Page 191 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 27 - 31

The Commissioner: Yes, but is it right to say that he steered to a position 26 miles South of the ordinary track? Sir Robert Finlay: I will have that worked out, my Lord; I cannot answer your Lordship at the moment. The Commissioner: Was the “Mount Temple’s” course the same as the “Titanic’s”? Sir Robert Finlay: No, I do not think so. The Commissioner: I think not. Sir Robert Finlay: No. The Commissioner: And if it was not, I am in confusion about this. Sir Robert Finlay: May I call attention to a passage in the evidence of this witness, which I think makes the matter clear? It is on page 207, near the beginning of Mr. Moore’s evidence. At Question.9224 he says he was going West, “on our sixty-second voyage West.” Then at Question th 9226 he is asked, “On the 12 April did you receive a message from the “Corinthian,” informing th you that there was ice? - (A.) On the 13 April. (Q.) Where was that ice? - (A.) 42 deg. 15 min. N. and 49 deg. 48 min. W.; 41 deg. 25 min. N., 50 deg. 20 min. W.” The Commissioner: What does that mean? Sir Robert Finlay: I suppose it is between these limits: “(Q.) In consequence of that information did you alter your course? - (A.) I did. (Q.) When you got that information what course were you on? - (A.) About S. 65 deg. W. (Q.) And in consequence of that information to what did you alter your course? - (A.) Just a little to the Southward of that, because I went straight down to 50 deg. W.” That “52 deg.” should certainly be “42 deg.” Instead of going down to 52 deg.” - that is 42 deg. - “and 47 deg. W., I went down to 50 deg. W. and 41 deg. 20 min. N.” Now, your Lordship sees what he did. He did not turn at the ordinary corner. Your Lordship recollects that on the chart the corner is marked. He did not turn there; he ran down to 50 deg. W. and 41 deg. 20 min. N.; that is to say, he took a course that took him 5 miles to the South of the ice that had been reported. The Commissioner: Did that take him out of the ice-field as advised in the telegram; it took him clear? Sir Robert Finlay: As advised in the telegram which he got from the “Corinthian.” What he did, my Lord, was to continue his course, instead of turning at the corner. He continued his course until he got to a point 5 miles South of the most Southerly ice that had been reported to him. So that your Lordship sees how like his proceedings up to a certain point were to those of the “Titanic.” He did not turn at the corner, he ran on, and he ran on until he got to a latitude which was 5 miles South of the most Southerly ice that had been reported to him; he went on at his ordinary speed, 11 knots. The Commissioner: He did not steer clear of the ice-field that is advised to him. By the “ice- field” I mean the space over which the ice was. Sir Robert Finlay: I hope to prove to demonstration that the “Titanic” did escape all the ice that had been reported to her. She was struck by what must have been another berg. The Commissioner: What I mean is the telegrams advised her of the existence of icebergs and field ice within a certain parallelogram. Sir Robert Finlay: That telegram never got to the bridge; that is the “Mesaba” telegram. The Commissioner: See if I have it right now. Did the course steered by the “Titanic” take her about five miles South of the nearest ice of which she had advice? The Attorney-General: The “Mount Temple,” I think your Lordship means. The Commissioner: No, I am talking about the “Titanic” now. Sir Robert Finlay: Yes, about that, my Lord. The Commissioner: That is what I am told - four or five miles. I am taking the three telegrams.