Portholes too close to the waterline

[Arun Vajpey]

I an article about the Empress of Ireland disaster that I read somewhere a few years ago, I recall a statement that the lowermost row of portholes, many of them open at the time of the accident, were "only a few feet above the water". Was that normal or a suggestion that the ship was too low in its waterline?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Was that normal or a suggestion that the ship was too low in its waterline?<<

Define what was meant by a "few feet above the water." I've seen photos of the ship and there's nothing about any of the porthole arrangements which were inappropriate, ill advised, unusual, or of such poor design that they didn't meet the requirements and safety standards of the day.

What was brain-dead was running the ship in the fog...with none of the watertight doors closed as required by Canadian Pacific's regulations...and which Captain Kendell inadvertantly admitted to during the inquiry which followed. Had they been closed properly to begin with, the ship still would have been severely damaged, but in all likelihood, she would have remained afloat.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

>>>>> Define what was meant by a "few feet above the water." <<<<<

I do not have sufficient knowledge to answer that question (that's why I was asking). But I just noticed that the same comment is made in Wikipedia's account of the EoI accident. Whoever put that sentence there must have read it in the same source.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

I have to wonder what the source was. Some websites are surprisingly good, but as Dave Gittins is fond of saying, there's a lot of ratbaggery out there.