Richard Henry Moores was a Greaser on the Titanic.
Background[]
Richard Henry Moores’ life started in March 1868, a youngling which was the result of the love between Charles Moores and Harriett Batten. Harriett had already kindled an elder sister in Islington, Middlesex, in 1863, called either Harriett or Kate. Perhaps her name was changed later.
Harriett was brought into the world in Hampshire and so was Charles, who was a boiler feeder on vessels. Their life contract was actually made after the arrival of Kate, in 1867. On October 3rd, Richard Henry Moores was immersed by the Saint Luke’s Church. Richard would also have a brother since 1871, also named Charles. They didn’t have their own whare. They needed to hand over periodic cash for their stay at a local condo in Saint Mary’s, Southampton.
In 1881, another part of Southampton, this time in the parish of Millbrook, held the family as residents and Richard had meanwhile finished being lectured. He went on to make rooftiles as his moil, just a teenager. He may have lied about his age when he took the job. In 1885, Charles senior had gone into another world. He only reached 41 years of age.
Mother Harriett’s next years are a blur. The lady of the house was supposed to have found a new suitor to walk to the aisle with, but any detail is missing. Her further life is a blank page.
In July 1892, Richard was to be groomed into the bidie-in of Annie Elizabeth Bailey in Southampton, with her also being rooted here. No scions came into their view since.
In 1908, Richard suffered a similar sorrow as his mother and was deprived of his missus through death, with her only being 37. He gave Annie a place in the Southampton Old Cemetery.
In 1911, a Mr Frank John Glanville had been kind of enough to supply Richard with a quarter in his own pad, while already having family living here. Richard did stoking duties onboard vessels at that time.
Titanic[]
His address remained the same in 1912, when he solicited for the post of Greaser on the tremendous Titanic, given a mythical name for its size in April 6. He got accepted for the position on April 6, in Southampton. At least once, in recent times, he had met her sister, the Olympic. The Greasers on the Titanic had an important role. They slathered the machinery of the Engine Rooms with , keeping the friction-sensitive parts slippery. They answered to the Engineers and would also function as mechanics and repair a few bits and pieces. Their payment was not bad.
When we look at the Deck Plans of the gargantuan ship, we can see that the Greaser cabins were on G-Deck starboard, in the bow. Moores would be housed there. Big plumes came from three of the four aesthetic chimneys on the sumptuous levithian, which was set into motion. It was April 10 and Southampton was livened up with her graceful stature and now, her sound and smoke could be smelt, felt and heard.
The sea was static during the voyage. This had a reassuring effect on the Titanic’s crew, but perhaps they got a bit more comfortable than should be. The ship really invited such an attitude as she rode the waves beautiful and was very stable.
On April 14, Her captain and company owner were also getting comfortable with her fleetness, which wasn’t bad considering that she was using less coal than her biggest rivals and outdid them in size by 15,000 tons. In the perspective of the two lookouts, an iceberg showed up out of the blue, or out of the dark, rather. The horizon had covered it treaterously and this became Titanic’s kismet.
The men would later testify that this berg was white, but at the moment, all that mattered was getting out of its way. With her weight of over a million tons, this iceberg was only the tip and was not an object that could be stopped or moved so easily. Titanic was going to crumple her stem if they didn’t proceed to warn the bridge. The bridge was briefed quickly and altered Titanic’s course. They turned her to portside and let her Engines go
Whether Richard was on watch or not, is not a given. But they had to work fast. Time was up when Titanic’s bow started to skew on her axis. The starboard side was angled but got writhed by the ice underneath the waterline. Water splushed in with the tons and clouded the Boiler Rooms in a quick sprinkle and spray, surprsing the Firemen down there. Cargo holds were taking on water too.
The Captain had been asleep but was wide awake as soon as he sensed the ice poking into Titanic’s hull. It was not a minute later that the First Officer, who had ordered the commands to elude the iceberg, saw him there and responded to the captain’s question on what had befallen them.
The Captain had an apprehension, with good reason. The carpenter had to check the lowest part of the hull for him and he also sent his Fourth Officer down. The latter somehow hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary, but one of the mailmen, who sorted the post chamber, did. There was a leak and the bags with mail were floating and being recovered to higher decks.
This insight led Captain Smith to inquire deeper into the ramifactions. He also had a peek at the mess far below by himself. Thomas Andrews, the shipbuilder, could not relieve his anxiety. He had combed over the sinking at the stricken holds too. On April 15, midnight, his verdict had come: The Titanic’s brand new safety feature, a set of 16 compartments that could have the first forward ones flooded, but by chance, the iceberg had managed to open 5, with only very tiny tears. The tears had led to tears, which flowed in every second.
An hour, or two atmost, had been given to them to do the only job that should be done. Get as many lives off board. There were 20 lifeboats onboard. Not enough. At 12:05 A.M, the crew began preparing them for receiving passengers.
The time wasn’t used well. The passengers had been ill-informed, many were cushioned by the belief that Titanic was unsinkable and the women with their children had to be seperated from the men, at least on one side. The lowering process took too long, the filling process as well and their was confusion on where to lower it. Loading doors were opened and closed, as were the windows on A-Deck. It was a mess, which lasted well over 2 hours.
At 2:05 A.M, a group of people all were scrambling through eachother to get the last two boats into the water, which by then had reached the bridge. The bridge overflowed with water on a few moments later and everyone was tossed out of those two boats, with one not folded out and another turned upside down.
The Titanic set about sailing into the world below the surface and made everyone aware that she had not long to live. Ever faster, her Boat Deck was more induated and the water reached afterwards, while she tilted more as well. One of her funnels was toppled while the boats drifted off. The retral quarters were visible as a whole, still lit and bright, but the light colored more of a red shade. Some of the Greasers, Firemen and other Engineering Crew had realised this. There were many that stuck around to ensure a safe evacuation. Needless to say, they were all lost.
Four Greasers could later tell a story, but not Richard. As Titanic’s death set in, her heavier caboose struggled against the bow part that had been filled up. It was stretching far above the surface aiming at the sky. People were sliding off the deck everywhere and they ended up in the water. They were with more than a 1000, only a 675 or more had found a lifeboat.
With a sound like thunder, a mid section of the ship was rended and her hindpart was chopped up, seconds after all of the ship’s lights were out. The forward end was gone in seconds and the aft lasted 2 minutes. With Titanic gone from underneath them, over 1400 people were wrestling to withstand the inclement nature of the water reaching below zero in Celsius, which they couldn’t. In total, 1503 were sent to their deaths by this tragic incident, including Richard.
Only symbolically, Richard could be reunited with his Annie, as most bodies vanished into the Atlantic and so did his. His name was carved on her tombstone. One could only imagine if he would have been thinking of her as the clock struck 2:20 A.M on that night.