Page 17 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 10 -13

order came for “All hands on the boat deck.” 11360. You said you looked down No. 1 hold. Before you got that order, “All hands on the boat deck,” had you seen any water? - Yes, water coming in No. 1. 11361. Water in No. 1? - Yes. 11362. Much? - Yes, coming in a pretty good rush. 11363. (The Commissioner.) I thought you said you heard it? - I heard it first, and then I went and saw it through the gratings, the hatch gratings, as the tarpaulins were off. 11364. (The Attorney - General.) Let us understand what it means. The tarpaulins were off? - Yes. 11365. There is a grating there? - Yes, there are gratings there. 11366. Were not the hatches on? - No, there were no hatches on at that place. 11367. (The Commissioner.) What deck were you on when you saw the water through the grating? - I suppose you would call that the main deck - on the same deck as the forewell deck. 11368. Is it the same deck as that on which the long alleyway is? - No. 11369. Is it the one above it? - Yes. 11370. Were you looking down No. 1 hatch? - Yes, I was looking down No. 1 hatch through the grating when I saw the water. 11371. (The Attorney - General.) I think it must be two decks above, my Lord. I will ask him. (To the Witness.) It is under the forecastle deck you were? - Yes, under the forecastle. 11372. Then, did you have to go down two decks to get to the deck under the alleyway? - Yes; you would go down the stairs and then down a small flight of steps again. The Attorney-General: What is called the shelter deck C is where he was, and your Lordship sees he has to get to deck E to the alleyway. The Commissioner: On deck C? 11373. (The Attorney - General.) Yes, just under the forecastle deck. He is looking down No. 1 hatch. (To the Witness.) You saw through the gratings; the tarpaulin was off and the hatches were off? - Yes. 11374. There was nothing on the grating between? - There was nothing on the grating at that place then. Whether there were hatches at the fore end or afterend I could not say, but this was about amidships of the hatch. 11375. Could you see from which side the water was coming in? - No, you could not exactly see because the water was nearly up to the coamings of the lower hatch. 11376. (The Commissioner.) You mean nearly up to the coaming of the hatch on the deck? - Yes. 11377. (The Attorney-General.) Let us be clear about this. You were standing on the deck below the forecastle deck, which is deck C? - Yes. As you stand on the C deck you look down through the gratings, and on the hatch below that is where the water was lapping around the tarpaulins and the hatch cover. 11378. There is a hatch with a grating over which you saw, from which the tarpaulin had been removed? - Yes. 11379. Then how far below that would it be before you got to the coamings of what you call the next hatch? - I could not exactly say the distance. 11380. How many decks would it be? - It would be on the next deck. 11381. That makes it quite plain. Tell us as nearly as you can how many decks would you have had to go down to get to the water which was just touching, or just close to, the coamings? - The coamings of the hatch. You would only have to take the gratings off and there was the next coaming to meet you. 11382. How many decks would you have had to go down? - I could not say how many decks you have to go down to the steerage; but the coamings is the next hatch down below the one on