(The Witness was sworn by Senator Burton.)
8070. What is your name?
- George Thomas Rowe.
8071. How old are you?
- Thirty-two.
8072. How long have you sailed?
- In the merchant service 2 years; previous to that, 14 years in the Navy.
8073. Where were you the night of the collision?
- I felt a slight jar and looked at my watch. It was a fine night, and it was then 20 minutes to 12. I looked toward the starboard side of the ship and saw a mass of ice. I then remained on the after bridge to await orders through the telephone. No orders came down, and I remained until 25 minutes after 12, when I saw a boat on the starboard beam.
8074. What was the number of the boat?
- You could not tell the number. I telephoned to the fore bridge to know if they knew there was a boat lowered. They replied, asking me if I was the third officer. I replied, "No; I am the quartermaster." They told me to bring over detonators, which are used in firing distress signals.
8075. What next happened?
- I took them to the forebridge and turned them over to the fourth officer. I assisted the officer to fire them, and was firing the distress signals until about five and twenty minutes after 1. At that time they were getting out the starboard collapsible boats. The chief officer, Wilde, wanted a sailor. I asked Capt. Smith if I should fire any more, and he said "No; get into that boat." I went to the boat. [Collapsible C] Women and children were being passed in. I assisted six, three women and three children. The order was then given to lower the boat. The chief officer wanted to know if there were more women and children. There were none in the vicinity. Two gentlemen passengers got in; the boat was then lowered. When we reached the water we steered for a light in sight, roughly 5 miles. We pulled through the night, but seemed to get no nearer to the lights. So we altered our course back to a boat that was carrying a green light. During that time daylight broke and the Carpathia was in sight.
8076. There was nothing special about your getting on the Carpathia?
- No, sir. In the meantime I found that one of the two gentlemen was Mr. Ismay. I don't know who the other was. Thirty-nine in the boat, all told.
8077. You say there were 39 passengers in the boat?
- Not all passengers, sir; 39 all told.
8078. How many of those were crew or sailors?
- Myself was the only sailor, three firemen, and one steward.
8079. You had no trouble in managing the boat?
- Not a bit.
8080. The passengers, aside from you sailors, were all women and children?
- Except Mr. Ismay and another gentleman. When daylight broke, we found four men, Chinamen, I think they were, or Filipinos.
8081. Were those additional to the 39?
- Yes, sir.
8082. All the rest of the 39 were women and children, except two, Mr. Ismay and another gentleman?
- Yes, sir.
8083. When day broke, you found four Chinamen or Filipinos under the seats?
- Not under the seats then, sir. They came up between the seats. Ours was about the ninth boat which was unloaded upon the Carpathia. The night was very cold; but those who were in the boat were very well wrapped up and did not suffer.
8084. Now, tell us the circumstances under which Mr. Ismay and that other gentleman got in the boat.
- When Chief Officer Wilde asked if there was any more women and children there was no reply. So Mr. Ismay came aboard the boat.
8085. Mr. Wilde asked were there any more women and children. Can you say there were none?
- I could not see; but there were none forthcoming.
8086. You could see around there on the deck, could you not?
- I could see the fireman and steward that completed the boat's crew, but as regards any females I could not see any.
8087. Were there any men passengers besides Mr. Ismay and the other man?
- I did not see any, sir?
8088. Was it light enough so that you could see anyone near by?
- Yes, sir.
8089. If I understand, there were firemen and stokers around in that neighborhood?
- Yes, sir.
8090. But no women and children?
- No women or children, sir.
8091. And, so far as you could see, no other passengers except Mr. Ismay and this other gentleman?
- Yes.
8092. Did you know Mr. Ismay at the time?
- I did know him, sir, because I had seen the gentleman before.
8093. In going along on the water, did he give any directions?
- I was in charge of the boat.
8094. You were in entire charge of the boat?
- Absolute, sir.
8095. Did you see any ice when on the watch?
- No, sir; only when we struck, when we passed it on the starboard side.
8096. About how high was that iceberg?
- Roughly, 100 feet, sir.
8097. Was there anything distinctive about the color of that iceberg?
- No a bit, sir; just like ordinary ice.
8098. You saw it as it was brushing by?
- Yes, sir. It was very close to the ship, almost touching it.
8099. You do not know about how many compartments were opened up?
- No, sir; because I never left the afterpart of this boat.
8100. Did you see Mr. Ismay and Mr. Carter get in the boat?
- I saw the gentlemen get in; yes, sir.
8101. Did you hear anyone ask them to get in?
- No, sir.
8102. How were you occupied at the time they got in?
- I was occupied in attending the after fall, sir.
8103. Were you watching Chief Officer Wilde?
- Yes, sir.
8104. Did you see him speak to them?
- No, sir.
8105. If he had spoken to them would you have known it?
- I think so, because they got in the afterpart of the boat.
8106. And you were in the afterpart of the boat?
- I was in the afterpart; yes.
8107. Was the helm over when you passed the iceberg?
- That I could not say.
8108. Did you hear any order to abandon the ship, or anything like that?
- No, sir.
8109. Did you hear any general alarm?
- No, sir.
8110. Did you hear the sirens?
- No sirens, sir; but there was an awful noise made by the escape of steam.
8111. Was that noise below or up at the escape pipe?
- At the exhaust pipe.
8112. Were there any detonators or other signals kept aft?
- The detonators, such as the distress signal rockets, green lights, and blue lights..
8113. Were there any kept forward?
- Yes; on the fore bridge.
8114. On the after bridge, too?
- Not on the after bridge. There was a private locker aft.
8115. Were you at any time on any other deck aside from the top or bridge deck?
- No, sir; not after 8 o'clock.
8116. Was there any panic that you saw?
- Not a bit.
8117. Might not a number of persons have been on the lower decks?
- Yes, sir; undoubtedly.
8118. There were no staterooms on the top deck, were there?
- That I could not say.
8119. Did you hear any sign or hear any indication of an alarm to call the passengers?
- No, sir.
8120. Just where were you when you saw the iceberg?
- On the poop, sir; underneath the after bridge.
8121. You were located practically right on the stern of the boat?
- Right on the stern, sir; the poop.
8122. And the iceberg, when the boat rubbed against it, was right near, was it?
- Yes, sir.
8123. How far, would you say?
- It was so near that I thought it was going to strike the bridge.
8124. Did it strike the bridge?
- No, sir: never.
8125. Only 10 or 20 feet away?
- Not that far, sir.
8126. Did you notice the iceberg when the boat got clear of it?
- No, sir; I went on the bridge then, to stand by the telephone.
8127. Could you hear the ice scraping along on the boat where you were?
- No, sir.
8128. So you do not know whether it was rubbing against the hull there or not?
- No, sir.
8129. What is your best judgment about that?
- I do not think it was.
8130. You are positive you heard no rubbing?
- Yes, sir.
8131. Do you not think that if the helm had been hard astarboard the stern would have been up against the berg?
- It stands to reason it would, sir, if the helm were hard astarboard.
8132. Were you able to form any judgment as to how long that berg was?
- No, sir.
8133. How near were you to the starboard side of the boat when you first noticed it rubbing?
- About 8 or 10 feet. I went to the side.
8134. Did you go immediately to the side?
- Yes, sir.
8135. What were your duties as quartermaster aft?
- My duties were to attend the log and night signals by night, logging ensign by day, and to look out for any accidents, a man overboard or something like that.
8136. Were you also to keep track of vessels that might be coming up on the side?
- Oh, yes, sir; but that is very seldom the case that anything like that happens.
8137. Were you reading the log that night?
- As soon as the berg was gone I looked at the log and it read 260 miles. The log was reset at noon. I had charge of the taffrail log, which was a Neptune log.
8138. You read the log each hour, did you not?
- Every two hours. I read it at 10 o'clock, but I do not remember what it was, now, sir.
8139. Do you remember what speed she was making, or did you make any computation?
- No, sir. We read the log every two hours, and it is telephoned to the bridge and entered in the quartermaster's log book. It is taken from there every watch and put into the ship's log.
8140. How soon after she struck was it before she started to tilt or go down by the head? She did not list, did she?
- No, sir; not at that time, I don't think.
8141. Did she at any time list over to starboard or port?
- She did not list, so far as I know, until the time when my boat was lowered. Then she listed to port. She listed about 5 or 6 degrees.
8142. To port?
- Yes, sir.
8143. What side was your boat on?
- The starboard side, sir. All the time my boat was being lowered the rubbing strake kept on catching on the rivets down the ship's side, and it was as much as we could do to keep her off.
8144. What was the beam of your boat?
- I could not say.
8145. Would it have more beam than a lifeboat?
- It had more beam than what they call the emergency boat.
8146. But not any more than a lifeboat?
- No.
8147. You are sure you rubbed going down?
- Yes, sir.
8148. Was the Titanic down by the head?
- Yes, sir. When we left the ship the fore-well deck was awash; that is, when we pushed off from the ship. It was 1.25 when I left the bridge to get into the boat. When the boat was in the water the well deck was submerged. It took us a good five minutes to lower the boat on account of this rubbing going down.
8149. She must have sunk soon after you left?
- Twenty minutes, I believe.
8150. Did any boats get away after yours?
- One boat got away after mine, on the port side.
8151. How long did the rubbing or grinding against the ice last?
- I never heard anything except the first contact; the first jar was all I knew about it. I never heard any rubbing at all.
8152. Do you think the propeller hit the ice? Did you feel any jolt like the propeller hitting the ice?
- No, sir.
8153. Do you not think the propeller would have hit the ice if the helm had been turned hard a starboard?
- Yes, sir.
8154. Did you hear any revolver shots?
- No, sir.
8155. Did you see the light of a boat, or anything of that kind?
- I saw the light; that was the light we were pulling for when we left the ship.
8156. What do you conclude that light was?
- A sailing ship.
8157. What sort of light was it?
- A white light.
8158. Did you get any nearer to it?
- We did not seem to get nearer to it.
8159. What did you conclude about it?
- We kept on pulling for it, because it was the only stationary light.
8160. Do you think there was a sailing boat there?
- Yes, sir.
8161. And was she going away from you?
- Toward daylight the wind sprung up and she sort of hauled off from us.
8162. Did you see her?
- No, sir.
8163. Did you see any side lights?
- No, sir. I think there was a ship there. Indeed, I am sure of it, and that she was a sailer.
8164. The light you saw was a white light?
- Yes, sir.
8165. What did you judge it to be, a stern light?
- I judged it to be a stern light: yes, sir.
8166. Did you see this light before the ship struck?
- Yes, sir.
8167. What was its bearing with regard to the Titanic, forward or aft?
- Right forward, sir.
8168. Dead ahead?
- Not dead ahead, but just a little on the port bow.
8169. That was before the ship struck?
- No, sir; because I was never on the bridge until after the ship struck.
8170. You did not see it when you were aft?
- No, sir.
8171. But you say you did see her before ever the ship stuck?
- No, sir.
8172. You did not mean to say you saw here before the ship stuck?
- No, sir.
8173. When did you first see her?
- When I was on the bridge firing the rockets. I saw it myself, and I worked the Morse lamp at the port side of the ship to draw her attention.
8174. Do you know whether the watertight doors were closed or not?
- I could not say.
8175. Did you hear any signal for the doors to close?
- No.
8176. You had a signal on the ship to ring bells before the doors closed, did you not?
- I could not hear that on the poop.
8177. You could not hear the three gongs for "dead ahead" on the poop, could you?
- No.
8178. Do you know whether any of the men were sent down below to see whether any of the doors were closed or not?
- I could not say.
8179. You would not have known of that, really, anyway, would you?
- No, sir.
8180. Was there any steam coming up through any of the hatches or ventilators?
- No, sir. The only steam I saw was coming out of exhaust pipes.
8181. Did you hear any explosions?
- I heard one, sir, after we left the ship. It was not an explosion; a sort of a rumbling.
8182. What do you think it was?
- I have no idea what it was.
8183. Do you think it was boilers exploding?
- It was not an ordinary explosion, you understand; more like distant thunder.
8184. Was that before or after the ship sank?
- Before she sank, sir.
8185. Were there more than one of those explosions?
- I only heard the one, sir.
8186. How far from the ship were you when she went down?
- About three-quarters of a mile, sir.
8187. Did you see her go down?
- I saw her stern disappear at the finish, sir.
8188. It was while she was still floating that you heard the explosions?
- Heard this rumbling sound, sir.
8189. You are quite sure of that, are you?
- Positive, sir.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th day of April, A. D. 1912.
[SEAL.]
G. T. ROWE
E. L. CORNELIUS
Notary
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