The main reason I stay out of at least some of these debates I that I am in no ways a Mariner or even a sailor.I look at captain Lord who has no experience with icefield
Can you please provide some evidence that Captain Lord had no experience with an ice-field ? That's a huge assumption to make.
As for Smith with considerable more years experience that other captains had decided to take on such a risky route through the icefield without safety precaution beforehand, by not slowing the ship down and with no extra lookout. Moonless night. He knew the icefield was coming up and why was he not on the bridge at the time!
Captain Smith had actually left instructions that he was to be called if the officer of the watch was in anyway concerned. Also Smith wouldn't have risen to the great position he had and just retired from the RNR as an honourary commander if he had been such an incompetent fool.
As Sir Ernest Shackleton said in the British inquiry. You have no right to go at that speed in an ice zone. He went on to say even with my specially built ice ship which was only 736 GRT I would only do about four knots!
That's not really an argument when you consider that the ships that Shackleton (and the recently deceased Captain Scott) had been used to - the Terra Nova, the Nimrod & the Discovery - did not rely entirely upon their slow, small, chronically under powered steam engines. Rather for more than half the time on the open sea they used sail power or were towed significant distances by sea going tugs.
But I have read that Captain Lord had no experience in ice and also his routes had been to southern ports in the USA.
But the real Mariners and Sailors are the ones to depend upon for facts.
But once again -
I would like to state that just because a person might have served in the Navy,or at least in the United States Navy in some specialty rating other than those concerned with the direct navigation of a ship has no right to call himself a Mariner or sailor.
I consider Jim Currie or Samuel Halpern the authorities on subject such as this.
But even they frequently have some disagreements from time to time.
Even though a lot of their posts are over my head, that is what makes this website so interesting reading and you learn a lot in the process !
Cheers to all concerned !
Robert
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