Not sure about the measurements. A person can observe a further distance the higher one is above sea level owing to the curvature of the Earth. However as Captain Lord said - "It was a very deceiving night" as he was mistaking stars on the horizon for ships. Captain Moore of the Mount Temple saw a passing schooner that night. He was asked how far away she was. He replied - "I could not judge, because you cannot judge by a light at sea." Captain Rostron saw at least half a dozen icebergs that night before his lookouts.
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 - I do not understand that. You were on the bridge with your officers, I presume?
A - Yes, the whole time.
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 - Do you find that you pick them up better with the naked eye than with binoculars?
A - It all depends. Sometimes yes, at other times not; it depends.
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.
Q - So far as you know, had any of these men any experience in being amongst icebergs?
A - Not to my knowledge, but I should imagine some of them must have had, because several of them have been in the Cunard Company for years.
Q - Does it mean that on your bridge you and your officers were quicker in detecting them than any of the men on the look-out?
A - Well, about 75 percent of the objects that are seen at sea every day or night are picked up from the bridge first. Naturally the officer will take more interest in these things than a look-out man. I always trust to the bridge preferably to the men.
Q - He relies upon his eyesight, assisted by the look-out?
A - Yes, that is the position; we are assisted by the look-outs.
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