Here are survivor accounts who mentioned the propellers being exposed - from the Inquiry:
George Symons
"You could see her starboard sidelight, which was still burning, was not so very far from the water, and her stern was well up in the air."
Q - When you say all her lights went out, do you mean right away astern too?
A - No, just her foremost lights had disappeared, and her starboard sidelight left burning was the only light, barring the masthead light, on that side of the bridge that I could see.
Q - Then you saw her with her stern out?
A - Yes.
Q - Will you give us an idea what angle was her stern as far as you could see? How did it look to you; was it all up?
A - More like that with a cant.
(showing.) I do not know what position you would call it altogether.
Q - Was it out of water?
A - Yes.
Q - Could you see the propellers?
A - You could just see the propellers.
Q - You could see the propellers?
A - Yes.
Q - Then when you saw her like that, what was the next thing that happened?
A - ....I stood and watched it till I heard two sharp explosions in the ship. What they were I could not say. Then she suddenly took a top cant, her stern came well out of the water then.
Q - A top cant?
A - You know what I mean to say, she took a heavy cant and her bow went down clear.
I believe he was describing something like this:
View attachment 38706
The stern was rising high in the air and her propellers were exposed and yet at the same time her side light which was below the bridge was still visible. I believe the ship had to be in a buckled position to achieve both simultaneously. Joseph Scarrott saw the same thing, except he was on the other side and saw her port light near the water when her stern was high in the air.
Joseph Scarrott
"As the water got above the bridge she started to go down faster......She was right up on end then.....All this part (pointing on the model) was in the water; you could just see the port bow light."
The Attorney-General - He said she was standing end-on.
Q - What do you mean by that?
A - This part of the ship was right up in the air. You could see her propeller right clear, and you could see underneath the keel; you could see part of her keel.
Q - And at the stern she was so much up that you could see the propeller?
A - Yes.
Q - You saw the port light disappear?
A - Yes.
Q - And then after that the ship went?
A - Yes, she seemed to go with a rush then.
John Poingdestre
Q - Before the ship sank just tell me this, what was the position of the vessel? I have a pen in my hand?
A - Well, the water was up to the officers’ house.
Q - Now could you see under the keel of the ship abaft the officers’ house?
A - Yes, the propeller and everything was quite clear.
Q - Underneath?
A - Yes.
Q - Then the water comes up to the officers’ house. Was it then that the forward part disappeared?
A - Yes.
Q - And then what happened to the afterpart?
A - It uprighted itself, as if nothing had happened.
Q - You mean it came back like that, so to speak?
A - Yes, straight on the water again.
Frederick Scott
"We pulled away from the ship’s side and we had not been away long before the ship started breaking up, and her stern went up in the air, and you could see her three propellers."
Q - You got away?
A - Yes; we had just got at the stern of her when she started breaking up.
Q - You say she started breaking up?
A - Yes; she broke off at the after-funnel, and when she broke off her stern end came up in the air and came down on a level keel and disappeared.
Q - It went up in the air and came back on a level keel?
A - Yes.
Edith Rosenbaum - Letter from 1934.
"I remember we kept our eyes focused on the bow light of the Titanic which shone bright green on the starboard side. This light seemed to dip nearer and nearer to the water's edge......Gradually the green starboard light hit the water's edge, and it seemed to me that the boat stood on end......At 2:20 I saw the green light disappear entirely. The boat fully lighted up, suggesting one of our skyscrapers. It stood on end and then seemed to shoot or dive; went down by her nose with such speed, that I seemed to think it would come up again in some other part of the ocean. There was a very heavy explosion under water, a second and then a third. We were surprised that instead of sucking us in, the effect was to the contrary, it pushed us out and onward."
I believe the ship was buckling and the stern rose up before the bow had submerged. Mr. Brown saw the stern rise up when he was in front of the first funnel. The stern trembled and buckled and canted sharply upwards and then it settled back. Several survivors said the stern lights were still lit when she rose almost vertical, and others said the lights were still on after it settled back. I believe the survivors above were basing their accounts from the view they had. If they saw her broadside they would see she had broken in two and watched her stern act independently and rising high into the air at a sharp angle before the bridge side lights had disappeared, but if they were in one of the boats that was rowing towards the other ship that was seen off the port bow then they would have looked back at the Titanic immediately after the explosive roar and would see the ship appearing to stand up like a skyscraper with her bridge side lights still exposed above the water and giving the impression that the whole ship was standing up like a column.
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