by Senan Molony
We saw earlier how the Californian had drifted at least 2 miles south overnight. If she was the mystery ship seen from the Titanic at 5 miles, then she was by now only 3 miles from the sinking. Meanwhile, Crawford, in boat No.8, said he had pulled for over two hours towards the mystery ship, but made no headway – she ‘disappeared’.
Clearly Californian cannot be Bisset’s ship in these circumstances. It is most likely that Bisset’s 1959 account is just a garbled tale, unreliable in detail.
THE SMALL STEAMER
Meanwhile, Rostron of the Carpathia has mentioned being able to see two ships, somewhere after 5 a.m., one of them a four-master, the other with two masts. This description corroborates what Moore in the Mount Temple observes. Moore can see Carpathia and also a small steamer, which indicates that the four-master Rostron is seeing is likely the Mount Temple and vice versa. If Rostron and Moore can both see the small steamer, then they are also seeing each other. As Moore says: ‘This pack of ice between us and the Carpathia, it was between 5 and 6 miles. She did not communicate with me at all. When we sighted her she must have sighted us’ (US Inquiry, p.778). The captain of the four-masted Mount Temple now describes how he saw a smaller steamer close to his own position in the morning – a position far to the south of the Californian:
9257. …I saw her afterwards in the morning, when it was daylight. She was a foreign vessel – at least, I took her to be a foreign vessel. She had a black funnel with a white band with some [heraldic?] device upon it, but I did not ascertain her name.
Moore states (US Inquiry, p.763):
Moore: …When I turned [after receiving the SOS] there was a steamer on my port bow.
Senator Smith: Going in the same direction?
Moore: Almost in the same direction. As he went ahead, he gradually crossed our bow until he got on the starboard bow, sir.
Sen. Smith: Did you see that ship yourself?
Moore: I saw it myself. I was on the bridge all the time.
Sen. Smith: Did you communicate with it by wireless?
Moore: I do not think he had any wireless; I am sure he had no wireless, because in the daylight I was close to him.
Sen. Smith: How large a vessel was it?
Moore: I should say a ship of about 4,000 or 5,000 tons.
This is smaller than both his own 6,661-ton Mount Temple and the 6,223-ton Californian. Moore speculated that this was a ‘foreign ship’ (US Inquiry, p.764), that ‘she was not English. I do not think she was English, because she did not show her ensign’. Moore continues (p.764):
Moore: I had no communication with her. We were trying to pick him out in the signal book, and we were trying to signal with him, because I think he was under the impression that I was going to the eastward, that I was bound to the eastward, and I think when I turned back after we both stopped, when we found the ice too heavy, he followed me, because when I turned around, after finding the ice too heavy to the southward, after I went to the southward later on in the morning, when it got daylight, and I went down to where he was, thinking he perhaps had gotten into a thin spot, when I got there he had stopped, he had found the ice too heavy. I went a little farther, and I turned around because it was getting far too heavy to put the ship through. But that would be about 5, or perhaps half past 5, in the morning, sir.
This puts the two ships together, as they would be seen by Rostron, and in the exact time-frame specified by the Carpathia’s captain. Rostron’s two ships therefore, are the Mount Temple and an unknown small two-master. Neither ship, as he explicitly states, is the Californian. Also from Moore of the Mount Temple (US Inquiry, p.767):
I steered away to the south-southeast true, because I thought the ice appeared thinner down there, sir. When I got down, I got within about a mile or so of this other ship, which had already stopped, finding the ice was too strong for it to go through.
Meanwhile Captain Lord of the Californian will declare:
7400. Was there another vessel near the Mount Temple? — There was, a two-masted steamer, pink funnel, black top, steering north down to the north-west.
This is actually a different vessel to the black funnel one seen by Moore, but the point is still made about there being more vessels around that morning than is commonly imagined. Lord will later cite the Almerian as the pink-funnel ship, belonging to the same line as the Californian, which also had a pink funnel, in common with all Leyland Line vessels. Moore’s black-funnel tramp is much harder to identify, but a black funnel with a white band and a ‘device’ in it, may suggest either of the German tankers Trautenfels or Lindenfels.
WHEN DID CALIFORNIAN ARRIVE AT THE CARPATHIA?
This is the second argument for assuming that the Californian must have been close – she supposedly arrived early at the Carpathia’s side. This is a kind of ‘alternative trap’ for Lord’s figures, locations and timings, and depends on Third Officer Groves of the Californian, even though his account clashes with that of Bisset. Groves is the same man who, uniquely among the ranking officers of that vessel, saw a ‘passenger steamer’ nearby the previous night (but only for a single hour), and who also saw two masthead lights on her – whereas Lord, Gibson and Stone all saw only a small to medium tramp (Stone says ‘smallish’) with one masthead light. True to form, Groves the following morning is once more out of step with his colleagues – and also clashing with independent observers like Captain Moore of the Mount Temple and Captain Rostron of the Carpathia. Here is an abridgement of what Groves has to say, even if he immediately weakens his timings by offering that they are only approximate:
8290. …turned out again in the morning about 6.40, I did not notice the time particularly…
8296. …Stewart, the Chief Officer, told me to come on the bridge.
8297. …’the Titanic has sunk, and the passengers are all in the lifeboats in the water ahead of us’, or words to that effect.
8313. I went straight up on the bridge as soon as I was dressed.
8314–5. What did you find when you got there? — Ice all round us and icebergs. The ship was under way then, and I could feel her bumping the ice, and I knew she had got a good speed on by that.
8321. Now it is getting on for 7? — I suppose by the time I got on the bridge it would be 6.50, but you understand the time is only approximate.
8322. I quite understand that. Were there any other vessels in sight? — Yes.
8323. What were they? — There was a four-masted steamer abeam on our port side.
8324. What steamer was that? — I did not know at the time, but I knew afterwards she was the Carpathia.
8328. How far off was she? — I should think she would be about 5 miles – possibly more, possibly less, but about five.
8331. Did you make out anything about her? — After I had been looking at her I made out she had her house flag half-mast. She had a red funnel with a black top.
8337. What did your vessel do then? — We continued on our course for a little time after I had told the Captain she had a red funnel with a black top and the house flag half-masted, and the next thing that was done we starboarded [the helm, turning to port, turning left].
8338. You made straight for her? — We made practically straight for her.
8339. Did you see any other vessel? — Yes, I saw two other vessels.
8341. At this time? — Yes. I fancy one of them was in sight at the same time as I noticed this four-master. [Supports Rostron seeing only two steamers, neither being the Californian, in the early part of the morning]
8341–2. …I know what one of them was; the Mount Temple.
8343–4. …She was ahead, a little on our starboard side when I saw her first, before we headed for the Carpathia.
8345. How far off was she, do you think? — Well, when I noticed her first – I had been paying particular attention to this other steamer – I should think she would be perhaps a mile and a half away from us.
8346. Nearer than the Carpathia? — Much nearer than the Carpathia.
8347. Was she stopped? — Stopped.
8348. In the ice? — In the ice.
8349. Did you see any other vessel? — I saw another vessel a little on our port bow, she was coming down almost end-on.
8350. [The Commissioner] You do not know her name? — I do not, but as far as I remember she had a black funnel. She was a small steamer. [Agrees with Rostron, and with Moore particularly]
8351. [Mr Rowlatt] Did you reach the Carpathia? — We did.
8352. What time did you reach the Carpathia? — I think it would be about 7.45 a.m. [Everyone else says 8.30 a.m.]
Groves suggests in response to question 8339 that he saw ‘two other vessels’ besides the Carpathia that morning, one being the Mount Temple, the other the small steamer. Taken in the round, his evidence suggests both these vessels were to the south of the Californian as she herself steamed south – again supporting Rostron’s two vessels to the north, neither of which was the Californian (there is agreement here in 1912 between Groves, Lord, Rostron and Moore, whereas Bisset has made a lazy assumption in his 1959 memoirs). Meanwhile, Captain Lord said Californian reached Carpathia at 8.30 a.m. Officer Groves ‘thinks’ it was ‘about’ 7.45 a.m. (question 8352). Who is right?
Here is Lord: ‘I got there at half-past eight’ (7260); ‘We arrived at half past eight’ (7284). And Bisset, in his 1959 recollections, states: ‘When I took over the watch on the bridge of the Carpathia at 8 a.m., the stranger was little more than a mile from us’. Evans, wireless operator on the Californian, gives the following evidence:
9165. How soon did you get into touch with the Carpathia? — I did not get her until I got nearly alongside of her.
9166. What time was that? — About half-past 8, I think.
Here is Californian Chief Officer Stewart: ‘And you stopped close to the Carpathia at 8.30? — Yes’ (8826). And Captain Rostron of the Carpathia states:
25551. …The first time that I saw the Californian was at about eight o’clock on the morning of 15th April. She was then about five to six miles distant, bearing WSW true, and steaming towards the Carpathia.
At the US Inquiry, Rostron says (p.22):
We got all the [life]boats alongside and all the people up aboard by 8.30. At 8 o’clock the Leyland Line steamer Californian hove up, and we exchanged messages. I gave them the notes by semaphore about the Titanic going down, and that I had got all the passengers from the boats…
So Groves’ timings, and he ‘did not notice the time particularly’ are wildly out-of-step with all other witnesses. Meanwhile, the other element of Groves’ questioning is this:
8321. I got on the bridge at 6.50, but you understand the time is only approximate.
8322. …other vessels in sight? — Yes.
8323. …four-masted steamer [he says Carpathia] abeam on our port side.
Quite apart from it not being explicit that the other vessel was in sight immediately he arrived on the bridge (leading to a possible gap between his arrival and noticing other vessels in due course), Groves’ evidence clashes with that of Captain Moore of Mount Temple:
5.20. [7.06 a.m. Mount Temple time] Signal Californian. Send my position… ‘This is my ship and Californian, sir. When I get him to confirm my position, I ask him if he can give me his position…’
Mount Temple cannot see Californian even some time after 7.06 a.m. (7.10 a.m. Californian). Subsequently Californian replies to Moore’s message, and the Mount Temple signals anew to ask for Californian’s position. Allow five minutes for them to see each other after exchanging these messages, meaning 7.15 a.m. Californian time.
Can it really be that Groves alone can miraculously see the Mount Temple an astonishing twenty-five minutes earlier (see Groves’ responses to questions 8321 and 8341 when he appears to claim to be able to see Mount Temple at 6.50 a.m.)? It must be remembered that Groves times are ‘only approximate’, whereas wireless message times are written down religiously the moment they are transmitted.
Moore of the Mount Temple continues: ‘After we go up toward him [Californian] he goes to the south and misses us, passes about a mile off…’ And Groves said: ‘When I noticed [Mount Temple] first, I should think she would be perhaps a mile and a half away from us’ (8345). These distances are very similar. Groves does not time the sighting. Nor does Moore mention a time for when the Californian passes, but it is certainly substantially after 7 a.m. by his ship’s clock. Lord, it will be remembered, specified on a couple of occasions that Californian passed the Mount Temple at 7.30 a.m. So Moore independently backs Lord, not Groves.
Groves’ supporters obviously suggest that his times were correct – meaning in turn that the Californian must have been far to the south of her log position of latitude 42° 05’ N, and therefore a candidate for the mystery ship seen by the Titanic. However American researcher Paul Slish has dismissed Groves’ timings by examining drift, steaming time, and Californian’s relationship to other ship positions, all factors which strongly argue against such a hypothesis.
To make Groves’ times work to meet the Mount Temple and the Carpathia at the right latitudes, for instance, he points out that the Californian would have to have been several miles further south than she believed – clearly impossible at the known rate of drift, and particularly since the Californian had got very good celestial observations the previous evening to establish her latitude accurately. Groves at no point implies his ship went south. Indeed, as the last officer of the watch before she stopped, it was his duty to see that the ship remained on a course of due west above the latitude line of 42° N. Groves testified that the overnight stop position was bound to be correct (8425). Yet this is incompatible with his times and the known duration of steaming the next morning. Mr Slish gives this example in relation to the suggestion by Groves that he can see the Mount Temple at around 7 a.m., if not before:
6 a.m.: Latitude 42° 01’. In the almost eight hours since stopping (at 10.21 p.m.) the Californian drifts south about 4 miles at the testified rate of a current of half a knot (stop position 42° 05’ N). 6–6.30 a.m.: Latitude 41° 59’ as the Californian steams 3 miles south-west through heavy ice at six knots. She thus goes about 2 miles south. One minute of latitude (the north-south axis) always equates to 1 nautical mile.
6.30–7 a.m.: Latitude 41° 52½’. The Californian steams south at 13 knots for half an hour and reaches the Mount Temple at Groves’ implied time.
But Captain Moore of Mount Temple, a master with twenty-seven years’ experience on the North Atlantic, is thus rendered in gross error; he thinks he is at 41° 46’, the Titanic’s transmitted SOS latitude, but is supposedly 6½ miles further north!
Now try the times by Captain Lord and Stewart’s testimony:
6 a.m.: Latitude 42° 01’, as above.
6–6.30 a.m.: Latitude 41° 59’, as above.
6.30–7.30 a.m.: Latitude 41° 46’. The Californian has steamed at 13 knots for an hour and reached the Mount Temple. This is exactly where Captain Moore said he was – at the Titanic’s transmitted SOS latitude.
Mr Slish points out that Lord and Stewart’s times perfectly agree with the proper positions and times of not only the Mount Temple but also the Carpathia, when Groves is once more out of step with all others. Groves also testified, in response to questions 8323–4, that he saw the Carpathia abeam on the port side (due east) and then the Mount Temple a little ahead (south) on the starboard side (questions 8339–48). This would place the Carpathia slightly north of the Mount Temple. This contradicts Captains Lord, Moore and Rostron, none of whom suggest the Carpathia was picking up survivors north of 41° 46’.
Witnesses agree that the Californian arrived just as the last passengers were brought aboard the Carpathia. If the Californian had indeed arrived at 7.45 a.m. (Groves’ time for the rendezvous), she could have taken up a boatload or two of survivors herself!
The Californian did not pick up any survivors, because when she arrived at the Carpathia it was 8.30 a.m. and all the survivors were already
aboard the Cunarder. Rostron said in his US evidence (p.718): ‘We gradually got all the boats together. We got all the boats alongside and all the people up aboard by 8.30 a.m.’, repeating that time elsewhere. Lord says that when the Californian arrived at the Carpathia ‘she was taking the last of the people out of the boats’ .
The entry ‘8.30. Stopped close to the Carpathia’ was, furthermore, entered in the Californian’s official log, maintained by Chief Officer Stewart, and this entry, among others, was read aloud to the US Inquiry by Lord (in his manuscript, The Middle Watch, Groves perplexingly goes even further and states that the Californian arrived at the Carpathia at about 7.30 a.m.!)
Finally, Groves’ other timings should be examined:
8367. At about 9 a.m. did the Carpathia steam off? — Yes, almost exactly at 9 a.m., because I heard her bell strike.
8368. Did you search longer? — Yes, we searched longer.
8369. Till about 10.40? — Ten-forty exactly. That is when we resumed our course.
A 9 a.m. Carpathia departure agrees with Rostron and Lord. Rostron says: ‘I left him [Californian] when I returned to New York at 8.50, I think it was’ (US Inquiry, p.33). And Lord states: ‘I talked to the Carpathia until 9 o’clock. Then he left’ (US Inquiry, p.723). Hearing her bell has helped fix the hour in Groves’ mind, but his 10.40 a.m. departure time for the Californian is again the subject of contradiction by his shipmates. Lord states:
