* O N T H E V E R G E O F I C E *
Nineteen miles away the leyland line's Californian on a run from Liverpool to Boston was stopped at the edge of a giant ice-field. At noon on April 14, the Californian's position was logged in as being 42* 05' N, 47* 25'W. Towards the afternoon her captain, Stanley Lord, had her course altered due to ice reports he had received in the previous days. Knowing that he would be drawing near to ice, he took it easy.
The Leyland Line's Californian
At 6:30 pm, as assumed, the Californian encountered ice. Three icebergs were seen, and as a result Captain Lord had his wireless operator, Cyril Evans, contact the Leyland Liner Antillian to warn of the bergs. During this contact, the Titanic intercepted the transmission and relayed it to Captain Smith as well. This shows that the Titanic's officers were aware that they were coming upon ice.
Later in the evening, Captain Lord noticed a haze on the horizon ahead of the ship. An enormous ice-field lie directly in the ship's path. As a result, he ordered the engines shut down and the Californian came to a halt at 10:20 pm. Lord stayed on watch until shortly before 11:00 pm. During this time, he witnessed what looked to be a light from an approaching ship off of his starboard side. He ran into Cyril Evans and asked what ships were in the vicinity. Evans replied that the closest one was the Titanic. Lord's estimate was that the light he saw approaching couldn't have been the Titanic and that he assumed the craft to be closer to the Californian's size. None-the-less, Lord told Evans he should wire the Titanic and warn them of the ice. After staying on the bridge for a short time longer Lord was replaced by Third officer Charles V. Groves. Groves became aware of the light on the starboard bow and, after talking to Lord, was told to contact the ship with a morse lamp and that if the ship came any closer that Groves should tell Lord, who would be resting on the chart-room settee. Groves proceeded to attempt to contact the vessel..with no reply.
Left to right: Stanley Lord, Cyril Evans, Charles Groves
At 11:00 pm Evans sent his message to Titanic and it was received by John Phillips while Phillips was contacting Cape Race, Newfoundland. Because the Californian was so close to the Titanic, her signal was louder than Cape Race's own signal and Phillips could not hear Cape Race over Californian. Evans later gave evidence of this to the U.S. inquiry, including Phillips' reply:
" I went to my cabin and called him [Titanic] up. I said 'Say, old man, we are stopped and surrounded by ice.' He turned around and said 'Shut up, shut up, I am busy; I am working Cape Race.' and that I jammed him."
Evans took the hint. Shortly after transmitting, he turned down his wireless machinery and turned in for the night. Meanwhile, the Titanic continued westward at an access of 21 knots..oblivouse of the giant ice-field directly in her path.