SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, UNITED STATES SENATE
Washington, D.C.
The subcommittee met at 10 o'clock a.m.
Present: Senators William Alden Smith (chairman), Perkins, Burton, Newlands, and Fletcher.
SENATOR SMITH: When we closed the hearing yesterday afternoon Mr. Boxhall, the third officer of the Titanic, was on the stand. It had been the intention of the committee to recall him this morning and the reason for not doing so is the following note:
April 23, 1912.
This is to certify that Mr. J. B. Boxhall, third officer of the Titanic, is under my professional care and treatment and that, in my opinion, he is physically unable to appear before the Senate investigating committee to­day.
Charles C. Marbury, M.D.
TESTIMONY OF HERBERT JOHN PITMAN ­ Recalled.
SENATOR SMITH: As I recall it, Mr. Pitman, you were examined in New York with reference to the log only?
MR. PITMAN: That is right, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you, at that time, give your full name?
MR. PITMAN: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: You may repeat it now, please.
MR. PITMAN: Herbert John Pitman.
SENATOR SMITH: Where do you reside, Mr. Pitman?
MR. PITMAN: Somerset, England.
SENATOR SMITH: How old are you?
MR. PITMAN: Thirty­four.
SENATOR SMITH: What is your business?
MR. PITMAN: Sailor; officer.
SENATOR SMITH: How long have you been engaged in marine employment?
MR. PITMAN: About 17 years.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you have any marine education or instruction as navigator before entering that employment?
MR. PITMAN: None whatever.
SENATOR SMITH: In what capacities have you served?
MR. PITMAN: Four years as an apprentice; three years as an officer in a sailing ship.
SENATOR SMITH: In stating your employment, will you kindly state with what line or upon what ship you served?
MR. PITMAN: Yes. Four years with James Nourse (Ltd.), as an apprentice; three years as an officer in the same employ; about twelve months in the Blue Anchor Line, running to Australia; six months in the Shire Line, running to Japan; and five years with the White Star.
SENATOR SMITH: In what capacity did you serve with the White Star?
MR. PITMAN: Second, third, and fourth officer; second officer for two months.
SENATOR SMITH: On what vessels of the White Star Line have you served?
MR. PITMAN: On the Dolphin, the Majestic, and the Oceanic.
SENATOR SMITH: And the Titanic?
MR. PITMAN: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: When did you first see the Titanic?
MR. PITMAN: In Belfast.
SENATOR SMITH: Can you recall the day?
MR. PITMAN: I think it was March 27.
SENATOR SMITH: Of this year?
MR. PITMAN: Of this year.
MR. BURLINGHAM: I think he holds a master's certificate, Senator, too, if you care to bring that out.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you hold a master's certificate?
MR. PITMAN: Yes, sir. I have had it seven years.
SENATOR SMITH: From whom?
MR. PITMAN: From the board of trade.
SENATOR SMITH: You say you first saw the Titanic at Belfast?
MR. PITMAN: Yes, sir; March 27, if I remember right.
SENATOR SMITH: March 27?
MR. PITMAN: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Were you present during the trial tests of the Titanic?
MR. PITMAN: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you take any special part in them?
MR. PITMAN: Yes; I was on the bridge most of the time.
SENATOR SMITH: Of what did these tests consist?
MR. PITMAN: Just steaming around and performing evolutions.
SENATOR SMITH: Turning circles?
MR. PITMAN: Turning circles and adjusting the compass.
SENATOR SMITH: How long did those tests take?
MR. PITMAN: About eight hours, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Were the tests made in the open sea, or in Belfast Lough?
MR. PITMAN: Both, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: What tests were made in the open sea?
MR. PITMAN: Oh, simply steaming trials.
SENATOR SMITH: What trials?
MR. PITMAN: Steam trials.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you try out her speed? Did you try out the speed of the ship?
MR. PITMAN: It was not exactly a trial of her speed; because I understand we have none in the White Star Line.
SENATOR SMITH: Then there was no trial of speed there to your knowledge?
MR. PITMAN: Not as regards the measured mile.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know how many boilers were working?
MR. PITMAN: I have no idea, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: After the trial tests were made, where did you go then?
MR. PITMAN: We proceeded to Southampton.
SENATOR SMITH: During the trial tests did you see any officer or director of the White Star Line, or of the International Co., aboard the ship?
MR. PITMAN: I did not know any of them, sir; so that I can not say.
SENATOR SMITH: What time did you reach Southampton?
MR. PITMAN: At midnight on Thursday, the 29th of March.
SENATOR SMITH: At midnight on Thursday, the 29th of March?
MR. PITMAN: I think that is the correct date.
SENATOR SMITH: What was done then with the ship?
MR. PITMAN: She was simply made fast in her berth.
SENATOR SMITH: What did you do?
MR. PITMAN: I kept my usual watch.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you remain aboard the ship until her departure from Southampton?
MR. PITMAN: When it was my watch, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And when it was not your watch you busied yourself in other ways?
MR. PITMAN: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Off the ship?
MR. PITMAN: Exactly.
SENATOR SMITH: I wish you would tell the committee the circumstances of the departure of the Titanic from Southampton ­ whether the weather was clear, whether there was any sea, and any other circumstance that you can recall.
MR. PITMAN: We left the dock at 12:15. The weather was very fine.
SENATOR SMITH: You left at 12:15 a.m.?
MR. PITMAN: P.m. Nothing in particular happened­­
SENATOR SMITH: 12:15 p.m. of what day?
MR. PITMAN: Wednesday, April 10. Nothing exciting happened, with the exception of breaking the moorings of the New York, which was caused by the backwash from our starboard propeller. We managed to get clear of that and proceeded to Cherbourg.
SENATOR SMITH: Was that a serious detention?
MR. PITMAN: No, sir; about half an hour, sir; that is all.
SENATOR SMITH: Did that occur immediately when you were ready to start?
MR. PITMAN: We had already started. We were away from our berth.
SENATOR SMITH: Officer, what was the weather?
MR. PITMAN: Perfect weather. Summer weather.
SENATOR SMITH: Was the weather good all the way to the place of the collision?
MR. PITMAN: From the time we left Southampton.
SENATOR SMITH: You had no heavy sea?
MR. PITMAN: None whatever, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: So far as you can recall, did you have a starlit sky?
MR. PITMAN: We had a starlit sky; yes. We had sky observations every night and every morning.
SENATOR SMITH: You, of course, knew Officer Murdock?
MR. PITMAN: Well, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: The second officer?
MR. PITMAN: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: And but four of the officers of the Titanic survived?
MR. PITMAN: Four. That is correct, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Three besides yourself?
MR. PITMAN: Three besides myself.
SENATOR SMITH: I wish you would tell the committee what you duties were when you were on watch.
MR. PITMAN: My duties comprised working out celestial observations, finding the deviation of the compass, general supervision around the decks, and looking after the quartermasters; also relieving the bridge if necessary.
SENATOR SMITH: Was it a part of your duty to drill the men?
MR. PITMAN: No, not exactly to drill them, sir; to give them work.
SENATOR SMITH: Was it a part of your duty to go through practice with the men?
MR. PITMAN: No, sir. I gave them their work.
SENATOR SMITH: You gave them their work?
MR. PITMAN: I told them what to do; the quartermasters only, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Are there any specified times fixed for drill of the men under the practice of the White Star Line?
MR. PITMAN: What do you mean, Senator? Do you mean boat drill, sir?
SENATOR SMITH: Yes.
MR. PITMAN: Yes. We always have boat drill leaving Southampton.
SENATOR SMITH: On leaving Southampton?
MR. PITMAN: Yes; which is witnessed by the board of trade. We also have boat drill in Queenstown.
SENATOR SMITH: Of what did that drill consist?
MR. PITMAN: Lowering two or three boats into the water and pulling away.
SENATOR SMITH: It consisted of lowering two or three lifeboats?
MR. PITMAN: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Were you present when that was done?
MR. PITMAN: It was not done this time, sir; not in Queenstown.
SENATOR SMITH: I understood you to say at Southampton?
MR. PITMAN: At Southampton it was done.
SENATOR SMITH: Were you present at that drill?
MR. PITMAN: I was, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: How many boats were lowered?
MR. PITMAN: Two, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: On the starboard or on the port side?
MR. PITMAN: On the starboard side?
SENATOR SMITH: Both?
MR. PITMAN: Both on the starboard side; yes.
SENATOR SMITH: What else was done at that drill?
MR. PITMAN: Well, there was nothing, sir. That drill took place simply to satisfy the board of trade that the boats were all right, and that the men knew how to pull an oar.
SENATOR SMITH: But what I would like to know is just what it was necessary to do in order to satisfy the board of trade?
MR. PITMAN: Well, put a crew of men in the boat, lower her into the water, and pull her around the harbor and sail her back to the satisfaction of the board of trade officials?
SENATOR SMITH: That was the lifeboats?
MR. PITMAN: Yes, the lifeboats.
SENATOR SMITH: And two of them were lowered?
MR. PITMAN: Two of them were lowered.
SENATOR SMITH: And manned?
MR. PITMAN: Manned.
SENATOR SMITH: And rowed about?
MR. PITMAN: Rowed about the harbor, and sailed back. It is done every trip, and we vary the boats.
SENATOR SMITH: How many men were in each boat that day?
MR. PITMAN: Approximately eight.
SENATOR SMITH: Were there eight in each boat that day?
MR. PITMAN: Approximately eight.
MR. BURLINGHAM: Mr. Chairman, may I suggest that you ask whether the men on board were assigned to the various boats?
SENATOR SMITH: I am coming to that. Tell me whether any further time was spent in practice than you have described?
MR. PITMAN: Not on this particular voyage. It is customary every Sunday to have boat and fire drill. If we can not have it on Sunday, if the weather does not permit that, we have it on some other day.
SENATOR SMITH: As a matter of fact, no further drill was had on the Titanic after leaving Southampton, was there?
MR. PITMAN: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And this drill consisted in summoning how many officers and men to the deck?
MR. PITMAN: All the deck department were there.
SENATOR SMITH: And they all witnessed, and approximately 16 of them participated in, the practical test of two lifeboats?
MR. PITMAN: Exactly.
SENATOR SMITH: Were they both lifeboats, or were they of a different type?
MR. PITMAN: They were both lifeboats.
SENATOR SMITH: There was no test, then, of the collapsibles?
MR. PITMAN: No; none whatever.
SENATOR SMITH: Or of the smaller lifeboats?
MR. PITMAN: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And both these boats were lowered from the starboard side?
MR. PITMAN: From the starboard side.
SENATOR SMITH: And you saw them lowered?
MR. PITMAN: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: What officers were placed in charge of them?
MR. PITMAN: The fifth and sixth.
SENATOR SMITH: Who composed the crews of these lifeboats?
MR. PITMAN: Quartermasters and sailors. I could not give you their names.
SENATOR SMITH: They were sailors?
MR. PITMAN: Sailors; yes.
SENATOR SMITH: I would like to know whether each officer had his especial and particular station assigned to him on the Titanic?
MR. PITMAN: Every man in the crew had his particular station on the Titanic.
SENATOR SMITH: And your station was what?
MR. PITMAN: No. 5 boat.
SENATOR SMITH: No. 5 boat?
MR. PITMAN: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: You say they were assigned. You were assigned to No. 5 boat, and had responsibility for that boat while you were on watch in the event of trouble?
MR. PITMAN: Yes. It was not necessary that I should go in No. 5 boat.
SENATOR SMITH: No; but you were assigned at that point?
MR. PITMAN: Yes; that was my boat for boat and fire drill.
SENATOR SMITH: For boat and fire drill. Was there any fire drill aboard the Titanic after you left Southampton?
MR. PITMAN: There was not, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And the only practice drill was what you have described?
MR. PITMAN: That is all.
SENATOR SMITH: Were you on the bridge during Saturday or Sunday preceding the accident?
MR. PITMAN: Oh, yes; part of the time, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: What part of the time on Saturday?
MR. PITMAN: Saturday afternoon from 12 to 4.
SENATOR SMITH: During that time did you see any icebergs?
MR. PITMAN: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Or any field ice?
MR. PITMAN: No ice at all, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you hear anything about any ice on Saturday?
MR. PITMAN: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you hear anything about a wireless message from the Californian?
MR. PITMAN: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: On Saturday or Sunday?
MR. PITMAN: Yes; I heard something about a wireless message from some ship. Or it may have been Saturday night; I am not sure.
SENATOR SMITH: When you were on watch?
MR. PITMAN: No; I was not on watch.
SENATOR SMITH: When did you hear it, as near as you can recollect?
MR. PITMAN: I have not the slightest idea, sir; it was either Saturday night or Sunday morning.
SENATOR SMITH: Not when you were on watch?
MR. PITMAN: No, sir; because Mr. Boxhall put on the chart the position of the iceberg.
SENATOR SMITH: And did you know about that?
MR. PITMAN: I knew about that; yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you see him put it on or see the chart?
MR. PITMAN: Yes; I saw the mark there.
SENATOR SMITH: What kind of a mark was it?
MR. PITMAN: He would just simply make a cross and write "ice" in front of it.
SENATOR SMITH: Which indicated ice?
MR. PITMAN: Ice; yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: This was Sunday?
MR. PITMAN: It may have been Saturday night.
SENATOR SMITH: Saturday night or Sunday?
MR. PITMAN: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Now, officer, did you have any talk with Mr. Boxhall or Mr. Murdock or Mr. Lowe regarding the proximity of the Titanic to ice?
MR. PITMAN: I did not, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you have any talk with the captain about it?
MR. PITMAN: It was not my place to talk with the captain about such things.
SENATOR SMITH: I understand; but I did not know but what you might have done so.
MR. PITMAN: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did the captain speak to you about it?
MR. PITMAN: He did not, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Were you with the captain on the bridge at all on Saturday afternoon or Sunday preceding the collision?
MR. PITMAN: Yes; he used to pay periodical visits to the bridge.
