Captain Lord of the Californian was asked about reversing the port engine.
Q - There were two engines, a starboard engine and a port engine on the Titanic. Suppose you sent the message, "Starboard engine ahead. Port engine reverse." What effect would that have on the steamer?
A - It would twist her head to port.
Q - Would it turn the steamer in her own length?
A - I do not know; I have no experience of 21 knot steamers.
Q - You have not?
A - No.
Q - Would it be likely to get rid of the berg quickly?
A - Oh, yes, to get away from it; that would be the idea of stopping the port engine or reversing it.
Q - Reverse the port and keep ahead with the starboard?
A - That would twist it quicker.
Q - At once?
A - Very quickly.
Q - That would be the quickest way of altering the course of the steamer?
A - I should think so.
I believe there was great refraction in the area where the Titanic sank. A documentary showed the logs of passing ships which remarked on sea mirrors and much refraction, and how bright the stars were. Survivors mentioned how strong the stars were and how they reached down to the horizon without losing any of their brilliance, which made some of the survivors mistake them for other ships owing to their intensity. The Californian was on the edge of the ice field and likely the temperature difference inside the field compared to the adjacent open water around the Titanic was probably enough to create the refraction which other ships reported in their logs as they passed that area on April 14th. Captain Lord of the Californian said "it was a very deceiving night"...."It was a very strange night; it was hard to define where the sky ended and the water commenced. There was what you call a soft horizon. I was sometimes mistaking the stars low down on the horizon for steamer's lights." Q - What do you suggest as a characteristic of the atmosphere on a night of that sort? A - I really could not say. We could see a light the full limit of my vessel.
We know the Titanic listed to port and her bow went steadily down and closer to the water. The crew on the Californian said they witnessed the other ship appear to list heavily to starboard and observed her port light moving much higher when it should have been doing the opposite. They also noticed how her rockets did not burst high above the ship, and how they heard no sound whatever coming from her when we know the escaping steam would have been very audible across the calm sea. This suggests to me that the Titanic was greater than 10 or even 20 miles away but the refraction made her appear much closer, perhaps less than 10 miles away. e.g.
I observed a large French aircraft carrier on the horizon just 6-8 miles away sailing down the Irish coast, but this was an illusion owing to the refraction and it turned out she was almost 20 miles away. It created the false illusion of a second horizon, and that she was sailing on a sea of glass and was reflecting her hull onto it, giving the appearance that she was very close. As she moved slowly across the horizon she morphed, magnified, and reflected, creating the appearance of odd looking ships that were very close, when in reality only her top cabin was showing for the most part and the ship itself was almost 20 miles away.
I think this could have happened when the Californian was observing the Titanic. It would explain why her rockets appeared to burst low over the projected image of a closer ship, why her port light appeared to rise instead of fall, why they said - "Look at her now; she looks very queer out of the water; her lights look queer", why they could not hear any noise or hear her steam escaping, and why her morse lamp signals could not be read. I believe they were looking at the Titanic that was around 20 miles away and mistakenly believing she was 5 miles away owing to the refraction. The day I saw the aircraft carrier I noticed that the refraction was still very strong at night when other ships far away passed by and their lights were indeed intensified greatly and reflected onto a second horizon which created the illusion they were much closer. When I checked the weather reports it said the sea and air temperatures were only 1 degree off from each other. I figured if that was enough to create such strong refraction, then the local temperature around the ice field against the open waters around the Titanic must have been sufficient to create much refraction, as passing ships noted in their logs "much refraction" and sea mirrors on April 14th 1912.
One can only wonder how this affected their ability to spot the iceberg.
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