NavList:

   

Reply

Just bought the 1998 book, "Titanic & Her Sisters Olympic & Britannic"
by McCluskie, Sharpe, and Marriott.  It doesn't clear up the matter of
which way the ship's wheel worked:

"...he ordered the helmsman, Quartermaster Robert Hitchens, to turn
the wheel 'Hard-a-starboard'.  The order was obeyed promptly, Hitchens
spinning the wheel as far as it would go, causing the ship to begin
swinging to port (the apparent discrepancy between the helm order and
the direction of the turn results from the system of orders in common
use at that time which dated back to the days when ships were steered
by a tiller, and pushing it to starboard resulted in a turn to port
and vice versa (this system survived until the more logical current
system was made standard in 1928)."

On a navigational note, the book says Titanic was following a route
the shipping companies had standardized in 1899.  It involved a great
circle from Fastnet Rock (off Ireland) to 42 N 47 W, thence by great
circle or "thumb line" (sic) to the Nantucket Light Vessel.

Titanic's sister, Olympic, actually ran down the Nantucket lightship
with fatal results in 1934.

The famous Titanic coordinates, 4146 N 5014 W, were a DR position
worked out by Fourth Officer Boxhall based on his 1930 "stellar
observation".  The collision occurred at 2330, so there had been a
4-hour run at 22.5 kts.  The coordinates were "a few vital miles" off.
How much, I don't know, since I've never seen the actual coordinates
of the wreck.

Almost 50 years later, Boxhall would be technical advisor for the
English film, "A Night to Remember".  I was pleased the book authors
said that one is still probably the most "realistic and engaging" of
the Titanic movies.

   

Reply