by Senan Molony
Fleet: I think I got into the water in the boat about 1 o’clock.
17431. And it was about that time that you saw this light? — Or just a little before it; about that time.
Reg Lee, Fleet’s lookout colleague in the crow’s nest, did not see a light either while on duty:
2419. Before half-past eleven on that watch had you reported anything at all, do you remember? — There was nothing to be reported.
Yet Captain Lord of the Californian stated this:
7118/9. How far do you think your [masthead] lights would be observable by another ship? — I suppose the masthead lights you would see 7 or 8 miles. 8 miles I should think.
7120. Suppose the Titanic was 7 or 8 miles from you between 11.30 and 12 o’clock, would those on her bridge have been able to see your lights? — Easily.
Captain Lord said the officers on the Titanic’s bridge ought ‘easily’ to have seen lights if the Californian had indeed been 7 and 8 miles away. If it would have been an easy task on the bridge, how much easier would it have been from the lofty crow’s nest, where the lookouts were stationed? The crow’s nest was about 20ft higher than the bridge (question 2616) in order to give the lookouts just such an advantage over the bridge in surveying the full sweep of sea and sky.
It should be noted here that the limit of the visible horizon on this night would have been of the order of 10 to 12 miles – possibly more, since it was a spectacularly clear night.
Consider what the Titanic’s senior surviving officer, Second Officer Charles Lightoller, testified about lookout abilities on clear nights:
14309. The [lookout] man may, on a clear night, see the reflection of [a] light before it comes above the horizon. It may be the loom of the light and you see it sometimes sixty miles away.
If the mystery ship soon to be seen by the Titanic was the Californian, let us re-state then, that she, the Californian, was absolutely stationary. And if the Californian was the mystery ship, and stationary, then she should have been seen in advance of the collision by Fleet and Lee, the lookouts.
But she was not seen.
The lookouts, if indeed the Californian was to be the mystery ship, should have seen her as a light on the horizon long before the collision with the ‘berg. Titanic observers, when they finally noticed the mystery ship, put her at an average distance of 5 miles. Less than halfway to the horizon!
If this light had always been stationary, only to be subsequently seen at 5 miles, and if the Titanic’s visible horizon was always a minimum of 10 miles (as it assuredly was), then at a pre-crash speed of 22 knots, the Titanic ought to have seen the light prior to impact for up to fifteen minutes! This is simple maths.
But no such light was seen. Not before impact, and not for a considerable time thereafter. Remember, it was the lookouts’ duty to report lights all over the horizon. ‘Anything we see’, was the phrase Fleet used to describe their responsibilities. Before the impact, he and Lee had been ‘looking all over the place, all around’ (US, p.322). After the Titanic struck, it would have been particularly important for them to scan the 360 degree horizon. For a light! They should have been looking for precisely that: another ship. And they stayed on duty, diligently looking out, after the collision (US, p.319):
Fleet: I kept staring ahead again.
Senator Smith: You remained in the crow’s nest?
Fleet: I remained in the crow’s nest until I got relief.
They were relieved at 12.23 a.m., almost three-quarters of an hour after the collision at 11.40 p.m. And they had seen no light.
3
THE SHIP SEEN BY TITANIC
At last we come to the mystery ship, not previously seen, which now approached the Titanic, in the words of a senior surviving witness, Titanic Fourth Officer Joseph Groves Boxhall. Boxhall was the officer who watched this vessel, initially through binoculars, as she came ever closer to the stricken Titanic. He was adamant until his death that the ship he saw had ventured towards the RMS Titanic until the visitor next turned and stopped. This is what he stated at the US Inquiry (p.236):
Senator Smith: Were the two masthead lights the first lights that you could see?
Boxhall: The first lights.
Sen. Smith: And what other lights?
Boxhall: And then, as she got closer, she showed her side light, her red light.
Sen. Smith: So you were quite sure she was coming in your direction?
Boxhall: Quite sure.
Elsewhere in the inquiry, Boxhall declares (US Inquiry, p. 235):
Boxhall: I saw his masthead lights and I saw his side light.
Sen. Smith: In what direction?
Boxhall: Almost ahead of us.
And later, he offers more details (US Inquiry, p.910) :
Boxhall: She was headed toward us, meeting us.
Senator Fletcher: Was she a little toward your port bow?
Boxhall: Just about half a point off our port bow.
And, from the British Inquiry:
Boxhall: I submitted the [SOS] position to the Captain first, and he told me to take it to the Marconi room.
15392. And then you saw this light which you say looked like a masthead light? — Yes, it was two masthead lights of a steamer.
15393. Could you see it distinctly with the naked eye? — No, I could see the light with the naked eye, but I could not define what it was; but by the aid of a pair of glasses I found it was the two masthead lights of a vessel, probably about half a point on the port bow, and in the position she would be showing her red if it were visible, but she was too far off then.
15394. Could you see how far off she was? — No, I could not see, but I had sent in the meantime for some rockets … I was sending rockets off and watching this steamer. Between the time of sending the rockets off and watching the steamer approach us I was making myself generally useful…
Boxhall was sure that the mystery ship was ‘approaching’, ‘coming’, ‘meeting us’, getting closer, ‘headed toward’ Titanic. The Californian was stationary. The mystery ship was not. When did he see her first?
The evidence shows that it was after he had reckoned a revised SOS position (41° 46’ N, 50° 14’ W), a wireless position that was transmitted and heard by other ships, at what the British Inquiry decided was 12.25 a.m. Titanic time. Boxhall gave the following responses:
15388. Before I saw this light I went to the chart-room and worked out the ships position.
15389. Is that the position we have been given already – 41° 46’ N, 50° 14’ W? — That is right [Boxhall had earlier estimated a position of 41° 44’ N, 50° 24’ W, which the Titanic had been sending out from 12.15 a.m., until this position was revised ten minutes later].
Boxhall had first discerned a ship some time after revising the distress position at 12.25 a.m. It is likely therefore that the far-off light was not seen before 12.30 a.m., since lookouts Fleet and Lee had descended from the crow’s nest, their shift having ended at 12.23 a.m. with nothing seen.
It is important to emphasise that there was no light seen for three-quarters of an hour between the time of impact, 11.40 p.m., and at least 12.23 a.m., when Fleet and Lee left the crow’s nest.
Crew duty watches were due to change at this time, with a plan to put back Titanic’s time to midnight once 12.23 a.m. was reached. The clocks were to go back forty-seven minutes that night and it was to be done in two stages – twenty-three minutes and twenty-four minutes, at the end of elongated midnight and 4 a.m. watches. This was to allow for Titanic’s noon to be approximately correct as the vessel steamed ever westward.
The following is from the US Inquiry (p.460), when Quartermaster Robert Hichens was called:
Senator Smith: You left the wheelhouse that Sunday night at?
Hichens (interposing): Twenty-three minutes past 12.
Sen. Smith: Your watch had not expired?
Hichens: My watch had expired; yes.
Senator Smith also questioned Fleet on the issue:
Sen. S
mith: How long a watch did you have?
Fleet: Two hours; but the time was going to be put back that watch.
Sen. Smith: The time was to be set back?
Fleet: Yes, sir.
Sen. Smith: Did that alter your time?
Fleet: We were to get about 2 hours and 20 minutes. (On watch from 10 p.m. to 12.23 a.m.)
Meanwhile Lee, Fleet’s crow’s nest colleague, would testify that he left the crow’s nest at 12 a.m. – which time it was indeed, by the changed clock (see US Inquiry, p.317).
Boxhall, we know, first saw the mystery ship at half a point off the port bow, virtually straight in front of the ship and the lookout cage or crow’s nest. Yet it was only the relief lookouts who took over from 12.23 a.m. who later reported the remote light, said Fleet.
So, what does half a point off the port bow mean? There are thirty-two points on a compass, that is, eight in each quadrant, a quadrant being the area delineated by, for example, west and north. To understand ‘half a point off the port bow,’ imagine a place halfway between 11 and 12 on a clock face – effectively the position of the hour hand when the time is at 11.30. ‘One point’ is actually closer to 12, or the bow of a ship, than this. And half a point is closer again. It is the compass equivalent of just one minute to midnight on a clockface, therefore representing just a tiny amount off the port bow.
This mystery ship will eventually move from ‘half a point’ to two points and more off the port bow when further observed, which is indicative of movement, since the Titanic has stopped after impact, although she may drift slowly thereafter. Furthermore, this strange ship has come from being non-existent before 12.23 a.m., to being close enough for a single light to be spotted by Boxhall, then closer still, so that two masthead lights are discernible, until finally being so close that a port-side red light is discernible along with all other lights .
That’s movement. The Californian, according to the evidence of her crew, was stationary.
A note about side lights: ships carried them to indicate what side they were presenting. A red light was carried on the port side and a green one to starboard. Side lights will become important again later in this analysis, but for now the only salient fact for this argument is that visible side lights indicate closeness.
The question of how close a side light needs to be in order to be visible is answered by some of those called to the inquiries. Charles Groves, Third Officer on SS Californian, was questioned on the issue (question 8419): ‘What is the average range of an ordinary ship’s side light? — Two miles’. William Lucas, Titanic AB, was also called, and suggested (question 1802): ‘Could you see a side light eight or nine miles distant? — A night like that I could’.
Boxhall suggested in the US Inquiry (p.934):
…I have already stated, in answer to a question, how far this ship was away from us, that I thought she was about 5 miles, and I arrived at it in this way. The masthead lights of a steamer are required by the Board of Trade regulations to show for 5 miles, and [side lights] are required to show for 2 miles.
Senator Burton: You could see that distance on such a night as this?
Boxhall: I could see quite clearly.
Sen. Burton: You saw not only the mast light but the side lights?
Boxhall: I saw the side lights. Whatever ship she was, she had beautiful lights. I think we could see her lights more than the regulation distance…
It should be noted again that the visible horizon from the Titanic’s boat deck this starlit night would have been of the order of 10 to 12 miles. A light high out of the water could be seen for another few miles.
In summary then, Boxhall saw the red side light of that mystery vessel, and concluded she was ‘about 5 miles away’, this mystery vessel having approached over the horizon, from an unseen position, to stop halfway to Titanic. And Californian was stationary. All night.
Boxhall was not alone on the Titanic in witnessing the strange ship approaching. Able Seaman Edward Buley offers the following information (pp.611–612, US Inquiry):
…Yes, sir; I saw it (the light) from the ship. That is what we told the passengers. We said, ‘There is a steamer coming to our assistance’. That is what kept them quiet, I think.
Senator Fletcher: Did that boat seem to be getting farther away from you?
Buley: No; it seemed to be coming nearer.
Sen. Fletcher: You are possessed of pretty good eyes?
Buley: I can see … 21 miles, sir.
Sen. Fletcher: Did she come toward you bow on?
Buley: Yes, sir; bow on toward us, and then she stopped…
Boxhall said she approached bow on, eased to starboard and stopped, showing her red light broadside.
Third class passenger Olaus Abelseth (p.1037, US Inquiry):
I could not say, but it [a light off the port bow] did not seem to be so very far. I thought I could see this mast light, the front mast light. That is what I thought I could see. A little while later there was one of the Officers who came and said to be quiet, that there was a ship coming. That is all he said.
Second Officer Lightoller later wrote of reassuring passengers in this way.
BOXHALL AND CAPTAIN SMITH
We know Fleet and Lee, the lookouts, did not see the light of a ship during their watch, which ended twenty-three minutes after midnight. But if the Californian was stationary nearby, then she ought to have been seen. Yet it seems to have been the relieving pair, the ‘other lookout’, who first reported the light. This appears to have happened around 12.30 a.m. or shortly thereafter. Boxhall had computed a new SOS position before seeing the light, he testified, and this new position was first transmitted by the Titanic at 12.25 a.m., meaning he first saw the light only after this time. Fleet testifies (US Inquiry, p. 328):
Fleet: There was no lights at all when we was up in the crow’s nest. This is after we was down and on the [life]boats; then I seen the light.
Senator Smith: Where did you see it?
Fleet: On the port bow. The other lookout reported it.
Sen. Smith: How far ahead?
Fleet: It was not ahead; it was on the bow, about four points.
Sen. Smith: I am not speaking of that. I wanted to know whether you saw ahead, while you were on the watch, on the lookout, Sunday night, after the collision occurred or before, any lights of any other ship.
Fleet: No, sir.
Sen. Smith: You saw no lights at all?
Fleet: No, sir.
Fleet had been on duty with Reginald Lee, but we know that the phrase ‘other lookout’ does not refer to his crow’s nest partner, because Lee testified to seeing nothing during the time when he was either on duty, or on deck, with Fleet:
2564. When the steamer struck, was there any light of any other vessel to be seen? — [Lee] No.
2574. Does that mean that you only saw that light after the Titanic sank? — After I was in the (life) boat, after leaving the ship.
2576. Before she sank had you seen that light? — No. It was only after being in the boat and away from the ship that we saw that light.
If Lee didn’t report the light to Fleet, then it is most likely that Fleet’s remark about the ‘other lookout’ means the relief pair of Alred Hogg and Frank Evans who ascended the crow’s nest to take over lookout duty at 12.23 a.m. Slated to stay in the crow’s nest until 2 a.m., they instead came down after twenty minutes on watch.
Hogg gave evidence at both inquiries, but incredibly was never asked whether he had seen a ship’s light – whether in the nest, or later on deck. He says he did telephone the bridge after noticing confusion on deck, but received no answer.
The British Inquiry never teased out the point about when the mystery light was first seen, and in fact it failed to call Evans, Hogg’s partner, at all. Hogg himself was treated only as a witness in relation to the lifeboat he eventually joined!
Let us recap: if the Californian was this light that appeared, then that light was necessarily stationary – and the relief l
ookouts should have seen it at once, even allowing for bizarre blindness on the part of Fleet and Lee. But the impression from the evidence is that some further time elapsed before the light that would become the mystery ship was first reported.
Let us briefly re-examine Boxhall before seeing which other witnesses corroborate his version of a ship that approaches so close that even the colour of her side lights can be discerned.
The following is a transcript of Boxhall at the British Inquiry:
15400. Did you watch the lights of this steamer while you were sending the rockets up? — Yes.
15401. Did they seem to be stationary? — I was paying most of my attention to this steamer then, and she was approaching us; and then I saw her side lights. I saw her green light and the red. She was end on to us. Later I saw her red light. This is all with the aid of a pair of glasses up to now. Afterwards I saw the ship’s red light with my naked eye, and the two masthead lights. The only description of the ship that I could give is that she was, or I judged her to be, a four-masted steamer.
15403. Did the ship make any sort of answer, as far as you could see, to your rockets? — I did not see it. Some people say she did, and others say she did not. There were a lot of men on the bridge. I had a Quartermaster with me, and the Captain was standing by, at different times, watching this steamer.
15404. Do you mean you heard someone say she was answering your signals? — Yes, I did, and then she got close enough, and I Morsed to her – used our Morse lamp.
And slightly later in the Inquiry:
15408. Then you thought she was near enough to Morse her from the Titanic? — Yes, I do think so; I think so yet.
15409. [The Commissioner] What distance did you suppose her to be away? — I judged her to be between 5 and 6 miles when I Morsed to her, and then she turned round – she was turning very, very slowly – until at last I only saw her stern light, and that was just before I went away in the boat.
