by Noel Callaghan
IT WAS OVER 100 YEARS AGO, MORE THAN 1500 PEOPLE DIED IN THE MOST FAMOUS SHIPWRECK IN HISTORY. TWO OF THE WORLD'S BEST TENNIS PLAYERS
RICHARD WILLIAMS AND KARL
BEHR - SURVIVEDIT WAS OVER 100 YEARS AGO, MORE THAN 1500 PEOPLE DIED IN THE MOST FAMOUS SHIPWRECK IN HISTORY. TWO OF THE WORLD'S BEST TENNIS PLAYERS
On April 10, 1912, with great fanfare, the RMS Titanic began its maiden voyage. The world's largest and most expensive ship at that time pushed off from a pier in Southampton, England, stopped briefly at Cherbourg, France at 6.30pm and leaves at 8.10pm heading to Queenstown, Ireland, and then headed west into the open Atlantic to it's destination - New York City.
Swiss born Richard Norris Williams (known as Dick and a direct descendant of Benjamin Franklin) was 21 when accompanied by his father, an American Attorney, Charles Duane Williams, boarded on their first-class passage in Cherbourg, France on their way to the US to play the summer tennis circuit before commencing College at Harvard in 1912.
Swiss born Richard Norris Williams (known as Dick and a direct descendant of Benjamin Franklin) was 21 when accompanied by his father, an American Attorney, Charles Duane Williams, boarded on their first-class passage in Cherbourg, France on their way to the US to play the summer tennis circuit before commencing College at Harvard in 1912.
The Titanic leaving on her maiden Voyage, April 10, 1912 |
On the train ride to
the ship Dick did a double take when he saw confidant
of Teddy Roosevelt and member of the US Davis Cup team, Karl Behr. They would
not meet each other again on the Titanic.
Behr was a
26-year-old Tennis standout Yale graduate when he boarded the Titanic, but was
in Europe not for tennis, it was in pursuit of his future wife, 19 year old Helen
Newsom. Behr, who had been ranked among the top 10 US players four times, had
also reached the Wimbledon doubles final in 1907.
At
11:40 pm on April 14, 1912, 1,000 or so miles east of Boston and 375 miles south of
Newfoundland, one of the Titanic's crewmen, Frederick Fleet, saw something
protruding from the water, sounded a three-bell alarm and bellowed,
"Iceberg, right ahead!", the
'unsinkable' vessel struck it. (Only 37 seconds passed between the sighting of
the iceberg and hitting it.)
Dick
Williams would later recall that he and his father were initially jolted but
not particularly worried as his father had been involved in a similar incident decades earlier onboard another ship. Likewise, Behr
would write, "to our minds the idea of the Titanic sinking was preposterous."
(pictured left) 26 year old Karl Behr (pictured right) 19 year old Helen Newsom |
1912 illustration of Titanic's collision with the iceberg at 11.40pm on Sunday 14 April |
The
squash court where Williams had spent so much time had started to flood and
more importantly, so had the ship's boiler rooms. passengers started fastening
life belts when they quickly recognized the severity of the situation, Behr was offered the chance by J Bruce Ismay, managing director of the Titanic's owners, to
get out early with Newsom as they boarded lifeboat No. 5 - the second boat to
escape as they needed men to row. Ismay, who also survived, was later
vilified in the press and labelled "Coward of the Titanic" for his
behaviour on the night. Just 700 of the 2,200 passengers and crew survived.
As
the letters of the ship's name on the bow were about to slip underwater, Dick
and his Father decided it was time to abandon ship, as they were saying their
goodbyes, one of the ship's enormous smokestacks came crashing down, Dick
darted out of the way, but his Father Charles was crushed, instantly
killed. Dick jumped into the ocean in 28
degree (below freezing) water when he began to swim for his life.
Williams saw something in the water and swam
to it, it was a collapsible boat that hadn't been assembled, about 30
passengers would cling to it." Nineteen of them would freeze to death. For
as long as three hours Williams waited in the partially submerged lifeboat. He
watched as the body of the Titanic cracked
and the stern belly flopped into the ocean. By 2:45am on April 15 the ship
had sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
lowering lifeboats as seen in 1997 Film "Titanic" directed by James Cameron |
Dick with his Father Charles |
2.45am, April 15 the Titanic sinks to the bottom of the ocean |
Suffering from hypothermia a doctor offered to amputate Williams’ badly frozen purple legs to prevent an onset of gangrene, but Williams rejected the doctor’s recommendation and reportedly said, "I'm going to need these legs". Williams walked up and down the deck in what proved a successful attempt to restore circulation to his aching limbs. It was on the Carpathia that Williams and Behr would finally meet, while Behr helped many survivors, Williams later said that his fellow tennis player had shown him great kindness. The London Independent Newspaper quoted Behr as saying, "Although the sinking of the Titanic was dreadful ... the four days among the sufferers on the Carpathia was much worse and more difficult to forget."
The RMS Carpathia became famous for saving survivors of the Titanic |
706 people in total rescued from 16 lifeboats and also from the sea by RMS Carpathia |
Survivors onboard the Carpathia |
suffering hypothermia Junior Officer Harold McBridge was escorted off Carpathia in New York |
Back then you put things in a [mental] compartment in your mind. You tried not to dwell. You got on with your life and that's what both men did. After arriving in New York, Williams' body healed and within weeks he was back playing tennis. His legs were deeply discolored from his ordeal in the water, but his long pants concealed them when he played. That summer Williams beat a promising local teenager, Bill Tilden - who would go on to become the greatest player of his era. In 1912 he won the mixed doubles at the US Championships and the National Clay Court Singles in his first American season. Williams finished that summer season ranked No. 2 in the US and after a successful freshman year, Williams was chosen for the 1913 US Davis Cup team and was the finalist in the US Championships. By the time Williams graduated, he was amongst the best players in the world.
Bill Tilden, Bill Johnston, Vincent Richards and Dick Williams - 1925 US Davis Cup Team |
Karl Behr highest world ranking no. 3 in 1907 and 1914 |
Dick Williams - highest world ranking no. 2 1916 |
Dick Williams and Hazel Wightman won the 1924 Paris Olympic Gold Medal in the Mixed |
Helen Newsom and Karl Behr in later life |
Following their retirement from tennis, both men made small fortunes as financiers, Williams in Philadelphia and Behr in New York City, where he served on the boards of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and the National Cash Register Company.
The extraordinary life of these two accomplished yet humble gentlmen saw Williams inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1957 and Behr, posthumously, in 1969. Ironically, Williams and Behr never became more than casual friends. It was if getting too close might remind them of something they did not want to remember.
Karl Howell Behr died of cancer at his home on 15 October 1949, aged 64, Helen Monypeny Newsom (Behr) later remarried and died on 7 September 1965 aged 72. Richard Norris Williams died of emphysema on June 2, 1968, aged 77. Arguably, their greatest triumph was surviving history’s most famous shipwreck.