'So when he heard the word 'distress' he reacted, I think, instinctively.'Īs Captain Rostron began the race towards the Titanic, he instructed his officers to prepare the ship to take on as many as 2000 extra people, with passengers moved into new cabins and the pump rooms converted to temporary dormitories. 'He wasn't going to waste the seconds necessary to confirm before he acted,' Butler said. Now, Cottam, are you sure it's the Titanic and are you sure she needs our assistance?'īutler - who wrote a book called The Other Side of the Night about what happened outside the sinking Titanic - believes this says it all about who Captain Rostron was. I'll work out the course for you in a moment. The first words out of the captain's mouth were directed at first officer Horace Dean, who had followed Cottam in: 'Mr Dean, turn this ship around. 'The Titanic has sent out a distress call, she needs our assistance immediately,' he said. The operator raced up to Captain Arthur Rostron's cabin, ignoring the first officer and flinging open the door, in a clear breach of protocol. He also mixed in the newer 'SOS' signal for one of the first times in history, but it would have been CQD that stood out to Cottam. The bronze sample shown here is from the archive of Medallic Art Company.'CQ' is a call-out, 'D' means distress, 'MGY' was the Titanic's call letters, followed by the coordinates. The dies for the Rostron medal were cut by Medallic Art Company, and the gold medal itself was struck by the United States Mint. quarter-dollar coin and more than four dozen items for Medallic Art Company over a forty-year period. The medal was designed by American sculptor and medalist John Flanagan (1865-1952) who would later design both sides of the Washington U.S. The resolution was passed by acclamation.

His testimony before the committee was so complete and so emotionally gripping, it brought tears to the eyes of the Senator and many others in attendance.įollowing his formal report on the investigation to the Senate, Senator Smith called for unanimous consent of a resolution to allocate one thousand dollars to award a gold medal to Captain Rostron.

Carpathia, which had picked up more than 700 survivors from the icy sea.

Among the first to testify was Captain Arthur Henry Rostron of the R.M.S. The hearings began at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City only a day after the survivors had reached land.

Home from the Sea by Arthur Rostron