Page 45 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 1 - 5

The Commissioner: Is there any other question that you want to ask, Sir Robert? Sir Robert Finlay: No, my Lord. The Commissioner: Thank you, Jewell; and if you will allow me to say so, I think you have given your evidence very well indeed. The Witness: Thank you, Sir. (The Witness withdrew.) (Joseph Scarrott was called, but did not appear.) The Commissioner: Mr. Attorney, have you any information from any of these Witnesses as to how long after the forecastle-head went under, the stern went up in the air? The Attorney-General: We have certain information, my Lord, but it is an estimate of time. The Commissioner: You mean it is an estimate made by untrained men? The Attorney-General: Yes, it is a question of minutes. The Commissioner: Well, minutes or seconds. The Attorney-General: To express it in minutes is very difficult. The Commissioner: A man of the kind we had in the box just now talks sometimes about minutes when he means moments. The Attorney-General: That is why I hesitated to answer, my Lord. The Commissioner: Where is Mr. Scarrott? The Attorney-General: He has been called, and he has not answered. The Commissioner: Is there nobody who looks after these Witnesses? The Attorney-General: Yes, and he was warned he would be called, but he does not seem to have come back. The Commissioner: There should be somebody whose business it is to keep these men in hand, otherwise they stray about. JOSEPH SCARROTT, Sworn. Examined by Mr. BUTLER ASPINALL. 332. Were you serving as A. B. on the “Titanic” on the occasion of this accident? - Yes. 333. Was it your watch from 8 to 12 on the Sunday night? - Yes. 334. What were your duties during that watch? - To stand by for a call in case I was wanted for anything whatever. 335. Shortly before the ship struck the iceberg did you hear the bell strike in the crow’s-nest? - Yes. 336. What did you hear? - Three bells. 337. Do you know what time that was? - Not to be exact I do not, but it was round about half- past eleven. 338. Shortly after that did you feel anything? - Yes. 339. What did you feel? - Well, I did not feel any direct impact, but it seemed as if the ship shook in the same manner as if the engines had been suddenly reversed to full speed astern, just the same sort of vibration, enough to wake anybody up if they were asleep. 340. Did you feel anything besides that? - No. 341. Did you feel the ship strike anything? - No, not directly. 342. “Not directly,” you say? - Not as if she hit anything straight on - just a trembling of the ship.