NO REPLY TO “STAND FAST” CRY
“What was the cause of the collision?” asked the coroner.
“The Storstad running into the Empress, which was stopped,” answered Kendall.
Captain Kendall, in answer to a question by a juror, said that when he shouted to the Storstad’s captain to stand fast he received no answer. It was impossible for him not to have been heard, he added.
“I shouted five times. I also shouted, ‘Keep ahead!’” said Captain Kendall, “and if he did not hear that, he should have done it anyway, as a seaman should have known that.”
“There was wind?”
“It was quite still.”
“When he backed away I shouted to him to stand by. I did not hear any explosion, but when a ship goes down like that there is bound to be a great deal of air, and the air pressure causes that.”
“How many boats were there on the Empress?”
“Between thirty and forty. There were boats enough for everybody. She had boats for more than 2,000 people, and there was not that number aboard.”