TITANIC THE EVOLUTION

How the lifeboats were there to survive---!

The lifeboats which was installed while making Titanic it was the count of 64 after that There was about to be  12:40 a.m., an hour after Titanic struck the biggest iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on 14 April, At that time the first lifeboat was lowered into the sea. The boats were lowered in sequence, from the middle forward then after that, with First Officer William McMaster Murdoch, Third Officer Herbert Pitman and Fifth Officer Harold Lowe working on the starboard side, and Chief Officer Henry Tingle Wilde and Second Officer Charles Lightoller working for  the port side, with the assistance of Captain Smith. The collapsible boats were dealt with last, as they could not be launched until the forward whether were clear.

Mr Smith ordered his officers to put the "women and children in the  lower away". However, Murdoch and Lightoller interpreted the evacuation order differently: Murdoch as women and children first, while Lightoller as women and children only. Lightoller lowered lifeboats with empty seats if there were not any women and children waiting to board, while Murdoch only allowed a limited number of men to board if all the nearby women and children had already embarked. This had a significant effect on the survival rates of the men aboard Titanic, whose chances of survival came to depend on which side of the ship they tried to find lifeboat seats.

Two contemporary estimates were given for the number of occupants in each lifeboat, one by the British inquiry that followed the disaster, and one by survivor Archibald Gracie, who obtained accounts and data from other survivors. However, the figures given – 854 persons and 795 persons respectively – far exceed the confirmed number of 712 survivors, due to confusion and misreporting. Some occupants were transferred between boats before being picked up by RMS Carpathian. More recent research has helped to produce estimates of the number of occupants that are closer to the total number of survivors rescued by Carpathian.

"Boat 7 (starboard)”

Boat 7 was the first to be launched, at about 12:40 a.m., under the supervision of First Officer Murdoch, supported by Fifth Officer Lowe. It had a capacity of 65 persons but was lowered with only 28 aboard. The two officers had tried for some minutes to encourage passengers to board but they were reluctant to do so. Later testimony at the U.S. Senate inquiry into the disaster stated the ship's officers believed the lifeboats were at risk of buckling and breaking apart if they were lowered while fully loaded. They intended that once the boats reached the water they would pick up passengers from doors in the ship's side or would pick up passengers in the water. The first did not happen at all and the second only happened in one instance. In fact, the lifeboats had keels reinforced with steel beams to prevent buckling while in the davits (although most of the crew were not aware of this). Moreover, Harland & Wolff's Edward Wilding testified that the lifeboats had in fact been tested safely with the weight equivalent of 70 men. However, the results had not been passed on to the crew of Titanic. A significant degree of negligence in the training and continuing education of officers and crew in the White Star Line seems apparent, especially when noting the improper manner in which distress rockets were actually fired that night regulations called for firing at one-minute intervals.

Margaret Hays, New York heiress, who brought her Pomeranian, Babe, with her

John Pillsbury Snyder:-

The lifeboat was launched without its plug, causing water to leak into the bottom of the boat. As Gibson later put it, "this was remedied by volunteer contributions from the lingerie of the women and the garments of men." Those aboard had to sit for hours with their feet soaking in ice-cold water. When Titanic went down at 2:20 a.m., the noise of hundreds of people screaming for help was heard by the lifeboat's occupants, a sound that Gibson said would "remain in my memory until the day I die." Hogg wanted to turn back to pick up some of those in the water, but was shouted down by the boat's occupants. They drifted for some time until they came within reach of Boat 5. The officer in charge of the latter decided to transfer a number of survivors from his boat, which he thought was overcrowded, into No. 7. The two boats were lashed together for the rest of the night until they separated to meet the RMS .

"Boat 5 (starboard)"

Murdoch and Lowe were safely joined by Third Officer Pitman and the White Star Line's chairman J. Bruce Ismay to help them lower Boat 5, which left at 12:43 a.m. The boat was loaded primarily with women and children.    Most of those on deck were unaware of the seriousness of their situation and did not even attempt to board. John Jacob Astor, who was subsequently among the victims of the disaster, remarked: "We are safer on board the ship than in that little boat." Ismay disagreed; still wearing slippers and pyjamas, he urged Pitman to begin loading the boat with women and children. Pitman retorted: "I await the Captain's orders," and went to the captain for the approval. Ismay returned a short time later to urge a stewardess to board, which she did. In the end, only 36 people boarded, including Pitman himself, on Murdoch's orders.Four year-old Washington Dodge Jr. was the first child to enter a lifeboat.

The occupants included:

The boat's progress down the side of the ship was slow and difficult. The pulleys were covered in fresh paint and the lowering ropes were stiff, causing them to stick repeatedly as the boat was lowered in jerks towards the water. One of those watching the boat being lowered, Dr. Washington Dodge, felt "overwhelmed with doubts" that he might be subjecting his wife and son to greater danger aboard the boat than if they had remained on Titanic. Ismay sought to take down  those  boat to greater its  urgency by calling out repeatedly: "Lower away!..." This resulted in Lowe is losing his temper: "If you'll get the hell out of the way, I'll be able to do something! You want me to lower away quickly? After this The humiliated Ismay retreated up the deck. In the end, and  the boat was launched safely.

After Titanic sank, the Herbert Pitman wanted to return to the scene of the sinking to pick up swimmers in the water and announced: "Now men , we will pull toward the wreck!" The women on board protested, one begging a steward: "Appeal to the officer not to go back! Why should we lose all our lives in a useless attempt to save others from the ship?" Pitman gave in to the protests, but was haunted by guilt for the rest of his life. According to the ship’s members, The occupants of the lifeboat endured a freezing night. Mrs. Dodge was particularly badly affected by the cold but was helped by Quartermaster Alfred Olliver, who gave her his socks: "I assure you, ma'am, they are perfectly clean. I just put them on this morning." At about 6:00 a.m., they were rescued by Captain’s.

"The Boat 3 "

Boat 3 was launched at 1:00 A.M. 38 people boarded Boat 3, with Able Seaman George Moore put in charge by Murdoch. The passengers included Henry S. Harper, who was accompanied by his valet-dragoman and Pekingese dog, Sun Yat Sen.

Railroad manager Charles Melville Hays saw his wife, Clara, into lifeboat number 3 and then retreated, making no attempt to board any of the remaining lifeboats. Margaret Brown later described the scene in an interview with The New York Times,The whole thing was so formal that it was difficult for anyone to realise it was a tragedy. Men and women stood in little groups and talked. Some laughed as the boats went over the side. All the time the band was playing...I can see the men up on deck tucking in the women and smiling. It was a strange night. It all seemed like a play, like a dream that was being executed for entertainment. It did not seem real. Men would say "After you" as they made some woman comfortable and stepped back.

The occupants included

Eleven crewmen were among the occupants of this boat. It suffered the same problems with lowering that lifeboat 7 had encountered, with the lifeboat descending in fits and starts as the lowering ropes repeatedly stuck in the pulleys, but eventually reached the water safely. After Titanic sank the lifeboat drifted, while the bored women passengers passed the time by arguing with each other over minor annoyances. The occupants had a long wait in freezing conditions and were not rescued until about 7.30 a.m. when Captain  arrived.

"The Boat 8"

The boat 8 is the one who refused to board a lifeboat while there were younger people still waiting to board, Boat 8 was loaded with 28 people under the supervision of Second Officer Lightoller and launched at about 1:00 a.m., with Captain Smith and Chief Officer Wilde participating. Boat 8 was the first lifeboat on the port side to be lowered. Ida Straus, wife of New York merchant Isidor Straus, was asked to join a group of people preparing to board but refused, saying, "I will not be separated from my husband. As we have lived, so will we die – together." The 67-year-old Isidor likewise refused an offer to board on account of his age, saying: "I do not wish any distinction in my favour which is not granted to others." They were last seen alive on deck arm. Major Archibald Butt – military aide to US President William Howard Taft – escorted Marie Young to the boat. Young was a former music teacher to the children of President Theodore Roosevelt and later recalled that Butt "wrapped blankets about me and tucked me in as carefully as if we were going on a motor ride." He wished her farewell and good luck, asking her to "remember me to the folks back home." The occupants of Boat 8 numbered was about 25 people, including, Noelle, Countess of Rothes, who took charge of the lifeboat's tiller and helped  the row to be rescued. After Titanic sank, Jones suggested going back to save some of those who are surviving in a water. Only three passengers were agreed; the rest refused, thinking about themselves that the boat would be cap sized by desperate swimmers. Jones acquiesced, but one thing he told them: that "Ladies, if any of us are saved,then remember that  I wanted to go back. I would rather drown with them than leave them." The passengers' conduct during the subsequent hours presented some striking contrasts. The Eva Hart  – who had been one of the few passengers to support a rescue attempt – took charge of the tiller and put others to work at the oars. Her conduct was later complimented by Jones, who called her "more of a man than any we had aboard" and gave her the lifeboat's  which was in 8, and in a frame, as a keepsake. In fact, when Walter Lord, author of A Night to Remember, interviewed the Countess and Seaman Jones in 1954, he discovered their mutual admiration had led to a lifelong correspondence. By contrast, Ella White was so annoyed that the stewards in lifeboat number 8 were smoking cigarettes.The occupants of Boat 8 spent the night rowing towards what they thought were the lights of a ship on the horizon, but turned around at daybreak when Captain  actually arrived on the scene from the opposite direction. They had travelled further from the scene than any other lifeboat and had a long row back; it was not until 7:30 a.m. that they were picked up. 

After this The boat 1 had room  about another 28 passengers but did not return to rescue those in the water after Titanic sank. Fireman Charles Hendrickson claimed that he should tell his boat mates: and  "It's up to us to go back and pick up anyone in the water" but  there was not a single  support. But At least ther were  three other crewmembers, as well as the Duff Gordons, Salomon and Stengel, denied hearing any suggestion to go back or opposing any proposition to do so. In the media later, the Duff Gordons in particular were widely criticised for what was interpreted as their callous in the face of the disaster. For instance, as Titanic sank, Lucile reportedly commented to her secretary: "There is your beautiful nightdress gone." Fireman Pusey replied that she shouldn't worry about losing her belongings because she could buy more. Pusey mentioned that the crew had lost all their kit and that their pay stopped from the moment of the sinking. After watching the sir, Cosmo responded: "Very well, said I will give you a fiver each to start a new kit!" Aboard the rescue ship Captain, he did as he promised, presenting each of the seven crewmen in his lifeboat a cheque for £5 .