The sinking of the passenger liner Titanic in 1912 is one of those historical events that has always captured the imagination of researchers and the general public alike. Drama, pathos, cowardice, heroism and self-sacrifice -- all are vital parts of the story of the greatest tragedy to have taken place at sea up to that time.
But legends have sometimes become part of the Titanic saga, too, and many of these legends have arisen solely because the public has not had easy access to accurate, well-documented information about the tragedy. Books about the Titanic abound, but -- in a sense -- these books serve as "filters" of primary historical sources and put the reader one step "further away" from those people who actually experienced the Titanic disaster themselves. Although many Titanic survivors did testify about their experiences at the two government inquiries that were conducted after the disaster, the transcripts of these two inquiries were never commonly available to the general public and have become increasingly difficult for researchers to obtain as the years go by.
Until now.
A small and selfless group of serious Titanic researchers has recently gone to the incredible effort of transcribing the entire texts of the Senate and the British Titanic Inquiries -- each of which is over a thousand pages long -- and has graciously seen fit to post those transcripts on this website for the benefit of Titanic buffs everywhere. These researchers have reaped no financial reward for their self-imposed efforts and have undertaken this project solely in the interest of making hard-to-find historical information available to everyone who might wish to see it.
It gives me great pleasure to make the names of these researchers known to you:
Bob Bonnell - CAN
Earl Chapman - CAN
Mike Disabato - US
Vera & John Gillespie - US
Linda Greaves - US
Jane Hilbert - US
Robert Ottmers - US
Stuart Partridge - UK
Marilyn Powell - US
Susie Powell - US
Parks Stephenson - US
Bruce Trinque - US
Bill Wormstedt - US
The above-named men and women who so unselfishly transcribed thousands of pages of inquiry testimony deserve the sincere gratitude of Titanic researchers the world over. I hope you'll join me in honoring them for their efforts.