by Nic Compton
It is the White Star routine. The White Star Company have regulations, just the same, in fact, as the Navy, and we all know exactly what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and where to do it. Everybody knows his business, and they do it. There is no hitch in anything.
Charles Lightoller – Second Officer
There were two junior officers on watch at all times, a quartermaster at the wheel and a stand-by quartermaster. We had two lookout men in the crow’s nest at all times. In anything but clear weather, we carry extra lookouts. If the weather is fine, that is to say if the sea allows it, we place them near the stem head; when the weather does not allow us to place them at the stem head, then we probably place them on the bridge.
Joseph Boxhall – Fourth Officer
The lookout may have been increased; I cannot say. I was busy most of the watch in the chart room, making calculations. I did not hear any extra lookouts reported as being put on.
Sir Ernest Shackleton – Explorer
When navigating in an ice zone, I would put a lookout man in the bow or as near to the waterline as possible, even on a clear night, but I would only have one man in the crow’s nest. My main reason for saying one man in the crow’s nest is that I think one man gives more attention to the work in hand than two men.
Joseph Boxhall – Fourth Officer
His duty is assigned to a man when he is assigned to his ship, and he grows up with it. He learns the different duties he has to perform in whatever rank he is on board ship.
The senior officer always takes the observations; he simply takes the observations with his sextant. The junior officer takes the time with the chronometer, and then is told to work them out. If the senior officer does not think these things are correct, he tells you to work them over, and you have to do it again.
When you take stars you always endeavour, as we did that night, to take a set of stars. One position checks another. You take two stars for latitude, and two for longitude; one star north and one star south, one star east and one star west. If you find a big difference between eastern and western stars, you know there is a mistake somewhere. But, as it happened, I think I worked out three stars for latitude and I think I worked out three stars for longitude. They all agreed.
After I had worked these observations of Mr Lightoller’s, I was taking star bearings for compass error for myself, and was working those out. That is what kept me in the chart room most of the time. I was making computations most of the time.
Samuel Hemming – Lamp-trimmer
Mr Murdoch told me about the ice when I put the lights out that night. At about 7.15, I was walking off the bridge, and he called me back. He said, ‘Hemming, when you go forward, get the fore-scuttle hatch closed. There is a glow left from that and, as we are in the vicinity of ice, I want everything dark before the bridge.’ It was the hatch on the forecastle head. I closed it myself.
Charles Lightoller – Second Officer
In the event of meeting ice, there are many things we look for. In the first place, a slight breeze. Of course, the stronger the breeze the more visible will the ice be, or rather the breakers on the ice. Therefore at any time when there is a slight breeze you will always see at night-time a phosphorescent line round a berg, growler, or whatever it may be. The slight swell which we invariably look for in the North Atlantic causes the same effect; the break on the base of the berg, so showing a phosphorescent glow. All bergs – all ice – more or less have a crystallised side. This side has been crystallised through exposure, and in all cases will reflect a certain amount of light – what is termed ‘ice-blink’. You will frequently see iceblink from a fairly large berg before the berg comes above the horizon.
You can see a big iceberg at least a mile and a half or two miles off – that is more or less the minimum. You could very probably see it a far greater distance than that. If it were a very white berg, flat topped or the flat side towards you, under normal conditions you would probably see that berg three or four miles away.
I judged I should see any ice that was large enough to damage the ship with sufficient distinctness to define it.
As far as we could see from the bridge, the sea was comparatively smooth. Not that we expected it to actually be smooth, because looking from the ship’s bridge very frequently with quite a swell on, the sea will appear just as smooth as a billiard table, perfectly smooth; you cannot detect the swell. The higher you are the more difficult it is to detect a slight swell. We generally assume that, though the sea may appear smooth, we pretty well know that there is a swell, though it may not be visible to the eye, nor yet have any effect on the ship. A flat calm is a most rare occurrence.
As far as icebergs were concerned, it would be more difficult to spot them in a flat sea. Naturally you would not see the water breaking on it if there were no wind; and so you would not have that to look for.
Sir Ernest Shackleton – Explorer
It entirely depends on the height of the iceberg. Take an iceberg of about 80 feet high, and the ordinary type of iceberg that has not turned over, you could see that in daytime in clear weather about 10 to 12 miles. Or, providing it was an ordinary berg, about five miles on a clear night.
There are many bergs I have seen that appear to be black, due to the construction of the berg itself, and also due to the earthy matter and rocks that are in all bergs. In fact, in the south many of these so-called islands, and charted as islands, must have been big bergs with earthy matter on them. After a berg has capsized, if it is not of close construction, it is more porous and, taking up the water, does not reflect light in any way. Its visibility might be only three miles, depending on the night and depending almost entirely on the condition of the sea at the time.
If the berg is capsized, it may extend underwater perhaps 200 yards or more, depending on the size of the berg. Some bergs that are five miles long may extend 200 or 300 yards – what we call a spur. I have seen spurs 200 yards away, but I think a couple of hundred feet would be about the average. A lot depends upon the sort of ice – what sort of mountain it came off, and how it was formed, and what its specific gravity is, whether it is worn down in the current by the temperature of the water.
‘The dinner was an exceptionally good dinner’
Arthur Peuchen – First Class Passenger
Sunday evening I dined with my friends, Markleham Molson, Mr Allison, and Mrs Allison; and their daughter Helen was there for a short time. The dinner was an exceptionally good dinner. It seemed to be a better bill of fare than usual, although they are all good. After dinner my friends and I went to the sitting-out room and had some coffee. I left the friends I had dined with about nine o’clock, I think, or a little later. I then went up to the smoking room and joined Mr Beatty, Mr McCaffry, and another English gentleman who was going to Canada. We sat chatting and smoking there until probably 20 minutes after 11, or it may have been a little later than that. I then bid them good night and went to my room.
Bruce Ismay – Managing Director, IMM
I was all alone, so I asked Dr O’Loughlin to come and dine with me, and he dined with me in the restaurant at half past seven. No other persons were present excepting the doctor and myself.
The captain dined in the same restaurant, but I do not know at what time. I believe he dined with Mr and Mrs Widener, and I think Mr and Mrs Carter were there, and Mr and Mrs Thayer. I did not see Major Butt, but I could not see the whole of the table. They were dining at the forward end of the restaurant, on the starboard side. Part of their table was in an alcove. I was dining in the middle of the room on the same side of the ship, but I could see only part of their table. In fact, I was sitting with my back toward them.
I should think they were there half or three-quarters of an hour. They were sitting at the table when I went out of the room.
I had known Captain Smith a great many years. He had been commander of a great many of our ships, and was looked upon as our senior commander. The first time I remember Captain Smith being command
er of one of our ships was when he was in command of one of our cargo boats called the Cufic, a great many years ago. He was in command of the Olympic, he was in the Adriatic, the Baltic, and the old Britannic. I cannot remember them all, but we have a record in the office of every ship he has commanded. I think he was about 62.
Captain Smith was a man who had a very, very clear record. I should think very few commanders crossing the Atlantic have as good a record as Captain Smith had, until he had the unfortunate collision with the Hawke. It was in the Solent in either August or September of last year. The Olympic was run into by the cruiser Hawke and very seriously damaged. She had to go back to Belfast to be repaired. The outside of her hull was very badly damaged and the shafting was bent. She was in the hands of a compulsory pilot.
Mary Smith – First Class Passenger
At 7.30pm, as usual, my husband and I went to dinner in the café. There was a dinner party going on, given by Mr Ismay to the captain and various other people on board ship. This was a usual occurrence of the evening, so we paid no attention to it. The dinner did not seem to be particularly gay; while they had various wines to drink, I am positive none were intoxicated at a quarter of nine o’clock, when we left the dining room. There was a coffee room directly outside of the café, in which people sat and listened to the music and drank coffee and cordials after dinner. My husband was with some friends just outside of what I know as the Parisian Café. I stayed up until 10.30, and then went to bed. I passed through the coffee room, and Mr Ismay and his party were still there. The reason I am positive about the time is because I asked my husband at the three intervals what time it was. I went to bed, and my husband joined his friends.
Henry Stengel – First Class Passenger
I have a distinct recollection of Mrs Thorne stating, while talking about the captain being to dinner, that she was in that party, and she said, ‘I was in that party, and the captain did not drink a drop.’ He smoked two cigars, that was all, and left the dining room about ten o’clock.
William Ward – Saloon Steward
There was no drinking whatever. Had there been extra dinners or banquets, or the like of that, I certainly should have known it, working in the saloon. There was nothing in the way of banquets since we left Southampton, barring ordinary dinners. If there had been any banquet at all, some of us would certainly have been working for that purpose. I do not know of anything in the captain’s room at all. There was no room in his room for any banquet. It would be impossible.
Harold Lowe – Fifth Officer
I never touched alcohol in my life. I am an abstainer. I say it without fear of contradiction. Water is the strongest drink I ever take.
Joseph Boxhall – Fourth Officer
I was inside the chart room working up stellar observations from eight o’clock. It was perfectly clear. There was no haze whatever. Whenever I was on the deck or at the compass I never saw any haze whatever.
I had seen reports of ice and put them on the chart. All the ice marked on the captain’s chart I put down myself. There were icebergs reported from the captain of the Touraine some time previously; it might have been a couple of days before. I put their position on the chart, and found that those positions were considerably north of the track. In fact, they were between the northern track and the southern track.
I remarked to Captain Smith, that those positions were of no use to us because they were absolutely north of our track. You will understand these French boats do not keep the recognised tracks we do. French boats are always to be found to the northward. Therefore I plotted all these positions out. He had given us the position of a derelict, and when I plotted this derelict and these various icebergs he had seen, I could almost form an opinion of this track he had taken. He had gone considerably north, right across the Banks. And I said, ‘They are out of our way.’
It was put down just as carefully as I should have put it down if it had been on our course. The captain saw me, and he was there alongside of me where I was putting the positions down, or shortly after I put them down, anyhow. He read the telegram and looked at it, and these positions satisfied him.
Later, more positions came. I put those on the chart. All the ice I remember plotting out was to the northward of the track. If it had been on the track or to the southward I should have seen fit then to call the captain’s special attention to it at the time I put it on. But I just merely remarked to him that I had put down the ice we had had reported; whenever I did put it on the chart, I remarked to him that I had done so.
I did not look at the chart when I came on at eight o’clock. I do not recollect any message about ice. I do not think there were any received at all of ice on our track, or the word would have been passed around right away; everybody would have known it.
From all the positions of icebergs that I had, of course I knew that we should be getting close up to those positions in the early hours of the middle watch. I did not think we should be up to any of those positions before midnight that night.
George Turnbull – Deputy Manager, Marconi International Message sent by Mesaba on 14 April at 7.50pm [9.40pm ship’s time]
‘From Mesaba to Titanic and all east-bound ships. Ice report in latitude 42° N to 41° 25’ N, longitude 49° W to longitude 50° 30’ W. Saw much heavy pack ice, and great number large icebergs. Also field ice. Weather good, clear.’
At the bottom of the form there appears this entry by the operator: ‘Reply received. Thanks. Sent this to about ten other ships as well; names in PV’, meaning his procès-verbal. It is initialled SHA. His name is Adams, the operator of the Mesaba.
Stanley Adams – Marconi Officer, SS Mesaba
It was an ice report from the captain. He said that it should be transmitted to all east-bound ships. It was with reference to the ice we had seen in the morning and the ice we had seen in the afternoon. It ran something like this: ‘Latitude so and so, and longitude so and so, passed so many bergs,’ and giving the time.
I sent this message, and the Titanic sent: ‘Received, thanks.’ As soon as I received the official received signal I timed it, dated it, put the office sent to, and initialled it. I was waiting for a probable reply from the captain of the Titanic to the captain of the Mesaba; I thought that he would have some news to communicate to us. But the answer never came.
Joseph Boxhall – Fourth Officer
I do not think for a moment that we had those messages.
Herbert Pitman – Third Officer
I heard something about a wireless message from some ship. Mr Boxhall put on the chart the position of the iceberg. I saw the mark there. He would just simply make a cross and write ‘ice’ in front of it.
I understand that Mr Lightoller warned Mr Murdoch. We had mentioned it before. We spoke of it amongst ourselves on Sunday. We were remarking that we should be in the vicinity of ice in Mr Murdoch’s watch [starting at 10pm], and that we might see it. I had nothing to say in the matter. I was not interested in it. I cannot remember when the conversation occurred, and I have not the slightest idea who was there. I just heard the remark passed; that was all.
It was not my place to talk with the captain about such things. He used to pay periodical visits to the bridge. He may have been up there a half a dozen times in a watch.
Charles Lightoller – Second Officer
The temperature had fallen considerably. I know exactly how much because when I relieved Mr Murdoch after my dinner he made the remark to me that the temperature had dropped four degrees whilst I was away. It had fallen from 43 degrees to 39, which was a pretty sharp drop. It had been going down previously to that before I left the deck. Later on in the watch, the quartermaster two or three times told me what the temperature was in order that I might know when it got near to freezing point to send word to the engine room and the carpenter.
At about nine o’clock, it was 33 degrees, one degree above freezing. I sent word to the carpenter to look after his fresh water – to drain it off to prevent the pipes fr
eezing – and to the engine room for them to take the necessary precautions for the winches.
A change of temperature indicates nothing whatever with regards to ice; you may have it any time in the year, summer and winter, going across the Atlantic. It is not quite so noticeable in winter because the air generally is cold. Though it may seem strange, it is quite possible for the temperature to go up if the ice happens to be floating in slightly warmer water, or if the wind were to come round from the southward. It is absolutely no indication whatever.
At five minutes to nine, when the commander came on the bridge he remarked that it was cold, and I said, ‘Yes, it is very cold, sir. In fact,’ I said, ‘it is only one degree above freezing. I have sent word down to the carpenter and rung up the engine room and told them that it is freezing or will be during the night.’ It was merely to indicate that the necessary duty had been done.
We then commenced to speak about the weather. He said, ‘There is not much wind.’ I said, ‘No, it is a flat calm, as a matter of fact.’ He repeated it; he said, ‘A flat calm.’ I said, ‘Yes, quite flat, there is no wind.’ I said something about it was rather a pity the breeze had not kept up whilst we were going through the ice region. Of course, my reason was obvious; he knew I meant the water ripples breaking on the base of the berg.
