>
> I've always wondered why, when just about every survivor & witness on
> Carpathia, Californian etc. ****trays the ocean that morning as a
veritable
> sea of small bergs & growlers, there's not a speck of ice to be seen
> anywhere, in any of the lifeboat photos.
>
> --
>
> Paul
Relative size, Paul. The photos show what are really very small
areas, compared to the whole of the open sea. In the photo in
question, for example, you're looking at only a few hundred square
yards (square meters for those of you who don't speak English) of
sea. Also, most of the ice present that morning was to the west of
the Carpathia, rather than around the ****p. None of the survivors
ever mentioned their boats actually being amidst the ice, nor did the
Carpathia steam into the ice field itself, so while a lot of ice would
have been readily visible, it wasn't particularly proximate. I know
that George Behe, in his book Speed, Safety and Sacrifice (well worth
getting and reading, by the way) makes a strong case for the fact that
there were at least two icebergs spotted within a few hundred yards of
the Titanic an hour or so before the collision, it appears from the
positions of the boats relative to the icefield itself that the berg
which the Titanic struck was very much on the extreme fringe of the
icefield. I was once asked by a very bright young lady of about
twelve what I thought would have happened had the Titanic actually
cleared the berg instead of striking it, and I replied that it was
very likely Murdoch would have reduced speed, and almost certain he
would have called Captain Smith to the bridge. (Remember Smith's
final instructions to Murdoch--"Call me if it becomes at all
doubtful." I think a near-miss with an iceberg would have qualified
as "doubtful"--even if Smith had not come to the bridge anyway
following Murdoch's "****t 'round" maneuver, of which Smith would have
been perfectly aware, given the changes in the ****p's engine speeds
and the turns she would have made.
All the best,
Daniel Allen Butler
The opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of the
management, but they ought to be!
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