Down Amongst the Black Gang

The World and Workplace of RMS Titanic's Stokers

One of the first works to look inside the powerhouse of Titanic-era ships—the manpower that generated the horsepower, including a list of the ship's "black gang" and their fatesDown in the fiery belly of the luxury liners of the Titanic era, a world away from the first-class dining rooms and sedate tours of the deck, toiled the "black gang." Their work was grueling and hot, and this book introduces the reader to the dimly lit world and workplace of Titanic's stokers. It begins with a journey around some of the major elements of machinery that one might encounter in the giant ships' engine and boiler rooms, sure to sat those with technical minds, yet in an accessible style that will aid the lay reader's understanding. The human side of working for the Titanic and her contemporaries is also involved in an exploration of stokers' duties, environment, and conditions: what it was like to be one of the "black gang."