Aaron_2016
Guest
The collision with the iceberg was described as a "jar" followed by a long vibration. Quartermaster Rowe thought they were going full speed astern and immediately reeled in the log line, but we know from engine room survivors that the engines did not go full astern during or immediately after the collision. Did they actually lose a propeller blade instead? The Olympic lost a blade twice in 1912. It happened at night. Newspapers said:
'Vibration of the screw was a source of discomfort for the passengers.'
'The damage created vibration and some of the passengers were roused from their cabins.'
Titanic survivors described an identical vibration:
Mr. Witter - "I thought she had dropped a blade from the propeller."
Mr. Wheelton -"It felt as if it was the dropping of a propeller or something like that."
Mr. Ward - " I thought at first it was the propeller gone, the way she went."
Mr. Crowe - "I thought one of the propellers had been broken off."
Mr. Burke - "I thought probably she had dropped her propeller, or something."
Mr. Ismay - "I really thought what had happened was we had lost a blade off the propeller."
Mr. Wheat - "Well, I thought she had cast one of her propeller blades. It sounded to me like that."
Q - Have you been on a ship where that has happened?
A - Yes.
Q - And you thought it was that?
A - Yes, I thought it was the same thing.
Lightoller - "It was a feeling as if she may have hit something with her propellers, and on second thoughts I thought perhaps she had struck some obstruction with her propeller and stripped the blades off....It flashed through my mind that possibly it was a piece of wreckage, or something. A piece of ice had been struck by a propeller blade, which might have given a similar feeling to the ship."
Looking at photos of the wreck it certainly appears that one of her starboard blades is missing.
Port propeller
Starboard propeller - Bolts that held third blade are missing with no disturbance of sand underneath, so I doubt it broke off on landing.
Another perspective
Was the vibration felt on the Olympic very likely the same felt on the Titanic? Survivor Joseph Scarrott said: "It seemed as if the ship shook in the same manner as if the engines had been suddenly reversed to full speed astern, just the same sort of vibration, enough to wake anybody up if they were asleep." The engines were not reversing full astern according to engine room survivors during or immediately after the collision. The vibration of a lost blade did however wake up the passengers on the Olympic. Could this be the explanation for the vibration that was felt on the Titanic? Captain Smith was aboard the Olympic when she lost her blade just a few weeks before the Titanic sailed. According to QM Olliver he ordered 'half speed ahead' after the collision. Did he also believe (like the others) that they had indeed lost a blade?
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'Vibration of the screw was a source of discomfort for the passengers.'
'The damage created vibration and some of the passengers were roused from their cabins.'
Titanic survivors described an identical vibration:
Mr. Witter - "I thought she had dropped a blade from the propeller."
Mr. Wheelton -"It felt as if it was the dropping of a propeller or something like that."
Mr. Ward - " I thought at first it was the propeller gone, the way she went."
Mr. Crowe - "I thought one of the propellers had been broken off."
Mr. Burke - "I thought probably she had dropped her propeller, or something."
Mr. Ismay - "I really thought what had happened was we had lost a blade off the propeller."
Mr. Wheat - "Well, I thought she had cast one of her propeller blades. It sounded to me like that."
Q - Have you been on a ship where that has happened?
A - Yes.
Q - And you thought it was that?
A - Yes, I thought it was the same thing.
Lightoller - "It was a feeling as if she may have hit something with her propellers, and on second thoughts I thought perhaps she had struck some obstruction with her propeller and stripped the blades off....It flashed through my mind that possibly it was a piece of wreckage, or something. A piece of ice had been struck by a propeller blade, which might have given a similar feeling to the ship."
Looking at photos of the wreck it certainly appears that one of her starboard blades is missing.
Port propeller
Starboard propeller - Bolts that held third blade are missing with no disturbance of sand underneath, so I doubt it broke off on landing.
Another perspective
Was the vibration felt on the Olympic very likely the same felt on the Titanic? Survivor Joseph Scarrott said: "It seemed as if the ship shook in the same manner as if the engines had been suddenly reversed to full speed astern, just the same sort of vibration, enough to wake anybody up if they were asleep." The engines were not reversing full astern according to engine room survivors during or immediately after the collision. The vibration of a lost blade did however wake up the passengers on the Olympic. Could this be the explanation for the vibration that was felt on the Titanic? Captain Smith was aboard the Olympic when she lost her blade just a few weeks before the Titanic sailed. According to QM Olliver he ordered 'half speed ahead' after the collision. Did he also believe (like the others) that they had indeed lost a blade?
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