On a Sea So Cold & Still: The Titanic-A Centennial Reader

This "Centennial Reader" recounts the timeless story—with an emphasis on aspects of the saga that may be unfamiliar to many 21st-Century readers. Coincidences and continuing postscripts abound, and countless questions linger: * Why were the lookouts not equipped with binoculars? * Was there a smoldering fire in one of the coal bunkers, and if so, did it have an impact on events after the iceberg collision? * What if, instead of ordering a veer to port, First Officer William Murdoch had responded to the alarm by letting the ship hit the iceberg head-on? Would the damage have been lessened? * Just how culpable were J. Bruce Ismay, director of the shipping company, who managed to find a place aboard a lifeboat; Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff Gordon, who not only took places in a third-full lifeboat but may have discouraged the boat crew from returning to the scene to save others; or Capt. Stanley Lord of the nearby steamship Californian, accused of failing to respond to the Titanic's summonses for help? * What were Capt. Smith's final moments? * Was there a "third ship" besides the Californian in the area, capable of executing an early rescue operation? * What was on the mind of wireless operator Jack Phillips when, during the last minutes at his post, he transmitted the enigmatic signal "V"—and repeated it?