The Great Titanic Conspiracy

by Robin Gardiner

  ‘To Captain Antillian. Six thirty pm, apparent ship’s time. Latitude 42°3’N, Longitude 49°9’W. Three large bergs 5 miles to the southward of us. Regards. Lord.’

  The watch officers on White Star vessels usually only spent 4 hours of their periods of duty actually on the bridge, effectively commanding the ship. Even during this time they would not usually make any alterations to the vessel’s course or speed except in dire emergency, or on the direct orders of the captain. Just because an officer was not actually on watch duty did not mean that he was never on the bridge, just that he was not compelled to be there. The second wireless operator was later to claim that he took this message from Californian to the bridge and placed it in the hands of an officer there. The watch officer at the time was Mr Lightoller, but it seems that Mr Murdoch was also on the bridge. Neither of them recalled ever receiving this message. It seems probable that Harold Bride, instead of delivering the message, placed it on a spike for attention later. At the time the message was received Bride was busy with passenger traffic.

  The message from Californian to Antillian is of some importance as it not only establishes the position of the Californian at 7.30pm on 14 April but also that of three icebergs. Allowing that Captain Lord’s given position was fairly accurate, and he was noted as a good navigator, his ship was about 15 miles north of Titanic and about 85 miles ahead.

  Despite Mr Bride’s assurance that the message from Californian was delivered to the bridge, we can be sure that it was not immediately brought to the attention of Captain Smith. At 7.30pm the captain was in the a la Carte restaurant enjoying a dinner party given in his honour by the millionaire Mr George Widener and his wife. Also present at the dinner party were the Wideners’ son Harry, US President Taft’s advisor Major Archie Butt, the Carters and the Thayers. According to the received version of events, at this dinner party Captain Smith had nothing to drink of an alcoholic nature. While this might indeed be the case, it seems highly unlikely given the nature of such parties and Captain Smith’s performance later that night. Wine would automatically have been served with the dinner, to be followed by port and brandy, accompanied by a good cigar to round things off. In any event Captain Smith did not leave the restaurant until about 5 minutes to 9 that evening.

  There is some evidence to suggest that before the captain left the bridge to attend his dinner party he was visited by Joseph Bruce Ismay, Managing Director of the White Star Line, and Thomas Andrews, Managing Director of Harland & Wolff. The three men argued over the state of the starboard main engine, which was vibrating badly and in danger of shaking itself to pieces. The conversation was overheard by Second Officer Lightoller. If this really did happen it confirms that the starboard main engine was not operating efficiently and that Smith, Ismay and Andrews knew about it. As Ismay was later to deny that he had visited the bridge of the Titanic that evening, the story has to be viewed with a certain amount of caution, but it does fit in with what we already know about serious vibration affecting the ship.

  In the meanwhile, at 7.30pm Second Officer Charles Lightoller took a stellar sight with his sextant. He then gave the readings to Fourth Officer Joseph Groves Boxhall, another noted navigator, to work out the ship’s precise position. Boxhall did not actually mark the ship’s position on the chart but left a note so that the Captain could do so when he next returned to the bridge, but that would not be for another hour and a half.

  At about 8.30pm the Reverend E. C. Carter began a hymn-singing service in the second-class dining saloon. The event was well attended and more than 100 passengers sang along to the old favourites played on the piano. Later a couple of those passengers who had attended remembered one hymn in particular that they had sung that evening, ‘Eternal Father strong to save’. Somewhat ironically the last line of the hymn is, ‘O hear us when we cry to thee for those in peril on the sea’. Although those passengers did not know it, they were already in deadly peril, and it seems that God wasn’t listening.

  All evening the temperature had been falling steadily. Between 5.30 and 7.30pm the air temperature had fallen from 43° to 39°F (6° to 4°C) and it was still falling rapidly. The sea temperature was even more alarming and had already dropped to the freezing point of fresh water. Luckily seawater freezes at an even lower temperature than fresh water, but nevertheless ice crystals were beginning to form. By 8.40pm Lightoller was growing concerned that the fresh water in the ship’s tanks and double bottom might be starting to freeze. The ship’s carpenter, Mr J. Maxwell, was despatched to see to the fresh water tanks supplying drinking water and to instruct the ship’s engineer, Mr Bell, to take steps to ensure that the supply of water for his boilers did not solidify. The ship’s 29 boilers used only fresh water to make the steam that drove the engines and other machinery aboard. Once the steam had been used it was passed to the condensers where it was turned back into fresh water and returned to the tanks. Overall the system was very efficient, but fresh water was continuously being pumped into the boilers to replace that which had been converted into steam. If the boilers ever ran critically short of water they would explode, so it was important to keep a supply of water available at all times.

  At about 8.55pm Captain Smith made his excuses and left the Wideners’ party. He made his way to the bridge, where he found Second Officer Lightoller. The Captain and his watch officer found nothing better to talk about than the weather, which, as it was a perfectly still, flat calm, starlit night with no moon, somewhat limited the subject. Charles Lightoller later described the conversation.

  ‘We commenced to speak about the weather. He [Captain Smith] 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, ‘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... We then discussed the indications of ice. I remember saying, ‘In any case, there will be a certain amount of reflected light from the bergs.’ He said, ‘Oh yes, there will be a certain amount of reflected light.’ I said or he said - it was said between us - that even though the blue side of the berg was towards us, probably the outline, the white outline, would give us sufficient warning, that we should be able to see it at a good distance and as far as we could see, we should be able to see it. Of course, it was just with regard to the possibility of the blue side being towards us, and if it did happen to be turned with the purely blue side towards us, there would still be white outline.’

  If Mr Lightoller’s description of the conversation between himself and Captain Smith is even vaguely accurate, one could be forgiven for believing that both men had been drinking heavily. There was no moon that night and no other light source in the vicinity apart from Titanic herself, so there could be no reflected light to betray the presence of an iceberg, no matter what side was turned towards them. The night was exceptionally clear and the sky was full of stars, so clear in fact that as stars set they appeared to be cut in two by the horizon. Unfortunately, although stars twinkle very prettily they do not give any appreciable illumination. Anyone who has ever been anywhere where there is no light pollution will know that in the complete darkness nothing at all is visible. You can literally hold your hand up in front of your eyes without seeing it.

  The only chance those aboard Titanic had of seeing a berg, or anything else, in time to avoid it would have been when that object came between the watcher and a number of stars. They would never have actually seen an iceberg, but might have known there was one present because they could not see all of the stars. Even a couple of small clouds would have eliminated even that small possibility. Lookouts in the crow’s-nest might spot a particularly dark patch of sky as a large berg first appeared above the horizon 10 or 12 miles from the ship. However, unless the berg was as high as the crow’s-nest itself, as it came closer it would become invisible against the blac
kness of the sea as the lookouts looked down upon it. Only lookouts placed as low as possible in the ship would have a fair chance of seeing an iceberg under these conditions once it came within a few miles of the ship and, as we know, the officers on the Titanic had neglected to take any such precautions. Fortunately the passengers remained in ignorance of the conversation between Captain Smith and Second Officer Lightoller, and therefore in ignorance of the fact that their immediate fate lay in the hands of a pair of incompetents, and possibly drunken ones at that.

  Captain Smith did not stay on the bridge for long and at about 9.20pm, after telling Lightoller to call him if things got at all ‘doubtful’, he decided to call it a day. Even though Smith had retired for the night he did not go to his cabin but instead decided to take a nap in the chartroom. That the captain felt the need for a lie down so early in the evening hints that he might have taken rather more to drink at the party than was perhaps good for him. What other explanation can there be? Unless he considered Mr Lightoller to be incapable of performing his duties as a watch officer, the captain had no possible reason to anticipate problems. All of the senior officers were master mariners in their own right and should have been equal to practically any emergency. In any event the captain was to prove almost useless, or worse, as the events of the night unfolded, and most of the responsibility for dealing with a series of disastrous events would indeed be dealt with by the senior officers. Unfortunately a couple of those officers would not handle their responsibilities at all well.

  No sooner was Lightoller sure that the captain had really left than he decided to exercise his authority and showed for the first time some appreciation of the danger the ship was fast approaching. He ordered Sixth Officer Moody to convey a message to the crow’s-nest, ‘to keep a sharp lookout for ice; particularly small ice and growlers’ until daylight (a growler is an iceberg that has partially melted to the point where it begins to roll over). Upon his return to the bridge Moody was questioned by Lightoller to ascertain whether or not he had passed on the message to the Second Officer’s satisfaction. It seems he had failed to do so and was ordered by Lightoller to repeat the errand. This time Moody was not only to pass on the instructions to keep a sharp lookout, something the lookouts were employed to do anyway, but to pass the instruction on to the next pair of lookouts when they were relieved at 10 o’clock. Archie Jewell and George Symonds, the lookouts on duty at the time, probably thought their instructions were somewhat superfluous and perhaps even insulting. At the end of the day the ship’s lookouts were professionals and were well aware that the safety of everyone aboard depended on them doing their job. That they took their responsibilities seriously is amply demonstrated by the fact that, for the vessel’s short voyage from the builders to Southampton, the lookouts had been provided with binoculars, which was normal procedure, and that they had been asking for them ever since. As we know, it was usually the Second Officer’s job to ensure that the lookouts had their binoculars, the same officer who issued the instructions for the lookouts to keep a special watch for ice on the evening of 14 April - the same Second Officer Lightoller who had neglected to issue binoculars to the lookouts when he had taken over Mr Blair’s duties, despite continued requests. As the ship sped towards the waiting field of floating ice and bergs, the lookouts were still without their binoculars.

  At 9.40pm another wireless message was received by the Marconi operators, Phillips and Bride:

  ‘From Mesaba to Titanic. In latitude 42°N to 41°25’, longitude 49°W to longitude 50°30’W, saw much heavy pack ice and great number large icebergs, also field ice, weather good, clear.’

  According to later testimony from Second Wireless Operator Bride, he was asleep when this message was received. He added that Jack Phillips was extremely busy with passenger messages, although he never explained how he knew that when he was supposedly asleep. As we shall later see, Harold Sidney Bride was to testify to quite a lot of things that were obviously untrue, so much so that it is probably wise to view everything he said with suspicion. As Phillips did not survive to tell his own version of the story we are forced to rely on Bride’s self-serving evidence. According to Bride, the senior operator, Phillips, instead of taking the ice warning to the bridge, simply stuck it on a metal spike and forgot about it. In any event the surviving officers all said that they never saw the Mesaba ice warning and that it never reached the bridge. The Mesaba warning clearly indicated the presence of a large amount of ice and a great many icebergs directly ahead of the ship, and not many miles away.

  At 10 o’clock the watch changed. Mr Murdoch took over from Lightoller on the bridge. Up in the crow’s-nest Jewell and Symonds were relieved by Frederick Fleet and Reginald Robertson Lee. Before leaving their post Jewell and Symonds passed on Mr Lightoller’s instructions for Fleet and Lee to keep a special lookout for ice. The instructions had by this time become surplus to requirements as the lookouts had been able to smell icebergs for quite a while. As anyone who has ever come across icebergs that have travelled far enough south to have begun to melt will know, they smell of rotting vegetation and even animal matter. In the hundreds, possibly thousands, of years that the ice has formed part of a slowly moving glacier, all sorts of animal and vegetable matter has been picked up and frozen solid. As soon as the ice and what it contains begins to melt, all this organic matter starts to rot at an accelerated rate, creating a berg’s unmistakable aroma. Titanic’s lookouts had been close to icebergs before and consequently knew all too well what the smell meant.

  Chapter 14

  ‘Iceberg right ahead’

  Up in the crow’s-nest Fleet and Lee peered into the darkness ahead and to both sides of the ship for the icebergs they knew must be there. The 25mph icy wind caused by the ship’s forward speed did nothing to help and made their eyes water continuously when they looked forward. Nevertheless they persisted, but they were sorely missing the binoculars that should have been available to them. Although binoculars were not much use for scanning large areas of sea and horizon they would at least have offered some eye protection from the wind. The almost total darkness did nothing to help either. The lookouts could see nothing at all except the thousands of stars above them.

  Shortly before 10.30pm the lookouts spotted another ship, some little distance off, going in the opposite direction; it was the Furness Withy Line steamer Rappahannock. The lookouts rang the crow’s-nest bell, then telephoned the bridge to report the presence of the other ship - there was a direct telephone link between the crow’s-nest and the bridge. The lookouts on Rappahannock were also on the ball and had spotted Titanic, which would not have been difficult as the White Star liner was lit up like a floating Christmas tree. The acting master of the Rappahannock, Albert E. Smith (no relation of Captain E. J. Smith), had Titanic contacted by Morse lamp. ‘Have just passed through heavy field ice and several icebergs.’ Sea captains are still noted for their ironic wit. Rappahannock’s master also explained that the steering gear of his vessel had been damaged by the passage through the ice. Titanic acknowledged the signal with one of her own: ‘Message received. Thank you. Goodnight.’ The two vessels carried on their respective courses. Those on the Rappahannock were to be the last to admit seeing the Titanic afloat, other than those actually aboard her. Yet even they were reluctant to do so. Just a couple of days after the loss of the liner the Furness Withy company sent a letter denying that they had any ships in the area close to Titanic when she sank.

  One could be forgiven for thinking that the warning from Rappahannock, that there was field ice and icebergs very close by, might have resulted in a reduction in Titanic’s speed, and perhaps the posting of a few extra lookouts. Instead, the liner seems to have accelerated. Passengers noticed that late on that Sunday night the ship’s engines were running faster than at any other time in the voyage. Captain Smith’s last words before leaving the bridge earlier that evening had been to the effect that he should be called if things became at all doubtful. The encounter with Rappahanno
ck should have alerted Mr Murdoch to the fact that things had indeed become doubtful, and that the ship was about to enter a field of ice. Obviously Murdoch didn’t attach too much importance to the Rappahannock’s warning or that she had suffered damage, as he failed to act on the Captain’s instructions.

  Meanwhile, away to the north, the Leyland Line’s Californian lay stopped. Although Captain Lord had left London for Boston in such a tearing hurry and had made his best possible speed for three-quarters of the trip to deliver his urgent cargo of pullovers and blankets, his sense of urgency seems to have evaporated. At about 10.15pm Captain Lord’s lookouts reported ‘ice blink’ ahead. ‘Ice blink’, a sort of fluorescent glow, was an indication of field ice. Without waiting to see if there really was any ice about, Captain Lord had Californian stopped for the night, a reasonable precaution on the face of it, one might think. However, it was not normal practice for a ship to stop because of ice in the vicinity. In fact, it would be unusual for one to even slow down unless icebergs or growlers had been seen or reliably reported close by. Nobody on the Californian had actually seen any ice at all, merely the ‘ice blink’. Nevertheless, it appears that Captain Lord was taking no chances. By stopping his vessel’s engine and allowing the ship to drift, he had completely eliminated any chance of a serious collision. Ice and ship would all be moving in the same direction and at the same speed. Short of becoming the filling in an iceberg sandwich, a very unlikely occurrence, Californian was in no danger at all. That Californian had not even reached the ice before Captain Lord had taken his precautions to safeguard his ship was more than unusual when his cargo was supposedly so urgently required in Boston. By far the most likely reason for Captain Lord having stopped his ship is not the presence of ice at all, because there wasn’t any where he was, but because he had reached the place towards which he had been hurrying.