Murdoch and Bride
Valerie and Scott
anyone ever heard of Ernest Robinson and/or this interview?
This information is copied directly from:
http://www.dalbeattie.com/titanic/tihbride.htm
During 1954, Harold Bride told Mr. Ernest Robinson, maritime historian,
that he had been near William Murdoch at the time of the abrupt sinking
of the 'Titanic'. They had been part of a group trying to launch the
forward starboard collapsible lifeboat, normally stored on the roof of
the officers' quarters.
The testimony of Second Wireless Operator Bride is particularly reliable
because he was very honest. At the 1912 Board of Trade Inquiry and at
the American inquiry under Senator Smith, he is reported as saying that
he struck down a stoker trying to steal the lifejacket from First
Wireless Operator Phillips. At that time, Phillips was desperately
trying to send one final call for help, even though both men had been
told to leave by Captain Smith himself. As Bride could have faced an
action for murder for such an admission, it makes him almost painfully
honest.
The importance of his testimony is that it substantiates the evidence of
Charles Herbert Lightoller, some of whose witness is coloured by his own
prejudices towards individuals.
This page was prepared with assistance from Samuel Scott Murdoch, the
nephew of the First Officer of the 'Titanic', and from the maritime
historian Ernest Robinson.
Scott Anderson
Valerie and Scott
site with a "lot" of Murdoch information...
Scott Anderson
Valerie and Scott
why would Harold Bride, who had made such a conscious effort for most of his life
to avoid connection to Titanic ,and had basically changed his lifestyle to do so,
give an interview on that very subject?
In any event, I e-mailed Richard Edkins, the webmaster of that site, and asked for
more information about the interview...I'm rather curious, in a guarded sort of
way, about what I may hear back from him...
Scott Anderson
Butler1918 wrote:
> >The testimony of Second Wireless Operator Bride is particularly reliable
> >because he was very honest.
>
> Scott, I realize that you copied the text from the website (kudos for
> acknowleging you did)
> I have to point out that I and some other (but by no means all) Titanic
> historians do not find Bride to be a very reliable witness. Parts of his story
> would change every time he retold it--compare his NY Times interview with his
> Senate Committee testimony for example. As for this interview, I have never
> heard of it---and I have a good friend in Michigan, a PI, who is themanwho
> finally tracked down Bride's whereabouts after he disappeared and discovered he
> died in a Glasgow hospital in 1956. His name is David Norris and he has never
> heard of this interview, so given some of the other inaccuracies of that
> website, I take this reference witha large grain of salt.
>
> Sincerely
>
> Daniel Allen Butler
>
> "Nemo me impune lacessit"
Ronnie Clark
background to either Murdoch or Wilde, and so I suddenly chanced upon the
William McMaster Murdoch homepage. Very good page.
Butler1918
Peter Williamson
>died in a Glasgow hospital in 1956. His name is David Norris and he has never
>heard of this interview, so given some of the other inaccuracies of that
>website, I take this reference witha large grain of salt.
===============================
Hi there,
Didn't one part of the Murdoch story interest you - especially the
part of the stop command & then the astern command? After examining
the evidence in the 1912 Inquiry by Scott and two others that the ring
down was 'stop' on all 4 telegraphs, & the interview by Lightoller
stating that he was certain that Murdoch only reversed the port engine
(this was during a taped interview many years later - perhaps he was
somewhat senile by then - though if he was senile I doubt if he would
have remembered anything at all having been through this horror with a
relative of recent) - the more one immerses ones-self deeper & deeper
into the enigma of the Titanic the more one finds many sub-branches to
take us on. It is a brave person to stand up and say "this is the real
truth" or "this is how it really was" - everything is circumstantial.
It must really drive the ISTJ's on this newgroup nuts as nothing can
be quite filed and have a 'final' stamp on it. I think it may be this
uncertainty that intrigues us all - and will keep us interested for a
lifetime.
Regards
Peter W.
--
Peter Williamson
Director
Canberra Planetarium & Observatory
Australia
pwill...@ctuc.asn.au
Butler1918
that
why would Harold Bride, who had made such a conscious effort for most of his
life
to avoid connection to Titanic ,and had basically changed his lifestyle to do
so,
give an interview on that very subject?
>>
Good instincts, Scott. There is no reason to believe--as far as I can
tell--that the interview ever took place: when Bride died, his own family,
aside from his wife, didn't know he had been the junior wireless operator on
the Titanic--so why would he talk about it to a relative stranger?
10376...@compuserve.com
vals...@mindspring.com wrote:
> In seeking information about Bride and Phillips, I came across this. Has
> anyone ever heard of Ernest Robinson and/or this interview?
>
> This information is copied directly from:
> http://www.dalbeattie.com/titanic/tihbride.htm
>
> During 1954, Harold Bride told Mr. Ernest Robinson, maritime historian,
> that he had been near William Murdoch at the time of the abrupt sinking
> of the 'Titanic'. They had been part of a group trying to launch the
> forward starboard collapsible lifeboat, normally stored on the roof of
> the officers' quarters.
Hello, Scott.
The only problem with the Dalbeattie website's claims is that Bride was on
the opposite side of the ship from Murdoch when the Titanic's bridge area
submerged. That would have made it a tad difficult for Bride to help Murdoch
at collapsible A and "see" him swept into the sea like the Dalbeattie
website claims.
I'm told that the Dalbeattie webmaster now claims that Bride also "saw"
Murdoch swimming in the water *after* the bridge submerged (thus "proving"
that Murdoch did not commit suicide.)
The Dalbeattie defense of Murdoch continues to get "better and better" as
time goes on. The sad thing is that innocent people unquestioningly accept
the Dalbeattie claims as being historically accurate.
Sincerely,
Patricia Behe
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Dave Gittins
Butler1918 wrote in message
<19990111221422...@ng-fa2.aol.com>...
>>The testimony of Second Wireless Operator Bride is particularly reliable
>>because he was very honest.
>
>Scott, I realize that you copied the text from the website (kudos for
>acknowleging you did)
>I have to point out that I and some other (but by no means all) Titanic
>historians do not find Bride to be a very reliable witness. Parts of his
story
>would change every time he retold it--compare his NY Times interview with
his
>Senate Committee testimony for example. As for this interview, I have
never
>heard of it---and I have a good friend in Michigan, a PI, who is themanwho
>finally tracked down Bride's whereabouts after he disappeared and
discovered he
never
>heard of this interview, so given some of the other inaccuracies of that
>website, I take this reference witha large grain of salt.
>
>
>
>Daniel Allen Butler
>
>"Nemo me impune lacessit"
I second Daniel's remarks. If all Bride's evidence is assembled together,
he emerges as most inconsistent. The trouble is that Walter Lord placed a
lot of faith in his story, although he never interviewed him and because
Lord is the voice of God to some enthusiasts, his version of Bride's story
is endlessly repeated.
The important thing is to check his evidence against that of others,
especially the radio logs. Even his tale of repairing the radio may not be
true, as it is hard to find a long period when "Titanic" was off the air.
If you are paid $1,000 for a story, you might as well make it a good one,
and some of the heroics Bride tells of may well be invented.
Dave Gittins.
For a navigator's view of "Titanic" visit
http://users.senet.com.au/~gittins/index.html