Carpathia Talk
GUIDED BY A GREATER HAND?
The thrilling story of Cunard's Carpathia
A presentation by Eric Flounders
at 19.30 on Thursday 6 December 2018
Everybody, from Yonkers to Yokohama, knows the story of Titanic - even if an inaccurate version gleaned from the eponymous film; everybody has heard of the folly, the gentlemanly bravery, and the cold horror of that night.
But far fewer know the story of Cunard's little Carpathia, not a glamorous express liner like Titanic, but a tiny, plodding workhorse built to carry dispossessed emigrants rather than millionaires - and a ship that deserves equal billing in the maritime hall of fame.
For Carpathia, under the command of Captain Arthur Rostron, strained at top speed through an ice field in the dark - without the benefit of radar - thus risking the same fate as Titanic. She did not do it foolishly to impress or to beat any records: she did it in a plucky endeavour to rescue those on the doomed Titanic. In the end it was Carpathia alone which rescued all 705 survivors.
Captain Rostron was rightly feted and honoured all over the world, and he rose to become Commodore Sir Arthur Rostron.
Today he lies in Southampton's West End Cemetery, one of Cunard's most dignified, self-effacing and resolute Commodores.
Last updated 4:37pm on 19 May 2024