Loss of the Steamship "Titanic"

by Great Britain. Court to investigate loss of steamship "Titanic"

I am satisfied that the explanation of the excessive proportion of third-class passengers lost is not to be found in the suggestion that the third-class passengers were in any way unfairly treated. They were not unfairly treated.

MEANS TAKEN TO PROCURE ASSISTANCE.

As soon as the dangerous condition of the ship was realized, messages were sent by the master's orders to all steamers within reach. At 12.15 a. m. the distress signal CQD was sent. This was heard by several steamships and by Cape Race. By 12.25 Mr. Boxall, the fourth officer, had worked out the correct position of the Titanic, and then another message was sent: "Come at once, we have struck a berg." This was heard by the Cunard steamer Carpathia, which was at this time bound from New York to Liverpool and 58 miles away. The Carpathia answered, saying that she was coming to the assistance of the Titanic. This was reported to Capt. Smith on the boat deck. At 12.26 a message was sent out, "Sinking; can not hear for noise of steam." Many other messages were also sent, but as they were only heard by steamers which were too far away to render help, it is not necessary to refer to them. At 1.45 a message was heard by the Carpathia, "Engine-room full up to boilers." The last message sent out was "CQ" which was faintly heard by the steamer Virginian. This message was sent at 2.17. It thus appears that the Marconi apparatus was at work until within a few minutes of the foundering of the Titanic.

Meanwhile Mr. Boxall was sending up distress signals from the deck. These signals (rockets) were sent off at intervals from a socket by No. 1 emergency boat on the boat deck. They were the ordinary distress signals, exploding in the air and throwing off white stars. The firing of these signals began about the time that No. 7 boat was lowered (12.45 a. m.), and it continued until Mr. Boxall left the ship at about 1.45.

Mr. Boxall was also using a Morse light from the bridge in the direction of a ship whose lights he saw about half a point on the port bow of the Titanic at a distance, as he thought, of about 5 or 6 miles. He got no answer. In all, Mr. Boxall fired about eight rockets. There appears to be no doubt that the vessel whose lights he saw was the Californian. The evidence from the Californian speaks of eight rockets having been seen between 12.30 and 1.40. The Californian heard none of the Titanic's messages; she had only one Marconi operator on board and he was asleep.

THE RESCUE BY THE STEAMSHIP "CARPATHIA."

On the 15th of April the steamship Carpathia, 13,600 tons gross, of the Cunard Line, Mr. Arthur Henry Rostron, master, was on her passage to Liverpool from New York. She carried some 740 passengers and 325 crew.

On receipt of the Titanic's first distress message the captain immediately ordered the ship to be turned around and driven at her highest speed (17-1/2 knots) in the direction of the Titanic. He also informed the Titanic by wireless that he was coming to her assistance, and he subsequently received various messages from her. At about 2.40 a. m. he saw a green flare which, as the evidence shows, was being sent up by Mr. Boxall in No. 2 boat. From this time until 4 a. m. Capt. Rostron was altering his course continually in order to avoid icebergs. He fired rockets in answer to the signals he saw from Boxall's boat. At 4 o'clock he considered he was practically up to the position given and he stopped his ship at 4.05. He sighted the first boat (No. 2) and picked her up at 4.10. There was then a large number of icebergs around him, and it was just daylight. Eventually he picked up in all 13 lifeboats, two emergency boats, and two collapsible boats, all of which were taken on board the Carpathia, the other boats being abandoned as damaged or useless. From these boats he took on board 712 persons, one of whom died shortly afterwards. The boats were scattered over an area of 4 or 5 miles, and it was 8 a. m. before they had all been picked up. He saw very little wreckage when he got near to the scene of the disaster, only a few deck chairs, cork life belts, etc., and only one body. The position was then 41° 46´ N., 50° 14´ W.

The Carpathia subsequently returned to New York with the passengers and crew she had rescued.

The court desires to record its great admiration of Capt. Rostron's conduct. He did the very best that could be done.