MR. BOXHALL: Mr. Lightoller was the first officer until the day before the ship sailed.
SENATOR SMITH: Who became first officer then?
MR. BOXHALL: Mr. Murdock.
SENATOR SMITH: Had bhe been first officer before?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir; he had been chief officer.
SENATOR SMITH: But he superseded Mr. Lightoller the night before sailing?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: At the time of departure Mr. Murdock was first officer?
MR. BOXHALL: That is so.
SENATOR SMITH: What were his duties?
MR. BOXHALL: His duties were, as officer of the watch, to keep a lookout for the ship and see that the junior officers did whatever he required to carry out the captain's orders.
SENATOR SMITH: Was it a part of his duty to have drills and inspections?
MR. BOXHALL: No. The captain arranged all the drills and inspections.
SENATOR SMITH: Were there any drills or inspections to your knowledge from the time the ship landed at Southampton until her departure?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes; there were inspections and drills the morning of sailing.
SENATOR SMITH: Of what did they consist?
MR. BOXHALL: The crew were mustered and when the names were called the boats were lowered in the presence of the Board of Trade surveyors.
SENATOR SMITH: When you say "boats," you refer to lifeboats?
MR. BOXHALL: The lifeboats were lowered in the presence of the Board of Trade surveyors.
SENATOR SMITH: This occurred the day you sailed?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir; within an hour or a couple of hours of the ship's sailing.
SENATOR SMITH: Can you recall just who was present at that inspection?
MR. BOXHALL: The captain, all the officers, the marine superintendent, and the Board of Trade surveyors, and the Board of Trade doctor.
SENATOR SMITH: Was there anyone else present?
MR. BOXHALL: No that I know of ­ not an official.
SENATOR SMITH: Were any of the officers or directors of the company present besides the ones you have named?
MR. BOXHALL: I could not say; I do not remember.
SENATOR SMITH: Was Mr. Ismay present?
MR. BOXHALL: I do not remember.
SENATOR SMITH: Were all the lifeboats lowered?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Why not?
MR. BOXHALL: Because they do not require all the boats to be lowered so far as I know.
SENATOR SMITH: The regulations do not require it? How many boats were lowered?
MR. BOXHALL: Two boats were lowered, I believe.
SENATOR SMITH: One on each side?
MR. BOXHALL: No; they could not lower them on each side. The ship was laid alongside of the quay.
SENATOR SMITH: So they were lowered on one side?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Which side; the starboard or the port?
MR. BOXHALL: On the starboard side.
SENATOR SMITH: Can you give the numbers of those lifeboats?
MR. BOXHALL: I cannot.
SENATOR SMITH: In lowering these lifeboats, did the gear work satisfactorily?
MR. BOXHALL: As far as I know. I was not there when they were lowered.
SENATOR SMITH: You were not there?
MR. BOXHALL: No; I was in another part of the ship.
SENATOR SMITH: And you did not yourself see them lowered?
MR. BOXHALL: I saw them in the water, but I was not actually on the spot when they were lowered.
SENATOR SMITH: In lowering the lifeboats, can you tell just what was done.
MR. BOXHALL: First the boat has to be cleared. After the boats are cleared the chocks are knocked down, or dropped down by patent levers, and the boat is hanging free. Then the davits are screwed out and the boat is suspended over the ship's side for lowering away.
SENATOR SMITH: Assuming that these lifeboats are on the boat deck, how far would they be swung off the side before they reached their proper position for lowering?
MR. BOXHALL: Far enough to clear the ship's side, right away down, and allow the boat to touch the water.
SENATOR SMITH: The boat deck or sun deck is narrower than the A deck or B deck, is it not?
MR. BOXHALL: No; oh, no.
SENATOR SMITH: No narrower?
MR. BOXHALL: No narrower. I never noticed it to be narrower.
SENATOR SMITH: The same width?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes; it all seems to be the same width.
SENATOR SMITH: But these lifeboats are swung out­­
MR. BOXHALL: Absolutely clear of the ship's side.
SENATOR SMITH: Absolutely clear of the ship's sidehow far?
MR. BOXHALL: I could not say how far.
SENATOR SMITH: Before they are swung out, are they supposed to be occupied?
MR. BOXHALL: No.
SENATOR SMITH: In case of trouble?
MR. BOXHALL: No; oh, no.
SENATOR SMITH: After they are swung out are they supposed to be loaded from the boat deck?
MR. BOXHALL: That is a matter of opinion.
SENATOR SMITH: If possible, and other things being equal, is that the usual course?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, I think it is.
SENATOR SMITH: In other words, they are not suspended, then run to the decks below, and there filled?
MR. BOXHALL: We always lower the boat to the level of the rail or the level of the deck, so the people can step in.
SENATOR SMITH: Yes; but to the level of the deck, where it is swung out?
MR. BOXHALL: Where it is swung out.
SENATOR SMITH: So that the upper deck or boat deck is really the loading deck for the lifeboats under ordinary circumstances?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you say whether the lifeboats that you saw lowered were lowered promptly and without any interference?
MR. BOXHALL: I did not see them lowered. I saw them when they were in the water.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you see them when they were brought back to the deck?
MR. BOXHALL: I afterwards saw them on the voyage. I was not standing there when they were raised.
SENATOR SMITH: You did not see them when they were raised to the deck?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And you did not see them lowered?
MR. BOXHALL: No; I did not see them lowered.
SENATOR SMITH: Who was the officer of the watch that day?
MR. BOXHALL: All officers were on duty?
SENATOR SMITH: Did you see Mr. Murdock there at this time?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes; and Mr. Wilde, the chief officer.
SENATOR SMITH: Were there any lifeboats on the Titanic that were not securely fastened in position to be lowered in the ordinary method of attaching that equipment?
MR. BOXHALL: All the boats on the Titanic seemed to me to be in a very good position to be lowered.
SENATOR SMITH: How many were there?
MR. BOXHALL: There were 14 lifeboats, 2 sea boats, and 4 collapsible boats.
SENATOR SMITH: The lifeboats were in position?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did they appear to be new?
MR. BOXHALL: They were new.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you notice whether the name Titanic was upon every boat?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes; on every boat. I will not swear to the collapsible boats.
SENATOR SMITH: What are the three types of boat that you have just referred to?
MR. BOXHALL: First of all, the lifeboats; then, the two sea boats­­
SENATOR SMITH: One moment. Take the lifeboats. Were they in good condition?
MR. BOXHALL: Perfectly good.
SENATOR SMITH: How many people, under ordinary circumstances, would a lifeboat of the size carried on the Titanic carry in such weather as you experienced?
MR. BOXHALL: They were supposed to carry 65 persons.
SENATOR SMITH: Why do you say they were supposed to carry 65?
MR. BOXHALL: The Board of Trade testify to that.
SENATOR SMITH: Is that a part of the certificate of the British Board of Trade?
MR. BOXHALL: I suppose that is a part of the regulations. The cubical capacity is on the boats.
SENATOR SMITH: How many seats are there in a lifeboat of that character?
MR. BOXHALL: I am sure I could not say. I never have counted them.
SENATOR SMITH: How many oars are there?
MR. BOXHALL: I really forget how many oars there were, but there are always two extra ones; there are always two extra oars in the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: Can you not think how many there were?
MR. BOXHALL: No; I can not think; because I can not remember how many thole pins there were.
SENATOR SMITH: Where were the oars, generally? Under the seats?
MR. BOXHALL: On the top of the seats.
SENATOR SMITH: On top of the seats; and you say there were always two extra oars?
MR. BOXHALL: Always two extra oars in the boats.
SENATOR SMITH: But the complement you do not know? You can not say what that was?
MR. BOXHALL: No; I really cannot.
SENATOR SMITH: What else is required in those lifeboats, under the regulations of the Board of Trade?
MR. BOXHALL: Boat hooks, water, water breakers, bread tanks, dippers for the water breakers, balers for the boats, mast and sail, compass. I think that is all.
SENATOR SMITH: Lights?
MR. BOXHALL: Oh, yes; lights and a can of oil. A lamp and a can of oil.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know whether these articles required under the regulations of the British Board of Trade were in each of these lifeboats as required?
MR. BOXHALL: All the gear was in the boats when we left Belfast; I know that. All the gear was in the boats, because I went around­­
SENATOR SMITH: Provisions and water?
MR. BOXHALL: Everything that the Board of Trade requires was in the boats in Belfast.
SENATOR SMITH: In Belfast?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know whether these provisions were in the boats when the Titanic left Southampton?
MR. BOXHALL: I could not say. The provisions were, I know, because the provisions are built in with the boat. They are in a tank that is built in the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: You are speaking now of your own knowledge?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Were you ever in one of these lifeboats?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Prior to the collision?
MR. BOXHALL: Not in the water in one; I was not in the water with the boats.
SENATOR SMITH: Where were you in the boats?
MR. BOXHALL: In Belfast, going through them to see that all the equipment was complete?
SENATOR SMITH: You made an inspection?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: And you desire the committee to understand that all of the requirements with reference to the equipment of lifeboats were in these boats when the Titanic left Belfast?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes; I do not know about when she left Belfast, but it was two or three days before we left that I went through these boats and saw all the equipment complete.
SENATOR SMITH: Mr. Boxhall, you described a few moments ago the weather from Belfast to Southampton. Did the weather continue pleasant and the sea unruffled during the voyage from Southampton to the place of this catastrophe?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: In such weather how many people would a lifeboat such as you have described carry safely?
MR. BOXHALL: That I would not like to say.
SENATOR SMITH: You would not like to say because you do not know?
MR. BOXHALL: No; a lot depends on the people who get in the boats.
SENATOR SMITH: And their condition of mind?
MR. BOXHALL: And their condition of mind.
SENATOR SMITH: Assuming that they were in great peril and submissive to the directions of those in charge of the boats, how many would one of those lifeboats safely carry?
MR. BOXHALL: I should think that providing they did as they were told, they would carry the 65, the complement.
SENATOR SMITH: Sixty­five comfortably?
MR. BOXHALL: No; the complement, I said, of 65.
SENATOR SMITH: What about the collapsible boats?
MR. BOXHALL: I know very little of the collapsible boats. I do not know what they are supposed to hold.
SENATOR SMITH: You have seen them.
MR. BOXHALL: I have seen them; yes.
SENATOR SMITH: I wish you would describe, that we may have the record complete, what they are made of; how they are constructed.
MR. BOXHALL: The lower part of the boat is wood, and these boats when they are loaded do not seem to me to have very much freeboard except for the canvas which is pulled up before these boats are lowered.
SENATOR SMITH: Is this framework fitted into the canvas, or the canvas to the framework?
MR. BOXHALL: No; it is the bottom of the boat, and it is rather a shallow boat with a canvas top to it which pulls up and forms a kind of protection around the people sitting in the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: From what point in the boat's construction does this canvas appear; from the extreme upper part?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes; I think it is from the extreme upper part; from what I remember of them. I never have been in one.
SENATOR SMITH: But the canvas is not intended to float the boat?
MR. BOXHALL: Oh, no; oh, no.
SENATOR SMITH: How does it differ from the lifeboat in its security and strength?
MR. BOXHALL: I do not quite understand what you mean?
SENATOR SMITH: Do you regard the collapsible boat as safe, well constructed, and suitable as the ordinary lifeboat for the purposes for which they are intended?
MR. BOXHALL: I do not think it would stand so much knocking about as a lifeboat. I do not know what they would behave like in a seaway.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you think that they are as well suited to resist the sea?
MR. BOXHALL: No; I should not think so.
SENATOR SMITH: Then, according to your judgment, they do not exactly answer the same purpose and requirement as the lifeboats?
MR. BOXHALL: I can not say from experience, but I do not think that they would stand the weather or the knocking about as a lifeboat would in a seaway.
SENATOR SMITH: Are they as easily lowered and kept in position?
MR. BOXHALL: No; I do not think so. I prefer the lifeboats.
SENATOR SMITH: Are they as accessible to people in peril on shipboard as the lifeboats?
MR. BOXHALL: It depends upon in what position they are kept.
SENATOR SMITH: Where are they kept?
MR. BOXHALL: The ones on the Titanic ­ there was one of them exactly underneath the sea boat's davits on either side, on the same level on the boat deck as the lifeboats.
SENATOR SMITH: And as securely fastened to the davits?
MR. BOXHALL: No; she was not securely fastened to the davits. She was not fastened to the davits at all. After the sea boats were lowered, then would come the collapsible boats.
SENATOR SMITH: Where were they? Were they lying about on the deck?
MR. BOXHALL: They were on the deck.
SENATOR SMITH: Unattached?
MR. BOXHALL: Unattached ­ unattached to the davits.
SENATOR SMITH: How many of these boats were there?
MR. BOXHALL: Four.
SENATOR SMITH: You described another type of boat. What is that?
MR. BOXHALL: The sea boat or emergency boat.
SENATOR SMITH: What kind of a boat is that?
MR. BOXHALL: It is the same as a lifeboat, only smaller and lighter built. It is always kept swung out.
SENATOR SMITH: Is it built in the same general manner?
MR. BOXHALL: Just so.
SENATOR SMITH: And of the same material as a lifeboat?
MR. BOXHALL: Of the same material, but smaller.
SENATOR SMITH: Smaller?
MR. BOXHALL: Smaller.
SENATOR SMITH: How much smaller?
MR. BOXHALL: I could not say how much smaller. I do not know the size.
SENATOR SMITH: Give us your best judgment about it.
