Page 14 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 6 - 9

5537. Did you hear the two ordinary ones ring first? - No, they all four rang together. 5538. What did they ring? - “Stop.” 5539. Was that before or after the shock? - After the shock. 5540. What was the next thing? - Then the watertight doors went. 5541. Was any reply given to the telegraph orders from the bridge? - Yes, they rang back from the engine room; the two greasers at the bottom rang back. 5542. It would be their duty, I suppose, to ring back? - Yes. 5543. Did you see them do that? - Yes. 5544. After they got the order to stop? - Yes, they were feeding the engines, and were close handy at the time. 5545. They happened to be there? - Yes. 5546. Then the next thing that happened was something with reference to the watertight doors? - Yes, the watertight doors all closed. 5547. Did you hear any bell ring first? - No, not for the watertight doors. 5548. Do you mean that without any signal they came down? - Yes. 5549. Which watertight doors are you speaking of? - All of them. 5550. When you say “all of them,” how many do you mean? - I think it is about six, leading down to the afterend of the tunnel. 5551. Do you mean not only in your engine room, but you are speaking also of what you could see aft; the other watertight doors had been open? - We had to go and open them up afterwards. 5552. I understand now what you mean. You are standing in the turbine engine room and there you have got water-tight doors fore and aft which were open, and aft you could see the other watertight doors were open? - Yes. 5553. Then, if I follow you correctly, what happened was, all those doors closed down at the same time? - Yes. 5554. What did you do after that? - After that we went up to the turbine room and down one of the escapes to let one of the greasers out in the after tunnel. 5555. That is into the electric room? - No, there is another tunnel after that one. 5556. Do you mean the aftermost one? - Yes, the aftermost one of the lot. 5557. That is the very last on the tank top, your Lordship will see. (To the Witness.) You went there? - Yes, and heaved the door up about two feet to let the greaser out. 5558. Who was the greaser there? - He was tunnel greaser, the one who looks after the tunnel. 5559. You had to release him? - We had to go and heave the door up. 5560. How many did it take to heave the door up? - Two of us. 5561. That you did by winding it up, I suppose? - Yes. 5562. Did you have to give any signal before that? - No. 5563. Did you get any order? - No. 5564. Did you do it by yourselves? - Yes, me and my mate on the other side of the engine room. 5565. Did you hear any signal given to the bridge? - From the engine room? 5566. Yes? - Yes. 5567. What? - When they rang the stand-by. Is that what you mean? 5568. Yes? - That is all I heard, and then they rang down, “Slow ahead!” 5569. Wait a bit. I will ask you about that in one second. Did you hear any message given by the Chief Engineer to release the watertight doors? - No. 5570. To release the clutch? - No. After we got the greaser out we came back to the turbine- room again, and the Engineer in the turbine-room told us to heave up all the watertight doors. That was after we came back from letting the greaser out of the tunnel. 5571. That would mean somebody must have telegraphed to the bridge? - Yes, somebody must