Page 141 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 6 - 9

8615. About what time? - About 4.30. 8616. When you called the captain did you tell him what Stone said he had seen? - I told him that the second mate told me he had seen rockets in the middle watch. 8617. Not a rocket, but rockets? - Rockets. 8618. What did the captain say to you when you said that? - He said: “Oh, yes; I know.” 8619. (The Commissioner.) Is that all he said? - He said. “Yes, I know, he has been telling me.” 8620. (The Solicitor-General.) That was all he said? - That is all he said. 8621. Did the captain come on the bridge? - At once. 8622. You were still stopped. Did you hear from him what his plans were? - He talked about the possibility of going through the ice and proceeding on our voyage. 8623. Did not you ask him whether he was not going to see what that ship was that had thrown up rockets? - Yes, after he had spoken about proceeding on the voyage I asked him if he was going to the southward to see what that ship was. 8624. When you asked him that, was the ship you referred to a ship that you thought had been in distress? - Yes. 8625. When you asked him that, what did he say? - He said, “No, I do not think so; she is not making any signals now.” 8626. What time was it that this happened? - Half-past four. 8627. When he came on the bridge could you see the ship that you had pointed out? - Yes. 8628. That is the ship that Mr. Stone said he did not think was the ship that had thrown up the signals? - Yes. 8629. Did you and the captain look at this other ship together? - Yes. 8630. Did you tell the Captain that Mr. Stone, who had been on watch, thought this was not the ship that had thrown up the signals? - No. 8631. You did not? - No. 8632. Did the Captain say this: “No, she looks all right; she is not making any signals now”? - Yes, I believe those were his exact words. 8633. When the Captain said: “She looks all right,” what was he referring to? - She just looked like an ordinary steamer stopped. 8634. The Captain was referring to the vessel you had picked up? - Yes. 8635. Did not you tell the Captain that according to Mr. Stone, who had been on watch, that was not the steamer that had thrown up the rockets? - No. 8636. You did not? - No. 8637. Had you forgotten it? - I do not know; I did not tell him that. 8638. If Mr. Stone, who was on the watch when it happened, was right, there was no comfort to be got from the fact that that steamer looked all right? - He told me the steamer that had fired rockets had steamed away to the south-west, and he last saw her about two o’clock, just faintly with glasses; she steamed away from him. 8639. Then did you suppose that the steamer which you could see at 4.30 was the same steamer? - I thought she might have drifted back - that she had found that she could not get through the ice. 8640. (The Commissioner.) Now, think about what you are saying. Do you want me to understand that you thought it was possible that the ship which had steamed away after throwing up the rockets had drifted back and was there before your eyes? The Solicitor-General: At half-past four? 8641. (The Commissioner.) In the morning? Do you want me to believe that? The Witness: I thought she might have come back, or she might have known something about the other ship. 8642. Have you ever made that suggestion to a living soul until now? - I do not believe so.