I have serious reservations about the
Prinz Adalbert Berg.
On 29 June 1912, the Hamburg — Amerika line provided the Board of Trade with a report from her captain.
Prinz Adalbert first met with an iceberg at 3-30am on 16 April, when in 42° 03’N, 48° 47’W. (Presumably ship’s time is given). Speed was briefly reduced.
(Note that
Walter Lord in ANTR gives the date as 15 April.)
At dawn, a vast icefield, obviously the one seen west of the disaster scene, was sighted. By 8-00am, it was seen that it extended for many miles both north and south.
Prinz Adalbert’s master elected to take various courses that would take him as quickly to the west as possible, given the constraints posed by the icefield. He covered 28 miles, making around WSW.
At 8-40am, he found a gap in the field and slowly steamed through it, reaching clear water at 9-55am. He was then in 41° 37’N, 50° 14W.
It is possible that in her zig-zag course
Prinz Adalbert passed the area of
Titanic’s sinking, but she arrived more than 24 hours after
Titanic struck the berg. By then, the berg could have been anywhere and in any attitude. The report mentions neither the berg in the photo, or any signs of
Titanic’s wreck. We must ask what the chance of passing the fatal berg quite closely was.
Henning Pfeifer has cast doubt on claims that by 16 April those on
Prinz Adalbert were unaware of the
Titanic disaster. The ship was equipped with radio and can hardly have missed the messages about
Titanic that had filled the airwaves since the night of 14 April.
Leaving aside the question of where anti-fouling paint would stick to ice, I see no sign of the alleged red paint in the photo. There is a dark line along its waterline, but this is merely a small overhang that follows the contours of the berg. There is a diagonal dark line on the berg, but this is sediment commonly found in bergs from Greenland. On TV, they appear a brown/orange colour.
