Page 63 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 14 - 18

The Solicitor-General: I would very much sooner you did, my Lord. 17076. (The Commissioner - To the Witness.) Just look at this document and tell me whether the last entry with the hour opposite to it, 10 p.m., is in your writing (Handing document to the Witness.)? - It is, my Lord. 17077. Now, that is subsequent to the disaster, is it not? - Yes. 17078. And, therefore, you did write something on your procès-verbal which happened subsequent to the disaster? - Yes. 17079. Now will you read what it is? - Subsequent to the disaster? 17080. Yes, after the disaster. - No, I did not write anything after the entry at 10 p.m. The Commissioner: The entry at 10 p.m. would probably be after the disaster. 17081. (The Solicitor-General.) Yes, my Lord; but not after he had heard of it. That is the point. (To the Witness.) At the time when you wrote down that entry, 10 p.m., had you on your ship heard of the disaster? - I had not. The Commissioner: I do not understand that; 10 p.m. means midnight. The Solicitor-General: It does not follow the “Carpathia” picked up the first message sent out into the air. She picked up the first message calling for help later than her hour of 10 p.m. The Commissioner: When did she pick it up? The Solicitor-General: That is it. The Witness: 10.35 p.m., New York time. 17082. (The Commissioner.) Then will you read to me what 10 p.m. says? - 10 p.m. is “Good night to the ‘Mount Temple’; his signals very weak.” 17083. The “Mount Temple” was getting out of range, I suppose? - Yes. The Commissioner: I do not understand this, Sir John. The “Titanic” was well within range at this time; in fact, she had been within range for quite a long time. The Solicitor-General: Yes. 17084. (The Commissioner - To the Witness.) If she was well within range and did dispatch a Marconigram to you immediately after the collision - I do not know whether she did or not - you would have heard it at once I suppose? - Yes. The Commissioner: So that if you did not hear it, as you say, until 10.35, which would be about half-past 12 ship’s time, it must have been because the “Titanic” did not dispatch a message to you? The Solicitor-General: May I suggest your Lordship should look at one piece of evidence to check it. If your Lordship will look at page 211 you will find there the evidence of a witness named Durrant. Just to remind your Lordship, you will remember he was Marconi operator on the “Mount Temple,” and we called him because he had kept the receiver to his ear and had noted down what he had overheard through this critical period, this ship having turned and going to the rescue. If your lordship will remember what we did with him was, we took his procès- verbal, and asked him to read out the entries in order of time, correcting the time all the way through by adding one hour 55 minutes to the New York time. Now if your Lordship will look at Question 9451 I asked him: “Tell us the ship’s time when you first got a message as to the ‘Titanic’ being in distress? - (A.) 12.11 a.m.” Your Lordship appreciates this is one hour 55 minutes on from New York time. Then if you read down five or six answers, the bottom question on the page first brings in the name of the “Carpathia.” It is Question 9458. “That would be 21 minutes after midnight? - (A.) Yes. (Q.) What was it you heard then? - (A.) I have got down here ‘Titanic’ still calling C.Q.D.; is answered by the ‘Carpathia”’ that is this operator. And that your Lordship sees is recorded by the “Mount Temple” operator Durrant as having occurred 21 minutes after midnight, ship’s time, which would be the same thing. The Commissioner: Yes, about the same thing. 17085. (The Solicitor-General.) Yes, about the same thing as we are speaking of now. (To the