Hello David. I'll answer each section of your post in red between relevant paragraphs.
" Newton's laws governing the impact would have increased the rotation ot the bow to its left causing the whole starboard side of the ship to bump and grind along the berg. There should be reported damage for nearly 3/4ths the length of the hull (probably including the starboard wing propeller), which did not happen. So, physics, the way ships turn, and the physical damage to Titanic all rule out the mythical left turn to avoid the iceberg. Conventional wisdom cannot be true."
David, if you are going to apply the laws of physics to the re-action of Titanic to impact with the ice berg, then you must in clude all of them. I remind you of Isaaqc Newton's Thrid Law: " When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body." Now apply that to the moment of impact.
"The final nails in the coffin of the conventional story comes from the lookouts, Fleet and Lee, in the crow's nest. They said Titanic steamed straight at the fatal berg. Even Fleet's famous (if possibly apocryphal) words, "Iceberg right ahead!" indicate a straight-on approach. This means the ship was not turning to port (starboard helm) nor to starboard (port helm) during the final seconds as the bow closed on the ice."
You massaged that one, my friend. Here is exactly what Fleet told his interrogator in the US:
"Mr. FLEET: I went up to the telephone as soon as ever I struck three bells.
Senator BURTON.:And telephoned to the bridge?
Mr. FLEET:Yes, sir.
Senator BURTON.
And you got an answer immediately, did you? Mr. FLEET: Yes, sir.
Senator BURTON: Did you notice how quickly they turned the course of the boat after you sounded the gongs?
Mr. FLEET: No, sir; they did not do it until I went to the telephone. While I was at the telephone the ship started to move.
"Yet, we have two bridge team survivors who claimed the ship did turn to port (starboard helm) just before impact. Boxhall only hinted at this, but quartermaster Hichens at the wheel said it was a two-point turn to the left which means a sizable 22.5 degrees. The advance & transfer characteristics of an Olympic-class vessel (tested with Olympic after Titanic sank) are such that for a two-point turn to have been accomplished, the iceberg would have been safely on the port side to begin with. That is, First officer Murdoch turned left for an object that otherwise would have passed close aboard -- but probably safely -- Titanic's port side. To steal a phrase from Second Officer Lightoller, "Not damned likely"
The experiment using RMS Olympic was a bit of a joke. There was nothing scientific about it. It simply showed that a sister ship would turn 2 points of the compass in 37 minutes under hard left helm. During the experiment, Olympic was running at 20 knots for 37 minutes. Titanic was not running for 37 minutes between initial helm application and impact. Evidence and location of the first area of damage clearly illustrates this. In fact, it looks like she wasd runniong at about 6 minutes. Further more; Titanic's engines were rapidly slowing down from the moment the first helm order was given. The evidence from Brisge and Engine room surviors clearly proves this.
"Personally, I believe that everyone told the truth and there is no contradiction of Boxhall/Hichens by Fleet/Lee. It's all a matter of time. The two-point turn to the left under starboard helm was made and the ship steadied on its new course. This is evident by Hichens remembering the exact two points of the turn. He would not have cared how many degrees the bow swung during an emergency. However, he would have had to be very precise in his reading of the compass to make a turn of exactly two points to port. Such a turn that night would have been necessary to avoid ice. There was plenty ahead of the ship. But, it was not likely a turn to avoid any specific iceberg. Hichens steadied Titanic on its new course which the lookouts noticed was pointed toward the deadly iceberg."
I suggest to you that what Hichens was remembering was the usual state of affairs during an emergency turn...the question "how's her head now" is used very frequently during such turns.
"If the above paragraph is reasonably accurate, then we have a major change in the Titanic canon. It has been believed that Captain Smith was dozing "just inside" while his ship went blundering into an ice field. Yet, the logical conclusion of the testimonies of Boxhall, Hichens, Fleet, and Lee say otherwise. The two-point turn was a course change, not an emergency maneuver. And, only Captain Smith had the authority to order the course changed. Murdoch certainly could dodge danger, but he was not empowered to change the course. This means that Captain Smith unwittingly ordered a course change which Boxhall and Hichens performed just as an iceberg happened to be about two points off the port bow. It wasn't barratry, just bad luck. Captain Smith was trying to avoid the ice field across his path and chose the wrong moment to change course."
As I have said to you before: if Captain Smith had wished to alter course, he would have done so from a calculated fix position or from a good Dead Reckoning position. I remind you of a little thing called a "Day's Work Sheet". Such a turn as you suggest would have upset that no end. We know for absolute sure that Smith had an update of the ship's position before 10 pm. That was when Boxhall showed him the results of the 7-30 pm sights taken by Lightoller.:
"16927.....- I was discussing some stellar bearings I had had. [with Captain Smith] I was also standing at his chart room door while he pricked off the 7.30 stellar position of the ship.
That was less than two hours after the sights. The perfect time to work a DR position for 10 pm Watch change and make timely alterations to the ship's course. I remind you of one of the Colregs concerning when actions should be taken. Such regs wee in fore in 1912. I wonder how many out there know what "pricked" meant at that time?
"Quartermaster Olliver's testimony confirms Murdoch's freedom to act in an emergency. Also a surviving member of the bridge team, Olliver said that just as the ship took the ice Murdoch yelled, "hard a-port" which in 1912 meant to turn the ship to its right, or starboard."
You must be consulting a separate source of evidence David. This is what QM oliver said when asked aboput that second helm order:
I know the orders I heard when I was on the bridge was after we had struck the iceberg. I heard hard aport, and there was the man at the wheel and the officer. The officer was seeing it was carried out right....
Senator BURTON: Where was the iceberg, do you think, when the helm was shifted?....Mr. OLLIVER. he iceberg was away up stern.
Senator BURTON.: That is when the order "hard aport" was given? Mr. OLLIVER: That is when the order "hard aport" was given; yes, sir."
As you see above, QM Oliver heard that second order when he was on the bridge. He was off and on the bridge several times during the 10 minutes after impact and could have heard it at any time uring that period. he also withnessed a short burst ahead on the engines. we know it ws short from the evidence of Trimmer Dillon.
You also fail to remind us of what the man at the wheel...QM Hichens...swore:
"Mr. HICHENS: [Mr. Murdoch] Gave me the order, "Hard a'starboard."
Senator SMITH: Is that the only order you received before the collision, or impact?
Mr. HICHENS: "That is all, sir. Then the first officer told the other quartermaster standing by to take the time, and told one of the junior officers to make a note of that in the logbook."
Actually, I believe Hichens's memory was playing tricks with him. QM Olliver was off the bridge when the first helm order was given. In fact he did not hear it at all yet he sa the iceberg when it passed the bridge seconds after im pact and seconds afte thast first helm order.
"Finally, we know Titanic was heading west -- actually a bit south of west -- when it came upon the iceberg. Yet, the bow swung to the north for some reason and remains facing in a northerly direction."
David, that myth about her heading north is that... a myth. We have seen the learned sketches explaining how that manoeuvre came about. However, the sketch in question could only have validity if Titanic continued under full power to allow the rudder to perform as designed and did not react in any way to impact with the iceberg, thus accounting for Newton's 3rd Law.
"PS -- If you believe the stern section stuck upward into the night sky, the physics which govern buoyancy require the bow to.... "
For the bow to resurface, it had to displace a deck shaped column of sea water weighing heaven knows how many tons. That required a longitudinal righting lever which just did not exist at that time.
