As to the attack on Mr. Bruce Ismay, it resolved itself into the suggestion that, occupying the position of managing director of the steamship company, some moral duty was imposed upon him to wait on board until the vessel foundered. I do not agree. Mr. Ismay, after rendering assistance to many passengers, found C collapsible, the last boat on the starboard side, actually being lowered. No other people were there at the time. There was room for him and he jumped in. Had he not jumped in he would merely have added one more life, namely, his own, to the number of those lost.
THE THIRD CLASS PASSENGERS.
It had been suggested before the inquiry that the third­class passengers had been unfairly treated; that their access to the boat deck had been impeded, and that when at least they reached that deck the first and second class passengers were given precedence in getting places in the boats. There appears to have been no truth in these suggestions. It is no doubt true that the proportion of third­class passengers saved falls far short of the proportion of the first and second class, but this is accounted for by the greater reluctance of the third­class passengers to leave the ship, by their unwillingness to part with their baggage, by the difficulty of getting them up from the quarters, which were at the extreme ends of the ship, and by other similar causes. The interests of the relatives of some of the third­class passengers who had perished were in the hands of Mr. Harbinson, who attended the inquiry on their behalf. He said at the end of his address to the court:
I wish to say distinctly that no evidence has been given in the course of this case which would substantiate a charge that any attempt was made to keep back the third­class passengers. * * * I desire further to say that there is no evidence that when they did reach the boat deck there was any discrimination practiced either by the officers or the sailors in putting them into the boats.
I am satisfied that the explanation of the excessive proportion of third­class passengers lost is not to be found in the suggestion that the third­class passengers were in any way unfairly treated. They were not unfairly treated.
MEANS TAKEN TO PROCURE ASSISTANCE
As soon as the dangerous condition of the ship was realized, messages were sent by the master's orders to all steamers within reach. At 12:15 a.m. the distress signal CQD was sent. This was heard by several steamships and by Cape Race. By 12:25 Mr. Boxall, the fourth officer, had worked out the correct position of the Titanic, and then another message was sent: "Come at once, we have struck a berg." This was heard by the Cunard steamer Carpathia, which was at this time bound from New York to Liverpool and 58 miles away. The Carpathia answered, saying that she was coming to the assistance of the Titanic. This was reported to Capt. Smith on the boat deck. At 12:26 a message was sent out, "Sinking; cannot hear for noise of steam." Many other messages were also sent, but as they were only heard by steamers which were too far away to render help it is not necessary to refer to them. At 1:45 a message was heard by the Carpathia, "Engine­room full up to boilers." The last message sent out was "CQ" which was faintly heard by the steamer Virginian. This message was sent at 2:17. It thus appears that the Marconi apparatus was at work until within a few minutes of the foundering of the Titanic.
Meanwhile, Mr. Boxall was sending up distress signals from the deck. These signals (rockets) were sent off at intervals from a socket by No. 1 emergency boat on the boat deck. They were the ordinary distress signals, exploding in the air and throwing off white stars. The firing of these signals began about the time that No. 7 boat was lowered (12:45 a.m.), and it continued until Mr. Boxall left the ship at about 1:45.
Mr. Boxall was also using a Morse light from the bridge in the direction of a ship whose lights he saw about half a point on the port bow of the Titanic at a distance, as he thought, of about 5 or 6 miles. He got no answer. In all, Mr. Boxall fired about eight rockets. There appears to be no doubt that the vessel whose lights he saw was the Californian. The evidence from the Californian speaks of eight rockets having been seen between 12:30 and 1:40. The Californian heard none of the Titanic's messages; she had only one Marconi operator on board and he was asleep.
THE RESCUE BY THE STEAMSHIP "CARPATHIA."
On the 15th of April the steamship Carpathia, 13,600 tons gross, of the Cunard Line, Mr. Arthur Henry Rostron, master, was on her passage to Liverpool from new York. She carried some 740 passengers and 325 crew.
On receipt of the Titanic's first distress message the captain immediately ordered the ship to be turned around and driven at her highest speed (17 1/2 knots) in the direction of the Titanic. He also informed the Titanic by wireless that he was coming to her assistance, and he subsequently received various messages from her. At about 2:40 a.m. he saw a green flare which, as the evidence shows, was being sent up by Mr. Boxall in No. 2 boat. From this time until 4 a.m. Capt. Rostron was altering his course continually in order to avoid icebergs. He fired rockets in answer to the signals he saw from Boxall's boat. At 4 o'clock he considered he was practically up to the position given and he stopped his ship at 4:05. He sighted the first boat (No. 2) and picked her up at 4:10. There was then a large number of icebergs around him, and it was just daylight. Eventually he picked up in all 13 lifeboats, two emergency boats, and two collapsible boats, all of which were taken on board the Carpathia, the other boats being abandoned as damaged or useless. From these boats he took on board 712 persons, one of whom died shortly afterwards. The boats were scattered over an area of 4 or 5 miles, and it was 8 a.m. before they had all been picked up. He saw very little wreckage when he got near to the scene of the disaster, only a few deck chairs, cork life belts, etc., and only one body. The position was then 41-degrees 46-minutes N., 50-degrees 14-minutes W.
The Carpathia subsequently returned to New York with the passengers and crew she had rescued.
The court desires to record its great admiration of Capt. Rostron's conduct. He did the very best that could be done.
NUMBERS SAVED.
The following were the numbers saved:
First Class:
Adult males 57 out of 175, or 32.57 per cent.
Adult females 140 out of 144, or 97.22 per cent.
Male children 5 (all saved)
Female children 1 (all saved)
203 out of 325, or 62.46 per cent.
Second class:
Adult males 14 out of 168, or 8.33 per cent.
Adult females 80 out of 93, or 86.02 per cent.
Male children 11 (all saved)
Female children 13 (all saved)
118 out of 285, or 41.40 per cent.
Third Class:
Adult males 75 out of 462, or 16.23 per cent.
Adult females 76 out of 165, or 46.06 per cent.
Male children 13 out of 48, or 27.08 per cent.
Female children 14 out of 31, or 45.16 per cent
178 out of 706, or 25.21 per cent.
Total 499 out of 1,316, or 37.94 per cent.
Crew Saved:
Deck department 43 out of 66, or 65.15 per cent.
Engine room department 72 out of 325, or 22.15 per cent.
Victualing department
(including 20 women out of 23)
97 out of 494, or 19.63 per cent.
Total 212 out of 885, or 23.95 per cent
Total on board saved 711 out of 2,201, or 32.30 per cent.
Passengers and crew:
Adult males 338 out of 1,667, or 20.27 per cent.
Adult females 316 out of 425 or 74.35 per cent.
Children 57 out of 109, or 52.29 per cent.
Total 711 out of 2,201, or 32.30 per cent.
V. ­ THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN CONNECTION WITH THE STEAMSHIP "CALIFORNIAN."
It is here necessary to consider the circumstances relating to the steamship Californian.
On the 14th of April the steamship Californian, of the Leyland Line, Mr. Stanley Lord, master, was on her passage from London, which port she left on April 5, to Boston, United States, where she subsequently arrived on April 19. She was a vessel of 6,223 tons gross and 4,038 net. Her full speed was 12 1/2 to 13 knots. She had a passenger certificate, but was not carrying any passengers at the time. She belonged to the International Mercantile Marine Co., the owners of the Titanic.
At 7:30 p.m., ship's time, on April 14, a wireless message was sent from this ship to the Antillian:
To Captain, Antillian:
Six thirty p.m., apparent ship's time, latitude 42-degrees 3-minutes N., longitude 49-degrees 9-minutes W. Three large bergs, 5 miles to southward of us. Regards. LORD
The message was intercepted by the Titanic, and when the Marconi operator (Evans) of the Californian offered this ice report to the Marconi operator of the Titanic, shortly after 7:30 p.m., the latter replied:
It is all right. I heard you sending it to the Antillian, and I have got it.
The Californian proceeded on her course S. 89-degrees W. true until 10:20 p.m., ship's time, when she was obliged to stop and reverse engines because she was running into field ice, which stretched as far as could then be seen to the northward and southward.
The master told the court that he made her position at that time to be 42-degrees 5-minutes N., 57-degrees 7-minutes W. This position is recorded in the log book, which was written up from the scrap log book by the chief officer. The scrap log is destroyed. It is a position about 19 miles N. by E. of the position of the Titanic when she foundered, and is said to have been fixed by dead reckoning and verified by observations. I am satisfied that this position is not accurate. The master "twisted her head" to E. N. E. by the compass and she remained approximately stationery until 5:15 a.m. on the following morning. The ship was slowly swinging around to starboard during the night.
At about 11 p.m. a steamer's light was seen approaching from the eastward. The master went to Evans's room and asked what ships he had. The latter replied: "I think the Titanic is near us. I have got her." The master said: "You had better advise the Titanic we are stopped and surrounded with ice." This Evans did, calling up the Titanic and sending: "We are stopped and surrounded by ice." The Titanic replied: "Keep out." The Titanic was in communication with Cape Race, which station was then sending messages to her. The reason why the Titanic answered "keep out" was that her Marconi operator could not hear what Cape Race was saying, as from her proximity the message from the Californian was much stronger than any message being taken in by the Titanic from Cape Race, which was much further off. Evans heard the Titanic continuing to communicate with Cape Race up to the time he turned in at 11:30 p.m.
The master of the Californian states that when observing the approaching steamer as she got nearer he saw more lights, a few deck lights, and also her green side light. He considered that at 11 o'clock she was approximately 6 or 7 miles away, and at some time between 11 and 11:30 he first saw her green light; she was then about 5 miles off. He noticed that about 11:30 she stopped. In his opinion this steamer was of about the same size as the Californian ­ a medium sized steamer, "something like ourselves."
From the evidence of Mr. Groves, third officer of the Californian, who was the officer of the first watch, it would appear that the master was not actually on the bridge when the steamer was sighted.
Mr. Groves made out two masthead lights; the steamer was changing her bearing slowly as she got closer, and as she approached he went to the chart room and reported this to the master; he added, "She is evidently a passenger steamer." In fact, Mr. Groves never appears to have had any doubt on this subject. In answer to a question during his examination, "Had she much light?" he said, "Yes, a lot of light. There was absolutely no doubt of her being a passenger steamer, at least in my mind."
Gill, the assistant donkey man of the Californian, who was on deck at midnight, said referring to this steamer: "It could not have been anything but a passenger boat, she was too large."
By the evidence of Mr. Groves, the master, in reply to his report, said: "Call her up on the Morse lamp, and see if you can get any answer." This he proceeded to do. The master came up and joined him on the bridge and remarked: "That does not look like a passenger steamer." Mr. Groves replied: "It is sir. When she stopped her lights seemed to go out, and I suppose they have been put out for the night." Mr. Groves states that these lights went out at 11:40, and remembers that time because "one bell was struck to call the middle watch." The master did not join him on the bridge until shortly afterwards, and consequently after the steamer had stopped.
In his examination, Mr. Groves admitted that if this steamer's head was turning to port after she stopped, it might account for the diminution of lights, by many of them being shut out. Her steaming lights were still visible and also her port side light.
The captain only remained upon the bridge for a few minutes. In his evidence he stated that Mr. Groves had made no observations to him about the steamer's deck lights going out. Mr. Groves's Morse signaling appears to have been ineffectual (although at one moment he thought he was being answered), and he gave it up. He remained on the bridge until relieved by Mr. Stone, the second officer, just after midnight. In turning the Californian over to him, he pointed out the steamer and said: "she has been stopped since 11:40; she is a passenger steamer. At about the moment she stopped she put her lights out." When Mr. Groves was in the witness box the following questions were put to him by me:
Speaking as an experienced seaman and knowing what you do know now, do you think that steamer that you know was throwing up rockets, and that you say was a passenger steamer, was the Titanic? ­ Do I think it? Yes. From what I have heard subsequently? Yes. Most decidedly I do, but I do not put myself as being an experienced man. But that is your opinion as far your experience goes?Yes, it is, my lord.
