Page 41 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 23 - 26

23134. (The Solicitor-General.) The deck then really becomes part of the bulkhead? - Yes. 23135. (The Commissioner.) And the watertight condition would only apply to that part of the deck which formed part of the bulkhead? - That is so. 23136. That is not what I mean. You have not considered the desirability of having watertight decks running along the ship? - No, not above the top of the double bottom. The top of the double bottom is practically a watertight deck. 23137. Has the Board of Trade had under its consideration the desirability of double sides? - No. 23138. You have not had under consideration the desirability of longitudinal bulkheads? - I think it has been under consideration, but we have never gone any further than considering it. (The Witness withdrew.) The Commissioner: Do you think you can get this information, Sir John? I do not think a Witness can do it. (Handing a paper to the Solicitor-General.) I want also particulars of the track that has been settled by the different Steamship Companies since this disaster. The Solicitor-General: With regard to that matter, my Lord, possibly your Lordship would like to have it indicated graphically upon a chart? The Commissioner: Certainly. What I am advised it would be important for us to know is exactly where the turning point is. The Solicitor-General: Yes, the angle; the corner, as they call it. I think my friends have charts which show it. Mr. Laing: Yes, my Lord, we have it. The Solicitor-General: With regard to these two questions, I think one of them we shall be able to supply your Lordship with, and I will enquire as regards the other. Sir Ellis Cunliffe puts into my hands now a list of all passenger steamships in the British Mercantile Marine of 10,000 tons and upwards, showing the gross tonnage, year when built, and the crew, and boat equipment, and out of that we can pick what your Lordship needs. (Handing same to the Commissioner.) I am not quite certain whether the document your Lordship now has before you gives the year in which the ship is built? The Commissioner: Yes. The Solicitor-General: Then, my Lord, we can pick out those which are since 1894, and that, I think, would be the answer to the question put. The Commissioner: The question relates from 1891. The Solicitor-General: What your Lordship handed to me is from 1894. The Commissioner: Is it? The Solicitor-General: Yes, the question your Lordship handed down was as to the numbers and tonnage of all ships over 10,000 built from 1894 onwards. The Commissioner: Those will be in this list? The Solicitor-General: They must be included in it. The Commissioner: Because I see you go back as far as 1893, at any rate. The Solicitor-General: It will include them. I think that purports to be a list of all British ships in existence over 10,000 tons. The Commissioner: It is a list of passenger steamships in the British Mercantile Marine of 10,000 tons and upwards for which a passenger certificate is granted by the Board of Trade, and their boat equipment. We can pick out of this the information we want. The Solicitor-General: If I can have it back I will have it done, but I wanted to see that it is the sort of information you wish. The Commissioner: It is.