Page 119 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 1 - 5

2040. There are boilers on either side of it? - Yes. 2041. From which direction did this water come? - From the forward end. 2042. And this pass that you walk through, is that at the same level as the plates? - Yes. 2043. The same level as where you were standing? - Yes. 2044. Supposing that the bulkhead which is the fore-end of No. 5 had given way, would water come through it and through this pass? - Yes. 2045. Do you know yourself where it was the water came from, whether it had got through the bulkhead or not? - I did not stop to look. The Solicitor-General: There is a plan here my friend Mr. Rowlatt has found, which is really a very great help in following this. May I bring it up to your Lordship. It is a plan which is numbered No. 3. At the bottom of this plan one gets the tank top level, and here No. E is the transfer section of the watertight bulkhead. W.T.D. is the watertight door to which the Witness said he had got. Immediately behind it is the bank of boilers, and here is the pass between two of the boilers. The Commissioner: Let the Witness come round here. (The Witness explained the plan to the Commissioner.) The Commissioner: Sir John, can you tell me what the height of the bulkhead is at this part? The Solicitor-General: It can be scaled, my Lord, of course. I have no doubt one of Mr. Laing’s advisers can say. The Commissioner: It could not come over the top of the bulkhead, I suppose? 2046. (The Solicitor-General.) I was going to ask him. He could tell from his feet, of course, whether the ship had shown any tendency to tip, because that gives one some guide. (To the Witness.) Can you tell us, up to this time, was the ship lying on an even keel? - No, she was sloping down by the head. 2047. You felt that she was down by the head? - Yes. 2048. Had you noticed that already? - Yes. 2049. And had it been getting worse? - Yes. 2050. Had you ever remarked on it to Mr. Shepherd, or any of them? - No, we never passed any remarks, the engineers never had time to pass any remarks; they were working all the time. 2051. Can you tell me where you were when you first noticed it? Did you notice it in No. 5? You were in No. 5 after the first all the time. Had you noticed it before the lamps went out? - No. 2052. Had you noticed it before the electric light returned? - No. 2053. Then you said there was a quarter of an hour, about, before this rush of water? - After the fires were drawn. 2054. Had you noticed it while the fires were being drawn? - Yes. 2055. That is when you noticed it? - Yes. 2056. And you say it got worse. Now can you give me any idea whether the water came from over the top of the bulkhead or through it? - I do not see how it could come over the top. 2057. You do not think it did come over the top? - No. 2058. Now, when it came through this pass between the boilers, did it come with a rush? - Yes. The Commissioner: I suppose he means by that as if something had given way. 2059. (The Solicitor-General.) Do you hear my Lord’s question? He is asking whether, when you said that, you got the impression that something had given way? - That was my idea. 2060. (The Commissioner.) Something that had been holding the water back gave way? - That is my idea, my Lord. 2061. (The Solicitor-General.) So it came with a rush? How fast did it fall? - I never stopped to look. I went up the ladder. Mr. Harvey told me to go up. 2062. (The Commissioner.) Could it have been a bunker bulkhead that gave way, do you think?