Page 25 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 10 -13

doomed, in my opinion. I pulled a little further away to escape, if there was any suction. A little while after that we pulled a little way and lay on the oars again. The other boats were around us by that time, and some were pulling further away from us. I stood and watched it till I heard two sharp explosions in the ship. What they were I could not say. Then she suddenly took a top cant, her stern came well out of the water then. 11511. A top cant? - You know what I mean to say, she took a heavy cant and her bow went down clear. 11512. Head downwards? - Head down, and that is the time when I saw her lights go out, all her lights. The next thing I saw was her poop. As she went down like that so her poop righted itself and I thought to myself, “The poop is going to float.” It could not have been more than two or three minutes after that that her poop went up as straight as anything; there was a sound like steady thunder as you hear on an ordinary night at a distance, and soon she disappeared from view. 11513. Let us see if we quite understand what you are saying about it. Suppose that is the stem and that is the stern. (Describing.) You saw her first of all with her stem downward? - Yes. 11514. I understand you to say you saw her stem downwards? - Yes. 11515. Did you see her head going well down? - Her head was going well down. 11516. And you saw her stern out of the water like that? (Describing.) - Yes, her stern was well out of the water. 11517. I understand you to say that at one period you saw her stern right itself? - It righted itself without the bow; in my estimation she must have broken in half. 11518. Can you form any idea from what part of the vessel it was that she appeared to right herself? - I should think myself it was abaft the after expansion plate. 11519. (The Commissioner.) Where is that? - That is the expansion plate. They have two expansion plates. The Commissioner: Show it to me on that wooden model. 11520. (The Attorney-General - To the Witness.) Can you tell us where it was; which one you mean? - The one furthest aft. 11521. Where was it? - I should say it would be about abeam of the after funnel, or a little forward. 11522. About there? - Yes. The Attorney-General: I do not know whether your Lordship saw on the “Olympic” what he means by the expansion plate; it is noticeable on the deck. The Commissioner: I understand that. 11523. (The Attorney-General.) Then you saw her right herself - this part of her? - Yes; I saw the poop right itself. 11524. And then it went up? - Yes; then it went up and disappeared from view. 11525. And then went right down? - Yes. 11526. When you saw the “Titanic” go down did you hear any cries from the people that went down with the boat? - Yes. 11527. Did you try to rescue them? - I thought at the time, being master of the situation, it was not safe in any case to go back at that time. 11528. Do I understand from that, then, that your answer is that you did not try? - Not at that time; not as soon as the ship disappeared. 11529. Let us understand that. You heard cries? - Yes. 11530. And cries which you knew were of persons in distress? - Quite so. 11531. Gone down with the vessel? - Yes. 11532. Many, I suppose? - Yes, a decent few it sounded like. 11533. And you had plenty of room in your boat? - Yes.