Page 7 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 1 - 5

(The Order was handed in, and is as follows): The Merchant Shipping Act, 1894. ORDER FOR FORMAL INVESTIGATION “Whereas, on or about the 14th day of April, 1912, the British Steamship ‘Titanic’, of Liverpool, Official Number 131,482, struck ice in or near latitude 41° 46’ N., longitude 50° 14’ W., North Atlantic Ocean, and on the following day foundered, and loss of life thereby ensued or occurred. And whereas a shipping casualty has occurred, and the Board of Trade have requested a Wreck Commissioner appointed under this Act to hold a Formal Investigation into the said shipping casualty, and he has consented to do so. “Now the Board of Trade, in pursuance of the powers vested in them by Section 466 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, do hereby direct that the Formal Investigation shall be held into the said shipping casualty in the Scottish Hall, Buckingham Gate, London, S. W. “Annexed hereto is a Statement of the Case upon which the said Formal Investigation has been ordered. th “Dated this 30 day of April, 1912. “Walter J. Howell. “An Assistant Secretary to the Board of Trade.” “The British Steamship ‘Titanic,’ of the port of Liverpool, Official Number 131,428. “STATEMENT OF CASE” “The following is a Statement of the Case on which a Formal Investigation is ordered: th “The above named ship left Queenstown for New York on or about the 11 day of April, 1912, with a crew of about 892 hands all told, and about 1,316 passengers. “On the night of Sunday the 14th day of April, 1912, the vessel struck ice in or near latitude 41° 46’ N., longitude 50° 14’ W., North Atlantic Ocean, and at about 2 a.m. on the following day foundered in about the same locality, and loss of life thereby ensued or occurred. th “Dated this 30 day of April, 1912. “Walter J. Howell - “An Assistant Secretary to the Board of Trade.” The Attorney-General: That is the Order for Formal Investigation. Your Lordship sees that is the Board of Trade Order. The President: Dated the 30th April. The Attorney-General: Yes. It recites that “On or about the 14th April, 1912, the British Steamship ‘Titanic,’ of Liverpool, struck ice in or near latitude 41° 46’ N., longitude 50° 14’ W., North Atlantic Ocean, and on the following day foundered and loss of life thereby ensued or occurred. And whereas a shipping casualty has occurred “- (that is within the definition of the Statute to which I have called your Lordship’s attention) - “and the Board of Trade have requested a Wreck Commissioner appointed under this Act to hold a Formal Investigation into the said shipping casualty, and he has consented to do so. Now the Board of Trade, in pursuance of the powers vested in them by Section 466 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, do hereby direct that the Formal Investigation shall be held into the said shipping casualty in the Scottish Hall, Buckingham Gate, London, S. W.” Then the next is the Statement of the Case, and the