There is a lot of controversy over the fact that the "Samson a sealing vessel" could have been the ship in between the Titanic and the Californian. Some say the Samson was only 10 miles away from the Titanic and the Californian 20 miles away. Californian and its Captain says they did not see Titanic's rockets-----Samson, which was seal-catching illegally left the scene so as not to be caught.

What do you think and why
Betty

I know for a fact (somewhat) that the Californian was nearby, about 15 miles away from the Titanic. The Californian, however, had only one Radio operator at the time, and by that time of night, he had probably retired to his quarters. No idea why they may have not seen the rockets, though. weren't there eight sent out?

All enthused,
yes, at the time Titanic sunk marconi operators did not have to have around the clock messaging. So Evans had taken off his set, turned it off and retired. Too bad he did not leave his set on and maybe he would have heard the distress signal.

Captain Lord and some of his crew did admit to seeing some of the rockets, but said they did not know what they meant?
Betty

Now, I find that hard to believe, that they didn't know what the distress beacons meant. I would have thought that if they had seen something like that, they would have at least radio'd any surrounding ships about it... it's not like they are going to FIREWORKS in the middle of the ocean, right? Not that i'm saying you're wrong, Betty, I'm just saying that there are a FEW idiots in this world, you know?

They never said they didn't know what they meant, Betty - al lot of it was cover-up for Lord, I think.He was the one asking what color they were - God knows why.

Teamtuna,
Just an exert from"The Ship That Stood Still"
Second Officer Stone of the Californian saw "one white flash in the sky immediately above the other steamer, and did not know what it was; I thought it might be a shooting star he said later. You know distress signals, Butler Aspinall one of the counsel for the Board of trade asked him? I know what they are, yes. Was it like a distress signal? It was just a white flash in the sky; it might have been anything. Pg. 59

I know the argument goes on with each side taking a stand but thought I would throw this in
Betty

Well, if you've read TSTSS you know most the evidence - I thought Reade did a real good job on the book, don't you? - but they still saw all seven distress signals on the bridge (so did Gill, the guy working on the donkey engine) so I don't think that one holds water.

Teamtuna,
The book,TSTSS, is great. But in a lot of instances the crew and Captain contradict themselves quite a few times and seeing the rockets is one of them. Yes, they saw them, well maybe they saw them. They saw one, they saw 7?

I think they did not want to #1 go against their Captain, #2 felt some guilt for not doing more and #3 I read somewhere that a few of them, if not all were afraid of Captain Lord. He was suppose to be a tough Captain and did not like to be disturbed when in his cabin.!!!

Even with the other subject which I like researching "the locked gates" passengers say they were locked, they were not locked. A lot of articles say the same yes and no. So, how do you really know. It is a tough call
Betty

Well the locked gates question was hard because some were and some weren't. I know some were because Charlie Pelligrino told me he saw shoes piled against one gate when he was actually down there.

Teamtuna
yes, sorry, I do remember that now. You telling me that pelligrino said that. Did you ever find out if he was giving a talk in my area?
or the east coast area?
Betty