The _Titanic_ was provided with 20 boats. They were all on the boat
deck. Fourteen were life boats. These were hung inboard in davits, 7 on
the starboard side and 7 on the port side, and were designed to carry 65
persons each. Two were emergency boats. These were also in davits, but
were hung outboard, one on the starboard side and one on the port side,
and were designed to carry 40 persons each. The remaining 4 boats were
Engelhardt or collapsible boats. Two of these were stowed on the boat
deck and 2 on the roof of the officers' quarters, and were designed to
carry 47 persons each. Thus the total boat accommodation was for 1,178
persons. The boats in davits were numbered, the odd numbers being on the
starboard side and the even numbers on the port side. The numbering
began with the emergency boats, which were forward, and ran aft. Thus
the boats on the starboard side were numbered 1 (an emergency boat), 3,
5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 (lifeboats), and those on the port side 2 (an
emergency boat), 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 (lifeboats). The
collapsible boats were lettered, A and B being on the roof of the
officers' quarters and C and D being on the boat deck; C was abreast of
No. 1 (emergency boat) and D abreast of No. 2 (emergency boat). Further
particulars as to the boats will be found on page 18.
In ordinary circumstances all these boats (with the exception of 1 and
2) were kept covered up, and contained only a portion of their
equipment, such as oars, masts, and sails, and water; some of the
remaining portion, such as lamps, compasses, and biscuits being stowed
in the ship in some convenient place, ready for use when required. Much
examination was directed at the hearing to showing that some boats left
the ship without a lamp and others without a compass, and so on, but in
the circumstances of confusion and excitement which existed at the time
of the disaster this seems to me to be excusable.
Each member of the crew had a boat assigned to him in printed lists,
which were posted up in convenient places for the men to see; but it
appeared that in some cases the men had not looked at these lists and
did not know their respective boats.
There had been no proper boat drill nor a boat muster. It was explained
that great difficulty frequently exists in getting firemen to take part
in a boat drill. They regard it as no part of their work. There seem to
be no statutory requirements as to boat drills or musters, although
there is a provision (sec. 9 of the merchant shipping act of 1906) that
when a boat drill does take place the master of the vessel is, under a
penalty, to record the fact in his log. I think it is desirable that the
board of trade should make rules requiring boat drills and boat musters
to be held of such a kind and at such times as may be suitable to the
ship and to the voyage on which she is engaged. Boat drill, regulated
according to the opportunities of the service, should always be held.
It is perhaps worth recording that there was an inspection of the boats
themselves at Southampton by Mr. Clarke, the emigration officer, and
that, as a result, Mr. Clarke gave his certificate that the boats were
satisfactory. For the purpose of this inspection two of the boats were
lowered to the water and crews exercised in them.
The collision took place at 11.40 p. m. (ship's time). About midnight it
was realized that the vessel could not live, and at about 12.05 the
order was given to uncover the 14 boats under davits. The work began on
both sides of the ship under the superintendence of five officers. It
did not proceed quickly at first; the crew arrived on the boat deck only
gradually, and there was an average of not more than three deck hands to
each boat. At 12.20 the order was given to swing out the boats, and this
work was at once commenced. There were a few passengers on the deck at
this time. Mr. Lightoller, who was one of the officers directing
operations, says that the noise of the steam blowing off was so great
that his voice could not be heard, and that he had to give directions
with his hands.
Before this work had been begun, the stewards were rousing the
passengers in their different quarters, helping them to put on
life-belts and getting them up to the boat deck. At about 12.30 the
order was given to place women and children in the boats. This was
proceeded with at once and at about 12.45 Mr. Murdoch gave the order to
lower No. 7 boat (on the starboard side) to the water. The work of
uncovering, filling, and lowering the boats was done under the following
supervision: Mr. Lowe, the fifth officer, saw to Nos. 1, 3, 5, and 7;
Mr. Murdoch (lost) saw also to 1 and 7 and to A and C. Mr. Moody (lost)
looked after Nos. 9, 11, 13, and 15. Mr. Murdoch also saw to 9 and 11.
Mr. Lightoller saw to Nos. 4, 6, 8, B, and D. Mr. Wilde (lost) also saw
to 8 and D. Mr. Lightoller and Mr. Moody saw to 10 and 16 and Mr. Lowe
to 12 and 14. Mr. Wilde also assisted at No. 14, Mr. Boxall helping
generally.
The evidence satisfies me that the officers did their work very well and
without any thought of themselves. Capt. Smith, the master, Mr. Wilde,
the chief officer, Mr. Murdoch, the first officer, and Mr. Moody, the
sixth officer, all went down with the ship while performing their
duties. The others, with the exception of Mr. Lightoller, took charge of
boats and thus were saved. Mr. Lightoller was swept off the deck as the
vessel went down and was subsequently picked up.
So far as can be ascertained the boats left the ship at the following
times, but I think it is necessary to say that these, and, indeed, all
the times subsequent to the collision which are mentioned by the
witnesses, are unreliable.
---------------------------------------
| No. | Starboard | No. | Port side.|
| | Side. | | |
-------------------|------------------|
| | _a. m._ | | _a. m._ |
| 7 | 12.46 | 6 | 12.55 |
| 5 | 12.55 | 8 | 1.10 |
| 3 | 1.0 | 10 | 1.20 |
| 1 | 1.10 | 12 | 1.25 |
| 9 | 1.20 | 14 | 1.30 |
| 11 | 1.25 | 16 | 1.35 |
| 13 | 1.35 | 2 | 1.45 |
| 15 | 1.35 | 4 | 1.56 |
| C | 1.40 | D | 2.05 |
|[1]A | |[3]B | |
---------------------------------------
As regards the collapsible boats, C and D were properly lowered; as to A
and B, which were on the roof of the officers' house, they were left
until the last. There was difficulty in getting these boats down to the
deck, and the ship had at this time a list. Very few of the deck hands
were left in the ship, as they had nearly all gone to man the lifeboats,
and the stewards and firemen were unaccustomed to work the collapsible
boats. Work appears to have been going on in connection with these two
boats at the time that the ship sank. The boats seem to have floated
from the deck and to have served in the water as rafts.
The following table shows the numbers of the male crew, male passengers,
and women and children who, according to the evidence, left the ship in
each boat. In three or four instances the numbers of women and children
are only arrived at by subtracting the numbers of crew and male
passengers from the total said to be in the boat (these are in
italics). In each case the lowest figures given are taken:
Key
A: Starboard side boat. No.
B: Men of crew.
C: Men passengers.
D: Women and children.
E: Total.
F: Port side boat No.
G: Men of crew.
H: Men passengers.
I: Women and children.
J: Total
+------+----+----+------+----++------+---+----+------+----+
| A | B | C | D | E || F | G | H | I | J |
+------+----+----+------+----++------+---+----+------+----+
| 7 | 3 | 4 | _20_ | 27 || 6 | 2 | 2 | _24_ | 28 |
| 5 | 5 | 6 | 30 | 41 || 8 | 4 | | 35 | 39 |
| 3 | 15 | 10 | _25_ | 50 || 10 | 5 | | 50 | 55 |
| 1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 12 || 2 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 26 |
| 9 | 8 | 6 | 42 | 56 || 12 | 2 | | 40 | 42 |
| 11 | 9 | 1 | 60 | 70 || 14 | 8 | | 53 | 63 |
| 13 | 5 | | 59 | 64 || 16 | 6 | | 50 | 56 |
| 15 | 13 | 4 | _53_ | 70 || 4 | 4 | | 36 | 40 |
| C | 5 | 2 | 64 | 71 || D | 2 | 2 | 40 | 44 |
| A[1] | | | | || B[1] | | | | |
+------+----+----+------+----++------+---+----+------+----+
|Total | 70 | 36 | 355 |461 || |37 | 7 | 349 |393 |
+------+----+----+------+----++------+---+----+------+----+
General total:
Men of crew 107
Men passengers 43
Women and children 704
This shows in all 107 men of the crew, 43 male passengers, and 704 women
and children, or a total of 854 in 18 boats. In addition, about 60
persons, two of whom were women, were said to have been transferred,
subsequently, from A and B collapsible boats to other boats, or rescued
from the water, making a total of 914 who escaped with their lives. It
is obvious that these figures are quite unreliable, for only 712 were in
fact saved by the _Carpathia_, the steamer which came to the rescue at
about 4 a. m., and all the boats were accounted for. Another remarkable
discrepancy is that, of the 712 saved, 189 were in fact men of the crew,
129 were male passengers, and 394 were women and children. In other
words, the real proportion of women to men saved was much less than the
proportion appearing in the evidence from the boats. Allowing for those
subsequently picked up, of the 712 persons saved only 652 could have
left the _Titanic_ in boats, or an average of about 36 per boat. There
was a tendency in the evidence to exaggerate the numbers in each boat,
to exaggerate the proportion of women to men, and to diminish the number
of crew. I do not attribute this to any wish on the part of the
witnesses to mislead the court, but to a natural desire to make the best
case for themselves and their ship. The seamen who gave evidence were
too frequently encouraged when under examination in the witness box to
understate the number of crew in the boats. The number of crew actually
saved was 189, giving an average of 10 per boat, and if from this figure
the 58 men of the 60 persons above mentioned be deducted the average
number of crew leaving the ship in the boats must still have been at
least 7. The probability, however, is that many of the 60 picked up were
passengers.
The discipline both among passengers and crew during the lowering of the
boats was good, but the organization should have been better, and if it
had been it is possible that more lives would have been saved.
The real difficulty in dealing with the question of the boats is to find
the explanation of so many of them leaving the ship with comparatively
few persons in them. No. 1 certainly left with only 12; this was an
emergency boat with a carrying capacity of 40. No. 7 left with only 27,
and No. 6 with only 28; these were lifeboats with a carrying capacity of
65 each; and several of the others, according to the evidence, and
certainly according to the truth, must have left only partly filled.
Many explanations are forthcoming, one being that the passengers were
unwilling to leave the ship. When the earlier boats left, and before the
_Titanic_ had begun materially to settle down, there was a drop of 65
feet from the boat deck to the water, and the women feared to get into
the boats. Many people thought that the risk in the ship was less than
the risk in the boats. This explanation is supported by the evidence of
Capt. Rostron, of the _Carpathia_. He says that after those who were
saved got on board his ship he was told by some of them that when the
boats first left the _Titanic_ the people "really would not be put in
the boats; they did not want to go in." There was a large body of
evidence from the _Titanic_ to the same effect, and I have no doubt that
many people, particularly women, refused to leave the deck for the
boats. At one time the master appears to have had the intention of
putting the people into the boats from the gangway doors in the side of
the ship. This was possibly with a view to allay the fears of the
passengers, for from these doors the water could be reached by means of
ladders, and the lowering of some of the earlier boats when only partly
filled may be accounted for in this way. There is no doubt that the
master did order some of the partly filled boats to row to a position
under one of the doors with the object of taking in passengers at that
point. It appears, however, that these doors were never opened. Another
explanation is that some women refused to leave their husbands. It is
said further that the officers engaged in putting the people into the
boats feared that the boats might buckle if they were filled; but this
proved to be an unfounded apprehension, for one or more boats were
completely filled and then successfully lowered to the water.
At 12.35 the message from the _Carpathia_ was received announcing that
she was making for the _Titanic_. This probably became known and may
have tended to make the passengers still more unwilling to leave the
ship, and the lights of a ship (the _Californian_) which were seen by
many people may have encouraged the passengers to hope that assistance
was at hand. These explanations are perhaps sufficient to account for so
many of the lifeboats leaving without a full boat load; but I think,
nevertheless, that if the boats had been kept a little longer before
being lowered, or if the after gangway doors had been opened, more
passengers might have been induced to enter the boats. And if women
could not be induced to enter the boats, the boats ought then to have
been filled up with men. It is difficult to account for so many of the
lifeboats being sent from the sinking ship, in a smooth sea, far from
full. These boats left behind them many hundreds of lives to perish. I
do not, however, desire these observations to be read as casting any
reflection on the officers of the ship or on the crew who were working
on the boat deck. They all worked admirably, but I think that if there
had been better organization the results would have been more
satisfactory.
I heard much evidence as to the conduct of the boats after the _Titanic_
sank and when there must have been many struggling people in the water,
and I regret to say that in my opinion some, at all events, of the boats
failed to attempt to save lives when they might have done so, and might
have done so successfully. This was particularly the case with boat No.
1. It may reasonably have been thought that the risk of making the
attempt was too great; but it seems to me that if the attempt had been
made by some of these boats it might have been the means of saving a few
more lives. Subject to these few adverse comments, I have nothing but
praise for both passengers and crew. All the witnesses speak well of
their behavior. It is to be remembered that the night was dark, the
noise of the escaping steam was terrifying, the peril, though perhaps
not generally recognized, was imminent and great, and many passengers
who were unable to speak or to understand English were being collected
together and hurried into the boats.