Voices from the Titanic

by Geoff Tibballs

  ‘Have you any reason to doubt that it is true?’ – ‘No, I was asleep.’

  ‘Do you mean to say that you said this in your sleep to him?’ – ‘I very likely was half-awake. I have no recollection of this apprentice speaking to me at all.’

  The President: ‘Is there any reference in your log as to your steamer having seen this rocket or this mysterious ship which was not the Titanic?’ – ‘No.’

  ‘Why was all reference to these rockets kept out of the log?’ – ‘If we had realized they were distress rockets we should have entered them in the log.’

  Further questioned, witness said that even if they had received the distress message he did not think they could have reached the scene of the disaster before the Carpathia.

  James Gibson, aged 20, an apprentice on board the Californian said that he went on duty at 12 o’clock. At five minutes to one, after he had been off the bridge for twenty minutes, Mr Stone told him that the ship had fired five rockets.

  The Solicitor-General: ‘What else did Mr Stone say?’ – ‘That he had reported it to the captain.’

  ‘What else?’ – ‘And that the captain had instructed him to call her on the Morse light.’

  ‘What had been the result?’ –’She had not answered him, but fired more rockets.’

  ‘Did you see her fire these further rockets?’ – ‘I saw three.’

  ‘What colour rockets were they?’ – ‘White.’

  ‘When you had your glasses on her, could you make out what ship it was?’ – ‘No, only the lights.’

  ‘SHE LOOKS VERY QUEER’

  ‘What did you notice between one o’clock and 1.20, looking at her through your glasses?’ – ‘The Second Officer remarked to me, “Look at her now. She looks very queer out of the water. The lights look queer.” ’

  ‘Did he say what he meant?’ – ‘I looked at her through the glasses, and the lights did not seem to be natural.’

  ‘What did you see through the glasses?’ – ‘She seemed as if she had a heavy list to starboard.’

  ‘Did you think yourself when you looked at her through the glasses that something was wrong?’ – ‘We had been talking about it together.’

  The President: ‘What were you saying?’ – ‘The Second Officer remarked to me that the ship was not going to send up the rockets at sea for nothing.’

  The President: ‘As I understand it, you and the Second Officer came to the conclusion that it was a ship in distress?’ – ‘Not exactly.’

  ‘What then?’ – ‘That everything was not all right.’

  Answering the Solicitor-General, witness said he thought the vessel he saw was a tramp.

  Subsequently, he said, he was ordered by the Second Officer to report to the captain.

  ‘Did you give him the report you were ordered to give?’ – ‘Yes.’

  ‘What did the captain say?’ – ‘He asked me whether they were all whites.’

  ‘What did you tell him?’ – ‘I told him they were all white.’

  The President: ‘Was he awake?’ – ‘Yes.’

  ‘Was there anything else?’ – ‘Yes. I saw three more rockets.’

  ‘When was that?’ – ‘About twenty minutes to four.’

  ‘What do you mean when you say that later on when you looked at her you thought she had got a list, or that her lighting looked queer?’ – ‘The side lights seemed to be higher out of the water.’

  ‘What colour are distress signals?’ – ‘White.’

  ‘Did you not think it curious that so many rockets should be sent up so near?’ – ‘Yes.’

  ‘Did the Second Officer say this vessel must be in distress?’ – ‘No; he said there must be something wrong.’

  ‘You thought she was in distress?’ – ‘Yes.’

  ‘Did you see stars with the rockets?’ – ‘Yes, white stars.’

  ‘Do you know the regulation distress signal is a rocket throwing white stars?’ – ‘Yes.’

  The President: ‘Did you know it then?’ – ‘Yes.’

  A SCENE WITH THE PRESIDENT

  The next witness was Herbert Stone, Second Officer on the Californian, who said he saw the rockets.

  The President asked him several times what he thought the rockets meant, and the witness answered that he did not know.

  The President remarked: ‘Do be frank. You don’t make a good impression.’

  Mr Aspinall: ‘Did you think they were distress signals?’ – ‘No, not at the time.’

  ‘Did it occur to you at some later time?’ – ‘After I had heard about the Titanic going down.’

  ‘What did you think then?’ – ‘That they might possibly have been distress signals.’

  The President: ‘From the Titanic?’ – ‘Not necessarily.’

  At two o’clock the witness said to Gibson, ‘Go down to the master, and be sure you wake him up and tell him that we have seen eight of these white lights like white rockets in the direction of this other steamer; that this steamer was disappearing in the south-west; that we had called her up repeatedly on the Morse lamp, and had received no information whatever.’ The gradual disappearance of the lights was perfectly natural in a steamer steaming away.

  Mr Aspinall: ‘Did they not have the appearance of being the lights of a ship which had suddenly foundered?’ – ‘Not by any means.’

  The President: ‘Do you mean to tell us that neither you or Gibson expressed the opinion that there was something wrong about that ship?’ – ‘No, sir, not wrong with the ship, but merely with the changing of her lights.’

  ‘Do you want me to believe that, notwithstanding these rockets, neither you nor Gibson thought there was anything wrong about that ship?’ – ‘Yes, sir.’

  DISTRESS SIGNALS EXAMINATION

  In answer to Mr Scanlon, the witness said he obtained his certificate as mate last December twelve months. In the examination he sat for to obtain his certificate he had to answer a question as to distress signals.

  ‘For that question you read something about distress signals?’ – ‘I learnt it.’

  The President: ‘And the very thing was happening that you knew indicated distress?’ – ‘Had the steamer stood on its bearings …’

  ‘No, no. Do not answer me like that. Is it not a fact that the very thing was happening which you had been taught indicated distress?’ – ‘Yes, sir.’

  Mr Scanlon: ‘You knew, did you not, that these rockets sent up were signals of distress?’ – ‘No.’

  The President: ‘Do think what you are talking about. You have just told me that what you saw from that steamer were just what you had been taught to expect as signals of distress. Is that true?’ – ‘It is true that similar lights are distress signals.’

  ‘And you saw those lights?’ – ‘When the steamer was steaming away.’

  Mr Harbenson: ‘Did you notice this ship had a list?’ – ‘I did not.’

  In answer to Mr Dunlop, the witness said that he judged the ship to be a smallish steamer.

  ‘Could she be the Titanic?’ – ‘Not by any means.’

  The President: ‘Have you heard of any other steamer in the vicinity at that hour?’ – ‘No, sir.’

  ‘You knew the Titanic was there?’ – ‘Yes.’

  (Daily Graphic, 15 May 1912)

  CONVINCED HE SAW THE TITANIC

  Californian Officer’s Evidence

  The first witness at the Titanic inquiry yesterday was Charles Victor Groves, the Third Officer of the Californian, who was on duty from 8 o’clock until 12 on the Sunday night.

  He said he saw a steamer with two white masthead lights. (The Titanic had two white masthead lights.) She had ‘a lot of lights,’ and was a large passenger steamer. About 11.30 he reported what he had seen to the captain, and told him the vessel was a passenger steamer.

  As ordered by the captain, Groves tried to call the steamer up with the Morse lamp. Afterwards he saw a light and sent the message, ‘What?’ That meant, ‘What vessel are you
?’ The light on the steamer still flickered, and Groves concluded definitely that the steamer was not answering.

  Captain Lord went on to the bridge and said: ‘That does not look like a passenger steamer.’ Groves said: ‘It is. When she stopped, her lights seemed to go out, and I suppose they put them out for the night.’ The lights went out at 11.40.

  In the course of their conversation about the steamer the captain said: ‘The only passenger steamer near is the Titanic.’

  The court discussed the question of the apparent going out of the lights that Mr Groves noticed. Lord Mersey pointed out that the Titanic’s engines were stopped at 11.40, whereupon he was informed that the order from the bridge to stop the main engines would not result in the stopping of the engine that lighted the ship. It was pointed out that the Titanic was stated to have made a turning movement when the iceberg was sighted, and Groves said that the lights might have been shut out by such a movement.

  Groves said that when he went off duty he told Stone, the Second Officer, that he had seen a passenger steamer that stopped about 11.40. Between 12.15 and 12.30 Groves went to the Marconi room, woke up the operator, and said, ‘What ship have you got, Sparks?’ (Sparks is a ship nickname for the Marconi operator.) Sparks replied, ‘Only the Titanic.’ Groves then put the wireless instrument to his ear. He could read a message if it was sent slowly. He heard nothing.

  ‘How long did you listen?’ – ‘I do not suppose it would be more than fifteen to twenty seconds. I did it almost mechanically.’ (The Marconi operator, who gave evidence later, explained that the ‘detector’ stopped when he left off working. That being so, any signals that the Titanic might have made afterwards would not be recorded.)

  Groves then went to his bunk. Next morning the Chief Officer called him and said the Titanic had sunk. Groves then went to Stone, the Second Officer (who on Tuesday gave evidence that he saw several white rockets go up.)

  Groves said to Stone: ‘Is this right about the Titanic?’ Stone replied: ‘Yes, it is right. Hurry up and get dressed; we shall be wanted in the boats. I saw rockets in my watch.’

  Lord Mersey: ‘That conveys to me the notion that when he said he saw rockets in his watch he was referring to rockets which he believed came from the Titanic. Did he give you that impression?’ – ‘It is rather difficult to say what impression I got. I was rather excited.’

  Lord Mersey: ‘Knowing what you do now, do you think the steamer that you now know was throwing up rockets, that you thought was a passenger steamer, was the Titanic?’ – ‘Most decidedly I do, sir.’

  Groves said that in the morning he saw a steamer whose name he did not know. It was smaller than the ship whose lights he saw the night before.

  George Frederick Stewart, the Chief Officer of the Californian, was the next witness. Asked why there was no reference to the distress signals in the log, Stewart was understood to reply that it might have been forgotten.

  ‘Do you think a careful man is likely to forget distress signals?’ – ‘No, my Lord.’

  Lord Mersey: ‘Then don’t talk to me about forgetfulness.’

  The Chief Officer added that he never questioned the Second Officer about the absence of any reference to the distress signals in the log. Stewart was questioned about the unknown steamer seen in the morning. He said it had four masts and one funnel. He had been unable to find out her name.

  Cyril Evans, the Marconi operator on the Californian, said that on the Sunday evening he told the captain that the Titanic was near. The captain told him to let the Titanic know that the Californian was stopped and surrounded by ice.

  About 11 o’clock he called up the Titanic, but, as the Titanic operator was sending private messages to Cape Race, he was told to ‘keep out’. The Californian’s signals, Evans explained, would obliterate those from Cape Race.

  Evans said he turned in about 11.30. He remembered Mr Groves visiting the Marconi room after midnight. Evans said he would have sent a call at any time during the night had he been asked.

  (Daily Sketch, 16 May 1912)

  Third-class steward John Hart, a thirty-one-year-old Londoner, was responsible for the welfare of around fifty-eight steerage passengers on E deck. Thinking the collision to be a trivial affair, he went to sleep, only to be stirred by the chief third-class steward, Mr Kiernan.

  ‘He said, “Get your people roused up and get lifebelts placed upon them.” ’

  ‘Did you knock them all up?’ – ‘Yes.’

  ‘Were most of them up or were they asleep?’ – ‘The majority were up. They had been aroused before I got there.’

  ‘And what did you do about the lifebelts?’ – ‘I saw the lifebelts placed on them that were willing to have them put on.’

  ‘Some would not put them on?’ – ‘Some refused to put them on. They said they saw no occasion for putting them on; they did not believe the ship was hurt in any way. After that there was a large number of men coming from the forward part of the ship with their baggage – those that were berthed third-class up forward. When I saw that my own people had the required number of lifebelts – or those who were willing to have them – I placed the remainder of the lifebelts in one of the alleyways beside which these people would have to pass, in case any came through without lifebelts from the forward part of the boat. I waited about there with my own people, trying to show them that the vessel was not hurt to any extent to my knowledge, and waited for further orders. After some little while the word came down, “Pass your women up on the boat deck.” Those that were willing to go to the boat deck were shown the way. Some were not willing, and stayed behind. Some of them went to the boat deck and found it rather cold, and saw the boats being lowered away, and thought themselves more secure on the ship, and consequently returned to their cabin. I heard two or three say they preferred to remain on the ship than be tossed about on the water like a cockle shell.’

  ‘This would be about 12.30?’ – ‘Yes.’

  ‘How did you take them?’ – ‘I took them along to the next deck, the C deck, the first saloon deck. I took them along to the first-class main companion from there.’

  ‘At that time, when you took up your people by that route, was there any barrier that had to be opened?’ – ‘There were barriers that at ordinary times are closed, but they were open.’

  ‘How many people of your lot did you take up the first time you went up this course to the boat deck?’ – ‘Somewhere about thirty, all women and children of the third-class. I took them to boat No. 8, which at that time was being lowered. I left them there and went back again, but on the way of my getting back other passengers were coming along, third-class passengers. They were also being shown the way to the boats. Amongst them were females – the husbands and fathers were with them.’

  ‘Did you bring up any more?’ – ‘I had some little trouble in getting back owing to the males wanting to get to the boat deck. After the word was passed around for women and children, I was delayed a little time in getting a little band together that were willing to go to the boats.’

  ‘A band of women and children?’ – ‘Yes.’

  ‘How many did you gather?’ – ‘Somewhere about twenty-five.’

  ‘Were those all people from the rooms you were responsible for?’ – ‘No, also from other sections.’

  ‘Were they all third-class passengers?’ – ‘Yes. I took them to the only boat that was left then on the starboard side of the ship, boat No. 15. They got in from the boat deck. Mr Murdoch said: “What are you?” I said: “One of the crew. I have just brought these people up.” He said: “Go ahead; get into the boat with them.” The boat was then lowered to A deck. We there took in about five women, three children, and one man. He had a baby in his arms.’

  ‘When you left the third-class part of the ship the second time, the last time, were there any more third-class passengers down there?’ – ‘Yes, there were some that would not come to the deck. They would not leave their apartments.’

  ‘By that
time you at any rate had realized that this was a very serious accident?’ – ‘Yes, but they would not be convinced.’

  ‘Did you do your best to convince them?’ – ‘Everybody did their best.’

  ‘On this second journey of yours, the last journey, did you see other stewards engaged in getting people?’ – ‘Yes, I met several on the deck directing them the way to the boat deck. There was one man at the foot of the companion leading from the sleeping accommodation to the after-well deck; there was one man at the end of the companion leading from the well-deck to the E deck; and there were others along the saloon and second cabin deck showing them the way to the boat deck. So there was no difficulty for anybody who wanted to get to the boats to find their way there.’

  Mr Harbinson (for the third-class passengers): ‘I should like to know what are the means employed to prevent the third-class passengers during the voyage from straying into the first and second-class decks and quarters of the ship. First, are there two collapsible gates?’ – ‘Yes, gates that can be removed. Dividing the third-class deck there is a companion; dividing the second-class deck and the first-class deck there is a barrier.’

  ‘Are those kept fastened during the course of a voyage – the barrier and the companion?’ – ‘No.’

  ‘Are they open?’ – ‘Well, the barrier that lifts over and the gate that fixes in you can just take it out with your hand. It is never locked.’

  ‘So that at any time a third-class passenger, by pushing the gate or raising the barrier, can go to the second-class deck or the first-class deck. Is that right?’ – ‘That is correct. That is, of course, if there is nobody there on watch. There is usually a quartermaster standing by there or a seaman.’

  ‘Have you ever seen those gates locked?’ – ‘No.’

  ‘Do I gather rightly from you that it was a considerable time after the chief third-class steward had told you to rouse up your people that you went about reassuring these people and telling them that the vessel was not hurt?’ – ‘No. Right from the very first we were trying to convince the people that she was not hurt.’

  ‘Why did you, upon your own authority, go round and tell them that the vessel was not hurt?’ – ‘It was not on my own authority at all.’