Colonel Archibald Gracie IV (January 17, 1859 – December 4,
1912) was an American writer, amateur historian, real estate investor, and
survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. He survived the sinking by climbing
aboard an overturned collapsible lifeboat, and wrote a popular and valuable
book about the disaster which is still in print today.
Gracie returned to New York aboard the Carpathia and
immediately started on a book about his experiences aboard the Titanic and
Collapsible "B". His is one of the most detailed accounts of the
events of the evening; Gracie spent months trying to determine exactly who was
in each lifeboat and when certain events took place. His work is not without
faults; Gracie referred to every stowaway or man who jumped or sneaked aboard a
lifeboat as a "Latin", "Japanese", or "Italian",
and only gave the names of the men who put their wives aboard lifeboats and
remained on the ship if they had been in first class. It is still a valuable
resource for Titanic researchers and historians.
Gracie never recovered from the ordeal. Although he survived
the sinking, he did not survive the year. His health was severely affected by
the hypothermia and physical injuries he suffered, and he died of complications
of diabetes on December 4, 1912, less than eight months after the sinking. He
was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx; many of his fellow survivors, as
well as family members of victims, attended his funeral. He was the first adult
survivor to die.
Gracie was so preoccupied with the Titanic's sinking and
work he had done on the subject that his last words were, "We must get
them all into the boats."
Table of Contents
I. The Last Day Aboard Ship i
11. Struck By an Iceberg 14
III. The Foundering of the *Titanic" 5 1
IV. Struggling in the Water for Life 64
V. All Night on Bottom of Half-Submerged Upturned Boat 87
VI. The Port Side: Women and Children First 114
VII. Starboard Side: Women First,But Men When There Were
No Women 225
Concluding Note 325
ILLUSTRATIONS
Colonel Archibald Grade Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
The Titanic 2
The Promenade Deck of the Titanic 12
Mr. and Mrs. Isidor Straus 24
First-Class Smoking Room 28
Bedroom of Parlor Suite 40
Suite Bedroom 40
James Clinch Smith 48
Boilers of the Titanic arranged in Messrs.
Harland & Wolff's Works 52
Thomas Andrews, Jr., Designer of the
Titanic 5 8
Joseph Bell, Chief Engineer 58
The Last Photograph of the Titanic's Commander and Three
Officers 60
Passengers of the Olympic awaiting Events 104
The Overturned Engelhardt Boat B no
The Titanic narrowly Escapes Collision at
Southampton 134
Fifth Officer Lowe Towing the Canvas
Collapsible 158
The Canvas Collapsible 158
Captain Rostron of the S.S. Carpathia 180
Photographed from the Carpathia 242