Page 149 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 1 - 5

Mr. Scanlan: I said “thickening,” my Lord. 2603. (The Commissioner.) I thought you said “thick.” (To the Witness.) Were you in a fog when this accident happened? - No. 2604. (Mr. Scanlan.) Did you communicate with the bridge, that you found it hazy? - No. Mr. Scanlan: I think you mentioned that you said to your mate, or your mate said to you, that you would be very lucky if you could see through the haze. The Commissioner: “If we can get through this.” 2605. (Mr. Scanlan.) Were you not then of opinion that the pressure of that haze made the passage dangerous? - I am not the officer of the watch. Mr. Scanlan: I am not accusing you of that. The Commissioner: These questions are proceeding upon the assumption that that observation was made. Mr. Scanlan: That this observation was made to him, my Lord. The Commissioner: Yes. Mr. Scanlan: Was that observation made to you? The Commissioner: He says it was. 2606. (Mr. Scanlan.) When this observation was made to you did you not think it a proper thing to communicate with the officer on the bridge? - Certainly not. The officer of the watch would ask you what you meant by it. He would ask you whether you were interfering with his duty or not. 2607. When you are going through a haze at night, is it usual to slow up - slacken speed? - That has nothing to do with me. I am not on the bridge. I am a look-out man, as I said before. 2608. You have often been in a fog, I daresay, in Atlantic passages? - I am in a fog now. 2609. You have been at sea for a number of years. Have you been sailing through an ice-field? - Yes. 2610. When your ship is sailing through an ice-field, is it usual to go slow - to slacken speed? - Certainly. 2611. Is it not also usual when you are in a fog or in a haze to slacken speed? - Certainly. 2612. And speed on this occasion was not slackened? - I could not tell you. 2613. You could not tell? - No. 2614. What is the height of the crow’s-nest above the foc’sle deck? - I do not know. I suppose it is a matter of between 40 and 50 feet above the foc’sle deck. 2615. (The Commissioner.) It is a little higher than the bridge, is it not? - Some distance higher, my Lord. Mr. Scanlan: About 40 feet. The Commissioner: He said that the crow’s-nest is about 40 feet higher than the bridge. The Attorney-General: I do not think he meant that, my Lord; I think he meant the foc’sle deck. The Witness: Yes, I meant the foc’sle deck The Attorney-General: Forty feet higher than the foc’sle deck. 2616. (The Commissioner.) That is a very different thing. How much higher than the bridge is it? - I suppose 20 feet something. The Attorney-General: Your Lordship can see it there on the model. The Commissioner: Yes, and I have seen the thing itself on the “Olympic.” 2617. (Mr. Scanlan.) Would it have been easier to have observed the iceberg from the bow than from the crow’s-nest? - I cannot answer you that. 2618. When you have been on other ships have you ever been at watch on the bows? - Yes. 2619. (The Commissioner.) Was there a crow’s-nest on that ship? - Yes. 2620. And was there somebody in the crow’s-nest as well? - Yes.