Harold Bride gave an exclusive account for the New York Times and was paid $1,000. He said:
'Phillips told me the wireless was growing weaker. The captain came and told us our engine rooms were taking water, and that the dynamos might not last much longer. We sent that word to the
Carpathia.'
He used the plural to describe the 'engine rooms were taking water' which could really mean the boiler rooms. This wireless message puzzled the Inquiry and they asked Captain Rostron for his understanding of the message.
Captain Rostron
"That was the last message we got. It was either "Engine room nearly full," or "Engine room full," or "Engine room filling." The exact words I could not give you. The impression was quite enough for me, as to the condition the ship was in."
Sir Robert Finlay
"The suggestion was made that “engine room” there, must have been used in a loose sense. It did not refer to the engine room proper, but to the boiler section."
The Commissioner
"That may be, and I think that is right, but what does “full up to boilers” mean? Does it mean the water was above the boilers or under the boilers?"
Sir Robert Finlay
"Well, it reached the boilers."
The Commissioner
"Reached a set of the boilers?"
Sir Robert Finlay
"I think so."
The Attorney-General
"Including all the boiler sections?"
Sir Robert Finlay
"Yes."
The Commissioner
"It is suggested to me, Mr. Attorney, that it means this, that the water had travelled along the ship, from forward, aft as far as the boilers."
Sir Robert Finlay
"I think that is what it must mean."
The Attorney-General
"As far as the boilers? But, according to the evidence, it was there long before this. In some of the boiler sections. Is there any evidence that before this time, which was 1.45, the water had reached as far aft as the last boiler?"
The Attorney-General
"No, not before that."
The Commissioner
"It is suggested by one of my colleagues that the meaning of this expression is that water aft had got as far aft as the aftermost boiler."
The Attorney-General
"In other words, that the water was in all the boiler sections?"
The Commissioner
"Yes."
The Attorney-General
"Yes, of course it might mean that. There are no boilers in the engine room proper, and, therefore, it cannot mean those."
The Commissioner
"No, that is so."
The Commissioner
Question directed at Captain Rostron - "How do you understand that message? You have got the message in your mind?
Captain Rostron
"Well, I really understood that message to mean that there was water in the engine room probably as high as the boilers, on a level with the boilers."
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