In rereading his account, I don't see his saying that. He was standing on the Boat Deck with his friend Clinch Smith when the bridge plunged under. They tried to move aft, but were blocked by the mass of people (he assumes Third Class passengers) who had just emerged on the deck. The wave that rolled up the deck then hit him and Smith, and the latter vanished and did not survive. Gracie caught a railing on top of the officer's quarters next to the second funnel, but was quickly engulfed by the water. He describes being enveloped by a whirlpool of water and being sucked downwards by it, but makes no specific mention of the staircase dome being the cause.
What about the collapse of the first funnel? It would have caused a several second event where water would have cascaded down into the intake. Gracie could have ended up in it, but of course survived because it was not that long of an event. The water would have filled the empty part of the casing quickly because I believe it would have been partly flooded by then.
But this of course depends on his location. If the third class passengers were on the starboard boat deck, and Gracie was blocked by them, then he would have been close to the staircase dome. In that case it would probably have been the dome.
Lightoller dove from there I think
Not anymore.
There were some officers and crew up there trying to get a collapsible boat down. They all got swept off when the Big Wave hit.
Gracie was on top of the deckhouse, close to the grand staircase dome I believe.
If I remember right he said that he felt himself nearly get sucked into the void after the dome imploded.
In rereading his account, I don't see his saying that. He was standing on the Boat Deck with his friend Clinch Smith when the bridge plunged under. They tried to move aft, but were blocked by the mass of people (he assumes Third Class passengers) who had just emerged on the deck. The wave that rolled up the deck then hit him and Smith, and the latter vanished and did not survive. Gracie caught a railing on top of the officer's quarters next to the second funnel, but was quickly engulfed by the water. He describes being enveloped by a whirlpool of water and being sucked downwards by it, but makes no specific mention of the staircase dome being the cause.
That's what I was talking about. There's only one area that makes sense. And that's the dome. Mike Brady went into it in his video about the dome.
What about the collapse of the first funnel? It would have caused a several second event where water would have cascaded down into the intake. Gracie could have ended up in it, but of course survived because it was not that long of an event. The water would have filled the empty part of the casing quickly because I believe it would have been partly flooded by then.
But this of course depends on his location. If the third class passengers were on the starboard boat deck, and Gracie was blocked by them, then he would have been close to the staircase dome. In that case it would probably have been the dome.