Shipwrecks -- North Atlantic Ocean -- History -- 20th century; Titanic (Steamship)
An extraordinary story pertains to this boat. At the outset of my
research it was called a “boat of mystery,” occasioned by the
statements of the _Titanic’s_ officers. In his conversations with me,
as well as in his testimony, Officer Lightoller stated that he was
unable to loosen this boat from the ship in time and that he and his
men were compelled to abandon their efforts to get it away. The
statement in consequence was that this boat “A” was not utilized but
went down with the ship. My recent research has disabused his mind of
this supposition. There were only four Engelhardt boats in all as we
have already learned, and we have fully accounted for “the upset boat
B,” and “D,” the last to leave the ship in the tackles, and boat “C,”
containing Mr. Ismay, which reached the _Carpathia’s_ side and was
unloaded there. After all the mystery we have reached the conclusion
that boat “A” did not go down with the ship, but was the one whose
occupants were rescued by Officer Lowe in the early morning, and then
abandoned with three dead bodies in it. This also was the boat picked
up nearly one month later by the _Oceanic_ nearly 200 miles from the
scene of the wreck.
I have made an exhaustive research up to date for the purpose of
discovering how Boat A left the ship. Information in regard thereto is
obtained from the testimony before the British Court of Inquiry of
Steward Edward Brown, from first-class passenger R. N. Williams, Jr.,
and from an account of William J. Mellers, a second cabin passenger as
related by him to Dr. Washington Dodge. Steward Brown, it will be
observed, testified that he was washed out of the boat and yet “did
not know whether he went down in the water.” As he could not swim, an
analysis of his testimony forces me to believe that he held on to the
boat and did not have to swim and that boat “A” was the same one that
he was in when he left the ship. I am forced to the same conclusion in
young Williams’ case after an analysis of his statement that he took
off his big fur overcoat in the water and cast it adrift while he swam
twenty yards to the boat, and in some unaccountable way the fur coat
swam after him and also got into the boat. At any rate it was found in
the boat when it was recovered later as shown in the evidence.
I also have a letter from Mr. George Rheims, of Paris, indicating his
presence on this same boat with Messrs. Williams and Mellers and Mrs.
Abbott and others.
INCIDENTS
Edward Brown, steward (Br. Inq.):
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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