Ghost Stories

[Michael H. Standart]

Mr. McVey, your experience with bolted hatches mirrors my own exactly. Plenty of bolts, all on the outside, and a royal pain in the A## to open when you need to, either for an inspection, or because the yardworkers need to get into them. My expeirience is all on warships, but the bother is exactly the same. The smell too, if they open a hatch to a "soil" tank.

Re Wilde; I suspect his sense of something queer about the ship may be the sort of misgivings one always has with a new ship...especially when you realise you'll be the one fixing all the shipyards mistakes. Been there, done that three times. Two overhauls and one new construction. It's an unforgettable experience.

Where are you serving now BTW?
Cordially,
Michael H. Standart

 

[Pat Cook]

Hey, Ilya!

Always grand to hear from you, sir!

You wrote:
> ...to me, the most striking incident of‘foreboding’ related to ‘Titanic’ is a letter Chief Officer Henry Wilde wrote to his sister from the ship. As he died in the sinking, it certainly wasn’t a thought after the fact, and the details remain forever a mystery. He wrote words to the effect of, ‘I still don’t like this ship. There is something queer about her.’ I only wish he had given his sister more details of exactly =why= he didn’t like the new ship, and why he thought her ‘queer’.

Don't know if there's an answer to this one but I wonder if some of this feeling was a carry-over from the Olympic. I have read that some crew members thought her 'bad luck' or 'jinxed'.

Warmest regards,
Cook

 

[Paul Rogers]

Mr McVey,

I have Geoffrey Marcus' book, and I cannot find any information within it relating to Wilde's letter to his sister. (Unless either I or the index has missed a reference!)

However, Marcus does say: "Alone among the Titanic's officers, Wilde was reluctant to accept the new appointment; for some time, in fact, he hesitated; and only when a number of his friends declared that he would be mad to refuse this chance did he finally, and with much misgiving, accept it."

Marcus indicates in his chapter notes that the above is "private information" so it is not clear how he came across this tidbit.

My book is printed May 1978, so it's possible that if a later edition was produced, Marcus may have added something to the above.

(BTW, I also checked in Michael Davie's book "The Titanic - The Full Story Of A Tragedy" without any luck. I can't find my copy of ANTR at the moment; maybe it's in there?)

Hope this is of some assistance.

Regards,

Paul.

 

[Scott Blair]

Hi Paul

There is a reference to this letter by Wilde
atp76of Gardiner/Van Der Vat's "Mystery of the
Titanic"( Titanic Conspiracy is the US title)
It is on p58 of my 1977 Marcus.

They pose the question how could he still
notlike a ship he had at that stage on their
information he had never been on.Suffice to
say they suggest a basis for this feeling
based upon their theory-to which I do not-
subscribe that it was because he was really
on the unlucky Olympic disguised as Titanic!

Finally do you or anyone else on the group
know of any letters by EJ Smith posted en
route to his family?In the biographical
novel Master of the Titanic he writes to
his daughter Helen from Queenstown but
never gets to post it....

I suspect the answer is no.

Thanks

Scott

 

[Paul Rogers]

Scott,

Thanks mate! You're absolutely correct: There IS a reference on Pg. 58 of Marcus' book, but it's not listed in the index, which is why I missed it.

For Mr McVey, the quote from Marcus' book is: "I still don't like this ship....I have a queer feeling about it." The Chapter reference that Marcus quotes is "Beesley, pg.25."

I personally know nothing about any letters posted en route by EJ Smith. Sorry Scott.

Regards,

Paul

 

[Inger Sheil]

Re the Wilde letter -

It's in Marcus, p. 58 in my 1974 edition (Chapter 'Last Sight of Land'):

He was not the only member of the ship's company to experience this uneasiness. 'I still don't like this ship,' the Chief Officer wrote to his sister before the call at Queenstown; '...I have a queer feeling about it.'

The problem is, of course, that from the above quote we have no idea of the context of the remark.

Marcus is, IMHO, one of the finest researchers in the field, accessing material that people have hardly touched since. He also knew the mercantile marine and many of the WSL figures, and was able to gain the trust of the Murdoch, Moody and Wilde families among others. 'The Maiden Voyage' was a remarkable work.

Inger

 

[Inger Sheil]

LoL! How's that for a record, Scott? One minute apart!

Inger

 

[Inger Sheil]

Hallo, Ilya -

Having seen some of those crew agreements, I cannot stress enough how striking the effect his writing has on his name. I know what his proper
name is (or should be!), and yet, when you read his writing, some of them really =do= say ‘Pelloody’! I have since resolved to sign onto my ships with a very careful and clear signature from here on…

Absolutely. I've seen other documents where he used his 'JPM' initials, and they look for all the world like 'J Pell'. Mostly, though, his handwriting was very legible.

Warm regards,

Ing