Voices from the Titanic (67 page)

Lady Duff Gordon
disowned the contents of various newspaper articles attributed to her, and, when questioned by the Attorney General, gave her version of events in the emergency lifeboat.

‘Had you heard any orders given?' – ‘As far as I can remember it was to row quickly away from the boat for about 200 yards.'

‘And come back if called upon?' – ‘No. I did not hear that.'

‘Before she sank, did you hear the men saying anything in the boat?' – ‘No.'

‘Did you hear anything said about suction?' – ‘Well, perhaps I may have heard it, but I was terribly sick, and I could not swear to it.'

‘I am asking you about something which I understood you have said quite recently, something which I only know from your statement to your solicitor. Did you hear a voice say, “Let us get away”?' – ‘Yes, I think so.'

‘Did you hear it said, “It is such an enormous boat; none of us know what the suction may be if she is a goner”? ‘ – ‘Yes, I heard them speaking of the enormous boat. It was the word “suction” I was not sure of.'

‘Did you hear a proposal made that you should go back to where the
Titanic
was sunk?' – ‘No.'

‘Did you hear anybody shout out in the boat that you ought to go back?' – ‘No.'

‘With the object of saving people who were in the
Titanic
?' – ‘No.'

‘You knew there were people in the
Titanic
, did you not?' – ‘No. I did not think so. I did not think I was thinking anything about it.'

‘Did you say that it would be dangerous to go back, that you might get swamped?' – ‘No.'

(British Inquiry, 20 May 1912)

Mr Charles Herbert Lightoller, the
Titanic
's Second Officer, who was on the bridge from 6 o'clock until 10 on the night of the disaster, began his evidence at the inquiry yesterday.

Mr Lightoller, who is the senior surviving officer, dived from the ship as it was sinking. He was twice sucked under the water, and saved himself by clinging to an upturned collapsible boat.

He told the Court that the night was clear, and an extra lookout was not required. Throughout her voyage the ship had been making her normal speed of 21½ knots.

The Solicitor General: ‘At 21 knots the ship travelled 700 yards a minute?' – ‘Yes.'

‘Was it your view you could see a ‘growler' at a safe distance?' – ‘Yes, I could see a ‘growler' at a mile and a half or probably two miles.'

Lord Mersey: ‘Is this leading to a suggestion that the lookout men were to blame?' Mr Lightoller: ‘Not at all.'

The officer then explained to the Court that with a slight swell (or a slight breeze) there was a phosphorescent line round an iceberg. That night there was no swell to be seen. It was the first time in 24 years' experience that he had seen an absolutely flat sea.

Mr Lightoller said it was not his experience that the temperature fell as large bodies of ice were approached. It might even go up, he said. He then described, as far as he could remember, a conversation he had with Captain Smith on the bridge about 9 o'clock.

‘I said something about its being rather a pity a breeze did not get up, as we were going through the ice region. He would know what I meant. I was referring to the breeze making the waves break on the side of the berg.'

Mr Lightoller continued: ‘We then discussed the indications of ice. I remember saying there would probably be in any case a certain amount of reflected light from the berg. He said: “Oh, yes, there will be a certain amount of reflected light.” He said probably even if the blue side of the berg was turned towards us the white outline would give us sufficient warning. He said: “We shall be able to see it at a good distance.” '

Lord Mersey: ‘Then you had both made up your minds at this time that you were about to encounter icebergs?' – ‘Not necessarily. We discussed it as a natural precaution.'

Mr Lightoller said that Captain Smith was with him on the bridge until nearly 9.30. There was no discussion at all as to reduction of speed. As he left the bridge Captain Smith said: ‘If it becomes at all doubtful call me at once. I'll be just inside.' That, the officer said, had reference to the risk of ice. Mr Lightoller said he sent a message to the crow's nest shortly after the captain had left him telling the men to keep a sharp lookout for ice, especially ‘growlers'.

Asked what his view was as to the usefulness of glasses at night in detecting ice, he said that it was rather difficult to say. He should naturally think that glasses would be helpful. He himself had never seen ice through his glasses first. As a rule he preferred to rely on the naked eye.

(
Daily Sketch
, 21 May 1912)

A mystery of wireless warnings about ice occupied the attention of the Titanic Court of Inquiry yesterday. The question raised was whether the
Titanic
received all the warnings, and, if so, what was done with them.

To assist the Court the positions of ice reported in these messages have been marked on a chart, and an oblong enclosing them has been described on it. It was within the oblong that the ship sank.

The Court's attention was chiefly directed to two messages, sent from the
Amerika
and the
Mesaba
respectively. Both were sent on the Sunday, and the Solicitor General has stated that the
Mesaba
's message was sent about two hours before the collision.

Second Officer Lightoller, who was on the bridge from 6 o'clock till 10 on the Sunday night, and Fourth Officer Boxhall said they knew nothing of these two messages. Lightoller said that had such a message as that from the
Mesaba
been received by the officers he had no doubt that the
Mesaba
would have been communicated with immediately.

Mr Turnbull, deputy manager of the Marconi Company, gave evidence to show that the message from the
Amerika
was sent to Cape Race through the
Titanic
.

This message, which reported the position of two large icebergs, was addressed to the Hydrographic Office at Washington. Mr Turnbull said that, though in the ordinary course a message passed on was regarded as private, it was the practice that messages important to navigation should be communicated to the captain.

The message from the
Mesaba
reported pack ice and a great number of bergs in latitude 42 to 41.25, longitude 49 to 50.30. (According to Fourth Officer Boxhall, who worked out the position, the
Titanic
struck the iceberg at lat. 41.46 long. 50.14.) At the bottom of the message, said Mr Turnbull, there was an entry to the effect that a reply was received from the
Titanic
operator. It was not the answer of the captain.

At this point Lord Mersey said: ‘I am very anxious to know exactly what knowledge can be traced to Captain Smith. That is my anxiety.' Later he remarked: ‘This message seems to me to justify the allegation made by the Solicitor General that the
Titanic
must have known of the presence of ice in the oblong.'

Sir Robert Finlay (for the White Star Line): ‘It comes to this, of course, that the operator of the
Titanic
who received this message would know of it. I think it must have been Phillips. He has gone, of course, and it does not carry it a step further towards showing that the captain or any of the officers knew of it.'

Lord Mersey: ‘It would be a very extraordinary thing if a man in the Marconi room did not communicate a telegram of this kind to the captain.'

Harold Bride, the junior operator on the
Titanic
, said that the only message he took about ice was one from the
Californian
. It was received on the Sunday afternoon, and it stated that the
Californian
had passed three large icebergs.

Bride said he overheard the message as it was being sent to the
Baltic
. Before that the
Californian
had called him up with the same message, but he could not take it then because he was busy making up accounts. Bride delivered the message to an officer on the bridge.

Bride described how Phillips sent out the distress calls after the collision, and said that the last time he went to the wireless room a man who was dressed like a stoker was trying to take off Phillips's lifebelt. ‘We stopped him,' said Bride.

Mr Lewis (for the Seafarers' Union): ‘You are supposed to have hit him?' – ‘Well, I held him and Phillips hit him.'

Mr Lewis: ‘That is rather different from what I read. Are you positive of this?' – ‘Yes.'

‘You are not likely to see him again,' Bride added.

(
Daily Sketch
, 24 May 1912)

Some startling evidence was sprung upon the Titanic Commission yesterday by the Right Hon. A. M. Carlisle, who until 1910 was chairman of managing directors and general manager of works for Harland and Wolff, the builders.

He said that plans were worked out and submitted to the White Star Company providing for four boats under each set of davits on the
Titanic
and
Olympic
.

Mr Carlisle said he considered there were not enough boats on the
Titanic
. Before she sailed he told the Merchant Shipping Act Committee (appointed by the Board of Trade), of which he was a member, that she was inefficiently boated. She should have had at least forty-eight lifeboats on board instead of sixteen.

Mr Carlisle said he took the plans with him to the committee meeting at the Board of Trade offices.

Lord Mersey said that the Court would procure the minutes of the committee's meetings.

Mr Carlisle was closely questioned as to two interviews that took place between representatives of the White Star Line.

Asked who was present when plans showing facilities for increased boat accommodation were submitted, Mr Carlisle named Mr Bruce Ismay and Mr Sanderson, the manager of the White Star Line. He could not say whether Mr Sanderson realized what the plan was, as he did not speak.

Mr Carlisle continued, ‘I came especially from Belfast in October 1909, with those plans, and also the decorations, and Mr Ismay and Mr Sanderson, Lord Pirrie, and myself spent about four hours together.

‘I showed them the plans,' Mr Carlisle went on, ‘and said it would put them to no expense or trouble in case the Board of Trade came on them to do anything at the last minute.'

Mr Carlisle replied that the builders had a very free hand, but he did not think they could possibly have supplied any more boats for the ship without getting the sanction of the White Star Line.

‘Did you try?' – ‘You must remember I retired before the ship was launched.'

In reply to further questions Mr Carlisle said he was a party to the Board of Trade's Advisory Committee's report last year, the recommendations in which required a less boating capacity than there was on the
Titanic
. He was asked to join the committee two days before it finished its report, and when it had come to certain conclusions he did not consider them satisfactory, and told the committee so. But he signed the report.

Mr Carlisle said, ‘I am not usually soft, but I must have been soft when I signed that.'

(
Daily Sketch
, 11 June 1912)

There were about 200 people present during the reading of the Titanic Report yesterday by Lord Mersey who occupied two and a half hours in his task. An hour and forty minutes after he had started Lord Mersey touched upon what was one of the most serious phases of the inquiry. Did the
Californian
see the
Titanic
after the latter had struck the iceberg? His voice hardened when, after referring to the rockets seen by the
Californian
, he said in clear, even tones that the ship seen by the
Californian
was the
Titanic
, and that the former could have gone to the rescue without serious risk, and that had she done so she might have saved all the lives. In his speech Lord Mersey gave a history of the action of the Board of Trade in relation to the provision of boat accommodation on emigrant ships and added:

‘The outstanding circumstance in it is the omission, during so many years, to revise the rules of 1894, and this, I think, was blameable. I am, however, doubtful whether even if the rules had been revised, the change would have been such as to have required boat accommodation which would have increased the number of lives saved.'

Referring to the first ice message, Lord Mersey recalled that the master handed the message to Mr Ismay almost immediately after it was received. Mr Ismay showed this message to two ladies, and it was therefore probable that many persons on board became aware of its contents. The message ought to have been put in the chart-room as soon as it was received. ‘I think it was irregular for the master to part with the document,' said Lord Mersey, ‘and improper for Mr Ismay to retain it, but the incident had, in my opinion, no connection with or influence upon the manner in which the vessel was navigated by the master.'