The Ship That Stood Still: “Californian” and Her Mysterious Role in the Titanic Disaster

Description

The controversial story of the steamship Californian and her involvement in the Titanic disaster fascinated Leslie Reade from boyhood in 1912 until the end of his life in 1989. It continues to this day to arouse endless speculation and argument among Titanic scholars and buffs around the world. Could the Californian have gone earlier to the rescue?

In the early 1960s Reade, an Oxford graduate in English who had read for the Bar, began his own long, meticulous investigation.

He explored the thousands of pages of official testimony and documents in search of the truth about Captain Stanley Lord, master of the Californian, and his role in the Titanic disaster. In so doing, he opened many new unknown areas of one of the most mysterious maritime incidents of the century.

The Ship That Stood Still presents a masterful and thrilling narrative of that cold April night in 1912 and of the crucial events that led up to what has become known as the Californian Incident. Private interviews with key figures in the tragedy provide important and conclusive evidence that clears up questions seemingly unanswerable for many

Every argument is thoroughly examined from all sides; Leslie Reade has not produced another simple one-sided ‘statement of case’, but a sound work of investigative research. The book, an intriguing detective story of the sea, stands out not just in Titanic literature but also as a literary work of non-fiction in its own right. In the controversy over the Californian Incident, The Ship That Stood Still provides definitive evidence about the role of the Californian and the most probable explanation of what happened. The findings of the April 1992 reappraisal by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch of Britain’s Department of Transport are examined by the editor Edward de Groot, a Dutch maritime writer and a close friend of Leslie Reade. He has been familiar with the work for many years and discussed every side of the case with the author. As friend and editor, he is confident that this is what Leslie Reade wanted his readers to know about that strange, bizarre mystery of The Ship That Stood Still.

Reviews

‘How vividly I remember seeing the lights of a ship when I was in the lifeboat that cold April night in 1912. I still feel bitter that she did not come to help us, as I am sure more lives could have been saved. This book is a carefully studied and remarkable work. I am
sure it will be greatly appreciated by all who read it.” — Miss Eva Hart (Titanic survivor.)

‘A fascinating book. The many years spent on it stand out all over the finished product. The new areas opened are impressive — Boston, rockets, the Samson, Herbert Stone — but what struck me most is the way this work examines every argument on both sides: nothing overlooked, swept under the rug, or ignored as though it didn’t exist.” — Walter Lord (Author of A Night to Remember and The Night Lives On.)

‘A comprehensive analysis of the now famous Californian incident which I hope will finally put this controversy to rest as our discovery of Titanic’s remains concluded that ship’s tragic history. An excellent piece of research.’ — Dr Robert D. Ballard (Found the wreck of Titanic in 1985.)

‘A meticulous, articulate and ultimately devastating tour de force. It will, one hopes, obviate any further dispute about Californian’s proximity to the doomed Titanic. Bravo Reade and Bravo de Groot!” —  John Maxtone-Graham (Author of The Only Way to Cross and Crossing & Cruising.)

‘I did not realize in 1958 that my film production of A Night to Remember would become part of a dispute about the Californian that endures to this day; still, I feel, we were absolutely correct then. Now, Leslie Reade, finally, presents a masterful and thrilling
narrative of the crucial events that added up to the Californian Incident. I am sure that this book will appeal to all interested in great human mysteries.’ — ‘William MacQuitty

‘I know of more than 100 books and papers dealing with the Titanic tragedy and so one would think that nothing is left to be told. In fact, this opinion can only be upheld by people who have not read The Ship That Stood Still. The excellent research of Reade and de Groot makes this a very valuable book. — Arnold Kludas (Former Librarian of the German Maritime Museum, author of the series Great Passenger Ships of the World.)