This is Bob Myers from the Historical Society of Michigan with a Michigan history moment. In 1912, the white starliner RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic. More than 1500 people lost their lives. Dozens of Michigan residents were aboard. Some survived. Many did not. In Washington, Michigan Senator William Alden Smith of Grand Rapids asked what the United States government planned to do. The answer, not much. When the rescue ship Carpathia docked in New York, the Titanic's crew would return to England, and that was that. But the public wanted answers. Had third class passengers been kept from the lifeboats? How had White Star's managing director, J. Bruce Ismay, managed to survive when so many passengers drowned? Why did the wireless operators on the Carpathia ignore desperate queries, even from President Taft? Smith took action. A friend, Sheriff Joe Bayless from Sault Ste. Marie, was in Washington on business. Smith asked him where he was going. Back to the Sioux, said Bayless. No, you're not, said the senator. Smith deputized Bayless. And when the Carpathia docked in New York, Bayless slapped subpoenas on Ismay, the Titanic's officers and her crew. On April 19, just four days after Titanic sank, Senator Smith opened the US inquiry. It was held in New York City's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. For 18 days, Smith and his committee probed for answers. Their questions eventually revealed the truth. No third class passengers had not been kept from lifeboats, but they had little assistance in reaching them. The Titanic was not trying to break a speed record, but she did steam into an ice field at nearly full speed. Wireless operators paid more attention to passengers messages than ice warnings. The Titanic carried more lifeboats than regulations required, but not nearly enough for everyone on board. Some people who attended the hearings ridiculed Senator Smith's apparent ignorance of the maritime world. When he asked fifth officer Harold Lowe, do you know what an iceberg is composed of? Lowe had replied, ice, I suppose, sir. But Smith had learned that icebergs also contained rock and dirt. Other questions originated with victims families. Smith already knew the answers, but he needed to ask the questions in a hearing and have them answered publicly. Victims families wanted to know. Out of Smith's hearings came new laws still in effect today. Ships would have to carry lifeboats for everyone on board. Ice patrols would locate icebergs and wireless operators would thereafter comply with strict rules. William Alden Smith served in the Senate until 1919. He died that same year. The hamlet of Alden, Michigan, near Traverse City bears his. This Michigan history moment was brought to you by michiganhistorymagazine.org.