Page 36 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 27 - 31

saw this green light again. At five minutes past four I saw the green light again, and I was going to pick the boat up on the port bow, but just as it showed the green light I saw an iceberg right ahead of me. It was very close, so I had to port my helm hard-a-starboard and put her head round quick and pick up the boat on the starboard side. At 10 minutes past four we got alongside. 25402. Let me just understand that. You had got up by about four o’clock? - Four o’clock I considered I was in the position. 25403. You got up to the first of the boats then? - At four o’clock I could not see anything, but I knew I must be somewhere in the vicinity. 25404. Because of the signals? - Well, yes, I had seen the signals, but I knew I had run my distance then, so I stopped her; and a few minutes after I saw the boat’s light again. That was the first time I knew really it was a boat and not the ship herself. 25405. And you intended, as I follow you, to pick her up on the port bow? - Yes, on the port side; that was the lee-side; but just after I saw his light I saw an iceberg right ahead. Then, of course, I starboarded - I could not port - to get away from the berg; so I starboarded to make it more convenient for the boat I was going to pick up, and I picked it up on the starboard side. 25406. How close was the iceberg which you saw? - Well, when we had stopped, when daylight broke, it was something less than a quarter of a mile away. 25407. I should like to follow that to understand it. Had you seen that iceberg before? - No, it was the first I saw of it. We were close up before we saw it. 25408. Was day breaking at all? - No, it was perfectly dark at the time. 25409. And you had men on the look-out? - Yes, we had doubled our look-outs. 25410. Had you men in the crow’s-nest? - Yes. 25411. When you say you doubled the look-out, does that mean you had also men in the eyes of the vessel? - Yes. 25412. Right on the stem? - Yes. 25413. Two? - Two, and one on the look-out, one in the crow’s-nest and two in the eyes. 25414. Is that your practice? - No, we have one in the crow’s-nest and one forward. 25415. Your practice is to have one in the crow’s-nest and one forward? - At night. 25416. Do you take any particular precautions if you have received ice reports? - Always. 25417. Is that what you do? - Yes. Immediately I started round, before I knew we should be up to the ice; in fact, as soon as I got this report, and I had put her on the course for the “Titanic’s” position, I doubled the look-outs at once, and took all the precautions I possibly could. 25418. Was that the first iceberg that you had seen? - Oh, dear, no. 25419. I mean, on this particular night? - Oh, no; the first iceberg we saw was at a quarter to 3. 25420. I wanted you to tell us about that. You saw one at a quarter to 3? - We saw about half a dozen - in fact, more than that. I was moving about to get between them up to 4 o’clock. 25421. No ice-field? - No ice-field. We were not up to the ice-field then. 25422. Only icebergs. Take the first one you saw about a quarter to 3; how far off was it when you first saw it - when it was reported to you? - I should think it was about a mile and a half to two miles away. 25423. And with regard to the others, I think you say you saw about six up to 4 o’clock? - Yes, about six. 25424. Did you see all those at about the same distance? - Yes, about the same distance - from one to two miles. 25425. Then, I understand, when you came to the last one - you will correct this if I am wrong - as far as I gather from your evidence, you did not see that till it was somewhere about a quarter of a mile off? - That is so; at daybreak I saw it was between 25 and 30 feet high. 25426. Will you explain to us a little more in detail why it was that you did not see this iceberg, the one which you found about 4 o’clock, earlier? - I cannot tell you; we were all on the