The Truth About the Titanic

Colonel Archibald Gracie IV, an American writer, amateur historian, and member of New York's prominent Gracie family, boarded the Titanic as a first-class passenger on his return trip home from a visit in Europe. In the fateful early morning hours of April 15, Gracie assisted Second Officer Lightoller in freeing the collapsible lifeboats before he scrambled atop overturned Collapsible "B" to avoid being pulled down by the undertow of the sinking ship. Gracie survived the harrowing night atop the lifeboat and returned to New York aboard the Carpathia, beginning work on an account of his Titanic experience upon his arrival home. Published shortly after Gracie's death in December 1912 (his health never recovered after the calamity), "The Truth About the Titanic" remains one of the most popular accounts of the sinking for its painstaking detail.