New-York Tribune, 5 July 1910
BALTIC HERE, HOLE IN BOW
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Passengers Deplore Sensational Stories of Alarm on Board
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ONE SLEPT THROUGH IT ALL
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Report of White Star Officials Fails to State How Collision Occurred
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The White Star Liner Baltic, one of the biggest freight and passenger
steamers that come to this port, got into her dock yesterday with a hole six
feet by four in her port side, about fifty feet from the stem. She had been
rammed shortly before midnight on June 30 by the oil tank steamship Standard
when 1,089 miles east of Ambrose Channel Lightship. She was never in any
danger after the collision, nor was the Standard, which backed off into the
night and proceeded on her course with oil from Philadelphia for Copenhagen.
No one was injured on board the Baltic. There was some excitement among the
passengers at the time of the collision, and a few women became hysterical,
but within three hours after the crash every one went to bed.
The arrival of the steamer confirmed in all respects the story of the
accident published in The Tribune yesterday morning, and refuted the
exaggerated reports sent out from other quarters.
The only thing which could not be explained yesterday by the Baltic's
commander and the White Star Line officials was how the Baltic got into a
position where she could be rammed. Commander J. B. Ranson could have told
how his ship was hit, for he was on the bridge at the time. He told his
story to his superiors, but declined absolutely to make public how the
accident happened and who was to blame for it. He was seconded by the agents
of the White Star Line in his determination not to talk.
Issued Statement Told Little.
After thinking the matter over the steamship officials decided to issue a
statement for Captain Ranson, but all references as to how the collision
occurred or who was responsible for it were withheld. He merely gave his
time and the name of the vessel that hit him and the fact that he stood
by and sent out a small boat to the Standard.
In the course of a conversation with the White Star officials, however,
Captain Ranson said he could see four or five miles ahead when the steamers
came together. Passengers on deck who saw the Standard rim the Baltic and
back away, declared that she had her sailing lights burning at the time.
Under these circumstances it would seem that there was no excuse for either
master permitting his vessel to hit the other.
It was explained that there was a British law which compelled a master of a
British vessel to refrain from making any public statement until he had
reported the facts to the British Board of Trade and the vessel's owners.
According to various passengers on the Baltic, there had been fog before the
collision. The Baltic, which does not make much better than seventeen knots,
was running at reduced speed. During the fog patch she had been blowing her
siren. The passengers had heard it at regular, short intervals, but many
were positive that no signals had been blown within twenty minutes before
the crash came. At the moment of impact, 11:34 p. nm., there were blasts
from the sirens of both vessels.
The oil tank boat, which was heading north on her way from Philadelphia to
Copenhagen, drove her clipper bow into the Baltic's port side about fifty
feet aft of the stem, and then veered to the side. The Baltic was steaming
west. As the Standard swung aside her bowsprit and figurehead snapped off
and remained in the gap in the Baltic's side. The steel plates gave way and
were crumpled inward, leaving a hole about four by six feet some fifteen
feet above the water line. The wrench caused a fissure to extend down the
side under the water, and the sea poured into hold No. 1, which was filled
with chinaware.
Needed No Assistance
The pumps were started, and under moderate pressure were able to cope with
the flood. As the Standard backed away Captain Ranson lowered a lifeboat at
once and sent it out after her. Captain Ruperti sent back word that his
vessel was seaworthy and needed no assistance. He asked that he be so
reported in New York, and then requested that one of his firemen who was
jostled out of his bunk be taken to New York on the Baltic for treatment.
His name was Richard Houer. He had bruises on his chest and head, but was
not seriously injured. He was treated by Dr. Bell, of the Baltic, and
brought to port.
Captain Ranson lingered in the vicinity of the collision for about two hours
and then resumed his course to port. There were complaints about a failure
of the officers of the Baltic to give assurances or comfort to the
passengers, but the majority of the passengers said there was no occasion to
calm them, as few were alarmed to any great extent.
Captain Ranson informed the White Star office of the mishap by wireless, but
when the ship news reporters went down the bay on the revenue cutter
yesterday to meet the Baltic he refused to let them aboard.
The gap in the Baltic's side was patched up with wood and steel braces. It
will be cemented and covered with steel plates outside and inside to-day and
the water ballast will be increased aft and lightened forward. This will
keep her bow well up when she leaves for Liverpool on Saturday. She will be
in drydock three days on the other side and will sail on her return trip to
this port on July 23. The Baltic is booked to carry 775 cabin passengers on
Saturday.
Deny Reports of Confusion
Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Campbell, of this city, who had been visiting relatives
in Belfast, Ireland, occupied the first state room forward on the promenade
deck. They are staying at the Hotel Marie Antoinette temporarily.
"There was little excitement or confusion following the collision," Mr.
Campbell said yesterday. "The passengers did not realize at the time that
the Baltic had been struck. The idea prevailed that we had run down the
other boat, and every one was anxious about her fate until, to our relief,
we saw her disappearing in the gloom, apparently uninjured and without
asking for assistance. The real shock to our nerves came the next morning,
when we learned that the Baltic had been rammed and we realized what might
have been.
"I had been in the smoking room until 11:20 and for idle amusement counted
the blasts of the fog horn. The fog horn stopped blowing about that time and
I understood from other passengers that the fog had raised. We retired to
our stateroom shortly afterward, and I was lying in the bunk reading when I
suddenly heard two sharp blasts of the Baltic's whistle, and the whistle of
some boat near by replied. Then the crash came, and we were out of our bunks
and on the deck in about thirty seconds.
"As near as I can judge, the time the collision occurred was about 11:45.
All but one of the first cabin passengers rushed on deck clad mostly in
their night attire. There was one man who slept through the whole thing, and
the passengers afterward took up a collection and bought him an
alarm clock and presented it to him. The officers went about among the
passengers assuring them that there was no danger, and in a short time most
of the passengers went back to bed."
Mrs. Campbell supplemented her husband's remarks by saying that there were
only one or two women who were excited to the hysterical point.
"The women all conducted themselves with marked nerve and coolness after the
collision," she said. "Only two women I noticed became the least hysterical.
The thing we worry about most is that exaggerated accounts of the accident
will reach our relatives on the other side and cause them needless anxiety."
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