Did J. Bruce Ismay ask Captain Smith to set a new speed record across the Atlantic?
In scene 74, Cameron suggests that Ismay pushed Captain Smith into increasing the speed of the Titanic so that the ship could arrive in New York on Tuesday night instead of Wednesday morning. In his interrogation by White Star Line, Ismay denied this: “Sir Robert Finley: Have you ever, on any occasion, attempted to interfere with the navigation of the vessel on any of these occasions? Mr. Ismay: No.” (Gracie, p. 262) Commander Lightoller agreed with Ismay in this regard: “We were not out to make a record passage; in fact the White Star Line invariably run their ships at reduced speed for the first few voyages. It tells in the long run, for the engines of a ship are very little different from the engines of a good car, they must be run in. Take the case of the Oceanic [Note: another ship of the White Star Line]. She steadily increased her speed from 19.5 knots in her early days to 21.5 when she was twelve years old. It has often been said that had not the Titanic been trying to make a p
