The Titanic:
The 'Black Squad'
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Background 4: The “Black Squad”

The Crew List signed by Captain Smith on 10th April, 1912, shows the crew divided into three departments:

Soon after the disaster Lord Beresford wrote a letter to The Times praising the efforts of some sections of the crew of the Titanic whom he felt had been overlooked. The following are the opening paragraphs of his letter:

“In the late appalling disaster to the ‘Titanic’, perhaps the greatest in maritime history, attention has rightly been called to the bravery, resolution, and chivalrous gallantry of Captain Smith, the officers, seamen, band, and passengers, who were true to the spirit of manly duty of the English-speaking races in a sudden and terrible emergency.

Many comments have been justly made regarding the heroism on deck, but nothing has been said of the heroism below.

I respectfully submit that unintentionally the dauntless heroism of those employed in the engine and boiler room (such as the carpenter and his crew), have been passed over without comment.

Nothing can exceed the heroism of the captain, officers, and seamen of the ship; but officers and seamen are the first to offer a whole-hearted tribute of unbounded admiration to those working below, as they well know how often the real grit and courage of the officers and men of these departments is called upon in moments of emergency.

It is stated that the lights were burning until a few minutes before the ship took her final plunge. “This proves that the officers and men below remained at their posts when they must have known that death - the most terrible and painful that it is possible to conceive - awaited them at any minute, either by the bursting of a steampipe or water rising in a compartment.”

This letter was written by the parents of one of those lost engineers:

Dear Sir,

I have been informed by Mr. F. Blake Superintendent Engineer of the White Star line, Trafalgar Chambers on the 10th that the body of my Beloved Son Herbert Jupe which was the Electrical Engineer No. 3 on the Ill Fatted Titanic has been recovered and Burried at Sea by the Cable Steamer “Mackay-Bennett” and that his Silver Watch and Handkerchief marked H.J. is in your possession. he bought him half of the same when he was at Belfast with the R.M.S. Olympic to have a new blade put to one of Her Perpellors. We are extreemly oblidged for all your kindness to my Precious Boy. He was not Married and was the Love of our Hearts and he Loved his Home. But God gave and God has taken him. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. He has left an aceing Void in our Home which cannot be filled. Please send along the Watche and Handkerchief marked H.J.

Yours truly C.Jupe

His mother is 72 last April 4th. His Father is 68 Last Feb. 9th.

After the tragedy, many memorials to the various crew were erected - chapter twenty of ‘Titanic:Triumph and Tragedy’ has photos of the following:

What was it about the disaster that prompted memorials to these particular crew members? How did other crew fare in the disaster?

Is there a memorial in your town or city?

Investigation 4: The “Black Squad”

The entries in the field ‘Department’ were taken from the White Star crew list mentioned earlier.

  1. How many crew were there in each of the departments?

The survival rates of the various departments may have prompted Lord Beresford’s letter:

  1. What can you discover about these ‘survival rates’?

As students work through the above questions, a number of related side-issues may suggest themselves as being worthy of further investigation:

A number of other issues are also worthy of further comment:

It will become clear that the band/orchestra (and others) were not regarded as part of the crew - this issue will be developed later.

There is one department that will appear in the data that is not shown on the White Star crew list - that of ‘GATTI’ . Again, that issue will be developed later.

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