It is suspected that this haze was really the ice field which spanned many miles across the horizon. If the ship turned away from the haze and into a clear horizon ahead their focus would greatly improve. They were in effect turning 'into' the iceberg. Fleet described his first sighting of the iceberg as an absence of stars on the horizon. This would appear as a completely unidentifiable object at that moment, as it could easily have been a cloud blocking the stars. It wasn't until it approached the Titanic much closer that Fleet realized it was in fact an iceberg. He was asked when he exactly rang the bell and he could not answer the question as he understandably took a moment to make sure it was an iceberg.
Q - How long before the collision or accident did you report ice ahead?
A - I have no idea.
Q - About how long?
A - I could not say, at the rate she was going.
Q - How fast was she going?
A - I have no idea.
Q - Would you be willing to say that you reported the presence of this iceberg an hour before the collision?
A - No, sir.
Q - Forty-five minutes?
A - No. sir.
Q - A half hour before?
A - No, sir.
Q - Fifteen minutes before?
A -No, sir.
Q - Ten minutes before?
A - No, sir.
Q - How far away was this black mass when you first saw it?
A - I have no idea, sir.
Q - Can you not give us some idea? Did it impress you as serious?
A - I reported it as soon as ever I seen it.
He reported it the moment he could identify it. He also said that if he had binoculars he could have identified it sooner.
His mate Reginald Lee was mysteriously detained in New York and did not attend the US Inquiry.
Lightoller asked Fleet what happened:
"I asked him what he knew about the accident and induced him to explain the circumstances. He went on to say that he had seen the iceberg so far ahead. I particularly wanted to know how long after he struck the bell the ship’s head moved, and he informed me that practically at the same time that he struck the bell he noticed the ship’s head moving under the helm."
Q - You gathered from him, apparently, the impression that the helm was probably put over before and not after the report from the look-out?
A - Distinctly before the report.
At daylight they discovered icebergs of all sizes around the horizon. It is possible that Fleet saw one of these larger icebergs, but that was not the same one they struck. It could be that Murdoch saw this dark mass on the horizon and believed there was plenty of time to turn the ship away, and as they were turning they struck a much smaller iceberg. 4th officer Boxhall looked at the iceberg as it passed the ship's stern. He described it as "this long-lying growler.....It looked to me as if it was very, very low." When the
Carpathia approached the lifeboats they stopped the ship very close to an iceberg which caught Captain Rostron by surprise. Perhaps this was the same iceberg that sank the Titanic?
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