William Thomas Bott was a Greaser on the Titanic.
Background[]
William Thomas Bott’s roots were planted in Southampton, where he sprang from the love between the pair of William Bott and Elizabeth Morgan on February 6, 1866. The father that gave him his own name, was a man that worked as a mechanic on ship machinery and had his childhood in Nottinghamshire. His wife, who was from the Southampton region, had officially unified with him there, in 1862.
They let their son be aspersed by the Saint Mary Church in 1869. Their parenthood started with a girl, Margaret Elizabeth, in 1862. Her sister showed up in 1864 and was given the name Mary Jane. Mary Jane preceeded Lucy, who surfaced in 1868. William was surrounded by sisters only, with his youngest one appearing in 1871: Emma Louisa. Emma however was predestinated to only make it into the next year.
Another big loss would be William senior, whose life came to a close in 1875. In 1881, the remainder of the Botts were at a different house, but in the same street. Elizabeth was a sticher, while William was recorded as a clothier’s equerry. He took an interest in Plymouth’s Royal Marine department and believed he was fit for the Light Infranty but what became of it, is a stab in the dark.
In William made his promises to a Shirley girl Mary Ann Wheeler on August 16, 1890. Everyone named her ‘Maud’. The connubiality would not be a happy one. Just short of one year, he abdicated her and the tribunal was very displeased with his actions. He had another address while doing his sea jobs, with Maud as a hotel maid in Southampton. He was subpoenaed for not keeping in check with his wife, refraining of the responsiblity of providing for her and not being the life line she needed. Maud testified that he had waded from her side since November, but Mr. Bott refused the allegations. He even stated that he wished to conjoin with her from now on.
A light was casted on this case by the Southern Echo on September 18, 1891 and the story popped up once again in the Hampshire Advertiser by March 1892. How it all ended is very obscure, but a daugther had entered the picture in 1897. Ruefully, life eluded her. Their only child was ripped out existance that same year, carrying the name Agathy Dorothy. This year also saw Maud going to the altogether.
By 1901, William paid rent for accomodation smowhere in Southampton, with the offical records showing signs that he was alone but William himself experessed that he was espoused. He had procured a daily grind, as he made his earnings as an assembler of cleats for the ship industry.
In 1911, he had a home of his own, was also giving a roof to a Julia Chamberlain, who may have acted as his skivvy in trade for. She also had a daughter May, who may not have been her natural child, but she had a spouse. This man was not William, who potentially was often abscent to fuel the fires of some steampacket boat. William had another guest who paid him to use part of his house. Maud wouldn’t be seen anywhere. How things turned out for her, is another case.
Titanic[]
After a stint on the RMS Olympic, Bott secured a post as Greaser on the sister ship of this fine, large vessel, in Southampton. He was confirmed on the 6th of April. Her name was Titanic and she was just as big and beautiful. The liner was fresh from being approved and would be introduced to the open sea for the first time, with her first transatlantic goal being New York. At the time, Bott was 46.
The whole of Southampton could probably hear her pipe whistles probably as Titanic came under steam on the 10th of April while gathering her passengers and additional crew. Bott would be a helping hand in the Turbine Room and the Reciprocating Engine Room for this passage. He was hired to anoint the hub caps of the engines and perform other small tasks, should an Engineer request so.
Titanic made good ground over the course of a few days, but then she met an iceberg on the 14th of April, late at night. It is now believed that her lookouts were tricked by a mirage that made the horizon seem higher than it was while conceiling the dark mass that was the tip of the berg. The surface was also without dimples surrounding the base of the tip and the moon wasn’t showing either. The lookouts were face to face with the dangerous mass and sounded the bell to alarm the bridge and drew their attention. One of the watchmen made connection with the Sixth Officer. At the same time, The First Officer William Murdoch had laid eyes on the closing frozen heap that was estimated to be larger than the height of Titanic’s top deck. The man’s directive was for the helmsman to shift to utmost port immediately. While the quartermaster threw the wheel around, Murdoch moved the telegraph to ‘Full Astern’. The relay of this message meant that the Engineering Crew was going to stop the engines and then reverse them.
There is not anything pointing of when Bott was on duty, but if he was, he would have witnessed the crew hurrying to get Titanic grinded to a halt. There was no time for that however. As Titanic finally made the jolt to the left, her lowest part of the starboard side was already grinding against the iceberg.
Titanic’s steel plates were slightly slashed and pressed inwards. The creaks that where formed due to this process, caused sea water to ooze into the lowest holds and two Boiler Rooms saw a stream of water come down. The lacerations weren’t big but they were spread over a good length, which made the water seep into 6 compartments at a perilous speed.
By midnight, April 15, the commander as well as naval architect Thomas Andrews had covered their scrutiny on the depth of water inside the ship’s forward holds and stoke places. Thomas Andrews eluded to the fact that Titanic’s design was shaped with no such a large sideswipe impact in mind. The weight of the water in the bow would bring the giant down. They had to hurry as this would take 2 hours at best, as was Andrews’ prediction.
Captain Smith commissioned an evacuation by calling up his men and prompting them to mobilize the lifeboats.
It was sometime after 2:00 A.M when Titanic’s trim had gotten to a crucial point and her slump to the cold sea had become ever more apparent. She made a lurch forward when the water was exploring the wheelhouse. Two lifeboats were still waiting for the launch after the tough task of getting them of a roof was finally fulfilled. The people standing around the boats were soon wading through a couple of feet of water.
Everyone could now realise Titanic could not keep her head above the surface. Her plunge made a wave going further after her front ploughed ever deeper at quite a large slant. Her propellors were ever more clear of the water and at 2:18 A.M, they had taken a large distance from the surface below. The violent forces played their part when the stricken ship lost all of her electricity. The dark hull then. Her heavy engine was furter aft. The weight of both the flooded bow part and the two tore onto the ship, which was obviously not that flexible that it would survive these extremities. The ship’s back part untied itself from her forward end and the decks were busted up badly. Two minutes later, all of Titanic was now owned by the sea.
William Thomas Bott was a man condemned to the realm of the departing, along with 1500 other, unfortunate souls when Titanic sank. There were valiant men among the Engineering Crew that stuck to their guns and tried all they could to stabilise their ship, including some Greasers. There were only 4 of them left when rescue had come hours later.
The way that Bott deceased is not something that has enough evidence to even imagine. His activities during the last hours had gone down the ship. His body also had gone into the depths before there were other ships that brought some of Titanic’s bodies onboard.
For most it was the gelid sea that forced the life out of them. This usually ranged from 20 to 45 minutes. For others, it was the shock when they came into contact with the freezing waters.