Later there was confusion, and according to most of the passengers' narratives, there were more than fifty shots fired upon the deck by officers or others in the effort to maintain the discipline.
FIFTH OFFICER LOWE
A young English woman who requested that her name be omitted told a thrilling story of her experience in one of the collapsible boats which had been manned by eight of the crew from the Titanic. The boat was in command of the fifth officer, H. Lowe, whose actions she described as saving the lives of many people. Before the life-boat was launched he passed along the port deck of the steamer, commanding the people not to jump in the boats, and otherwise restraining them from swamping the craft. When the collapsible was launched Officer Lowe succeeded in putting up a mast and a small sail. He collected the other boats together, in some cases the boats were short of adequate crews, and he directed an exchange by which each was adequately manned. He threw lines connecting the boats together, two by two, and thus all moved together. Later on he went back to the wreck with the crew of one of the boats and succeeded in picking up some of those who had jumped overboard and were swimming about. On his way back to the Carpathia he passed one of the collapsible boats which was on the point of sinking with thirty passengers aboard, most of them in scant night-clothing. They were rescued just in the nick of time.
ENGINEERS DIED AT POSTS
There were brave men below deck, too. "A lot has been printed in the papers about the heroism of the officers," said one survivor, "but little has been said of the bravery of the men below decks. I was told that seventeen enginemen who were drowned side by side got down on their knees on the platform of the engine room and prayed until the water surged up to their necks. Then they stood up, clasped hands so as to form a circle and died together. All of these men helped rake the fires out from ten of the forward boilers after the crash. This delayed the explosion and undoubtedly permitted the ship to remain afloat nearly an hour longer, and thus saved hundreds of lives."
In the list of heroes who went down on the Titanic the names of her engineers will have a high place, for not a single engineer was saved. Many of them, no doubt, could not get to the deck, but they had equally as good a chance as the firemen, sixty-nine of whom were saved.
The supposition of those who manned the Titanic was that the engineers, working below, were the first to know the desperate character of the Titanic's injury. The watch called the others, and from that time until the vessel was ready for her last plunge they were too hard at work to note more than that there was a constant rise of water in the hull, and that the pumps were useless.
It was engineers who kept the lights going, saw to the proper closing of bulkhead doors and kept the stoke hole at work until the uselessness of the task was apparent. Most of them probably died at their post of duty.
The Titanic carried a force of about sixty engineers, and in addition she had at least twenty-five "guarantee" engineers, representatives of Harland and Wolff, the builders, and those who had the contract for the engineering work. This supplementary force was under Archie Frost, the builders' chief engineer, and the regular force was under Chief Engineer William Bell, of the White Star Line.
On the line's ships there is the chief engineer, senior and junior second, senior and junior third, and senior and junior fourth engineers. The men are assigned each to his own task. There are hydraulic, electric, pump and steam packing men, and the "guarantee" engineers, representing the builders and the contractors.