the flares* that Boxhall was firing, or perhaps some that he had in his possession, but either way it’s astonishing

[@electrickrain]

I cant believe the bandleaders violin survived the sinking!

[@beneddiected]

@@electrickrain the bandleader (Wallace Hartley) had the violin strapped to his body 😢

[@bunpeishiratori5849]

It's kinda sad that fifty years later, he thinks that Moody survived. What probably happened is that he couldn't remember Lowe's name and just said Moody instead. But forgetting Lowe's name is sad in its own right.

[@postscript67]

Having listened to Boxhall, Lightoller and Rostron, I'm struck by the similarities of their voices. They all have a similar resonance. Perhaps it's something to do with years of barking orders to men across a ship's deck! Over 40 years ago I knew a retired sea captain who had begun his career on sailing ships rounding Cape Horn and had served on an oil tanker shelled by a U-Boat in the First World War. He had the same boom in his voice - and was still smoking a pipe at 93.

[@bowlingsam6620]

Tough old sea dogs 😊

[@Chris850]

This is an amazing and heartbreaking story, the screams, the fear that night it's something that it will never be forgotten. RIP officer Moody😢 he was still a kid almost😔💔

[@freddyflint8309]

Thank you all for sharing this historical document. Greetings from the Baltic Sea / Germany.

[@suzyqualcast6269]

Gusthoff memories.

[@Beans360]

It's crazy that in 1962 he's already talking about an event that occurred 50 years ago. That would be like someone now talking about a tradegy in 1971. As detailed as his account is, it must still only be a rough sketchbook of the actual event.

[@861622259]

your right...and memory always fades little............officer Moody a junior officer was lost, he forgot this t the end of his interview

[@jamesdodd5235]

I dont think something like this is easily forgotten, its burnt into your memory

[@861622259]

@@jamesdodd5235 it seems it wasn't all that well burnt into his memory... But to be fair his age most likely didn't help his recollection

[@electrickrain]

I'd say its accurate. He told the story a BILLION times.

[@smegheadGOAT]

@@861622259 No mate, traumatic memories are static and are constantly being rewritten, as in PTSD.

[@Brock_Landers]

Thank you very much for putting this all together and posting it for us. I have never heard Boxhall's voice, but I just watched the recount of the sinking from Charles Lightoller. It gives me chills.

[@TitanicsOfficers]

You are very welcome :)

[@J.R.in_WV]

C.H. Lightoller had a perfect voice and vocabulary for narrating a story. While many have heard him talk about the Titanic sinking, an obviously tragic and at times even morbid tale, it seems few have heard him describing his role in successfully evacuating over 100 soldiers at Dunkirk, a story of him and his son piloting his small motor yacht, the “Sundowner” across the channel to rescue as many as they could, “Lights” choosing to use every bit of skill and experience he’d gained in 5+ decades at sea to get across, load every single soldier they could cram into the little boat and upon her decks. Lightoller felt their odds would be better with him running his boat rather than having Royal Navy Reserve officers who’d never been aboard her commandeer her. It’s a truly wonderful story.

[@joysynmonds9082]

It is an impossible event to imagine. May they all be left in eternal peace.

[@brigidsingleton1596]

Speaking English in this fashion is not only a pleasure to listen to today, but also not so uncommon as some might imagine... I prefer to employ a similar mode when I speak to people outside of my home. Also my youngest daughter speaks correctly, which pleases me. I m nearly seventy now and my daughter and her twin brother are nearly thirty, so hopefully they will continue to speak well, although my son tends to speak twin so that only his twin sister and their elder sister can understand him and they both need to translate his conversation to me, and to his partner, who, like me, tends to struggle to follow his swiftly spoken , though quietly spoken words. Mr. Boxall,.. I salute you sir, and your fellow officers. Rest In Peace.

[@lellyt2372]

What an amazing recounting of an absolutely horrific event. This man lived through something so terrible and it is something else listening to him and his vivid but quite calm description of his experience that night and into the morning. Captain Roston was a superb seaman and what he did was nothing short of heroic, steaming at greater than top speed, straight towards an ice field because it was his duty as a captain and a human being. God rest everyone who was on Titanic that night and those who came to their rescue and aid in the days and weeks that followed this awful tragedy

[@saucyduckglobalomnihyperme7510]

Also interesting that 50 years later, long after he retired, Boxhall was still sticking to the White Star company line that the ship sank in one piece. It made for an interesting inquiry where passengers were saying "the giant ship tore in half in front of us" and the officers were all saying "nope, went down in one piece, so quiet you didn't even see it happen, no sir." And of course the inquiry went with the word of experienced seamen over panicked civilians, and officially the Titanic was in one piece right up until Robert Ballard found it in two

[@prismpyre7653]

the captain was brave but this subhuman piece of crap was less than animal- the captain ordered him to go save people on the side of the ship that can't launch boats and he just fled and ran away and sat there for two hours listening to the screams of dying people knowing that he could have saved dozens of them this thing wasn't a man and certainly wasn't a hero- a craven beast who's corpose should be rotting in an unmarked grave

[@prismpyre7653]

and the 'lady' that he mentioned was an experienced rower who took charge of the boat because he was so useless

[@barrymcdaid2855]

A truly amazing account from someone who was closely involved with what went on that night. I didn't realize that the Carpathia lifted the first boat just before 4am and didn't sight any of the others until nearly 8am.

[@DANIELLE_BREANNA_LACY]

She did so sight others over the hours before that. It was around 8AM when she spotted the last of the lifeboats and about 8:30 when Charles Lightoller who was the very last survivor to come aboard came aboard.

[@reddishtykes]

Aquitania - I remember an exGF and I chatting to an old man in around 1997-98 in the Bakers vault PH in Stockport. He told us about sailing home on the Aquitania at the end of the war, with a load of Anzacs. He vividly remembered them all singing on deck as it sailed home on a summer's evening. He described the gentle swell that caused the deck to slowly rise and fall. He became quite emotional because we were interested in his story and sat there enthralled

[@XxCherylMichelleXx]

Bloody hell bakers vault, miss that place

[@Helmut83]

The Aquitania was a bit of a false brother to the Mauretania and the Lusitania, a bit larger, more luxurious and slower, if I remember correctly.

[@suzyqualcast6269]

@@Helmut83 'ia's' were Cunarders, 'ic' s' White Stars Fleet, til C bought out WS.

[@jamiehinch9239]

Fascinating to hear a first hand account of the sinking. A local man sailed from Cobh on her in 1912 and was lost. Thank you for putting this together.

[@ryanstrawn3387]

“Where is the ship?”….”she sank” 😔

[@DANIELLE_BREANNA_LACY]

He actually shouted “Gone” in reply.

[@Sc0pee]

It's astounding that back in those days it was normal to be talking good English like this, which nowadays is a rarity.

[@carlgharis7948]

Well depending on who exactly you're hanging around.

[@MakerInMotion]

"I saw some ice on the deck and thought it was sus. I told this other guy I low-key think we hit an iceburg, bruh."

[@carlgharis7948]

I'm U.S. can I understand what Brits say? Yes 99% of it. So they use words and phrases we don't use often however it's pretty easy to figure it out. Had a man say to me when I was working in a hotel. Young lad hold the door to the lift please I believe that I have left my mobile in that bag that's on your trolly. Yes I know exactly what he wanted and why. Oh and I'll mention the man was presumably in his 70s so over twice my age. And was his wife. As she said to me thank you darling. I must logically assume that of course they themselves have kids older then me as so she was NOT was being flirtatious.

[@galesal1109]

Well you certainly don’t… “talking good English”.

[@carlgharis7948]

@@galesal1109 and what leads you to believe that?

[@fmyoung]

As survivor Eva Hart once put it, the Titanic did indeed "go down in history as the one disaster for which there was no excuse for anyone to die."

[@mariad.6373]

With the exception of the current causes of global warming with mass extinction to follow

[@jeng8401]

I am amazed her doll she spoke of and was seen in pictures (the face of it) was found in the ocean in the 90's

[@g.t.richardson6311]

@@mariad.6373 crock of poop Has no place in this discussion

[@douglasskaalrud6865]

@@mariad.6373. Mass extinctions are the earth’s way of taking a shower and recharging itself. Extinctions are essential breaks the planet needs to make more stuff for the next great wave of scavengers to dig up in millions of years. They are part of the circle of life on a scale that our tiny brains can’t even begin to comprehend. We think we’re clever enough to outsmart nature but we haven’t had much luck doing it and it looks like we’re not going to have any on this go round either.

[@melodymacken9788]

RIP. Unforgettable. Incredible story.

[@ccchhhrrriiisss100]

16:14 - It's amazing that, by Fourth Officer Boxhall's testimony, Carpathia arrived to his lifeboat and picked the passengers of his lifeboat up at 3:55 AM. This means that they missed Titanic's final plunge by roughly 1 hour and 35 minutes. If the California (or whatever ship it may have been -- there are several theories) had noticed the rockets, then most of Titanic's passengers and crew could have been saved.

[@TitanicsOfficers]

Although research indicates that the Californian would have been unlikely to have saved everyone: www.titanicswitch.com/titanicfacts.html#D17

[@ccchhhrrriiisss100]

@@TitanicsOfficers- True. However, they only needed to get some of Titanic's passengers aboard. The rest could have waited on lifeboats from Titanic and Californian until Carpathia arrived.

[@TitanicsOfficers]

@@ccchhhrrriiisss100 Not according to this research: www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/californian-incident.html Their conclusion: "Although it seems likely that at least a few additional Titanic passengers could have been pulled from the water alive if Californian had made it to the wreck site before 2:45am, Captain Stanley Lord and the Californian could not have saved the 1500 remaining passengers from the sloping decks of Titanic. No Captain could."

[@ccchhhrrriiisss100]

@@TitanicsOfficers - Very good point. I think that I read a report about capacity -- how many people could have been taken aboard Californian and the capacity of Californian's lifeboats. I'm not saying that ALL could have been saved. However, statistically-speaking, I think that MOST (i.e., more than half of Titanic's total number of passengers) could have been. The survivors only needed to be out of the water (either aboard Californian or in lifeboats of Californian or Titanic) until other boats arrived. Since Boxhall testified that Carpathia arrived just before 4 AM, it was theoretical that at least another 500 passengers could have been placed aboard Californian or waiting inside Californian's lifeboats.

[@meropemerope6096]

@@ccchhhrrriiisss100 yeah, damn. Some people could have waited on Californian lifeboats. The important part was getting out of the water

[@marianeagle7740]

Those ppl were incredible we have lost that now

[@mariocisneros911]

The 2nd officer "Lightoller" Passed away 10 yrs earlier , 52 .

[@kathieludwig4578]

Thank you for sharing this. Absolutely extraordinary.

[@ckallen1546]

How amazing to hear this recording. Thank you.

[@lakerboy747]

Marvelous first hand account

[@jamiemerian9736]

Woah, I had no idea about this recording, thanks!

[@smileygirl6710]

I enjoyed this thanks. It’s nice to see different pics as you listen to the interview.

[@johnnyllooddte3415]

wowwww ...he sounds like a competent and brave officer...well done

[@alkitzman9179]

Everyone always says so many more could have been saved. Actually its a miracle in April in the north Atlantic that the ocean was as still as glass when she went down. Had it been normal choppy 4-6 foot waves those lifeboats and passengers would have gotten wet from the waves and couldn't have really been effective rowing as most had no training. and many would have died. A lot were not well dressed in those boats for 28 degree weather . The only thing good that came out of this was radio operators on all ships were on 24 watch and every ship had to have enough lifeboats for everyone on the ship. Its amazing over 700 survived.

[@JC-bl9bo]

He freaking said there was a steamer 5 miles away. What a disgrace. And then it turned away and you could see the stern light. Just ridiculous a ship would do that.

[@Imtahotep]

This is a puerile excuse if I've ever heard one: they knew it was Titanic but thought the flares were for a party, some celebration; ice cold champagne for all! ... - - - ...

[@Borninthe80s.]

@@Imtahotepthey didn’t know it was the titanic

[@Amz_94]

The story of Titanic always haunts me although I was born in 94’ and only saw the film as the closest ‘real’ story to the actual event. After doing my own research it isn’t how or why it happened that bothers me. It’s the sheer loss of life and the horrific way in which so many suffered. It’s very humbling hearing a real account and I can’t imagine the PTSD after experiencing such trauma. God forgive all those who perished in the Titanic.

[@gregorykayne6054]

It seems the women who survived got the flashbacks the worst. They indicated the unspeakable silence that followed the screams after a while was even more mortifying.

[@Amz_94]

@@gregorykayne6054 wow so chilling. It makes sense considering women and children were put on the boats first, resulting in them witnessing their men dying 😔

[@rastaman5354]

All the shoes at the bottom is scary as well. All the shoes is where someone fell to their deaths and sank to the bottom. The bodies completely disappear after 5 years that deep. Unfortunately not all women and children made it. What messes me up is that if they didn’t try cut corners and had the correct number of life rafts needed it would of been a lot less of a tragedy

[@multiverser9585]

Yes, and the women remembered the looks in the eyes of their husbands who said goodbye for the last time. Such heartbreaking moments. Daughters hugging their fathers for the last time, as they were told to go quickly into the lifeboats. Heart wrenching.

[@suzyqualcast6269]

Imagine how it went/felt for the thousandS aboard the 🇩🇪 ship Gusthoff......

[@detectivestorm1960]

When I make a titanic movie ( maybe never) I could do the real thing of what Joseph Boxhall said

[@claudiacaprin4904]

Haha cool!

[@richardwells4370]

Wow ,what an amazing commentary about this incident , so precise.

[@mikedrown2721]

Isn't it nice to hear his account of the sinking without the words LIKE and YOU KNOW? And BASICALLY?

[@fredsmith3456]

Here here!!

[@gartwilliams3347]

Or “I go”

[@jimcrawford5039]

Well said!

[@zyxw2024]

I mean...

[@ThisHandleFeatureIsStupid]

Bully!

[@Synster73]

Wow this is captivating!

[@jonpage4029]

Amazing to hear first hand account

[@861622259]

one of two of his first hand accounts......with no disrespect to his age on giving his second one

[@davidpage3893]

This is the first time I heard this interview with Joseph Boxhall. I seen a few interviews with Eva Hart. I don’t know if James Cameron used the information from this interview and used it in the film.

[@dictatorinperpetuity]

Californian be like that one friend who sees you get jumped then runs off and sees you all bruised and beaten the next day and be like "What happened??"

[@sandygeorge9741]

Be like ?

[@emanuel82]

Whats most scary with the titanic-disaster is that at first no one realized the danger. They just thought the ship would handle it and there where no signs at all that Titanic would go down. It shows that big disasters can arrive very quietly. How many disasters are we now not aware of that they are coming?

[@TitanicsOfficers]

Excellent point. In the wake of a disaster, so many people want to find a scapegoat and hence "criminalise" certain people such as Smith or Ismay. However, the real cause is far more subtle and also considerably more dangerous: complacency.

[@laxfich_gecko]

> How many disasters are we now not aware of that they are coming? there is one that will dwarf them all, and it alöready happened: check your nation's death statistics and then check the date the injections started.

[@Imtahotep]

Hey ... the experts told them Titanic was unsinkable.

[@Borninthe80s.]

@@Imtahotepno they didn’t no one ever claimed titanic was unsinkable bar the media who made that claim

[@daphneduryea9136]

He must've meant Lowe. Moody was lost in the sinking.

[@tmac8892]

Heard about a dozen survivors say the Californian was close, within 10 miles. Should've changed everything.

[@realtalk5329]

How was the captain not charged?

[@lanaechaplin4790]

it really should’ve, and it’s crazy to me how the captain of the californian was never tried or convicted of any offence, he was made an outcast for the rest of his life (though that’s not enough considering the huge loss of life he could very easily have helped prevent)

[@videolifeca]

It might have been more likely to think the flares were distress signals had the White Star Line not advertised her as "Unsinkable". There were wealthy people on board who like to celebrate so it could have been fire works. Also it was reported that the Californian's wire was told to be silent and then shut down for the night. A law was implemented not long after that wireless had to remain open at all times.

[@SQUAREHEADSAM1912]

I personally belive Boxhall’s claim of it being less then 5 miles.

[@jazzvictrola7104]

@@realtalk5329 Everything's easy in hindsight, but there were no rules regarding 24 hour radio contact, as ridiculous as that seems today.

[@scvandy3129]

Ahoy! On 'all things Titanic' we've heard little of individuals, survivors and victims both, who jumped from the gangway -- unlike the dramatic accounts of dozens who leapt from the top, primarily the stern. 11:57 - 12:25 How exasperating and utterly depressing it had to have been for passengers gathered, amassed, crushed-together at the gangway door on the starboard side anticipating boats were on the way, including Fourth Officer Boxhall's. Are we to suppose THAT (i.e., gangway) was where they were instructed to gather / wait for rescue by lifeboat; or were they taking a chance on an alternate strategy, amassing top deck? I very much enjoyed the thoroughness of Mr. Boxhall's account; his voice's tone and level of delivery are an asset. We are indebted to him as well as the producer, interviewer and recorder. Furthermore, all curious about the Titanic can be forever grateful that someone at BBC 61 years ago -- and since -- did not rerecord over the tape or dispose of instead of archiving. Like what happened to hundreds of hours of NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" 90-minute versions pre-1970. Thank you, "Titanic's Officers" for preparing and presenting this vivid account.

[@blxtothis]

From the days when the BBC presented accurate and absorbing output and not a surfeit of propaganda.

[@andrewstackpool4911]

It is significant that after the collision, Titanic got underway and headed for the nearest port.

[@cmgraham]

Awesome posting, I’d not heard before. Thx for sharing! ❤️🚢

[@SallyBowles5050]

I found myself hanging on every word and feeling the weight of sadness in my heart. Such a devastating event. 🥀🚢

[@TheTb11111111]

Incredible how much detail he remembers. It would’ve all been a blur to me.

[@kiernanpark-egan2528]

Thank you for uploading!

[@donaldwest2659]

Fascinating but horrific .

[@michaelhoggarth89]

Mrs H 🇬🇧 ... We'll NEVER forget this ship .. She was stunningly beautiful and I believe she was unsinkable ( Sort of ) BUT not seeing that ice burg til the last minute was her demise... Ice is lethal.. Thin ice cuts us and dogs paws but going at full speed & not seeing the ice burg til the last minute must have created a hole in the metal causing it to scrape through the side.. All thanks to Esm'e and the binoculars being in a cupboard .... 💔

[@zyxw2024]

Built by Irish men in Belfast, Ireland.

[@Imtahotep]

It's also a metallurgical issue of period steel making as well as design and ship building of the Era. I first heard of the miseries of Titanic aboard White Star's Queen Elizabeth sailing from South Hampton to NYC with my left hand in a sling.

[@mikeford-branch7859]

Moving very moving account of the TITANIC sinking : Thank you : impresses me how the Officer kept to the Naval Speak when refering to Boat possitions etc , the state of the Sea etc etc

[@JetPackDino]

Really amazing and terrifying and also beautiful. Thank you for uploading this gem.

[@jesshewson6866]

Thankyou for sharing!!

[@gaynorsmith4596]

Thank you

[@williamgraves2009]

I remember reading that the iceberg didn't just scrape the starboard side, but damaged the double bottom as well. I guess this made the sinking faster...

[@StephenLuke]

RIP Joseph Boxhall (1884-1967)

[@gerryhatrick6678]

He made an error when he said Pitman, Moody and him took watches on the Carpathia....He must have meant Lowe, because Moody went down with Murdoch when the wave swept over collapsible A.....

[@pexxos1]

He named Moody as a surviving junior officer...he died in the sinking...maybe he meant Lowe?

[@andrewspeers4018]

A great video amazing account

[@meta4282]

She was torn underneath not on the side. Listen to whatbhe said, also the wreck has no indication of side damage...

[@78vintages]

Amazing to hear this

[@jshepard152]

83% of male passengers died on Titanic while 75% of women survived. 51% of children survived.

[@muzzapj86]

Nice being equal isn’t it ?

[@nikmason6873]

I had a dream when i was five of being on the deck of a ship in the dead of night. Years later i saw a detailed model of Titanic and it was identical to the ship i dreamt i was on. Ive had four similar dreams in my life. All on this ship as it was sinking.

[@zyxw2024]

I've had reoccurring dreams in my 70 years of this current life of mine being crucified 2 millennia ago.

[@JohnBaillie18]

@@zyxw2024ive had terrible dreams about being stuck in a bunker in the middle of germany 😞

[@shawnharris3010]

"Thats when she was torn, from beneath. " See, you get all this conjecture today, but obviously no one has ever truly definitively digested ALL of the original accounts, because what did THEY KNOW, RIGHT?

[@davidnolan488]

That was fascinating,a real account of the night, thanks 👍

[@dolbystuff]

Nowhere have witnesses mentioned the ship breaking up before the final plunge. So it must've happened below the waterline? I remember one witness stating that the TITANIC was going up (becoming vertical) "and then she seemed to go down a bit and go back up before finally going down". Makes me wonder if the break-up happened underwater, with the double bottom still attached, and as the bow sank, it pulled the stern back up.

[@TitanicsOfficers]

There are many accounts of the ship breaking apart - check here for just those mentioned at the US/British Inquiries: wormstedt.com/titanic/The_Facts.html

[@dolbystuff]

@@TitanicsOfficers thanks for this! Realy intriguing to read.

[@exoressdelivers70]

Read the "Titanic Hearings". A book that is essentially a compilation of the US Senate Hearings transcripts. Several witnesses testified that the ship broke in two before going down. The US hearings were much more critical of the actions of the captain, some of the officers, and the Marconi operators, and the British Board of Trade, than the whitewashed British inquiry. The British hearings were just an attempt to save face by the British because of their insane policy of allowing ships to sail with only enough lifeboats to save half of the people on board.

[@toddjones1773]

Great video

[@robertsontirado4478]

Chilling.

[@Imtahotep]

Too cool for words: "A set of stars was handed to me by Lightoller ... ", reminded why pirates are typically depicted with eye patches: can't see the stars at night for having burnt your eye with a sextant at noon.

[@fmyoung]

11:27 - That reminds me of what I once heard about Capt. Smith, namely that he picked up his megaphone and shouted through it "Be British, boys, be British." Whether he really did or not, that' will forever be up in the air :-l

[@eliaschris2154]

For some reason at the end, he mistakenly referred that aboard the Carpathia was 6th officer Moody.

[@zackfair6791]

Apparently he has told 2 different versions of the gangway door story (11:35) Captain Smith ordered him to go to. In the 1962 broadcast he says it was open but there were too many people and he was afraid the boat would be swamped. In his earlier testimony he said the door was not open at all.

[@Beans360]

To be fair he's talking about an event that was already 50 years old during the time of this interview. That's like trying to remember the details of an event that happened in 1971 today just of memory.

[@matthewjdenn]

@@Beans360 He was likely worried about the potential ramifications his testimony would have had he admitted to not following the captains orders and picking those passengers up at the gangway door as ordered by Captain Smith. It would just be easier for him to lie and say that the door was closed and then he wouldn't have to answer some hard questions under oath. I understand and sympathize with why he didn't want to pick up the mob at the gangway door due to the concerns about them capsizing the boat and the boat not having any buoyancy tanks but he could've come back to pick up survivors as Lowe did. Apparently he wanted to but the passengers didn't and he decided not to go back. His statement that there was nothing they could do was definitely a lie, as there were only 18 out of 40 in his boat and there was space for another approximately 22 people in his boat. He doesn't want to appear a coward, so just simply states that there was nothing they could do. They were all terrified.

[@Beans360]

I'm not sure. To remember an event that wasn't captured on photo, video or audio 50 years later is not going to be accurate. How many people can remember 50 years ago and in general? Not to mention there was 2 World Wars between the Titanic sinking and this interview.

[@johnrusselman1364]

Excellent account.

[@daygon128]

What impresses me the most about this interview, along with Lightoller's interview, is that it appears to be the most genuine account of the events. I don't want to discount any of the witnesses but most of the popular ones, particularly the women passengers, whom have done several interviews over the years, seem to have over embellished or exaggerated their accounts as if they are in theatre. This was to the point and also proves that the Californian was within sight and rescue distance of Titanic as it sank. I can't imagine what it must have been like for those survivors and the victims.

[@ryanm4689]

Captain was in shock.

[@TitanicsOfficers]

Not really.

[@darrenstuart3907]

That's a common view held solely due to the portrayal in the Cameron movie where Captain Smith appeared overwhelmed and in shock. There is nothing wrong with that and it may have been the case, no one knows how they will react under extreme circumstances, however there is nothing in anyone's testimony to suggest that that was the case. A lot of the survivor testimony suggests the Captain was playing a very much active role in directing the evacuation. I will caveat that by saying at the time there was a lot of importance placed on doing ones duty and "gentlemanly" behaviour, it was just the way people were then. Had the Captain crumbled under the pressure I very much doubt the surviving officers would go on record stating this, they would most likely protect his memory by saying he acted admirably and died a hero. Its a similar situation to the did he / didn't he Murdoch suicide. Suicide was (and sadly to a certain extent still is) stigmatised as cowardly behaviour and friends and colleagues would not want them to be stigmatised like that.

[@TitanicsOfficers]

@@darrenstuart3907 Thanks for the balanced comment. It is very rare on KZbin.

[@MeltWithU]

We all should feel so privileged that somebody back, then took the time to find these people and interview them to get their first hand accounts. Without them, it would be very difficult to piece the timeline together. It’s sad that it was only a bit over an hour That separated the Carpathia from getting to the titanic before it sank. I’ve never read or heard what happened to the captain from the California, but they should’ve been jailed and stripped of any ability to pilot a boat again. Because if they would have responded, they would’ve been there long before the ship sank and been able to save a lot more people… If not all of them. Sad. Thank you for posting this.

[@TitanicsOfficers]

Thanks for the message. As for Captain Lord of the Californian, it is not a clear cut case and the context is important. But essentially, even if they had responded, they would likely have not saved many at all - certainly not all: www.titanicswitch.com/titanicfacts.html#D17

[@petecraig9666]

They're all stuck in my head!

[@MattSpoon07]

The officers who survived and got picked up by the Carpathia had to work a shift still

[@logotrikes]

Joseph Boxhall comes from Hull, my home town. Not really important...

[@katylake212]

Fascinating interview. I couldn't have been as stern as Boxhall and not tried to pick up some of the passengers, even if that meant swamping the boat. I simply could not have listened to those screams and not tried to help. BUT having said that, I absolutely admire his reserve, his rationality, his forthrightness. We simply don't see that kind of character nowadays - people get hysterical about every freaking thing, so that when something worthy of emotion comes down the pike, you just block them out. RIP, Mr. Boxhall.

[@abcdeshole]

How on Earth do you know what you would actually do in a frightening professional situation where you’re in a boat with 35 strangers whose lives you’re responsible for?

[@katylake212]

@@abcdeshole Because I know myself. It’s not rocket surgery.

[@dp-sr1fd]

Self preservation is nothing to be ashamed of. He knew enough about the sea and it's total indifference to mere humans not to risk his and all the other people's lives.

[@wattage2007]

Fascinating. The mystery ship couldn’t have been the Californian since it was moving. The Californian was stopped at that time due to ice.

[@tindomul8977]

I also think that she couldn't have been the Californian. If the mystery ship's lights were seen slightly over the starboard bow and she was slowly heading towards the port side, it couldn't have been the Californian. Because the Titanic was heading west, and even with her engines stopped and a slight current, her position must have remained about the same, and it was a westward position. At the time of the collision, the Californian was on her starboard side, in the North, and did not move.

[@carlgharis7948]

@@tindomul8977 maybe the mystery ship was an older ship with no radio

[@paulhorn2665]

@@carlgharis7948 Rumors said there was a norwegian fishing vessel the "Samson" near the titanic. No wireless on board. As this vessel was also smuggeling illegal alcohol, they mistook the distress rockets from titanic as signals from the coast guard and Samson steamed away as fast they could.

[@carlgharis7948]

@Paul Horn I say okay if that was such the case then the Californian would of also seen that

[@paulhorn2665]

@@carlgharis7948 Good point, but if the Samson thought they where chased by coast guard ( which they thought this was titanic bc rockets). I presume they extinguiyhed the lights of course... it was dark night in the middle of nowhere.

[@fmyoung]

18:33 - 5th Officer Harold Lowe, 2nd Officer Charles H. Lightoller, 4th Officer Joseph Boxhall (standing, from left to right), and 3rd Officer Herbert Pitman (seated)?

[@almas2423]

As someone who is a native speaker of American English, I’m surprised at the accent of this officer. It’s not much different from the accent of older Americans from my youth (a child who grew up in the 90’s). Why is it that both British English and American English sound so vastly different from each other now? Anyway, what a treasure it is to still have the recordings of the Titanic Officers.

[@soultraveller5027]

he never mentioned the stern breaking away as the titanic slipped further into the sea it would have been a notable event ??

[@TitanicsOfficers]

Not everybody saw it - first it was not as dramatic as cinematic portrayals would have you believe. Second it depended on your distance/angle to what happened. It also likely split below the water line.