WILFRED WHITEHEAD,
leading seaman, H.M.S. Essex,
Sworn.
By Mr. Newcombe:
6507. You belong to the Essex?
- I do, sir.
6508. And what is your rating?
- Leading seaman.
6509. Are you an experienced diver?
- Not quite four years at it.
6510. Have you been diving at the Empress of Ireland?
- I have, sir.
6511. How many descents did you make?
- Two on the ship.
6512. On what days?
- One on the Friday and one on the Sunday.
6513. That is last Friday and last Sunday?
- Yes, sir.
6514. Well now, will you tell me what you did and saw on each occasion?
- On the Friday I went down with instructions to find out if possible which direction the ship was lying in, and I went down and examined the plates, and the plates told me which was forward and which was aft, and I travelled along in that direction, so they could see my bubbles, and could note the place I went down and note the direction of the bubbles, and that would give them the direction she was lying in. I did that, and I went along to the extent of my stray line, which I made fast to the rope on which I descend, so that I can always find my way back to the same place. I went to the full extent of the stray line, which is from nine to ten fathoms, either way, and I came across a valve which I took to be a Kingston valve, and I clambered up a little way and came to one of the port-holes; I clambered up a little way higher, and came to the next line of port holes, and I saw a piece of blue cotton sticking out of the port-hole, and the port-hole jammed home tight on top of it.
By Lord Mersey:
6515. You say you saw it?
- Yes.
6516. Did you see it?
- I did see it, sir.
6517. Down there?
- Yes, sir.
6518. Is there enough light to see when you were at that depth?
- I can see ten feet, sir, at thirteen fathoms.
6519. You can see at a distance of ten feet?
- Yes, sir, I can see forward a distance of ten feet at thirteen fathoms.
By Mr. Newcombe:
6520. Do I understand that you travelled a distance of 18 or 20 fathoms in all upon the ship?
- Along the ship.
6521. Yes, that is to say do I understand that you travelled a distance of 18 or 20 fathoms, the length of your stray line is nine to ten fathoms, is it not?
- Yes, sir.
6522. So the entire distance you traversed would be double that?
- Yes, sir.
6523. Then I do understand that you travelled along the length of the ship about 18 or 20 fathoms?
- You do, sir.
By Lord Mersey:
6524. Of course you were on the port side of the ship?
- I couldn’t say which side it was, but it was my idea that it was on the port side of the ship—on the port side, yes, sir.
By Mr. Newcombe:
6525. Did you find that the spars of the ship were pointing to the southward?
- I didn’t get up as high as the spars. I got on her low down.
6526. How is the ship lying, over on her side or on her bilge, or how does she lie?
- The side on which I landed was very steep.
6527. Very steep, you say?
- Yes, sir.
6528. Would you be up on the flat of the ship, where the port-holes were, along by the port-holes - did you walk along by the port-holes?
- Yes.
6529. On the side of the ship?
- Yes.
6530. Well, when you say very steep, will you indicate at what angle the side of the ship would be lying?
- I should say at an angle of about sixty degrees, the part I was on.
6531. And could you cling to the side of the ship?
- I could not, sir.
6532. How did you manage that?
- By holding on to this rope, and each time I went along I dropped down a little bit, and I was gradually getting lower than my rope, and that kept me where I wanted to be.
6533. Did you observe whether any of the port holes were open?
- There were no port holes open that I saw, sir.
By Lord Mersey:
6534. I thought there was one open and that you saw some stuff sticking through it?
- That port hole, sir, was closed on top of the stuff, and the stuff was sticking out.
6535. You mean to say something had been nipped in?
- Yes, sir.
By Mr. Newcombe:
6536. Do your observations enable you to speak generally as to the port holes along the line you traversed, or do you merely say you did not see any that were open?
- Along the line I travelled, there were none open, and I passed a lot of them.
6537. Would that be the line of the lower ports?
- The lower ports and the second ones up.
6538. The lower line of ports and the second ones above?
- Yes, sir.
6539. So am I right in supposing that you testify that for a distance of 18 or 20 fathoms along the side of the ship, none of the port holes were open in the lower or second tier-of portholes in the ship’s side?
- Yes, sir.
By Lord Mersey:
6540. Let me see, how many feet would that be that you travelled?
- Well, that would be between 18 and 20 fathoms.
Mr. Newcombe:
And a fathom is six feet, my Lord, say a maximum of 120 feet.
6541. Can you-say what part of the ship that 120 feet would be, in relation to the bow or the stern of the ship?
- I cannot, sir. I did not come near any of the propellers, and therefore, I know I did not reach so far as the stern.
6542. Did you see the smoke funnels?
- No, I did not get as high up as that.
6543. Well can you say whether you were on towards the bow, that part of the ship which narrows towards the bow, or whether you were on the flat side of the ship. Can you give any information as to what part of the ship you were travelling on?
- I couldn’t, sir, except for the Kingston valve.
6544. What?
- An inlet valve, down below.
6545. What do you say about the valve?
- I say I went down near the valve.
By Mr. Aspinall:
6546. When you were sent down did you get any instructions as to what you were to do when you got down?
- Yes, sir.
6547. What were the instructions?
- To try and find out the direction of the ship.
6548. Were there any more instructions than that?
- No, sir.
By Mr. Haight:
6549. Do you remember what time of day it was when you went down on Friday?
- No, sir.
6550. Approximately?
- Oh, roughly, sir, yes, I can tell you that, sir. About one o’clock, sir.
6551. And about how long were you under water?
- About thirty-five to forty minutes I estimate, sir, but, of course, I cannot tell the time down below. That is in my officer’s hands.
6552. Did you have any trouble in getting up or down or moving along the ship, so far as the current or tide was concerned?
- I say that there is a tide down there, but it is not too strong so that I could not master it.
6553. Which way was the tide running when you went down on Friday? Coiuld you tell whether it was going from the east to the west or lengthways with the river, or how?
- No. I can tell you which way the tide was that time, because I know which way it was easiest to go.
6554. Well, which way was the easier?
- It was easier to go forward on the ship, but I don’t know what was the direction of the ship. I don’t know it by the compass, only as my officer said to day, sir.
6555. Did the course of the tide, as you walked forward, appear to be the same all the way along the ship?
- Yes, sir.
6556. How long were you down on Sunday?
- I wasn’t down very long on Sunday. I only went down on a special occasion.
By Lord Mersey:
6557. But the question you were asked was, how long were you down on Sunday - aboiut how long were you down on Sunday?
- About a quarter of an hour, sir.
By Mr. Haight:
6558. Did you go down on Sunday when the other diver got into trouble?
- That is when I went down.
6559. You were not paying any attention to currents then?
- No, sir.
By Sir Adolphe Routhier:
6560. Did you find it very slippery on the hull of the ship?
- Not very slippery, I didn’t have cause to hang on to it. There is a thin coating of slime, so that as you draw your fingers over it, it leaves finger-marks.
By Mr. Haight:
6561. Did I ask you the time of day when you went down on Friday?
- Yes, sir.
6562. Well I don’t remember your answer.
- It was one o’clock, roughly, sir.
6563. And what was the time of day when yoiu went down on Sunday?
- I couldn’t say the time on Sunday, it was later.
6564. As I understand, you couldn’t see, or at all events you didn’t see, the starboard side of the ship?
- No, sir.
By Sir Adolphe Routhier:
6565. Was it lying on the bottom?
- On the bottom, sir, yes, and I didn’t go on the bottom.
6566. The starboard side is on the bottom?
- Yes.
By Lord Mersey:
6567. As I understand it, the starboard side does not lie flat on the bottom?
- I couldn’t say about that, sir.
6568. Well, I thought it followed from what you did tell us that she was lying on an angle of about sixty degrees. Just look at this - you see I take this blotter in my hand - now supposing that was the ship, and this was the starboard side, she is lying, as I understand it, something like that (indicating)?
- Yes, sir.
6569. And you were here (indicating)?
- Yes, I was.
6570. And you describe that - I don’t know quite what you meant - as an angle of sixty degrees, didn’t you say so?
- I did, sir.
6571. Well, it was very steep then?
- Yes, sir.