Lifeboats of Titanic

The RMS Titanic was the largest mobile object ever built by the Homme with his time. It ran after having run up against a Iceberg by Tribord in the Northern Atlantique in the night of the 14 against the April 15th 1912.

The Titanic included/understood 20 lifeboats which were distributed in the following way:

14 standard boats of wood having each one a capacity of 18,55 m for 65 people. These boats were located on the bridge of the boats.
2 boats " of secours" of wood having each one a capacity of 9,12 and 9,25 m for 40 people. These boats were in overhang with before and ready to be used constantly.
4 foldable rafts of Engelhardt type having each one a capacity of 10,66 m for 47 people. 2 of these boats rested on the bridge of the boats beside the boats of help and the two others rested on the roof of the district of the officers right behind the steering gear but there did not exist any means to reduce them on the bridge from the boats.

On the whole, the boats had a capacity of 320 m for 1.178 people.

Source: The site of Titanic

History and regulation

The British Ministry of the Trade (Board off Trade) had enacted a regulation envisaging the presence of boats whose capacity was calculated in volume according to the Tonnage of the ship and not according to the number of passengers. The regulation also specified that the British ships of a tonnage higher than 10.000 tons were to be equipped with at least 16 lifeboats with a capacity of 155,7 m and sufficient rafts to increase by 75% the capacity of the boats. Full capacity required was thus of 272,5 m, that is to say 972 people (it was considered that people occupied 0,283 m).

Convinced and anxious of the number of boats on the Titanic , Alexander Carlisle, the managing director of the building sites Harland and Wolf insisted that the Paquebot is equipped with Bossoir S able to comprise 4 boats each one. He took this measurement as an economy if the number of boats required by the regulation had suddenly increased and not like a security measure.

The equipment of the boats

The equipment of the boats was in conformity with the requirements of Board off Trade. All the boats (except for the foldable rafts) were equipped with a Mât, of veils folded in bags, of oars, a anchors, of a compass with alcohol and its necessary to fixing, of a tank with provisions and goblets.

The descriptive one of the boats

Whereas the foldable rafts did not have any descriptive or characteristic, the 16 lifeboats had each one:

4 brass plates carrying the number of the boat
4 brass plates carrying the sign of the White Star Line
2 wood plates carrying the name of the steamer, S Titanic
2 brass plates carrying the name of the home port of the steamer, Liverpool
1 brass plate, round carrying the characteristics of the boat (length, width, depth and capacity)

Composition of the boats

Boat n°1

Capacity: 40 personnes
Side: Starboard
Person in charge: George Symons, veilleur
Many people in the boat: 12 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 1:10
After the shipwreck: boat recovered and brought back to New York by the Carpathia

Boat n°2

Capacity: 40 personnes
Side: Port side
Person in charge: Joseph Boxhall, 4th officier
Many people in the boat: 18 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 1:45
After the shipwreck: boat recovered and brought back to New York by the Carpathia

Boat n°3

Capacity: 65 personnes
Side: Starboard
Person in charge: George Moore, sailor qualifié
Many people in the boat: 40 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 1:00
After the shipwreck: boat recovered and brought back to New York by the Carpathia

Boat n°4

Capacity: 65 personnes
Side: Port side
Person in charge: Walter Perkis, District-Maître
Many people in the boat: 40 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 1:55
After the shipwreck: boat fastened with the boats 10,12 and 14, it moved, with boat 12, with the help of the raft D, it was left with the drift after having reached the Carpathia

Boat n°5

Capacity: 65 personnes
Side: Starboard
Person in charge: Herbert Pitman, 3rd officier
Many people in the boat: 35 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 0:55
After the shipwreck: boat attached to the n°7, after having reached the Carpathia , it joined New York

Boat n°6

Capacity: 65 personnes
Side: Port side
Person in charge: Robert Hichens, District-Maître
Many people in the boat: 24 people of which Margaret Brown known as Molly Brown
Hour of setting to the sea: 0:55
After the shipwreck: boat attached to the n°16, after having reached the Carpathia , it joined New York

Boat n°7

Capacity: 65 personnes
Side: Starboard
Person in charge: George Hogg, veilleur
Many people in the boat: 28 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 0:45
After the shipwreck: boat attached to the n°5, after having reached the Carpathia , it joined New York

Boat n°8

Capacity: 65 personnes
Side: Port side
Person in charge: Thomas Jones, Sailor qualifié
Many people in the boat: 28 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 1:10
After the shipwreck: boat recovered and brought back to New York by the Carpathia

Boat n°9

Capacity: 65 personnes
Side: Starboard
Person in charge: Albert Haines, Main Assistance of équipage
Many people in the boat: 45 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 1:20
After the shipwreck: boat recovered and brought back to New York by the Carpathia

Boat n°10

Capacity: 65 personnes
Side: Port side
Person in charge: Edward Buley, Sailor qualifié
Many people in the boat: 30 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 1:20
After the shipwreck: boat fastened with boats 4,12,14 and the raft D, it was brought back to New York by the Carpathia

Boat n°11

Capacity: 65 personnes
Side: Starboard
Person in charge: James Humphreys, District-Maître
Many people in the boat: 55 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 1:25
After the shipwreck: boat recovered and brought back to New York by the Carpathia

Boat n°12

Capacity: 65 personnes
Side: Port side
Person in charge: John Poingdestre, Sailor qualifié
Many people in the boat: 28 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 1:25
After the shipwreck: boat fastened with boats 4,10,14 and the raft D, it went, with boat 4, to the help of the raft B, it was brought back to New York by the Carpathia

Boat n°13

Capacity: 65 personnes
Side: Starboard
Person in charge: Frederick Barrett, Driver Principal
Many people in the boat: 60 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 1:35
After the shipwreck: it avoided accuracy the boat 15 which arrived just above at the moment the setting at water, it was brought back to New York by the Carpathia

Boat n°14

Capacity: 65 personnes
Side: Port side
Person in charge: Harold Lowe, 5th officier
Many people in the boat: 45 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 1:30
After the shipwreck: only boat to return on place from Shipwreck where it fished out 3 or 4 people of the water (of which one died), it was abandoned with the drift after having reached the Carpathia

Boat n°15

Capacity: 65 personnes
Side: Starboard
Person in charge: Frank Dymond, Chauffeur
Many people in the boat: 65 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 1:35
After the shipwreck: boat descended almost above boat 13, it was abandoned with the drift after having reached the Carpathia

Boat n°16

Capacity: 65 personnes
Side: Port side
Person in charge: Joseph Bailey, Master of armes
Many people in the boat: 40 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 1:35
After the shipwreck: boat fastened with boat 6, it was brought back to New York by the Carpathia

Foldable raft has

Capacity: 49 personnes
Side: Starboard
Person in charge: Joseph Bailey, Master of armes
Many people in the boat: 17 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: -
After the shipwreck: boat joined by the boat 14 where the survivors were transferred, 3 victims were given up and left with the drift by the 5th officer Harold Lowe. The boat was found by chance by the Oceanic one month later to 300 km in the south of the place of the Naufrage. The bodies were put in bags, ballasted, draped Union Jack, a funeral mass was known as then it were plunged to the mer.

Foldable raft B

Capacity: 49 personnes
Side: Port side
Person in charge: Charles Lightoller, 2 officier
Many people in the boat: 28 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: -
After the shipwreck: boat having capsized at the time of the setting to the sea, the survivors were recovered by boats 4 and 12. The raft was abandoned with the sea after having reached the Carpathia

Foldable raft C

Capacity: 49 personnes
Side: Starboard
Person in charge: George Rowe, District-Maître
Many people in the boat: 40 people of which Joseph Bruce Ismay
Hour of setting to the sea: 1:40
After the shipwreck: boat given up with the sea after having reached the Carpathia

Foldable raft D

Capacity: 49 personnes
Side: Port side
Person in charge: Arthur Bright, District-Maître
Many people in the boat: 24 personnes
Hour of setting to the sea: 2:05
After the shipwreck: boat recovered by the Carpathia and brought back to New York

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