I have regularly attended every hearing of the committee held in New York and in Washington daily since my first examination, on April 19, and have held myself in readiness continuously to answer the call of the committee to give any further testimony that might be desired, though personally I do not see that I can be of any further assistance to the committee. If, however, after the production of the technical or other evidence, the committee is of the opinion that I can help its deliberations in any manner, I shall hold myself in readiness to answer its further call, upon reasonable notice from the committee.
I am hopeful that the committee may be able to suggest ways and means for the avoidance of similar accidents in the future, and anything that I personally or that the company with which I am connected can do to further that object will be gladly done.
If the committee wishes to examine me further at the present time I hope it may be found convenient to do so promptly in order that I may go home to my family.
In view of my experience at the time of the disaster and subsequently, I hope that the committee will feel that this request is not unreasonable.
The committee is also aware that an inquiry into this disaster has been started by my own Government, which has jurisdiction to deal with matters of serious importance to the interests of the company, which I understand are outside the scope of the present inquiry, and which urgently require my personal attention in England.
In these circumstances I respectfully request that if the committee wishes to examine me further it will be good enough to do so at the earliest practicable moment, and excuse me from further attendance at the present time.
Respectfully, Bruce Ismay
Washington, D.C., April 25, 1912.
Mr. J. Bruce Ismay, Willard Hotel, Washington, D.C.
Sir: Replying to your letter of this date, just received, permit me to say that I am not unmindful of the fact that you are being detained in this country against your will, and, probably, at no little inconvenience to yourself and family. I can readily see that your absence from England at a time so momentous in the affairs of your company would be most embarrassing, but the horror of the Titanic catastrophe and its importance to the people of the world call for scrupulous investigation into the causes leading up to the disaster, that future losses of similar character may, if possible, be avoided. To that end, we have been charged by the Senate of the United States with the duty of making this official inquiry, and, so far as I am concerned, nothing will be left undone which may in any manner contribute to this end. As I said to you in New York on Friday evening last, when you asked to be permitted to return home, and again on Saturday night, when you made the same request, I shall not consent to your leaving this country until the fullest inquiry has been made into the circumstances surrounding the accident. This information can be fully detailed by yourself and other officers of your company and the officers and crew of your ship. I am working night and day to achieve this result, and you should continue to help me instead of annoying me and delaying my work by your personal importunities.
Trusting you will receive this letter in the spirit in which it is written, I am,
SENATOR SMITH: You have frequently assured the committee that if, in its deliberations, it should require your presence here after we have finished with the British witnesses, you will be quite willing to hold yourself subject to the committee's orders.
MR. ISMAY: You mean after I get back?
SENATOR SMITH: Yes.
MR. ISMAY: Certainly, sir. I will come back at any time if you will give me a reasonable notice. I will be quite glad to come back.
SENATOR SMITH: And does this include such data and information as we may desire?
MR. ISMAY: I will repeat, sir: All information of every nature, of every character, which you wish to have with regard to the ship or her designs or her plans, or anything else, is absolutely at your disposal. If you will simply tell us what you want, you shall have it.
SENATOR BURTON: Have you experts in this country who could answer questions relating to the ship, or give suggestions for safety devices?
MR. ISMAY: I am afraid not, sir. We would be very glad to send anybody out from the other side, if it would be of any assistance to you.
SENATOR BURTON: That is all.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Mr. Ismay, I believe some passengers state that Capt. Smith gave you a telegram reporting ice.
MR. ISMAY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: On Sunday afternoon?
MR. ISMAY: Sunday afternoon, I think it was.
SENATOR SMITH: Is that true?
MR. ISMAY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: What became of that telegram?
MR. ISMAY: I handed it back to Capt. Smith, I should think about 10 minutes past 7 on Sunday evening. I was sitting in the smoking room when Capt. Smith happened to come in the room for some reason ­ what it was I do not know ­ and on his way back he happened to see me sitting there and came up and said, "By the way, sir, have you got that telegram which I gave you this afternoon?" I said, "Yes." I put my hand in my pocket and said, "Here it is." He said, "I want it to put up in the officers' chart room." That is the only conversation I had with Capt. Smith in regard to the telegram. When he handed it to me, he made no remark at all.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Can you tell what time he handed it to you and what its contents were?
MR. ISMAY: It is very difficult to place the time. I do not know whether it was in the afternoon or immediately before lunch; I am not certain. I did not pay any particular attention to the Marconi message ­ it was sent from the Baltic ­ which gave the position of some ice. It also gave the position of some steamer which was short of coal and wanted to be towed into New York, and I think it ended up by wishing success to the Titanic. It was from the captain of the Baltic.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did you see any other marconigrams that afternoon?
MR. ISMAY: No, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You do not remember seeing any from the Amerika?
MR. ISMAY: The only one I saw was this one from the Baltic, Senator.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did you accompany the Olympic on its first voyage?
MR. ISMAY: I did, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did anything out of the ordinary occur?
MR. ISMAY: No; nothing. I think everything worked entirely satisfactorily, if my memory serves me. I think she arrived in New York Wednesday morning.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You say the captain informed you, when you went on the bridge that he had struck ice? I did not understand whether that was the first time you went to the bridge, about 10 minutes after the accident, or the second time?
MR. ISMAY: The first time I went to bridge. Up to that time I had no idea what had happened.
SENATOR FLETCHER: What was the result of that accident to the Olympic, which I believe you said occurred last August or September?
MR. ISMAY: The result of it?
SENATOR FLETCHER: Yes, sir.
MR. ISMAY: She was run into by the cruiser Hawk and very seriously damaged. She had to go back to Belfast to be repaired.
SENATOR FLETCHER: What was the nature of the damage?
MR. ISMAY: The outside of her hull was very badly damaged and the shafting was bent.
SENATOR FLETCHER: It opened one of the water­tight compartments?
MR. ISMAY: I think it did. It was in the afterend of the ship, where the compartments were all very small.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Do you think Capt. Smith ever quite got over that?
MR. ISMAY: I have no reason to doubt it at all, sir. I saw Capt. Smith very frequently.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You think his nerve was as good after as before that accident?
MR. ISMAY: I think so, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Would you not regard it as an exercise of proper precaution and care to lessen the speed of a ship crossing the Atlantic when she had been warned of the presence of ice ahead?
MR. ISMAY: I am afraid that question I can not give any opinion on. We employ the very best men we possibly can to take command of these ships, and it is a matter entirely in their discretion.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You say you expected in the Titanic the same speed that the Olympic had, but you did not mention that speed.
MR. ISMAY: I should call the Olympic a good 22­knot ship. She can do better under very favorable circumstances. I think she can work up to 22 1/2 or perhaps 22 3/4 as a maximum.
SENATOR FLETCHER: At the time of the collision of the Olympic was she in charge of a compulsory pilot?
MR. ISMAY: Yes, sir; she was in the hands of a compulsory pilot.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Do you know how far the double bottom of the Titanic extended?
MR. ISMAY: How far up the side of the ship?
SENATOR FLETCHER: Yes.
MR. ISMAY: I should think the whole of the bottom, sir; the whole width of the ship.
SENATOR FLETCHER: This contact with the iceberg must have been above the double bottom, must it not?
MR. ISMAY: My impression is that the bilge of the ship was ripped out by the iceberg; simply torn right along.
SENATOR FLETCHER: The bilge is above the double bottom?
MR. ISMAY: Yes.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did you see the ship after you left her in the collapsible boat?
MR. ISMAY: I saw her once.
SENATOR FLETCHER: What was her position then?
MR. ISMAY: She was very much down by the head; her starboard light was just about level with the water.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did she break in two, so far as you could see?
MR. ISMAY: I never looked around again.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Were there any women and children in the vicinity of the collapsible boat when you got in?
MR. ISMAY: None, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How far did you have to lower the collapsible boat from the boat deck to the water?
MR. ISMAY: It was very difficult to judge, because we had considerable difficulty in getting our boat down at all.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You did not have enough men?
MR. ISMAY: The ship had quite a list to port. Consequently this canvas boat, this collapsible boat, was getting hung up on the outside of the ship, and she had to rub right along her, and we had to try to shove her out, and we had to get the women to help to shove to get her clear of the ship. The ship had listed over that way.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did the tackle work all right?
MR. ISMAY: Absolutely.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did you have enough help from the crew of the Titanic?
MR. ISMAY: Oh, yes; they lowered the boat away.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How many men were in the boat?
MR. ISMAY: Three­four. We found four Chinamen stowed away under the thwarts after we got away. I think they were Filipinos, perhaps. There were four of them.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Were those men oarsmen?
MR. ISMAY: I believe one was a cook, another was the butcher, and another was the quartermaster.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did you handle the oars?
MR. ISMAY: Yes, sir; I was rowing from the time we got into the boat until we got out , practically.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You had had experience in handling oars?
MR. ISMAY: Oh, yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You did not have any more men than you needed to take care of the boat?
MR. ISMAY: No.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Were you under the care of a physician and under treatment after arriving on the Carpathia?
MR. ISMAY: I was, more or less; yes. He took care of me. The captain sent down and offered me the use of his room on board the Carpathia.
SENATOR FLETCHER: What was the name of the surgeon of the Carpathia?
MR. ISMAY: I really forgot his name. I wrote to him before I left the ship. I forget what his name was? McKee, was it?
SENATOR FLETCHER: Mr. Carter, of Philadelphia, was in that collapsible boat also, was he not?
MR. ISMAY: Yes, sir; he was.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Were there any more men you recall now?
MR. ISMAY: No, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: That is all.
SENATOR PERKINS: I will ask one question, if you please. You have stated that the Titanic's displacement was 45,000 tons?
MR. ISMAY: That was her gross tonnage, I think.
SENATOR PERKINS: Do you know what her weight of cargo was, including coal?
MR. ISMAY: No, sir; I could not tell you that.
SENATOR PERKINS: Approximately? Was she loaded down to the plimsoll mark?
MR. ISMAY: Leaving Southampton?
SENATOR PERKINS: Yes.
MR. ISMAY: No; we only had 6,000 tons of coal leaving Southampton.
SENATOR PERKINS: And how much of a cargo?
MR. ISMAY: I do not remember. We might have had eight or nine hundred tons of cargo weight.
SENATOR PERKINS: What cargo would it require to load her down to the plimsoll mark?
MR. ISMAY: I could not tell you that. She could carry over 9,500 tons of coal and then not be down to the plimsoll mark.
SENATOR PERKINS: She had about 6,000 tons of coal?
MR. ISMAY: She had about 6,000 tons of coal leaving Southampton.
SENATOR PERKINS: Sufficient to make the voyage to New York and return to Southampton?
MR. ISMAY: No; but sufficient coal to enable her to reach New York, with about two days' spare consumption.
SENATOR PERKINS: What is her daily consumption?
MR. ISMAY: At full speed?
SENATOR PERKINS: Ordinary speed.
MR. ISMAY: At 70 revolutions?
SENATOR PERKINS: Yes.
MR. ISMAY: I think perhaps 620 to 640 tons.
SENATOR PERKINS: It increases in what ratio up to 75 revolutions?
MR. ISMAY: I could not tell you. On full speed she burns about 820 tons.
SENATOR PERKINS: That is all.
SENATOR BURTON: Did you have any conversation with a passenger on the Titanic about slackening or increasing speed when you heard of the ice?
MR. ISMAY: No, sir; not that I have any recollection of. I presume you refer to what Mrs. Ryerson said. I testified in New York, the day after we arrived, that it was our intention on Monday or Tuesday, assuming the weather conditions to suit, and everything was working satisfactorily down below, to probably run the ship for about four or six hours full speed to see what she could do.
SENATOR BURTON: You did not have any conversation on that Sunday about increasing the speed, did you?
MR. ISMAY: Not in regard to increasing the speed going through the ice, sir.
SENATOR BURTON: That is all.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you have any talk with Capt. Rostron from the time you went on board the Carpathia with reference to communication of information with New York, or with Liverpool, or with other ships regarding the loss of the Titanic?
