Titanic on Trial

by Nic Compton

  After that there was a small child rolled in a blanket thrown into the boat to me, and I caught it. It was just thrown about two or three feet to me, and I caught it, unrolled the blankets, and found that it was a little baby. The woman that brought it along got into the boat afterwards.

  The boat was lowered away until we got nearly to the water, when two or three of us noticed a very large discharge of water coming from the ship’s side, which I thought was the pumps working. The hole was about two feet wide and about a foot deep; a solid mass of water coming out from the hole. I realised that if the boat was lowered down straight away the boat would be swamped and we should all be thrown into the water. We shouted for the boat to be stopped from being lowered, and they responded promptly and stopped lowering the boat.

  We got oars and pushed it off from the side of the ship. It seemed impossible to lower the boat without being swamped. We pushed it out from the side of the ship, and the next I knew we were in the water free from this discharge. I do not think there were any sailors or quartermasters in the boat, because they apparently did not know how to get free from the tackle. They called for knives to cut the boat loose, and somebody gave them a knife and they cut the boat loose. In the meantime we were drifting a little aft and boat No 15 was being lowered immediately upon us, about two feet over our heads, and we all shouted again, and they again replied very promptly and stopped lowering boat No 15.

  Edward Wilding – Naval Architect, Harland & Wolff

  There is a hook which is thrown out by pulling over the lever amidships in the boat. Both ends are connected up with one lever; and both are released at the same time. There is sufficient power in the lever to draw out that hook while the weight of the boat is still on it. The reason for doing it is to facilitate launching in a seaway. When there is a sea running, a man stands by the lever and watches his chance. It might perhaps be mentioned that that is the invention of a White Star captain for that object.

  Paul Mauge – Secretary to the Chef, A La Carte Restaurant

  The second or third lifeboat was between two decks, and I jumped directly from the top deck to this lifeboat. It was going to the water, but it was stopped between two decks when I jumped. About six or ten persons were jumping in it.

  Before that, I did ask the chef to jump many times, but the chef was too fat I must say – too big, you know. He could not jump. When I was in the lifeboat, I shouted to him again in French, ‘Sautez.’ He said something, but I could not hear because at the same moment a man said to me, ‘Shut up,’ or something like that. At the same moment another man from the Titanic tried to get me off to take my seat.

  Berk Pickard – Third Class Passenger

  The other passengers started in arguing. One said that it was dangerous and the other said that it was not; one said white and the other said black. No one realised the real danger, not even the stewards. If the stewards knew, they were calm. It was their duty to try to make us believe there was nothing serious. They tried to keep us quiet. They said, ‘Nothing serious is the matter.’ Perhaps they did not know themselves.

  Instead of arguing with those people, I instantly went to the highest spot. I said to myself that if the ship had to sink, I should be one of the last. That was my first idea, which was the best. I went and I found the door. There are always a few steps from this Third Class, with a movable door, and it is marked there Second Class passengers have no right to penetrate there. I found this door open so that I could go into the Second Class, where I did not find any people, only a few men and about two ladies. They had been putting them into lifeboats and, as no women were there, we men sprang in the boat. We had only one woman and another young girl. We were lowered down, and when I was lowered down I saw the whole ship, as big as she was, the right side a little bit sinking, and I was far from imagining that it was the beginning of the end.

  When I was going away from the ship, of course I was rather frightened; I was sorry at not being on the ship, and I said to the seaman, ‘I would rather be on the ship.’ He was laughing at me, and he said, ‘Do you not see we are sinking?’ I was rather excited, and I said, ‘It is fortunate that the sea is nice, but perhaps in five minutes we will be turned over.’

  I did not realize the danger, the whole time, even to the last moment. Of course, I would never believe such a thing could happen.

  Charles Lightoller – Second Officer

  I left the lowering of No 8 to the chief. He came along and, of course, being senior officer, took charge. And so I went then to complete the launching of No 4. Returning forward, down on to A deck, the windows were down. I placed some chairs against the window and formed a step, and standing outside myself, the same order was proceeded with, except that the boat was triced right close into the wire. The list could not have been serious because I was able to stand with one foot on the ship and one foot on the boat. Had the list been serious, the boat would have been too far away for me to stride the distance.

  I think the ship righted itself when the order was given to the passengers to go to the starboard side. I am under the impression that a great many went over, and the ship got a righting movement and maintained it. At that height and with that number of passengers, I think it would affect the ship’s list.

  Next I went to the port collapsible boat, underneath the emergency davits. The sides are made of canvas, and they won’t hold many, perhaps 20. They are not as good as a lifeboat; they can merely be stowed in a smaller place, one on top of the other. You can stow at least three of those where you can stow one lifeboat.

  The tackles were already rounded up when I got there. We lifted the gunwale of the boat, which opens it up, hooked on the tackles, put it over the side, and loaded up. Mr Wilde was there too at this time.

  We had very great difficulty in filling her with women. As far as I remember she was eventually filled, but we experienced considerable difficulty. Two or three times we had to wait, and call out for women. In fact, I think on one, perhaps two, occasions, someone standing close to the boat said, ‘Oh, there are no more women,’ and with that several men commenced to climb in. Just then, or a moment afterwards, whilst they were still climbing in, someone sang out on the deck, ‘Here are a couple more.’ Naturally, I judged they were women, and the men got out of the boat again, and we put the women in. I think this happened on two occasions.

  No men were allowed in that I know of, but a couple of Filipinos or Chinese got in – they stowed away under the thwarts or something. But for that, there were no men, except the crew I ordered in. I filled her as full of women as I could. I could have put more in that boat and could have put some men in, but I did not feel justified in giving an order for men to get into the boat, as it was the last boat as far as I knew leaving the ship, and I thought it better to get her into the water safely with the number she had in. There were plenty of people about, no doubt men passengers. But I did not want the boat to be rushed.

  I can remember distinctly lowering the boat – it was only about ten feet to the sea. A deck was under water, and almost immediately afterwards the water came from the stairway on to the boat deck.

  I called for men to go up on the deck of the quarters for the collapsible boat up there. The after end of the boat was underneath the funnel guy. I told them to swing the after end up. There was no time to open her up and cut the lashings adrift. Hemming was the man with me there, and they then swung her round over the edge of the coamings to the upper deck, and then let her down on to the boat deck. That is the last I saw of her for a little while. There was no time to put her on the falls, as the water was then on the boat deck.

  I went across to the starboard side of the officers’ quarters, on the top of the officers’ quarters, to see if I could do anything there. Well, I could not. I saw the first officer working at the falls of the starboard emergency boat, obviously with the intention of overhauling them and hooking on to the collapsible boat on their side. There were a number round there helping.

  Bruce Ism
ay – Managing Director, IMM

  I rendered all the assistance I could, putting the women and children in the boats. That was on the boat deck; I do not think I ever left that deck again. I saw Nos 3, 5, 7, and 9 lowered. I should think it took an hour and a half, or perhaps longer than that. All the women that I saw on deck got away in boats. I saw no confusion at all.

  Every wooden boat was away. I believe there was another collapsible on the top of the officers’ house. She was very fairly full. After all the women and children were in and after all the people that were on deck had got in, I got into the boat as she was being lowered away. There were no passengers on deck. I can only suppose they had gone to the after end of the ship. I presume they went there. I was really not thinking about it.

  Charles Lightoller – Second Officer

  I draw the conclusion that everyone was notified, by the manner and under the circumstances under which I met them last. It was obvious to me that everything with regard to their duty had been done by the mere fact that shortly before the vessel sank I met a purser, Mr McElroy, Mr Barker, Dr O’Loughlin, and Dr Simpson, and the four assistants. They were just coming from the direction of the bridge. They were evidently just keeping out of everybody’s way. They were keeping away from the crowd, so as not to interfere with the loading of the boats. McElroy, if I remember, was walking around with his hands in his pockets. The purser’s assistant was coming behind with the ship’s bag, to show that all detail work had been attended to. One of them had a roll of papers under his arm, showing that they had been attending to their detail work.

  They were perfectly quiet. They came up to me and just shook hands and said, ‘Goodbye, old man.’ We said goodbye to each other, and that is all there was to it.

  All the engineers and many of the firemen were down below and never came on deck at all. They were never seen. Where the others were, I have been unable to fathom. I have tried to find out for my own edification, but I cannot fix it up.

  Joseph Boxhall – Fourth Officer

  My attention until the time I left the ship was mostly taken up with firing off distress rockets and trying to signal the steamer that was almost ahead of us.

  I had sent in the meantime for some rockets, and told the captain that I would send them off. He said, ‘Yes, carry on with it.’ I was sending rockets off one at a time, at intervals of probably five minutes. I could not say how many – between half a dozen and a dozen. They were the regulation distress signals: you see a luminous tail behind them and then they explode in the air and burst into stars.

  Some companies have private night signals for ships passing in the night, signalling to one another. They are coloured stars as a rule. We did not have any time to use any of those things. These distress rockets were not throwing stars; they were throwing balls, I remember, and then they burst. It was the first time I have seen distress rockets sent off, and I could not very well judge what they would be like from a distance, standing as I was underneath them, firing them myself.

  I fired them just close to the bows of this emergency boat, because these distress rockets are dangerous things if they explode, and I had to keep people away clear while I fired the rockets. I did not notice who was working at the boat; I was intent on sending out these rockets and did not stop to look.

  I talked to Mr Ismay a little while before I left the ship. I had known him by sight for about three years; he has crossed before in some ships I have been in. I had just fired a distress signal and was going to the chart room to put the lanyard back, and Mr Ismay was standing by the wheelhouse door. He was standing alone at that time. He asked me why I was not getting the boat away. I told him I had no orders to get the boat away. I said the crew were ready, and people were getting in the boat. I went on with my work.

  The captain was standing by this emergency boat. He was standing by the wheelhouse door, just abreast of this boat, supervising the boats being loaded. He told me I had to get into that boat and go away. Mr Wilde was superintending the filling. The order was given to lower away when I was told to go in it, and the boat was full. There was one more lifeboat lowered away a few minutes after I left, and then there were no more boats hanging in the davits on the port side.

  I was sending the rockets up right to the very last minute when I was sent away in the boat.

  Charles Lightoller – Second Officer

  You quite understand they are termed rockets, but they are actually distress signals; they do not leave a trail of fire. I just mention that, not to confuse them with the old rockets, which leave a trail of fire. With actual distress signals, a shell bursts at a great height in the air, throwing out a great number of stars. They are principally white, almost white.

  I should roughly estimate we fired somewhere about eight at intervals of a few minutes – five or six minutes, or something like that. They were all fired from the starboard side, as far as I know.

  There is no ship allowed on the high seas to fire a rocket or anything resembling a rocket unless she requires assistance. I have seen them and known immediately what they were.

  Annie Robinson – First Class Stewardess

  The band was playing when I went up to A deck to call the other stewardess, and when I left the ship it was still playing.

  ‘It was unmistakably a rocket; you could make no mistake about it’

  Edward Buley – Able Seaman

  There was a ship of some description there when she struck, and she passed right by us. We thought she was coming to us; and if she had come to us, everyone could have boarded her. You could see she was a steamer. She had her steamer lights burning.

  She was stationary all night; I am very positive for about three hours she was stationary, and then she made tracks. I should judge she was about three miles away. We could not see anything of her in the morning when it was daylight.

  She could not help seeing our rockets. She was close enough to see our lights and to see the ship itself, and also the rockets. She was bound to see them.

  Ernest Gill – Donkeyman, SS Californian

  I was on watch at the time, from eight to twelve. I was coming along the deck to call my mate and looked over the starboard rail and saw a large steamer. It could not have been anything but a passenger boat – she was too large. I could see two rows of lights, which I took to be porthole lights, and several groups of lights, which I took to be saloon and deck lights. I knew it was a passenger boat. She was a good distance off; I should say not more than ten miles, and probably less. I watched her for fully a minute. They could not have helped but see her from the bridge and lookout.

  It was now 12 o’clock, and I went to my cabin. I woke my mate, William Thomas. He heard the ice crunching alongside the ship and asked, ‘Are we in the ice?’ I replied, ‘Yes, but it must be clear off to the starboard, for I saw a big vessel going along full speed. She looked as if she might be a big German.’ I did not stay long enough to observe which way she was going. I am not a sailor. I do not know anything about the latitude or longitude. My compass is the steam gauge.

  I turned in but could not sleep. In half an hour I turned out, thinking to smoke a cigarette. Because of the cargo I could not smoke ’tween decks, so I went on deck again. I had pretty nearly finished my smoke and was looking around, and I saw what I took to be a falling star. It descended and then disappeared. That is how a star does fall. I did not pay any attention to that. A few minutes after, probably five minutes, I threw my cigarette away and looked over, and I could see from the water’s edge – what appeared to be the water’s edge – a great distance away, well, it was unmistakably a rocket; you could make no mistake about it. Whether it was a distress signal or a signal rocket I could not say, but it was a rocket. It was slightly astern of where I had seen the steamer.

  I do not see how they could help seeing it from the bridge. There is a lookout man and a quartermaster, and there is the officer of the watch. I do not see how they could help but see it. I had no business to report it. It was a signal, a
nd other people on the ship, the proper people, would attend to that. It was nothing to do with me.

  I stayed for about three or four minutes after that, but it was extremely cold, and I was just dressed in a thin flannel suit and I did not care to stay any longer on deck. I went below.

  Charles Groves – Third Officer, SS Californian

  About 11.10pm, ship’s time, I made out a steamer coming up a little bit abaft our starboard beam. At first I just saw what I took to be one white light, but, of course, when I saw her first I did not pay particular attention to her, because I thought it might have been a star rising. The stars were showing right down to the horizon. It was very difficult at first to distinguish between the stars and a light, they were so low down.

  When I saw her first light, I should think she would be about 10 or 12 miles, by the look of the light and the clearness of the night. She got nearer all the time. About 11.25, I made out two white masthead lights.

  I went down to the lower bridge at about 11.30. I knocked at Captain Lord’s door, and told him there was a steamer approaching us. He said to me, ‘Can you make anything out of her lights?’ I said, ‘Yes, she is evidently a passenger steamer coming up on the starboard quarter.’ I told him that I could see her deck lights and that made me pass the remark that she was evidently a passenger steamer. There was absolutely no doubt her being a passenger steamer, at least in my mind. He said, ‘Call her up on the Morse lamp, and see if you can get any reply.’