On the 2nd of May 1912, the British Wreck Commissioners opened an official inquiry into the tragic loss of the Titanic that took place at the Scottish Drill Hall, Buckingham Gate in London. The investigation would last for the next thirty-six days before questions were ceased. Over the weeks that followed ninety-seven witnesses would be called before the notorious Judge, Charles Bingham otherwise known as Lord Mersey. The witnesses comprised mostly of the few crew members that had survived. This varied from stokers to the Managing Director of the White Star line. Each would undergo intense questioning and harrowing scrutiny.
The 30th of May, Alfred Crawford was called on to give his account of the Titanic. Crawford had spoken on the same day as able seaman, Ernest Archer and Managing Director of the White Star Line, Joseph Bruce Ismay. Alfred Crawford had worked on the Titanic as a first class bedroom steward. He was forty-one years old. At the time of the sinking his last address was given as 22 Cranbury Avenue, Nicholstown, Southampton. Crawford had a number of years at sea behind him. He had taken to sea in 1881 and began working for the White Star Line in 1906.
The Inquiry
By the time Alfred was brought in to give his evidence before the British Wreck Commissioners. Crawford had already spoken at days one and nine at the American Senate Inquiry. The bedroom steward began his testimony by explaining his job on the ship. He recalls that his role required cleaning the passenger’s rooms. He was stationed in the cabins right forward of B deck. At 11:45, Crawford had been on duty at the time of the collision. The Attorney-General, Sir Rufus Isaacs asked if Alfred had felt any impact. Crawford replied that he had felt the collision and subsequently learnt that the ship had hit an iceberg.
Switching Lifeboats
Alfred Crawford confirms that originally, he had been assisting with lifeboat number five. Somewhere between the boat being loaded and launched, Alfred was switched by Captain Smith to lifeboat number eight. Lifeboat eight is something that the Commissioner and the Attorney-General are keen to discuss.
Crawford explains that lifeboat number eight was launched with thirty-five passengers, all had been women and there was also an additional four men in the lifeboat too. According to Alfred all four men in the boat had been crew members. This is true. Alfred had been in the company of two seamen, Thomas William Jones and Charles Pascoe. The third man who was in lifeboat eight was described as a kitchen man.
The Californian
An area of extreme interest across both the American and British Inquiry had been the sighting of the Californian. It is a general consensus that the Californian was located roughly six miles north of the Titanic. Alfred Crawford’s testimony does discuss the sighting of the steamer. Crawford was asked “And before you left the ship's side did Captain Smith give you any directions with regard to a light?” Crawford responded “Yes, he pointed to a light on the port side, the two masthead lights of a vessel, and told us to pull for there and land the people and return to the ship.” From Alfred’s answer it is confirmed that a ship seemed to be extremely close by to the Titanic. Alfred even suggests that not only had he seen the lights himself, but he also estimated that the location of the ship. One of the other judges present had been Mr. Butler Aspinall he had asked: “I do not know whether you are a judge of distance of lights at sea, but what would you say?” Alfred estimates that the lights on the horizon had been at least five to seven miles away.
'A light on the port side.' The Californian (above) was estimated to be six miles away from the sinking Titanic.
Lord Mersey becomes doubtful of Crawford’s answer. Mersey asked Crawford if the Californian had been anchored at the five-to-seven-mile radius. But Alfred is adamant that the Californian had not been anchored at the time of the sighting. Lord Mersey then corrects Crawford that the normal distance would have been at least twenty miles away.
the Race to Rescue: The diagram above shows the distance between various ships to the Titanic.
(Photograph credits: The Atlantic)
The conversation about the Californian continues. The question is asked “Do you know what happened to those lights?” Alfred admits that once lifeboat eight was in the water, a lady at the lifeboat’s tiller had reported the same lights that had been spotted on deck. The woman in question was identified as Noel, the Countess of Rothes. Noel had been travelling on the Titanic with her cousin, Gladys Cherry. Both women were on Alfred’s lifeboat. The conclusion of the lights is that they had been lost at daybreak when the lifeboat was approaching the Carpathia.
Strength of the Lifeboats
At this point in Alfred’s testimony the questions are asked by Mr. Scanlan. The questions regarded the capacity of lifeboat eight. Scanlan suggested that more people could have added. Afterall, Titanic’s lifeboats had been tested to hold at least seventy bodies. Even Alfred accepted this idea and added that there was room for almost “twenty more people.” Crawford explained that Chief officer, Henry Wilde had said the boat’s capacity at the time of launching had been acceptable. It appears from Crawford’s explanation that Wilde had some concerns about the davits of the lifeboats buckling as a result of being overloaded.
As worrying as this statement seems, there could be some logic to Wilde’s actions. On March 27th, 1912, William Murdoch was still the Titanic’s acting Chief officer, and whilst at Belfast he had ordered fellow officer, Harold Lowe, to go and inspect and test the lifeboats. Wilde had not joined the crew by this stage, so it is unlikely that when Wilde joined the ship in Southampton that he would not have had sufficient time to inspect the boats himself. As a seaman, Wilde most certainly would have understood how the lifeboats worked. But as Titanic was a new breed of ship it could be reasoned that he may have not been familiar with the workings of the Titanic. In the inquisition, Alfred makes it noticeably clear that there was a concern with the weight of the lifeboat’s davits. To provide a solution to this query the Board of Trade tested how officers loaded their lifeboats on the Olympic whilst she was docked in Southampton.
Testing the lifeboats: The Board of Trade thought it would be appropriate to test how the lifeboats were lowered from the Titanic. As a substitute Titanic's sister, Olympic was used instead.
Women and Children First
Alfred Crawford is then examined by Mr. Lewis. He had asked Alfred what class of passengers had been in his lifeboat. Alfred replied, “Nearly all first class; I would not be sure.” It is sensible for Crawford to have assumed this. As lifeboat eight was launched at approximately 1: 00 am. Many of the lifeboats were still being prepared to launch. Alfred is then asked if there had been any women on deck when lifeboat eight was launched. Crawford said that there had been, but most were escorted to lifeboat 10. The owner Macy’s Department Store, Isador Strauss had escorted his wife, Ida to the boat. Alfred recalls how Ida had refused to leave her husband and unfortunately, she had been left behind.
The Conclusion
The Commissioner and the Attorney-General conclude Alfred’s testimony by focusing on the orders of the Captain and the lights on the horizon, that was likely the Californian. The pair question summarises whether the Captain’s orders had been heard correctly. Not much else is said regarding, the women in the lifeboats or anything else that had been discussed.
As always, I’ll leave a few external links about the testimony of Alfred Crawford.
Please feel free to have a read, ask any questions and let me know what you think.
Have a ‘titanic’ week
- Millie
References:
British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry: Day 16 The Testimony of Alfred Crawford: Titanic Inquiry Project >https://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTInq16Crawford01.php< (Lines Cited: 17871-76, 17832-33, 17847,17848,17849, 17851, 17862,17895,18018,18019)
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