DOUBLE LOOKOUTS ON LINER
“Was there a lookout kept for submarines, having regard to previous warnings?”
“Yes; we had double lookouts.”
“Were you going a zigzag course at the moment the torpedoing took place?”
“No; it was bright weather, and land was clearly visible.”
“Was it possible for a submarine to approach without being seen?”
“Oh, yes, quite possible.”
“Something has been said regarding the impossibility of launching the boats on the port side?”
“Yes,” said Captain Turner, “owing to the listing of the ship.”
“How many boats were launched safely?”
“I cannot say.”
“Were your orders promptly carried out?”
“Yes.”
“Was there any panic on board?”
“No, there was no panic at all; it was all most calm.”
By the foreman of the jury:
“In the face of the warnings at New York that the Lusitania would be torpedoed, did you make any application to the Admiralty for an escort?”
“No, I left that to them. It is their business, not mine. I simply had to carry out my orders to go, and I would do it again.”
Captain Turner uttered the last words of this reply with great emphasis.
By the coroner:
“I am very glad to hear you say so, Captain.”
By a juryman:
“Did you get a wireless to steer your vessel in a northerly direction?”
“No,” replied Captain Turner.
“Was the course of the vessel altered after the torpedoes struck her?”
“I headed straight for land, but it was useless. Previous to this the water-tight bulkheads were closed. I suppose the explosion forced them open. I don’t know the exact extent to which the Lusitania was damaged.”
“There must have been serious damage done to the water-tight bulkheads.”
“There certainly was, without doubt.”
“Were the passengers supplied with life-belts?”
“Yes.”
“Were any special orders given that morning that life-belts be put on?”
“No.”