Testimony of Charles Hardwick
Passenger - ss Lusitania - continued.
Q. Was the boat being lowered by two men on deck or were the men in the lifeboats lowering it?
- No, on the deck.
Q. And you went into the water, and how were you saved finally?
- Well, I saw a boat, I imagine it was -- well, never mind. I saw a lifeboat some distance from the ship and swam to it.
Q. You were afterwards picked up by one of the rescuing vessels?
- Yes; they helped me in the last one; I helped a man in who was wounded. We were the last ones around there. I got on to the side of the boat.
Q. Did you notice anything particular in the way the crew handled these lifeboats after the disaster?
- I didn't see any of the crew; I don't think they were around there.
Q. There were they?
- I don't know where they were; I know that the chief steward, my pal, lowered the boat next to them; I didn't know till afterwards.
Q. Who were lowering the boat you were dropped from?
- I don' t know.
Q. Were they crew or passengers?
- One was crew.
Q. Did you notice the other one?
- No, I didn't see him.
BY MR. KIRLIN:
Q. Which one was the crew?
- The one that dropped the boat. I didn't see the man, but I know it was so.
Mr. Kirlin:
I move to strike that out.
The Court:
Strike it out.
Q. How do you know it was so?
Objected to.
Objection sustained.
Q. Did you see before you got into the boat which end the seaman was at?
- No, sir.
Q. Did you know anything about the portholes on any deck of the ship, whether they were open or closed?
- I do not.
Q. After you arrived at Queenstown did you interview any officers there?
- Yes, sir. I don't know whether he was an officer or not; I believe he was an agent of the line.
Q. I mean with reference to the course that the Lusitania was directed to take; did you interview anybody in authority at Queenstown?
Mr. Kirlin:
Who are you talking about now? You said you believed it was an agent of the company.
BY MR. BETTS:
Q. You can’t remember his name?
- Not right offhand; I haven't got as good a memory as I used to have.
Q. Did you interview him with reference to the course that the Lusitania was to have taken?
- Yes, and he said –
Mr. Kirlin:
Wait a minute; the answer is "Yes."
Q. What did he say about it?
Objected to.
Objection sustained.
Q. Perhaps you can let us know that name later.
- Yes, I will give it to you later.
(At a later point in the examination the witness says that the name is Grogan.)
CROSS EXAMINED BY MR. KIRLIN:
Q. On your previous trips on the steamers Mauretania or Lusitania, did I understand you to say that you landed at Fishguard?
- Yes.
Q. Did that involve a different course from the course going to Liverpool? Did you mean to imply that by what you said?
- Simply in reference to the proximity of the Irish coast.
Q. In going to Fishguard they went further off the Irish coast?
- Yes.
Q. Where were you when the explosion of the torpedo occurred?
- I was just leaving the dining room saloon.
Q. Were you on your feet?
- Yes.
Q. Walking out?
- Yes.
Q. Did you hear or feel more than one explosion?
- No.
Q. In what region did you feel or hear the explosion that you referred to; what region of the ship?
- It was just the exit of the dining saloon, which was about 25 or 30 feet from the elevators.
BY THE COURT:
Q. The question is what was your impression as to where this explosion took place in the ship?
- Oh, between the first and second funnels on the starboard side.
BY MR. KIRLIN:
Q. What is the basis of your impression?
- I knew the trouble was forward, and I felt if I didn't get out at once that the water would be there and I couldn't get out; and she sunk a t the bow.
Q. Did the ship list heavily at once?
- Instantly.
Q. How much?
- I should say 15 degrees, and maybe a little bit more.
Q. Did she begin to go down at the head at once?
- That I couldn't tell from inside the ship; as soon as I reached the deck she had sunk there.
Q. You went from the dining room, which I understand is on D deck, did you?
- Yes.
Q. Up to B deck?
- Up to B deck.
Q. Did you walk?
- I ran.
Q. Up the stairway, I mean?
- Yes.
Q. On which side of D deck was yours room?
- On the port side.
Q. What was the number?
- B- 104.
Q. The port side, did you say?
- Yes.
Q. You went back in the corridor to your room?
- Yes.
Q. Did you say while you were going down that corridor that the ship was so listed that you had to put your hands up against the partition to maintain a footing?
- Yes, sir, but I was running.
Q. You went to your stateroom and got your life belt?
- Yes.
Q. That was how far back from B- 104?
- The last room on the B deck.
Q. Did you come back all the way to the main companionway?
- No, I went aft and up to the smoking room.
Q. From B deck to A deck?
- Yes.
Q. By that time had the list increased gradually?
- Very much.
Q. Had it got to be as much as 30 degrees at that time?
- Well, that is pretty hard to tell; I should say it was, yes.
Q. You were then at the stern of the ship?
- Yes.
Q. From there you went forward on the port side?
- Yes, I went forward.
Q. Where you saw the boat being launched?
- It was being launched aft; I did not go forward to see the boat launched. I didn't see any boats launched forward.
Q. You were speaking of the boat aft?
- Right.
Q. Was that the aftermost boat?
- No.
Q. Was it the aftermost boat on the first class section of the ship?
- No, I should say it was the third from the last.
Q. Will you look at the plan (L P 1) and see if you can identify the boats?
- I saw these two boats get away, 16 A- class and 14 A -- class.
Q. You say you saw both of those get away?
- Yes; these two boats I saw launched; not get away.
Q. Which one was the first one?
- This one, 16.
Q. You didn't see 18 or 20 lowered?
- Is that the port side?
Q. Yes.
- No. I may have said the wrong number in my testimony, because I did not see that boat; I don't care what the number is.
Q. Well, we will refer to them by numbers as they appear on the chart. You are speaking of the boats that are marked 14 and 16 on the chart?
- Yes, the third and fourth from the stern, first class.
BY THE COURT:
Q. You saw 16 and 14?
- Yes.
Q. You did not see 20 and 18?
- No. I said I thought I was in boat 18, but if those are the numbers of the boats on the port side, I was not in boat 18.
Q. What boat would you be in then?
- Well, I should say was -- the boat I was dropped in was this one (indicating.)
BY MR. KIRLIN:
Q. I think you said the next to the last boat on the starboard side.
- Well it was the last boat on the first class deck that I got into.
Q. You got into the boat that is marked on the chart No. 19?
- Yes.
Q. You identify that, irrespective of its number, as the boat that you got into?
- Yes.
Q. You got into the boat that is marked No. 16 on the chart?
- I say 18.
Q. You said the third from the last.
- Well, all right then, maybe it was. I don't want to change what I said.
Q. Are you clear which it was?
- Well, I got in and got out again.
Q. Is it the one marked 16 or 18 on the chart?
- Yes.
Q. You are not clear which it was?
- No.
Q. Was that boat swinging inboard at that time on account of the list? The ship was listed to starboard?
- Yes.
Q. And these boats were on the port side?
- Yes.
Q. Was the boat swung in against the side of the ship, or over the deck, by the list?
- She was not even with the side of the ship.
Q. Was she below it?
- No she was above it; she was tied; she was fastened just ae she hangs on her davits; the bottom of the boat was clear of the deck.
Q. Then it had a chance to swing either in or out, as the I ship listed, did it?
- I didn't notice it.
Q. You got into that boat and of out of it again?
- Yes.
Q. And you don't know what ultimately became of that boat?
- No.
Q. Where was it that you tried to loosen the life raft, as you call it?
- That raft was under this boat (indicating boat No. 21.)
Q. On the second class?
- Yes.
Q. What kind of a raft was that?
- Well, the Cunard Company bought a great many of them after the Titanic disaster; I guess they were all the same class; two- cylinders; a regular ship raft.
Q. Do you mean a raft with a number of cylinders on each side?
- Two; one on each side, I should say. (Indicating)
Q. And connecting work in between?
- Yes.
Q. You, next went to the boat which you, in your testimony, described as the next to the last boat on the starboard side, but which you now describe by reference to the raft as being No. 19?
- Yes.
Q. Was that boat listed away from the deck or over the deck?
- It was hanging; she was swinging.
Q. Out beyond the edge of the deck?
- Yes.
Q. Did that boat have any chains on it?
- I didn't notice.
Q. Was it riding on the rope falls?
- I don't know.
Q. There was a man at each end of it and a lot of people on the deck?
- I didn't see anybody on the deck; there were not a lot of people on the deck, because the people were in the boats; there may have been two or three on the deck, but there were not people trying to get in the boat.
Q. How near was the ship's deck to the water at that time, at that point?
- Tell, it was some distance.
Q. How much should you say was the distance?
- It is pretty hard to tell; hanging over the water I can't tell how I far it was.
Q. Was it 10 or 20 feet?
- Oh, it was -- she sunk at the head and her stern was way out of water, so she must have been very high.
Q. Was it a long way from the water?
- Yes.
Q. Which end of that boat was it that dropped?
- The bow.
Q. You were spilled out at the forward end? A. Well, she didn't go down as fast as that they were lowering it and the chap that had the halyard fastened tobow dropped it, so was not a jump, but you couldn't stay in. Q. There were three or four parts of that boat lying in the blocks?
- Yes.
Q. So it would not run very fast even if nobody held it; it wouldn't go down fast?
- Well, the weight was there; it went fast enough to throw everybody out of it.
Q. How far down had it gone before it stopped? Did you strike the water?
- Did the boat strike the water?
Q. Yes.
- Why, certainly.
Q. Then the other end must have been lowered?
- The other end was lowered partially, but not as fast as the bow.
Q. Did you see what became of the boat?
- No; I was headed in a different direction.
Q. Did the ship have headway on at that time?
- Yes.
Q. Was she e till moving through the water?
- Yes.
Q. How fast should you say?
- That I can't say; I thought there was a heavy tide running because the ship was -- we were being carried away from the ship; and after the ship had gone down I found it was not the tide, but that the ship was moving.
Q. Which way was the ship heading at this time?
- She was heading away from the Irish coast.
Q. Away from it?
- Yes.
Q. You didn't notice any open ports?
- No.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. BETTS:
Q. Have you any recollection about the ports at all, whether they were closed, or open?
- I have not.
Q. When you say that one end of the boat went down faster than the other end, can you give us the angle at which the boat was at the time that you all went out of it; the life boat, I mean?
- It must have been about 40 degrees.
Q. Take this piece of paper and indicate on it.
- (Illustrating) I should say about this way.
The Court:
That is between 40 and 45 degrees.
ADJOURNED till Wednesday, April 24, 1918, at 10:30 A. M.
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