Posted by Scott Andrews on August 02, 1999 at 17:36:18 in 192.11.221.98:
In Reply to: Re: main mast oil lamp posted by Dan Cherry on August 02, 1999 at 15:48:40:
: Bruce, the Cherbourg photo of Titanic at night was a pretty bad photo to begin with, and it saw much retouching. It appears the only part of the photo that wasn't retouched is the silhouette of the funnels against the twilight sky. As for the main mast light, this retouched photo, unless I have a buggered photo, shows two lights on the upper 1/3 of the mast. If I'm also not mistaken, Ken Marschall's original painting of the Cherbourg rendezvous does not show the lights, but in Triumph and Tragedy's first edition he painted the two lamps on the mast, above where the ratlines intersect. I would think the main mast lamp would be in line with the one on the fore mast. Correct me if I am wrong, but it wouldn't make too much sense to have them staggered. That may confuse shore stations or other ships as to the position of the Titanic at sea.
: Dan
Dan,
Actually, the staggering of height on these lamps does serve a purpose. You can tell by the colored navigation lights and the relative position of the white lights what side of the vessel you are seeing and in what direction she is proceeding. If both red and green lights are visible and the lights of the fore and mainmast are aligned one below the other, you know she is headed straight for you. By observing that the higher white light appears to YOUR right of the lower one, you know that you are slightly to port her heading and vice versa. By observing whether these two lights appear to "close" or "open" on one another, it is also possible to see her change course to port or starboard.
Regards,
Scott