Limitation of Liability Hearings

DEPOSITION OF CAPTAIN CHARLES JOHNSTON, Contd.

 

Q. When you first see it outlined against the sky, you say it is dark?
- It appears dark, much darker than the surrounding horizon.

Q. Let me ask you with reference to a dark but starlight night, free from haze and fog. So far as is known, you will see an iceberg with the naked eye how far, on the average?
- I should say a half a mile.

Q. Would the presence of clouds cut that down?
- Very materially.

Q. Assuming that the air seemed to be perfectly clear, to what extent would the clouds cut down the distance you can see an iceberg below a half a mile?
- At night I should say about one-half. That would make it a quarter of a mile, and that is particularly so if there is a heavy bank of clouds beyond the berg.

Q. How about a low-lying haze on the horizon? Assuming the night was starlight overhead, would that cut down the distance?
- Yes, sir, still more.

Q. How near did you say the berg must be on a dark night, with stars shining, in order to look white?
- I should say that it begins at about a quarter of a mile to 1ook white, and as you approach it it is quite white at 200 yards.

Q. This is just an estimate?
- Just an estimate. I never measured it.

Q. When you say that on the average you could only see a berg at the distance of one-half a mile on a starlight but clear night, do you have in your mind the fact that the berg is outlined against the sky, or not?
- I do, yes.

Q. What is the effect of a situation where the berg, other conditions being the same, is not outlined against the sky?
- I have never had the eye high enough to observe an iceberg under those conditions.

Q. As I understand you, no part of the berg is against the sky?
- I have never had my eye high enough to observe a berg where no part of it is outlined against the horizon.

Q. Have you seen what are known as "growlers" under such conditions?
- Plenty of them.

Q. What is a "growler"?
- A "growler" is a chunk of ice large enough to be dangerous to navigation, but still too small to be called a berg?

Q. On a night such as I have described, with stars shining, but otherwise dark, and no haze or fog, how near could you be sure of seeing a "growler"?
- I should figure it a quarter of a mile. It is susceptible of a great deal of change, depending upon the phosphorescence of the water. Sometimes you will find the water very phosphorescent, and the surging of the water around a "growler" or around a berg will be seen much farther than when the phosphorescence is little.

Q. Assuming there was no phosphorescence at all.
- I should figure on seeing it a quarter of a mile, and then it would look white.

Q. Assuming that there is a great deal of moisture in the air, but no visible haze, would that make any difference?
- At a distance of a quarter of a mile you might say that the humidity of the air is negligible.

Q. At a distance of half a mile would the humidity of the air make a difference in the visibility of the ice?
- Possibly slightly, but I am not prepared to make a definite statement.

Mr. Wells:
Is this visible or invisible humidity you are talking about?

The Witness:
By "humidity" I judge you mean ---

Mr. Kinnicutt:
I mean invisible humidity.

The Witness:
Yes.

BY MR. KINNICUTT:

Q. Do starlight nights vary in darkness according to the invisible humidity in the air?
- I think so, yes.

Q. In other words, there are different kinds of starlight nights, some of which you would call darker than others?
- Oh, yes.

Q. Have you made any estimate of the proportion of bergs that turn over south of the Grand Banks in the months of April and May?
- No, not during that time I have not.

Q. Have you at any time?
- Yes, late May and June.

Q. How often do they turn over then?
- It will depend almost entirely upon the shape of the berg.

Q. Do the bergs sometimes turn over earlier in the season?
- Oh, yes. They are likely to turn over any time in the season.

Q. Have you seen a part of a berg split off without the berg turning over?
- Many a time.

Q. What effect does that have on the color of the part from which the ice is broken off?
- It is brighter, clearer and whiter than the exposed part. It gives the effect of a freshly broken piece of white marble.

Q. From your experience in navigation among icebergs and in ice, in steam vessels at night in the Atlantic Ocean, have you come to any conclusion as to what precautions should be taken by a vessel where icebergs are supposed to be in or near the vessel's course, on a night wren the stars are shining but there is no moon in the sky, and there seems to be no mist or fog? I am asking whether you have come to any conclusion?
- I have.

Q. Just state what your conclusions are.
- I think the vessel should stop.

Q. If you hear of the location of ice some time before you expect the vessel to come near it in its course, is there any alternative you can take?
- Yes. You can head the vessel south until you strike the warm water of the Gulf Stream, and then proceed to the westward, if you are due westward, or eastward if you are due east, and I think it is safe, if not too many bergs have been reported, to proceed at a speed not to exceed five knots, and to have your lookouts double posted, and particularly in the bows of the vessel low down. On the first suggestion of ice from a lookout, my opinion is then the vessel should stop.

Q. But you take these other precautions before the ice was seen at all?
- Yes, sir; navigate with extreme caution.

Q. Assuming that the conditions are such, on a given night, that you can see an iceberg with the naked eye at no greater distance than one-half a mile; do you think that that distance is sufficient in which to navigate with a view to avoiding collision with the berg?
- No sir.

Q. Give me your reasons for that.
- You say that I am sure of seeing it at no greater distance than half a mile. If I could be cocksure that I could see it at a half a mile, I should consider it safe to proceed at a speed of about five knots.

Q. In order to avoid collision?
- In order to avoid collision.

Q. Are there any elements that you have to take into consideration besides the actual distance at which you can see ice, with relation to the time that you have to allow to navigate so as to avoid it?
- Yes. The conditions differ very greatly for different ships. A small ship does not require so much room to maneuver in as a large ship. On a small ship the officer on the bridge is nearer the bows of the ship, and depends more upon himself than on a large ship. On a large ship you have to depend more on your lookouts who are stationed forward. I have already stated that a long ship takes so much more room to maneuver in than a short ship does.

Q. Is there or is there not any loss of time which you have to allow between the first sight that the lookout gets of the berg and the time that the officers have to act in changing the course of the ship?
- Assuming that the lookout reports the ice, first he hails the bridge and makes his report; then the officer on the bridge has to pass the word to the man at the wheel, and the man at the wheel has to put the helm over. That would consume, I should say, a good thirty seconds.

Q. You are speaking of a steam vessel such as you have been on, or a larger steam vessel?
- A steam vessel such as I have been on.

Q. Does the officer always change the course of the ship without verifying the report of the lookout by using his glasses?
- My observation is that an officer practically never changes his course without verifying it.

Q. What would you say as to whether that consumes a certain amount of time?
- Naturally it would. The officer always carries glasses, and he raises the gasses and verifies the report before making any change.

Q. Why does he act in that way?
- Because he is the responsible party, and the other man is not.

Q. Why is he unwilling to take the word of the lookout?
- Because he thinks his own judgment is better.

Q. State what you observed as to how easy it is to pick up an iceberg with glasses?
- It is right difficult to pick up an iceberg with glasses. Particularly is that the case when the glasses have been laid down for a moment. The laying down of a pair of glasses most always throws them a little bit out of focus and you pick them up suddenly and try to look with them and if your focus is not right, your glasses are worse than useless.

Q. Does the officer, in picking up an iceberg, at night, customarily use glasses?
- My observation leads me to say that he should always use glasses.

Q. That does not mean he has the glasses to his eyes necessarily at all times?
- No. He carries them in his hands, and when occasion demands, he raises them to his eyes.

Q. Can you make any general statement as to steam vessels, or any class of steam vessels as to the point on which they pivot in steering?
- A steam vessel working ahead pivots on the bow as she turns.

Q. Suppose you wish to avoid an obstacle on such a vessel, and let us say you port your helm. What happens to the ship, as to its course?
- The stern of the ship will swing to port, and the bow apparently swings to starboard, but not actually. It is the swinging of the stern to port that gives the apparent change of course. The head tends to go ahead. The momentum of the ship tends to keep her in the line she was originally in, and the actual course of the ship as a bulk is a composite of those two effects. So that she will actually swing slightly to starboard, and at the same time tend to go right ahead, with a sort of a drift in the general line she was pursuing before the helm was put over.

Q. Is it true that the larger the bulk and weight of a vessel the more headway she has?
- That is my observation. You use the word "headway". I should say "momentum" instead of "headway".

Q. And do you think that an increase in size and weight of a vessel, assuming other factors are the same, make it more or less difficult to avoid an object ahead of the vessel?
- With a large vessel it is unquestionably more difficult to avoid than it is with a small vessel.

Q. Does a navigator, in trying to avoid an object which is ahead of his vessel, have to allow for the fact that she pivots on the bow and makes a composite headway as you have described?
- Yes, sir.

Q. Does this fact cut down the distance in which a navigator can avoid an object ahead of his vessel?
- Not necessarily. A navigator who is wise to his job can put his helm, say, hard to starboard. That will throw the stern to starboard and turn the bow to port, and she will shoot off to the left. Then, before the bow of the ship gets by the obstacle, he will shift his helm to hard a port, and that will throw his stern to port and the stern will shoot by, but if you should leave the helm hard a starboard or hard a port to avoid an obstacle and did not shift the helm after the bow gets by, then you have the danger of the stern swinging still more around and encountering the object about the point of abaft the beam of the ship.

Q. Will you define what is meant by "ice blink"?
- "Ice blink" is an effect of refraction of the atmosphere over a large body of ice, and it is particularly noticeable when the air is warm in the general vicinity of the ice. With a cold air over ice there is practically no blink.

Q. Is this blink observable in daylight or at night, or both?
- I never observed a blink at night, but have frequently seen it in the daylight.

Q. It has nothing to do, as I understand you, with reflection?
- I consider not, although some authorities call it a reflection. I cannot believe that it is a reflection, and all my observations have shown it to be a refraction.

Q. Could a refraction take place at night?
- Certainly.

Q. In your opinion, so as to give an ice blink?
- No, it would not give you the same effect. There would be a refraction, but the effect of the refraction in the daytime is to give what looks like steam for a height of from one degree to five or six degrees over the ice. It looks like a bank of steam over there, and, being white, necessarily when a dark night comes on, you lose that and do not see anything. There still may be this refraction, and doubtless is, but you do not see it. It is not apparent to the eye. "Blink" is really an optical illusion.

Q. Then in your opinion, when the ice blink is spoken about as affecting the visibility of ice, it refers only to the visibility in the daytime?
- In the daytime only. Parenthetically, I would say I do not think the blink affects the visibility of the ice at all.

Q. Are you speaking now of any time of the 24 hours?
- Only in daylight, when the blink is visible.

Q. Then it would not have an effect on the visibility at any time?
- I do not think so, no.

Q. If you know the position of an iceberg in the north Atlantic , in the general neighborhood of the Banks, is it possible to predict, with any accuracy, where it will be, say 24 hours later?
- If a man has a knowledge of the currents in that vicinity, and has a pretty good idea of what the water has been for the preceding 48 hours, he should be able to predict very closely where the berg will be 24 hours hence.

Q. Does the drift of the berg depend upon a good many factors?
- A great many factors.

Continued >