Navigational Confirmation of CQD Position

[Jim Currie]

Hi David!

I see no problem with Lightholler's conversation with Murdoch at the end of the watch. You could quite easily fill-in possible missing words like:
" I figured we would be up at the ice by 9:30pm. I got young Moody to calculate it and he thought it would be nearer 11 o' clock. He must have been right and I must have been wrong - haven't seen a bit so far. Ah well! we will be up around the ice somewhere about 11 o' clock I suppose" The emphasis would be on the word 'will'.
There is also a great deal of circumstantial evidence that Lightholler thought he would be at the ice around 9:30. Capt. Smith came on the bridge just before 9 and stayed there for 30 minutes. The two men talked ice and how to spot it for the entire time. The lookouts Symonds and Jewell both confirm they were given special warning at 9:30 to keep a sharp lookout for ice. From 9:00pm the vigilance was increased significantly.
Lightholler states that when he came on deck at 6pm, he told Moody to work out when the ship would reach the ice. He got that information about 7:35 when he came back from dinner. Boxhall states that Moody was on the bridge between 4 and six so that works out as well.
I think you're getting a wee bit mixed up - it was Moody who calculated the 11 o'clock arrival and Lightholler who worked it out in his head.

Jim.

 

[Samuel Halpern]

>>There is also a great deal of circumstantial evidence that Lightholler thought he would be at the ice around 9:30. <<

I agree. He thought they may be up to the ice around 9:30. But I don't believe it was because he mentally calculated that they would be passing 49°W at that time. The ice message he was shown was from the Caronia. It was concerned about reports of ice at 42N from 49W to 51W received from several westbound steamers on Apr 12. That information was two days old when Smith received it from Barr.

When Lightoller came on at 6 pm, the ship had just turned the corner near 47°W. The distance between 47W and 49W is about 90 miles. At 21 or 22 knots, it would take about 4 hours or little more to cover that distance. The earliest would be closer to 10 pm if he based his reasoning on a mental calculation for passing 49W, unless he made a mental mistake, which I don't think likely, although we shouldn't rule it out. My guess is that he was allowing for some eastward drift of the ice by expecting that they may be up to it by 9:30. He was aware that the latitude had much uncertainty in it. He said as much. But he also could have allowed for some eastward drift which would mean that ice may appear before the end of his watch. I don't think it was anything more than that.

 

[Jim Currie]

Sam:

When Lightholler came on watch at 6:00pm, the ship had turned 10 minutes earlier but not at The Corner.
Lets try and determine Titanic's DR Longitude when Lightholler came on duty.

The Longitude of the wreck (rounded-up) is 49.58W. The impact time was 11:40pm. Five hours 40 minutes at an average speed of 22.0 knots and the reciprocal course of 086T. gives a difference of Longitude of 2 degrees, 46 minutes. This subtracted from the Longitude of the wreck, places Titanic at a DR Longitude of 47.12W at 6:00pm and at DR 49.07 W at 5:50pm when Titanic made the turn.

If the above calculations are near enough then if Lightholler made his mental guess just after he went on watch, he might have used the 6 pm DR for it or an actual DR when he worked it out.
If at the 6pm DR: 3.5 at 22 =77 miles converts to 1 degree,44 minutes of D.Long + 47.12 which means arriving at 48.56W. at 9:30pm. - 4 minutes of longitude short of the 49th. meridian. At 22 knots this is just over 8 minutes. Did he make his guess at 6:10pm after Moody worked it out before going below?

As I see it, it's all in the difference between actual and estimated speeds and recollection of times when discussions took place.. no real mystery at all. The only strange bits, seems to me, was Lightholler's deliberate attempt to cover-up for both Moody and Boxhall. I cannot for the world believe that a man of his obvious intelligence and experience did not very quickly spot Boxhall's error if indeed he made one. It is a matter of record that he waffled round the 11:00pm prediction Moody made.