Randy Bryan Bigham
Member
Re: Boat 1
Any & All,
I've posted a couple of questions that have gone unanswered on the general "Lifeboats" thread so I'm trying it this way:
1) Was this boat's getting caught up in what has been called a guy wire (and I haven't the foggiest idea what that is)indicative of a list to port? Or was the "guy wire" an obstruction that would have figured in regardless of a list? (If a list caused or contributed to the trouble it could indicate 2 things: a) the known port side list was perceptible earlier than has been identified and /or b) boat 1 went off later than 1:10.)
2) A related question is: about how much time would the releasing of the craft from the "wire" have taken? Would this be a simple procedure or would it have taken a while to fix?
My suspicion is that Boat 1 was lowered AFTER 1:10 AM as is generally thought. My reasoning is based on:
1) my own little guess that as the boat got caught up on the way down, time was taken up in releasing it, and so it didn't hit the water til between 1:15 (as Mersey guessed during the Enquiry)and perhaps 1:20 or even after.
2) evidence in Lucy Duff Gordon's 1932 book to the effect that the boat was stuck for what she estimated to be a long time.
3) testimony of crewmember as to the fact that as the boat rowed off he noticed the portholes just under the Titanic's bow name-plate were awash - a time which Don Lynch/Ken Marscall in their collaborative rendition (pp 122-23 of Titanic: An Illustrated History)places at approximately 1:30 AM.
4) another mere hunch that the 30 minute gap between the long-held 1:10 time for Boat 1 and the 1:40 time for Boat C, which used the same davits, is excessive. Why would it have taken that long to load C into the davits when it was near at hand? Unless fitting a collapsible into davits was more time-consuming than with other boats(?)
I would especially like to hear from the several sea-faring men on the ET board who might be more adept at figuring out such complexities (at least to landlubbers) as freeing an entangled boat, loading davits, lowering boats, etc., and the time involved in these maneuvers.
Randy
Any & All,
I've posted a couple of questions that have gone unanswered on the general "Lifeboats" thread so I'm trying it this way:
1) Was this boat's getting caught up in what has been called a guy wire (and I haven't the foggiest idea what that is)indicative of a list to port? Or was the "guy wire" an obstruction that would have figured in regardless of a list? (If a list caused or contributed to the trouble it could indicate 2 things: a) the known port side list was perceptible earlier than has been identified and /or b) boat 1 went off later than 1:10.)
2) A related question is: about how much time would the releasing of the craft from the "wire" have taken? Would this be a simple procedure or would it have taken a while to fix?
My suspicion is that Boat 1 was lowered AFTER 1:10 AM as is generally thought. My reasoning is based on:
1) my own little guess that as the boat got caught up on the way down, time was taken up in releasing it, and so it didn't hit the water til between 1:15 (as Mersey guessed during the Enquiry)and perhaps 1:20 or even after.
2) evidence in Lucy Duff Gordon's 1932 book to the effect that the boat was stuck for what she estimated to be a long time.
3) testimony of crewmember as to the fact that as the boat rowed off he noticed the portholes just under the Titanic's bow name-plate were awash - a time which Don Lynch/Ken Marscall in their collaborative rendition (pp 122-23 of Titanic: An Illustrated History)places at approximately 1:30 AM.
4) another mere hunch that the 30 minute gap between the long-held 1:10 time for Boat 1 and the 1:40 time for Boat C, which used the same davits, is excessive. Why would it have taken that long to load C into the davits when it was near at hand? Unless fitting a collapsible into davits was more time-consuming than with other boats(?)
I would especially like to hear from the several sea-faring men on the ET board who might be more adept at figuring out such complexities (at least to landlubbers) as freeing an entangled boat, loading davits, lowering boats, etc., and the time involved in these maneuvers.
Randy
