Titanic

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The Titanic sank on 15th April 1912. This page gives a selection of some of the most useful web sites where you can find information, images, podcasts and more 

• The Titanic story, passenger and crew lists, survivors
• Bedfordshire crew members and other connections

• Original newspaper reports
• Plan of the Titanic
• US and British investigations

The Titanic story, passenger and crew lists, survivors' stories and more

• BBC News Titanic 100 - Many features and a link to the BBC Archives: Survivors of the Titanic, where you can view broadcast interviews with survivors
• Encyclopaedia Britannica -  Titanic: the unsinkable ship - A mini web site from Britannica Library covering the Titanic story; notable people; the Titanic in popular culture; a timeline of the ship's final hours; interactive features; a picture gallery and more
• National Archives Titanic 100 year anniversary - Search passenger and crew lists; view photos and images of documents, artefacts and memorabilia; read biographical accounts of individuals on board; listen to podcasts and much more
  You can download free the crew's signing-on documents. Search to find a crew member's details, click 'add to shopping' and go to checkout as though buying (although the records are free), then follow the process to download
• Encyclopedia Titanica - Includes deck plans, articles and varied ways of viewing passenger and crew lists, including survivor lists by lifeboat
• PortCities Southampton - Titanic - Titanic sailed from the port of Southampton on 10th April 1912. Southampton City Council's site includes links to the crew list, giving name, age, address, place of birth, department on ship, position and fate of each crew member.
• Titanic Stories - Official website of the Titanic and its home in Belfast, Northern Ireland
• National Museums Northern Ireland  Information, photos, audio and more
• Bridgeman Art Library - Search Titanic for many photos and other images
• Findmypast - Under the heading 'Travel and Migration', click the link 'Passenger Lists' and browse the ships name. You can then view transcripts for the Titanic (and other ships) free of charge. Viewing images require payment
• Credo Reference - Log in to Credo Reference with your library card number and PIN and search for Titanic
  The first result will be a Topic Page which brings together Credo Reference articles and images and references to more sources. Further results give you entries from many reference books

Original newspaper reports

• New York Times - Original news articles as published in the New York Times, along with recent articles and multimedia items
• Guardian Century - The text of original reports about the sinking in the Guardian newspaper
• Times Digital Archive - Original reports as published in The Times newspaper. Log in to the e-resources to access the Times Digital Archive with your library number and PIN (see log in notes below)
  At the Times Digital Archive, enter the search term Titanic and underneath the search box click to search for words 'in title, citation, abstract'
  To find articles from before the voyage and after the sinking, limit your search by date between 1 January 1911 and 31 December 1912 (for example)

Log in notes

• If you are a Virtual Library member you may need to find out how to become eligible to use Times Digital Archive
• Don't have a library card? You can join the library now. Don't have a PIN? You can request a PIN now

Plan of the Titanic

• The background to the plan is given in a 2011 BBC News Northern Ireland news article and also at a 2011 page on the Belfast City Council site, which includes the information that 'A distinctive feature of the plan is a series of red and green chalk markings, indicating where the iceberg was believed to have penetrated five of Titanic's watertight bulkheads, leading to the catastrophe.'
• The plan was bought at auction by a private collector in May 2011

British and US investigations

• Titanic Inquiry Project - The entire texts of the US Senate and British Titanic Inquiries, transcribed by a small group of Titanic researchers. You can browse and search the texts. The site also gives links to further informative sites
• Titanic Disaster Hearings: The Official Transcripts of the 1912 Senate Investigation - Here you can read about the US Senate hearings and download a copy of the Senate committee's final report containing its conclusions about the causes of the disaster
• To find the report, scroll down the page to the fourth paragraph and click the link 'report' to view 'Titanic: report of the Committee on Commerce United States Senate'

Bedfordshire crew members and other connections

• Cecil Jackson of Eaton Bray, who worked as a 'boots' on the ship, was a victim of the disaster. His details are at the Eaton Bray web site
• You can view Cecil Jackson's signing on documents at the National Archives site. See the National Archives details above for how to view crew members' signing on documents
• Annie Robinson, born in Bedford, was a stewardess aboard the Titanic and survived. View Annie Robinson's details and photo at the PortCities Southampton site, in the Titanic crew profiles section. Scroll down to Annie Robinson's entry and click the link
• You can read Annie Robinson's testimony to the US Inquiry at the Titanic Inquiry Project
• Encyclopedia Titanica gives links to newspaper articles about Annie Robinson, including reports of her death in 1914
• You can view Annie Robinson's signing on documents at the National Archives site. See the National Archives details above for how to view crew members' signing on documents
• View details of more Bedfordshire connections, especially regarding the ship's machinery, in the article Bedfordshire connections with the Titanic, by Nigel Lutt, at the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service web site

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Page last updated: 17th May 2021