Then, too, there is the entire question of the legitimacy of his account.
Schwieger witnessed things widely reported in the newspapers at the time that did not, in fact, happen.
1)"Fire breaks out and envelopes the bridge." He reported that a fire broke out. However, at least four people survived who were on the boat deck directly over the impact point when the torpedo struck. Two were at the rail, and saw the torpedo disappear under the side of the ship. They all used similar language in describing the explosion, the rain of water and debris that destroyed lifeboat #5, and the scene ofthe deck immediately afterwards. They did not see fire. None of the MANY witnesses watching from aft saw a fire break out although, again, they used similar language to describe the other events in the sequence. None of the MANY survivor accounts by passengers or crew on the forward boat deck mention externally visible fire. Dwight Harris climbed down the superstructure from the boat deck, starboard. Laura Martin was hauled up it at literally the same point. Both left detailed accounts. His amazingly detailed. Hers amazingly annoying. Neither saw fire near or at the bridge. Yet, lurid newspaper portrayals occasionally DID claim fire and, oddly, Schwieger sees one where no one else did. So, either 100 or so witnesses, all writing within days of the event, made horrible observers or Schwieger was coloring his story.
2) "Many boats crowded come down either bow or stern first in the water and immediately fill and sink"
Uhhh... no. Two starboard boats were overturned in launching, early on. One was refilled and, eventually, survived. Another boat, filled at the last minute, was driven up under its davits by the rising water, and crushed. Nothing resembling this claim happened on the starboard side. Something vaguely resembling this DID happen on the port side where, of course, he could not see it.
3)"Great confusion on board" again does not correspond to what actually happened. And, the majority of those on board were on the port side, where Schwieger could not see them anyway. The starboard boat deck, although not empty or deserted, was far from crowded. Those people on the port side did a lot of milling and jostling but, again, no panic. Schwieger's account reads a lot like certain lurid newaspaper versions of the story, populated by hysterical women, panicking foreigners and third class passengers, brave officers, etc.
4) "Many boats cannot get clear because of the slant of the boat." The severe list was gone before the lowering process began. Even if one believes the list story wholeheartedly, he could not have seen the "uphill" side of the ship from his perspective. The only boat destroyed by the list was one that was struck and overturned by the port side hull as she began to heel again, around minute 12 or 13. The other boats were destroyed by equipment malfunctions. Portside: the last boat aft in first class had its bow line run thru the tackle while the heads of the passengers seated in it were level with the boat deck. All were thrown out as the bow free fell. A second port boat did the same thing, only while much closer to he water. Within seconds, the next boat aft had both sets of lines run thru the davits, and it fell on top of those thrown out of the forward boat. There is a vague account of a fourth port boat being lost, but details are harder to pin down. But, after this rapid succession of disasters, the order was passed back to offload the remaining port boats. In all cases, the wrecking of the boats and the list had nothing to do with one another. And, again, even if they HAD, he could not have seen it.
But, lurid accounts NOT written by survivors did talk about the catastrophic list, boats being pushed uphill, etc.
5) "Submerge 24 meters and go to sea. I could not fire a second torpedo...." Not only bad, melodramatic character shading BUT, puzzling in light of his entirely omitting that he surfaced after the sinking, amomg the carnage he had wrought, and surveyed it in person. Again, scores of accounts of this, remarkably similar, were left by survivors who were writing too soon after the event to have compared notes. He reduced it to "Go to 11 meters and take a look around" when, in fact, he was close enough to see the people who he had killed a few minutes before.
So, either Schwieger and the more hysterical newspapers got the story correct, and at least 400 other witnesses were wrong, or there is something VERY suspect about that log account.
Would like to read what he ACTUALLY wrote. As it stands, the log reads like something constructed by a bad novelist using later, hysterical, newspaper accounts iof the sinking.
>Even the best of the best occasionally roll snake eyes
He tried to kill one of the nicest people I ever met. I hope that his snake eyes was long, protracted, and excruciatingly painful.