Gleanings from the Testimony
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO be very knowledgeable about the Titanic without studying the official records of the American and British investigations. This is no easy task. There are 181 witnesses and 2,111 pages of testimony. Some of it is ambiguous, inconsistent, and even contradictory.
Here is an attempt to sift the opinions of various witnesses on several of the more controversial points. After each witness’s name, source is indicated by page number in the Senate hearings and by question number in the British proceedings. These gleanings may prove useful, if only because they show how hard it is to corner that elusive quarry, the truth….
Weather at time of collision
“Perfectly clear…you could almost see the stars set.” (Boxhall, US 224, 231, 256) “Perfectly clear” (Boxhall, Br 15338-15340).
Very clear…“we could see the stars setting.” (Lightoller, US 68). Perfectly clear and fine (Lightoller, Br 13523, 13528, 14194, 14196)
Fine night (Rowe, Br 17602)
“There was a haze right ahead…a haze on the water.” (Lee, Br 2401-2408)
Haze “nothing to talk about” (Fleet, Br 17253, 17266-17268, 17271, 17253, 17390, 17393)
Clear, starlit (Hitchens, Br 1191)
“We could not have wished for better weather.” (Lucas, Br 1405)
“Grand” (Poingdestre, Br 2780)
Haze (Shivers, Br 4700)
“A very clear night” (Symons, Br 11984)
“A beautiful night…a dark night, but starlight” (Peuchen, US 350)
The iceberg
Round and had one big point sticking up on one side of it, about 100’ high. (Osman, US 539)
When first sighted, berg looked about as large as two tables put together, but kept getting larger as ship approached. When alongside, a little higher than forecastle head, which is about 50’ above water (Fleet, US 320)….Just a little bit higher than the forecastle head, but not as high as the crow’s nest (Fleet, Br 17277, 17304-14)
Berg roughly 100’ high (Rowe, US 521)
Looked like Rock of Gibraltar from Europe Point, “only much smaller.” (Scarrott, Br 361-362)
Looked like a large black object, “much higher” than B Deck. (Crawford, US 842-843)
Berg about the height of the Boat Deck; if anything just a little higher. Top was pointed. (Olliver, US 527)
Higher than the forecastle (Lee, Br 2439)
Movements of ship after collision
—In engine room. Immediately after collision engine room telegraph signaled “STOP…10-15 minutes, then “slow ahead”…10 minutes, then “STOP”…4-5 minutes, then “slow astern”…5 minutes, then “STOP.” “I do not think the telegraph went after that.” (Scott, Br 5609-5626, 5807-5809, 5836)
—Coming on bridge right after collision, heard orders given to put helm hard aport. By this time iceberg astern. Shortly afterward Captain telegraphed half-speed ahead. Doesn’t know whether engines were stopped or astern at time, but ship “almost stopped” when he did it. (Olliver, US 527-528, 531-532)
—On bridge. Murdoch to Smith immediately after collision: “I put hard astarboard and ran the engines full astern, but it was too close; she hit it…I intended to port around it, but she hit before I could do any more.” On reaching bridge right after impact, notices engine room telegraphs indicate “Full speed astern.” (Boxhall, US 229-230; Br 15346-15355, 15505)
—On deck immediately after collision. Berg abaft the starboard beam, less than ship’s length away. Ship seemed to be under port helm, stern slewing off berg, now going to starboard around it. (Scarrott, Br 351-356)
—In Boiler Room 6. Immediately after crash, telegraph went to “STOP.” Orders passed, “Shut the dampers.” Then watertight doors dropped. Doors closed “less than 5 minutes” after bridge signaled to stop engines. (Beauchamp, Br 664-668A)
—On bridge. Just before ship struck, ordered to put helm “hard astarboard.” Turned wheel and ship had swung about two points when she struck. At same time order hard astarboard given, Murdoch signals engine room, presumably “Stop. Full speed astern.” Ship never under port helm. (Hitchens, Br 948-993, 1314-1316) Ordered to put the helm “hard astarboard.” Does so immediately, with crash coming almost at same time. Only order given before collision (Hitchens, US 450, 456)
—First Class stateroom. Impact. Then engines stop. Two or 3 minutes, and then they start again, but very slightly. (Stengel, US 974-975)
—In electric workshop, E Deck. Feels slight jar…2 minutes later looks around and sees turbine engine has stopped. (Ranger, Br 3997-4002)
—In Boiler Room 6. Signal light flashed red, meaning stop. Calls to shut the dampers. Then crash, before all dampers shut (Barrett, Br 1860-1867)
—In engine room. Telegraph rang shortly before crash—maybe 2 seconds—then crash and about a minute and a half later engines stopped. Another half-minute and engines go slow astern. Go slow astern about 2 minutes, then stop again. Then ahead for about 2 minutes, then stop for good. Watertight doors closed about 3 minutes after collision. (Dillon, Br 3715-3729, 3736)
—Steward’s quarters. Awakened by stopping of engines. Felt no shock before that. Then felt engines going full speed astern and at same time heard warning bells for watertight doors. (Rule, Br 9752-9760)
Light seen from the Titanic
Nothing sighted from crow’s nest before collision. (Lee, Br 2419-2420; Fleet, US 328, 358)
Moving. First sighted shortly after collision, just as men beginning to turn out the boats. Went to bridge and took a look before going to wireless room with position. Saw “a four-masted steamer” almost dead ahead, 5 or 6 miles. Seemed to be approaching; saw mast lights, then red side light. Later seemed to turn around “very, very slowly” and head away. (Boxhall, US 235-236, 909-910; Br 15385-15409)
First sighted “when we were turning out the boats.” (Buley, US 612)
Saw only one light, that while getting the boats out, two points off the port bow. (Lightoller, US 448-449)
Lay to north and Titanic pointed east at the time Boat 6 was lowered. (Peuchen US 346)
A single light, off the port bow while boats were being loaded. Thinks it may have been 6 miles. (Gracie, US 990)
To the north (Hart, Br 10268)
Apparently to north. Titanic’s stern was swinging south, making bow face north, and light was half a point on port bow, about 5 miles away. (Rowe, Br 17669-17674)
Apparently to north, judging from Boat 3’s experiences with ice (Moore, US 564)
Apparently to the north—No. 8 had to “turn around” to go to Carpathia. (Crawford, US 827; Br 18002, 18087; Jones, US 570)…So did No. 11 (Wheelton, US 544)…So did No. 16 (Archer, US 648)…So did Collapsible C (Rowe, US 520)
Two masthead lights bearing north on starboard bow (Hart, Br 10264-74)
Saw faint red side light and steaming light abeam starboard side of ship—8 or 9 miles off, “right on horizon.” But did not see it until after Collapsible D was launched. “Light went farther away every time we looked at it.” (Lucas, Br 1566-1585, 1800-1806)
Stationary (Rowe, US 524; Pitman, US 295, 307; Crawford, US 827, 828; Buley, US 611, 612; Fleet, US 358-359; Lightoller, Br 14149)
There all night. As seen from Boat 3 (Moore, US565)….From Boat 6 (Fleet, US 359)….From Boat 8 (Jones, US 570; Crawford, US 114, 827, 828; Br 17854, 17856, 17867-69, 17997, 18001-03, 18010, 18017, 18069)….From Boat 11 (Wheelton, US 544)….From Boat 16 (Archer, US 648)….From Collapsible C (Rowe, US 520, 524; Ismay, Br 18577-98)
Suggests light he saw may not have been same light others saw off port bow. (Ismay, Br 18577-98)
Always seemed about the same distance away. (Rowe, Br 17666)
No. 11 rows for light “about two hours” (Mackay, Br 10809)…pulled for light till daybreak. (Wheelton, US 544)
Collapsible C. Pulled for light till wind sprang up “toward daylight.” (Rowe, US 524)
No. 3.“Kept pulling for it until daylight.” (Moore, US 565)
; Saw it for 20 minutes off the port bow, 8-10 miles away. (Johnson, Br 3482-3486)
Moving. While loading No. 6, saw light 2 points on port bow about 5 miles away. “Surmised it to be a steamboat.” Ordered to steer for it, but could get no closer. “Light was moving, gradually disappearing.” (Hitchens, Br 1161-1184, 1338-1339) At U.S. Inquiry, said he thought it was a fishing schooner. (Hitchins, Br 1338)
Saw white light on port bow about time No. 6 was being lowered. Definitely a ship, but could not tell whether sail or steamer. (Fleet, Br 17428-35, 17453-56)
Moving. Boat 2 saw light for about an hour. Thought it was a Cape Codder that sailed away. (Osman, US 538)
Looked like a sailing ship. (Bright, US 536)
Single white light point and a half on port bow, 5-10 miles away—couldn’t tell what it was—just a vessel— later thought it was a cod-bankman or fishing vessel. (Symons, Br 11468-78)
While readying No. 1, hears a ship has been sighted on port bow, glances over, sees 2 mastheads and red light of a steamer. (Lowe, Br 15825-26)
Before No. 1 lowered, saw bright light “5 or 6 miles ahead of us.” Didn’t see it after boat lowered. (Hendrickson, Br 11072-11076)
No. 9. Saw red light, then red and white, then red disappears, leaving just white. Thinks it’s port light of a steamer 7-8 miles away. Both lights disappear, but 10-15 minutes later sees a white light again, same direction. (Wynn, Br. 13336-51)
Rockets
—Rockets, in general: “Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea,” Article 31, No. 3, defines distress signals at night: “Rockets or shells, throwing stars of any color or description….” (Hitchens, Br 1199)
—Description of Titanic’s rockets (Wilding, Br 20575-20577; Boxhall, Br 15394-15400; Lightoller, Br 14150-14155; 14168-14172)
—Unmistakably signals of distress; not like company signals at all (Lightoller, Br 14150-14155; 14168-14172)
—Discussion of sound (Pitman, US 294; Lightoller, Br 14155)
—About 12:25 Rowe and Bright ordered to bring detonators to bridge for firing distress signals. (Rowe, US 519; Bright, US 832)
—Assisted in firing of rockets from 12:45 to about 1:25 (Rowe, Br 17684)
—Helped fire rockets till about 1:25, then ordered by Captain Smith to stop and help man Collapsible C. (Rowe, US 519)
—Boats 7 and 5 launched before first rockets. (Pitman, US 289, 293, 307)
—First went off between loading of Boats 5 and 3. (Lowe, US 401)
—Rockets began going up as No. 3 lowered (Duff
Gordon, Br 12496)….First rocket went off while loading No. 3. (Lowe, US 401)
—Watched them from No. 5. (Pitman, Br 15066; Crosby, US 1145)
—Going off before No. 6 left, and continued half an hour after boat left ship. (Hitchens, Br 1195-1197, 1201, 1207)
—Still going up after Boat 6 launched. (Fleet, US 328)
—Watched from Boat 6. (Hitchens, Br 1195-1208)
—Going up after No. 8 pulled away, also Morse lamp. (Crawford, Br 17972)
—Going off while No. 1 cleared and prepared for lowering. (Hendrickson, Br 4997, 5006; Boxhall, US 239)
—Still going up as No. 1 loaded and lowered. Fired one after No. 1 lowered. (Boxhall, US 239)
—While loading No. 1: “Incessantly going off… nearly deafening me.” (Lowe, US 401)
—Going up before Boat 13 lowered and watched from Boat 13 after afloat. (Lee, Br 2582-2583, 2680)
—Going up as No. 15 left. (Hart, Br 10103)
—Watched from Boat 12. (Poingdestre, Br 3099-3100)
—Continued firing until ordered into Boat 2. (Boxhall, US 237)
—Thinks they were seen by Californian. (Ismay, Br 18943-18946)
—Did not hear and did not think he was near enough to hear Carpathia’s rockets when he saw them from Collapsible B. (Lightoller, Br 14856)
State of the ship
As Boat 5 pulled away, noticed ship was 15-20 feet down at the bows. (Olliver, US 533)
As No. 1 pulled away, ports under her name just awash. (Symons, Br 11490-11493)
When No. 10 left, water about 10 feet from port “bow light” (Evans, US 753) Port bow light under water when No. 10 lowered. (Buley, US 606)
When No. 13 lowered, forecastle head not under water. (Barrett, Br 2140-2142; Lee, Br 2541-2542)
When No. 2 pulled away, down “by the bridge.” (Johnson, Br 3556)
At 1:50 forecastle head close to water. (Jewell, Br 167)
When Collapsible C left, well deck awash but forecastle head not yet submerged. (Rowe, Br 17687-17688)
When No. 4 lowered, A Deck “only 20 feet from the sea.” Could see water washing into open portholes. (Mrs. Ryerson, US 1107)
When “D” lowered, forecastle head just going under water—“that would be about 20 feet lower than the bridge.” (Bright, US 839)
When Collapsible D lowered, water right up to bridge. (Lucas, Br 1518, 1528, 1534, 1548)
When “D” lowered, Boat Deck only 10 feet from sea. Water at A Deck. (Lightoller, Br 1420, 14023)
As Boat D lowered, water washes onto A Deck, port side all the way forward. (Woolner, US 887)
Final plunge
As seen from Boat 1. She took a heavy cant, bow down, stern well out of the water. Then, as she went down, her poop righted itself, and he thought, “The poop is going to float.” But 2 or 3 minutes later, poop went up “as straight as anything,” then “a sound like thunder and soon she disappeared from view.”…“Stern righted itself without the bow; in my estimation she must have broken in half…about abeam of the after funnel.” (Symons, Br 11512-11525, 11722)
Boat 2. “After she got to a certain angle she exploded, broke in halves, and it seemed to me as if all her engines and everything that was in the after part slid out into the forward part, and the after part came up right again, and as soon as it came up, right down it went again.” (Osman, US 541)
Boat 3. Saw the forward part go down, then looked as if she broke in half, and then the after part went. (Moore, US 563)
Boat 4. Forward end seemed to break off, after part came back on an even keel, then turned up and went down steadily. (Ranger, Br 4094-4102, 4114, 4166, 4174)
Boat 4. Started breaking up…stern went up in air. After part briefly rights self. (Scott, Br 5673-5681)
Boat 4. “Very near.” Suddenly sees Titanic sinking rapidly. Takes a plunge toward the bow, then two forward funnels seem to lean, then she seems to break in half as if cut with a knife, and as bow goes under, the lights go out. Stern stands up for several minutes, and then that, too, plunges down. (Ryerson, US 1108)
Boat 5. “She broke forward, and the after part righted itself and made another plunge and went right down.” (Olliver, US 530-531)
Boat 5. No breaking up—went straight down. (Pitman, US 280; Br 15078-81)
Boat 5. Ship rises as though about to take a violent dive, then settles back; then stern rises, and down she goes. (Etches, US818)
Boat 6. Went down intact, did not break up. (Peuchen, US 339)
Boat 10. Broke in two between third and fourth funnel. Stern section falls back horizontal, then tips and plunges. (Evans, US 753)
Boat 10. “She went down as far as the after funnel, and then there was a little roar, as though the engines had rushed forward, and she snapped in two, and the bow part went down and the after part came up and stayed up five minutes before it went down.” (Buley, US 609-610)
Boat 12. Broke at first funnel. After part then righted itself after first part disappeared. (Poingdestre, Br 3108, 3111, 3117)
Boat 14. She almost stood up perpendicular…and presently she broke clean in two, probably two-thirds the length of the ship. After third—beyond after funnel—settled back, still floating. Then an explosion, and the after part turned on end and sank. (Crowe, US 620)
Collapsible A. Seemed as if the bow had broken off. (Brown, Br 10553, 10557)
Collapsible B. Bow was in the water, stern up. Then she exploded, throwing stern up out of
the water. Stern floats for at least a minute, lights out. Then, “she turned over again and down she went.” (Collins, US 630-631)
Collapsible B. Ship did not break in two. (Lightoller, Br 14075; US 69)
Collapsible B. Near perpendicular, then simply glided away. (Joughin, Br 6251-6266)
Collapsible D. Broke in two, after part briefly righted itself, then down. (Bright, US 839, 841)
Standing on poop. Gave a plunge and righted herself again. Then, as starts down again, after funnel seems to cant up and fall aft toward well deck. (Dillon, Br 3858-3869, 3883-3885)
Acknowledgments and Selected Sources
THEY ARE NEARLY ALL gone now. Of the 60-plus Titanic survivors who contributed so much to A Night to Remember, only a handful remain. Happily, Eva Hart still serves the best tea in Chadwell Heath; while across the Atlantic, Frank Aks is as chipper as ever in Norfolk, Virginia.
Gone, too, are most of the survivors I was never lucky enough to find 30 years ago, but who have since been such a pleasure to meet—for instance, Ruth Blanchard of Santa Barbara, California, and Marshall Drew of Westerly, Rhode Island.
Despite the erosions of time, there is still no lack of helpful people with fresh information on the Titanic. In some cases the families of survivors have come forward with letters and accounts retrieved from long-forgotten files. R. de Roussy de Sales has made available a fascinating letter from his uncle George Rheims that throws much light on the final minutes of the lost ship. Mary C. Barker has supplied a richly detailed manuscript by her vivacious grandmother, Helen Churchill Candee. Sally Behr Pettit has made available two accounts by her father, Karl Behr. Robert Maguire was no relative of Laura Mabel Francatelli, but he kindly sent me from his collection a typescript of a 19-page letter written by Miss Francatelli shortly after the Carpathia’s arrival in New York. Austin M. Fox has generously shared his extensive knowledge of Edward A Kent, the Buffalo architect who went down with the ship.
Some of my most fruitful sources had no direct connection with the Titanic at all, but through the years have accumulated a great deal of information which they have placed at my disposal. A special salute goes to Rustie Brown, Edward de Groot, Roland Hauser, Ken Marschall, Alasdair McCrimmon, Patrick Stenson, and Tim Trower.