Page 124 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 27 - 31

(A.) We lifted him up and carried him into the pump room, me and Mr. Harvey. (Q.) Is that the pump room in No. 5? - (A.) Yes. (Q.) At this time, in this No. 5, was it easy to see? - (A.) No, all the water which had been thrown on the furnaces when they were pulled out was making the stokehold thick with steam. (Q.) And then you attended to Mr. Shepherd as best you could. Did you stay there after that? - (A.) Just about a quarter of an hour after that. (Q.) And during that quarter of an hour did No. 5 keep free from water? - (A.) Yes. (Q.) Then tell us what happened at the end of a quarter of an hour? - (A.) A rush of water came through the pass - the forward end. (Q.) You say the forward end of the pass. What is the pass? - (A.) It is a space between the boilers where we walk through. (Q.) There are boilers on either side of it? - (A.) Yes. (Q.) From which direction did this water come? - (A.) From the forward end. (Q.) And this pass that you walk through, is that at the same level as the plates? - (A.) Yes. (Q.) The same level as where you were standing? - (A.) Yes. (Q.) Supposing that the bulkhead which is the fore end of No. 5 had given way, would water come through it and through this pass? - (A.) Yes. (Q.) Do you know yourself where it was the water came from, whether it had got through the bulkhead or not? - (A.) I did not stop to look.” I do not know whether that is what you wanted. Mr. Edwards: That is part of the passage, my Lord; and a little further on your Lordship asked him at the top of page 60, in the second column: “It could not come over the top of the bulkhead, I suppose? (The Solicitor-General.) I was going to ask him. He could tell from his feet, of course, whether the ship had shown any tendency to tip, because that gives one some guide. (To the Witness.) Can you tell us up to this time, was the ship lying on an even keel? - (A.) No, she was sloping down by the head. (Q.) You felt that she was down by the head? - (A.) Yes. (Q.) Had you noticed that already? - (A.) Yes. (Q.) And had it been getting worse? - (A.) Yes.” Then Question 2056 is “and you say it got worse. Now can you give me any idea whether the water came from over the top of the bulkhead or through it? - (A.) I do not see how it could come over the top. (Q.) You do not think it did come over the top? - (A.) No. (Q.) Now, when it came through this pass between the boilers, did it come with a rush? - (A.) Yes. (The Commissioner.) I suppose he means by that as if something had given way. (The Solicitor-General.) Do you hear my Lord’s question? He is asking whether, when you said that, you got the impression that something had given way? - (A.) That was my idea. (The Commissioner.) Something that had been holding the water back gave way? - (A.) That is my idea, my Lord.” The Commissioner: Then my attention is drawn to page 67, Question 2103: “Then you got this wall, nine feet or thereabouts. I want you to tell us, was the water coming through all parts of that or through some part of it only? - (A.) Which wall do you mean? (Q.) The water is coming through the skin of the ship into the bunker? - (A.) Yes. (Q.) And the bunker is about nine feet along the side of the ship. Now, I want to know, was the water coming in at this level right across the bunker or only in part of it? - (A.) Water was coming in about two feet abaft the watertight bulkhead. (Q.) Do you mean that it was coming in from the watertight bulkhead and for two feet back? - (A.) No, only from the ship’s side. The watertight bulkhead was not damaged. (Q.) Was it coming in at one point, or was it coming in for two feet? - (A.) I could not estimate exactly how large the hole was.” Sir Robert Finlay: I think this was discussed in the course of the evidence, and the conclusion reached, I thought, finally was that the water was coming in through the side of the ship, and what gave way was the side of the bunker, which was another thing altogether, and then there was the rush of water. I thought we had settled all that. The Attorney-General: Mr. Edwards, I think, gave out that it was the bulkhead that gave way. Mr. Edwards: The side of the bunker in that case would correspond with the bulkhead? Sir Robert Finlay: No. The Attorney-General: No, not there. The Commissioner: I daresay you are right about this, Sir Robert, but unfortunately these