Pictures and interviews with Captain Rostron

[Carl Lischke]

Hi!

This is my first post in the forum.

I am looking for pictures on Captain Rostron without his hat, and also interviews with him. Can anybody help me to find this?

Greetings
Carl

 

[Carla Velterop]

To read an interview-style thing with Captain Rostron, go to www.titanicinquiry.org and search for him and I think that there might be something on www.paperlessarchives.com . I couldn't find any hat-less pictures of Arthur Rostron - I think that he was quite fond of his hat(s) '-)

If you want any more interviews, I'll see what I can find...

Carla

PS. Welcome aboard. I hope I'll see you around the boards more

 

[Carl Lischke]

Thanks for the answer, but i have already read the inguiry. And the other link did not contain anything new to me either. But thanks anyway.

I would be very thankful if you could look for more interviews.

 

[Carla Velterop]

Hi Carl,

Have you read Rostron's book 'Home from the Sea'? He describes the rescue of the Titanic survivors quite well in one of the chapters. You can also look at this website, http://web.nautical-papers.com:81/onwatch/ which I think has some quotes.

Carla

 

[Carl Lischke]

Hi Carla,

The website did not contain any information about Rostron. I have been thinking about reading "Home from the sea", but it is a quite expensive and rare book i think. So i will not get the book anytime soon.

Carl

 

[Dave Gittins]

Home From the Sea is a good read, but it's not particularly accurate. For instance, Captain Lord would be amazed to know he had no radio. It does give some insights into Rostron's character and attitudes.

While we are on Rostron, on a tape called That Fatal Night, somebody, supposedly Rostron, reads the relevant part of his book. I'm not convinced it is Rostron, because the recording sounds too good. Rostron died in 1940. Has anybody any thoughts?

 

[Jim Kalafus]

>I'm not convinced it is Rostron, because the recording sounds too good.

Would depend upon how it was initially recorded. Acetate recordings, when they survive, tend to be an agonizing wall of hisses crackles and pops plus low fidelity reproduction of the vocal or music~ because they were not recorded with an eye on preservation. As of the 1930s it was possible to get excellent sound quality IF excellence was required- witness the recording of Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall Performance. So, if one could determine the origins of the Rostron recording, and if it was something done formally in a studio with an eye on potential commercial use, or if the recording was an -alleged- acetate made by someone who just wanted a personal record of a radio perforamnce or public lecture that would not otherwise have been saved, that would go a long way towards verifying or negating its authenticity.

 

[Carla Velterop]

>if it was something done formally in a studio with an eye on potential commercial use<

I think that could have been the case - there were certainly a few Titanic-related movies out and the recorders could have seen the value that such a recording had. However, I'm not ruling out forgery (if that's what it can be called '-) ).

Carl, you could try listening to The Titanic Chronicles which takes the main figures from the inquiries and the main points that they make and it's apparently quite good. I haven't heard it myself, maybe some-one else here has, though...

Carla

 

[Ryan McKeefery]

I cycled past Rostron's Birthplace just today - I had no idea that it was there beforehand, even though I've driven by thousands of times.
I was just thinking "How much would a charming little cottage like that cost?" when I noticed a blue plaque attached high up the front wall.

I'll be going back for a photograph tomorrow. And I think I'll buy it in a few years time... If it's still empty.

 

[Mark Baber]

Capt. Rostron, from The New York Public Library.

 

[Dave Gittins]

Mark, that's a link to the Medal of Honor site, which contains several errors. It confuses the Medal of Honor with the Congressional Gold Medal.

Neither Lindberg nor Rostron received a Medal of Honor. They were given Congressional Gold Medals. Congressional Gold Medals are awarded by individual Acts of Congress. There is no standing procedure whereby medals can be routinely issued, as with the Medal of Honor, which goes through standard military channels.

Today, Rostron would not be given a Congressional Gold Medal. Under modern guidelines, the medals are given for lifetime achievements, rather than for a single act.

The Medal of Honor is strictly for acts of bravery in the face of the enemy by persons serving in the armed forces of the USA. Some think the rules were bent to give Lindberg a Medal of Honor, as he was a reservist, but the rules weren't bent. He was given a Congressional Gold Medal, as in his citation.

The story is a bit confusing, but I'm surprised at the errors on the site.

 

[Mark Baber]

Oops...wrong link. Try this instead.

There's an earlier thread :
Rostron's Congressional Medal
where we discuss Rostron's medal.

 

[Tessa Kulik]

Hello all. What a fascinating site. This is my first-ever post. I am interested in the "interview" - or talk - by Capt Rostron of the Carpathia which was used in the audiobook 'That Fateful Night'. Has its authenticity ever been established? I am familiar with all the recordings held by the BBC (none of Rostron) and it seems odd that such an important piece of recording - if genuine - should remain so obscure. Can anyone throw any light on this?

 

[Ellen G. Butland]

Somewhere in my piles of papers I have the script and a picture of Captain Rostron about the usefulness of radio at sea. This was printed in 'the Commutator' the journal of Titanic Historical Society. This was originally a recording that Capt. Rostron did, presumably after he retired, and would have been done in Britain possibly two or three years before he died.

 

[Tessa Kulik]

Thanks Ellen. I am hoping to track down where and when the recording was made - as I said in my previous post, it seems odd (as announced by the presenter) that it should be the first time it has been heard (pub. 1998). I wonder if it was made privately for his family? I have emailed the author of the audio book, but no response as yet.