I believe the iceberg that was near the
Carpathia may have been the same one that struck the Titanic.
Captain Rostron saw it very close to the ship. He doubled the lookouts but it did not make any difference as he said - "We saw all the icebergs first from the bridge."
"Just after I saw his light
(Boxhall's green light) I saw an iceberg right ahead. Then, of course, I starboarded, I could not port to get away from the berg; so I starboarded to make it more convenient for the boat I was going to pick up, and I picked it up on the starboard side."
Q - How close was the iceberg which you saw?
A - Well, when we had stopped, when daylight broke, it was something less than a quarter of a mile away.
Q - I should like to follow that to understand it. Had you seen that iceberg before?
A - No, it was the first I saw of it. We were close up before we saw it.
Q - Was day breaking at all?
A - No, it was perfectly dark at the time.
Q - And you had men on the look-out?
A - Yes, we had doubled our look-outs.
Q - Was that the first iceberg that you had seen?
A - Oh, dear, no.
Q - I mean, on this particular night?
A - Oh, no; the first iceberg we saw was at a quarter to 3.
Q - I wanted you to tell us about that. You saw one at a quarter to 3?
A - We saw about half a dozen, in fact, more than that. I was moving about to get between them up to 4 o’clock.
Q - Take the first one you saw about a quarter to 3. How far off was it when you first saw it? When it was reported to you?
A - I should think it was about a mile and a half to two miles away.
Q - And with regard to the others, I think you say you saw about six up to 4 o’clock?
A - Yes, about six.
Q - Did you see all those at about the same distance?
A - Yes, about the same distance. From one to two miles.
Q - Then, I understand, when you came to the last one, you will correct this if I am wrong, as far as I gather from your evidence, you did not see that till it was somewhere about a quarter of a mile off?
A - That is so; at daybreak I saw it was between 25 and 30 feet high.
Q - Will you explain to us a little more in detail why it was that you did not see this iceberg, the one which you found about 4 o’clock, earlier?
A - I cannot tell you; we were all on the look-out.
Q - It was rather low?
A - It was low.
Q - Twenty-five to 30 feet. I do not know whether you can tell us what the height of your forecastle was from the waterline?
A - Yes; the forecastle head would be just about 30 feet.
Q - Your two men were on the look-out then in the eyes of the vessel?
A - Yes.
Q - No report had been made to you?
A - No.
Q - Who was it saw it first, do you know?
A - Yes, I saw it first.
Q - Before the look-out men?
A - Yes, we saw all the icebergs first from the bridge.
Q - And each time, if I follow you, that an iceberg was seen, you picked it up first on your bridge?
A - Either one of my officers or myself, before the look-outs.
Q - Did you pick it up by sight, or by naked eye, or with binoculars?
A - At first with the naked eye.
Q - How was it neither of the look-out men saw it or reported it to you? Why did not they see it before you?
A - Well, of course, they had all had warning about keeping a look-out for growlers and icebergs, previous to going on the look-out, and on the look-out also. You must understand, unless you know what you are looking for, if you see some very dim indistinct shape of some kind, anyone could take that as nothing at all. Merely some shadow upon the water, or something of that kind; but people with experience of ice know what to look for, and can at once distinguish that it is a separate object on the water, and it must be only one thing, and that is ice.
Q - So that what it really comes to is this, if I follow you correctly, that it requires a man with some knowledge of icebergs, some experience of picking them up before he can detect them at night?
A - Precisely.
Q - That is to say, before he could detect them unless they were very close to him?
A - Yes.
I believe this is what happened with Fleet and Lee. They both saw a dark patch in the sky, but they could not identify it and likely could not focus their attention on it before losing it again in the dark. When it finally came closer they realized it was something worth reporting and rang the bell. Fleet could say with honesty that he did see the iceberg far away (as he told
Lightoller this) but when he actually rang the bell is another matter as he understandably may have hesitated before he rang the bell, but by then, it was too late.
.