Page 116 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 1 - 5

1938. (The Solicitor-General.) You told us you got as quickly as you could into No. 5? - Yes. 1939. And when this order was given did you obey it as quickly as you could? - Yes, we obeyed it as quickly as we could. 1940. Now just think. Was there much length of time after you got into No. 5 and before Mr. Hescott [Hesketh] gave that order? - I should say about ten minutes. 1941. You had been in the bunker? - Yes. 1942. (The Commissioner.) Why did you go into the bunker? - I never went into the bunker, my Lord. The bunker was empty, my Lord, and you can stand on the stokehold plates and look into the bunker from the stokehold. You can see into the bunker from where you are working. 1943. (The Solicitor-General.) Your Lordship appreciates that it is up to there that he says the rent came. (To the Witness.) When you returned or tried to return to No. 6 coming down that emergency ladder did you see anything of your mates in No. 6? - No. 1944. (The Commissioner.) What had become of them? - I cannot tell you, my Lord. 1945. Have you seen any of them since? - Only one. 1946. (The Solicitor-General.) That is Beauchamp, my Lord. (To the Witness.) Suppose you were in one of these sections and you went to get out of it at ordinary times. I want to know how many ways out there are? You have said you can get through the watertight doorway when it is open, and there is this emergency ladder. Is there any third way? - I could not tell you. I was only four days on the ship myself. 1947. As far as you know is there any third way? - No, not to my knowledge. The Commissioner: I do not think there are any other ways. 1948. (The Solicitor-General.) I do not think so, my Lord. (To the Witness.) The bunker you went into was empty? - Yes. 1949. There was no coal in it? - No. 1950. Was there any water in that? - The water was pouring into it when I noticed it. 1951. That brings us as far as you are finding eight feet of water in your own section? - Yes. 1952. When you found there were eight feet of water there, what did you do then? - We came back to No. 5. 1953. Again using these emergency ladders? - Yes. 1954. That really means, does it not, passing over the top of the bulkhead? - Yes; you come out into the alleyway where the passengers would be. 1955. (The Commissioner.) The alleyway that goes right fore and aft of the ship? - Yes. 1956. (The Solicitor-General.) Did Mr. Shepherd come back with you to No. 5? - Yes. 1957. And when you got back to No. 5, you and Mr. Shepherd, who else did you find there? - Mr. Harvey and Mr. Wilson. 1958. What is their rating? - I could not tell you; they are engineers, second assistant engineers. 1959. Anyhow, they are engineers? - Yes. 1960. Mr. Harvey, one of the engineers, and Mr. Wilson? - Yes. 1961. And what were they doing? - Attending to the pumps. 1962. Are there pumps in each section? - As far as I understand, there are. 1963. At any rate there were pumps in No. 5? - Yes. 1964. And when you got back to No. 5, how much water was there in No. 5? - None. 1965. Let us understand it. You said that the bunker in No. 5 had got some water coming into it? - Yes; but the hole was not so big in that section as it was in No. 6 section. By the time the water had got there she had stopped. 1966. So that the water was not coming into No. 5 fast enough to flood it? - No. 1967. Were the pumps working in No. 5? - I could not tell you. 1968. Did you get down to the plate level in No. 5? - Yes. 1969. And the water was not above that? - No.