Page 115 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 23 - 26

D. 24044. Were they well made and of good material? - They were well made and of good material. 24045. Would they be safe to lower from the davits full of passengers? - I made a calculation and came to the conclusion that they would be. 24046. Now, what is the full capacity of those boats? - I think it was 618 cubic feet. 24047. How many people ought to be lowered in one of these lifeboats? - Under the statutory Rules they should carry 65. 24048. The boats that you saw, how many people would they take safely from the davits, in your judgment? - Well, as many as the statutory Rules would allow. 24049. How many; cannot you give me a number; it would save a lot of time? - A matter of 70. 24050. Is that marked on the boat in any way? - No, I do not think it is. I did not see the boats on leaving the shop, but my impression is it was not. 24051. You could produce the scantlings of the boats and the materials? - Yes, I can. Mr. Rowlatt: I do not think it is necessary to go further. The Commissioner: I do not think there has been any suggestion that the boats were not well built and of good material. Their capacity may be another thing. Mr. Rowlatt: It was with regard to their strength to carry down the passengers. The Commissioner: There is a suggestion that somebody thought there was a danger of buckling, but there was no buckling, and one of the boats is said to have gone down with seventy people in it? The Attorney-General: Your Lordship is quite right; that is the only explanation we have got of why some of the boats were lowered with comparatively few passengers; that is to say, they were not loaded with their full complement, and the explanation is what your Lordship says. The Commissioner: That is one explanation; but another is that they could not get the people into them. The Attorney-General: Yes; it does not apply to all, I agree. 24052. (Mr. Rowlatt - To the Witness.) Have you made a calculation to find what strain the boats would bear in being lowered? - Yes, I made such a calculation. The results I arrived at were that the stress at the gunwale would be 2 cwts. to the square inch, and at the keel about 2 ¼ cwts. 24053. When did you make that calculation? - After the casualty occurred. 24054. Is that more than the stress which would be brought to bear by the boat being lowered with 70 people in it? - That is the stress that would be brought to bear with 65 persons in the boat, and with the boat suspended from the davits, not water-borne. 24055. Do you say that you made a calculation that shows the boat would stand a greater stress than that produced by the people being in it or not? - The result of my calculation was that - 24056. That it would bear a greater stress? - That it would bear a greater stress. 24057. Much greater? - Considerably greater. 24058. Can you give us a percentage? - Twice as much. Examined by Mr. SCANLAN. 24059. Was it part of your duty to test the stress on the falls? - No. 24060. And you did not, in point of fact, do that? - No; my inspection did not extend further than the period during which the boats were constructed in the builders’ shop. The Commissioner: None of the falls gave way? 24061. (Mr. Scanlan.) No, my Lord; this is the Board of Trade test. (To the Witness.) Did you make any calculation as to the sufficiency of the falls, or the capacity of the lifeboats until after the accident? - It was not my duty to do so. 24062. Is it usual to mark on lifeboats their carrying capacity - I mean the content of passengers? - I have seen the dimensions marked upon the boat, and also the capacity, but I am unable to say whether this was done.