Fleet called it a "narrow shave." Scarrott saw the stern turning away from the ice. Rowe thought the berg was going to hit the bridge, but it didn't - and he also said that the propellers would have been smashed IF the ship was turning away under starboard helm - which they weren't and it wasn't.
Just to be clear, the bridge Rowe was referring to was the afterbridge on the poop deck, not the forebridge where Murdoch was. QM Rowe also estimated that the berg came less than 20 ft of the poop.
Fleet said she appeared to have struck "just about in front of the foremast." It does not mean he saw it actually scrape the side but it obviously was close enough that ice did fall in on the well deck as it went by. If the vibration of the encounter was felt throughout the ship, the vibration of the encounter would also impact the iceberg causing any loose ice to topple down. The peak of the berg was close to the side near the ship and visible by Olliver as he entered the forebridge as it was passing aft.
Scarrott saw the stern swing away after the berg was well past the stern. The ship was definitely turning on port helm (right rudder) at that time.
Ice was reported to have come through some passenger portholes on E deck. Also the ports in the Cafe Parisien on B deck were wet after the berg past by. It was very close.
One of the early Ballard discoveries that most got my attention was that they couldn't see any conclusive evidence of ice damage along the wreck's starboard side. Granted, the bow is buried in the bottom to about the well deck, but the damage went further back than that. All they found were buckled plates and popped rivets, which is consistent with David's claim that the keel and starboard bottom were accordioned upward against the mass of the ship itself.
All known damage was about 25 ft below waterline or deeper.
Okay, so if Fleet saw the bow miss the iceberg (barely) and the stern was obviously turning away by the time Scarrott got out to the well deck, and Rowe had those same impressions from the stern, when did Titanic's side come into contact with the berg long enough to leave a red scar of paint? And where should such a scar be visible, considering the iceberg's loss of mass/weight from the collision?
If any of the red paint found its way onto the berg it was deep down. If the berg lost anything it was a small fraction of its total mass, assuming a berg that was as high as the boat deck. But icebergs do change their angles as they melt, sometimes capsizing completely. So any underwater damage may show up on the surface sometime. However, I don't believe paint would stick.
PS.--Another question that continues to mystify me is how Boxhall, alone among those who actually saw the iceberg, said it was only 20-30 feet high, or not quite as high as B Deck. By the time he, Smith and Murdoch trooped out on the starboard wing, he'd been outside in the dark long enough for his eyes to have done *some* adjusting.
No mystery here at all. "Mr. BOXHALL. I am not sure of seeing it; that is what I say, I would not swear to seeing it. But I fancied seeing this long-lying growler."
PPS.--If, according to Olliver, Murdoch ordered HARD A-PORT *after* the berg had passed the bridge, what was Murdoch trying to protect - given the length of time it would have taken for the steering mechanism to respond?
This is my guess. Murdoch didn't initially think it would actually strike until it got real close. Then he rang the engine telegraphs in quick sequence and went immediately to the WTD switch, getting there seconds after she started to make contact. That's when Olliver entered the scene. As Murdoch noticed the berg go past the bridge he called out for a hard-aport while still at the WTD switch and bell alarm. He needed to get the pivot point ahead of the berg before swinging the stern, otherwise guess what happens to the contact pressure on the bow? On a ship like the Titanic the pivot point would be just aft of the foremast, about 1/6th back from the bow. It takes only about 2 seconds to get from there to alongside bridge at 38 ft/sec. You are correct in saying that Olliver heard the order just after seeing the berg go past the bridge. That means it was at least 1/3 back from the bow when the order was heard. My guess is that the rudder could easily swing its 40 degrees from center under 10 seconds, so it was already acting to push the stern away by time the berg was passing Rowe. (Takes only 22.5 seconds to travel down the length of the vessel at that speed.)
