TITANIC: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE LIFEBOATS
Were There TRULY Too Few Lifeboats?
The Titanic sank in the early hours of Monday, April 15th, 1912 with a loss of 1,500 out of the 2,200 people on board. Only 700 people survived, but could more people have been saved? Yes, thanks to the many reasons why crew launched the lifeboats with empty seats, fewer were saved. If the crew filled every boat to capacity, approximately 1,154 people could have been saved. But that wasn’t even half of those on board, which means there weren’t enough lifeboats for everyone on board. This has become the accepted answer throughout history. But is there more to the picture than meets the eye?
To begin with, the Titanic had a total of 20 lifeboats. These included 14 clinker boats, 2 cutters, and 4 collapsible lifeboats. Altogether, those lifeboats could hold 1,154 people if filled to capacity. The clinkers could hold 70, the cutters could hold 70 and the collapsibles could hold 47. The two cutter boats were always hung over the side of the ship and uncovered. If there was a man-overboard situation, those boats could be deployed immediately. Collapsible C was next to the starboard cutter and Collapsible D next to the port cutter. Collapsibles A and B were on the roof of the officer’s quarters on either side of the forward funnel. Collapsible A on the Starboard side, and Collapsible B on the Port side. Collapsibles A and B were the last lifeboats to leave the Titanic before she finally sank. B was accidentally thrown upside down before water surged onto the boat deck.
So we’ve discussed the lifeboat compliment that the Titanic was outfitted with. We now need to look at why she was allowed to go to sea with so few lifeboats. The surprising fact is:
The Titanic was actually carrying MORE lifeboats than what the law demanded!
Lifeboat accommodation on ships at the time was regulated by the British Board of Trade. They stated that sixteen 70-person boats were enough for a vessel weighing 10,000 tonnes or more. But that regulation was dramatically outdated, as it came into effect in 1894. Between 1894 and 1912, ships had quadrupled in size. Titanic was almost five times the greatest tonnage in the regulations. Why did the Board of Trade not update its regulations? There are many possible reasons about why this was. As ships got bigger, so did the advancement of watertight safety features. As well as the real purpose of lifeboats.
As ships grew in size, they were built with stronger materials. their structures denser and their watertight safety features also grew in advancement. Many ships had the same watertight safety features as the Titanic did. Massive bulkheads divided them into compartments, bulkheads fitted with automatic watertight doors. These doors could close by a simple slick of a switch or by automatic floats. This means that if a ship’s hull was pierced, the bulkheads would contain water in one location. A ship would, in theory, stay afloat long enough for help to reach it.
Thanks to immense competition between shipping companies, greater numbers of ships entering service. These included larger, faster, and more luxurious ships. So many that the shipping lanes across the Atlantic became as reliable as railway lines. In some cases it earned the nickname “the transatlantic railway”. Thus, with the advancement in wireless technology, you could call for help if you needed it. Hopefully, another ship would get to you in time.
Now, we need to look at the true purpose of lifeboats, as well as the risks that they face. A lifeboat was nothing more than a rowing boat, a rowing boat that couldn’t handle the forces of rough seas. In some shipping disasters, staying on the stricken vessel was the safer option. Rising waves could flip a lifeboat upside down, spilling occupants into the sea. The lifeboats themselves could also be thrown against the side of the ship, smashing them up. This happened in 1873 during the wreck of the SS Atlantic. The lifeboats lowered were immediately thrown against the side of the stricken liner. There, they were smashed to pieces, killing all the occupants. SS Atlantic was the White Star Line’s first loss at sea, and their worst one until the Titanic.
Another case where the lifeboats were more dangerous was in 1904 when the SS Clallam ran aground. All the occupants who got off in the ship’s lifeboats were tipped away into the sea. But all those who stayed on the wrecked ship survived, as it stayed afloat long enough for help to arrive. Between the SS Atlantic and the SS Clallam, the former was worse off because she capsized too soon.
So, lifeboats could be just as much a death sentence as staying onboard a sinking vessel. They were to be used only as an absolute last resort. So the next line of defense was the wireless system. So if another ship could be called up immediately. With the advanced watertight safety features, the ship would stay afloat long enough. In this case, a lifeboat would act more as a ferry between the stricken vessel and the rescue vessel. They were never intended to be the life-or-death option that we have always assumed they would be. But that was the case with the sinking of the Titanic.
So we need to look at possible alternatives during the design phase of the Titanic. Here, she is down to have more lifeboats than what she intended to have. Titanic’s lifeboat davits were designed by Axel Wellin. The davits are the crane-like objects used to lower lifeboats over the side. Wellin had seen such problems with lifeboat lowering systems on warships. Those ships had guns and other protrusions that could block a lowering lifeboat. The older rotating davits could not extend far enough out. Such rotating davits were fitted to the Cunard ships Lusitania and Mauretania. Wellin designed quadrant davits, which could be cranked in and out. These would swing a lifeboat out, before cranking in to hook another. The davits themselves were so tall that four boats could be stored in each station.
The Titanic’s original designer, Alexander Carlisle, saw the problem with the regulations. He proposed that the Titanic be fitted with sixteen 4-lifeboat stations. This would make Titanic capable of carrying 64 lifeboat. Carlisle did admit during the British Inquiry that he thought 48 would be an acceptable amount.
“Commissioner: Did you think there ought to be 64?”
“Carlisle: I thought there ought to be three on each set of davits.”
“Commissioner: How many would that make altogether?”
“Carlisle: Forty-eight boats.”
“Commissioner: You thought there ought to be 48?”
“Carlisle: Yes.” (Titanic Inquiry Project, 2017)
It is here that we need to address some myths and replace them with facts. It’s accepted that J. Bruce Ismay and Lord William Pirrie lowered the lifeboat numbers for the sake of comfort. This is NOT true. They could see a potential change to maritime law, given how big ships kept getting. So they accepted Carlisle’s proposal of the number of lifeboat stations. But only put one lifeboat in each station. But given how proud they were of their product, they didn’t want their reputation tarnished. A reputation of building the strongest and safest ships, this included lifeboat accommodation. So they added the four extra Collapsible lifeboats, which exceeded the regulations. So safety was as much their priority as luxury. Titanic and Olympic had the highest amount of the most advanced watertight safety features. Their materials exceeded battleship expectations and had more lifeboats than demanded by law. But Carlisle still felt that the 20 lifeboats were still not enough, and he kept enforcing the question:
“How can we cram 3,500 people into that many lifeboats?”
Since Ismay and Pirrie made sure the ships went even further in strength and watertight features. And adding more lifeboats than what the law demanded. They saw Carlisle’s proposition as too excessive, so they turned him down. In response to this, Carlisle left Harland and Wolff in a storm. He retired on June 30th, 1910, Titanic was the last ship he would ever design.
Yet, when during the sinking of the Titanic, there was only just enough time to launch the few they had. So what would have happened if she had more lifeboats? Could that have saved more lives? Well, that is a questionable scenario. Because of the amount of time, it took to launch 20 of them, the other 44 would have still been lashed to the davits. There, they would have gone down with the ship. Not only that, but the boats also had buoyancy tanks. If they were dragged under, the buoyancy would have resisted the downward pull. They could have ripped free and rocketed to the surface. This could have injured a great many people in the water but could have also provided safer havens. This is like Collapsible B, which ended up upside down in the water. 2nd Officer Charles Lightoller survived by standing on this lifeboat until rescued. Some of those extra lifeboats not lowered could have provided similar havens. But because it never happened, we will never know the answer.
In response to the sinking of the Titanic, ships for some time were fitted with enough lifeboats. This was also thanks to passengers and crew refusing to sail without them. The Safety Of Life At Sea (SOLAS) convention has since regulated lifeboat numbers on ships.
But sometimes, having too many lifeboats is more dangerous. On July 24th 1915, the SS Eastland capsized in the Chicago River. This was because her upper decks had too many lifeboats. The extra lifeboats on her upper decks added too much weight, which made her top-heavy. To stablize a ship, there has to be two tonnes in the hull below to balance the upper structure out. The weight of all the lifeboats on Eastland’s upper decks destabilized her and she capsized. She had 2,572 people onboard, and 844 perished when it capsized in the dock.
Thus, this is a reason why on modern ships, lifeboats are lower down. Not only to prevent spoiling the view of the ocean for the passengers, but also to not affect the ship’s stability.
It’s here where I’m going to tell you something that many will find shocking:
Passenger ships still DON’T carry enough lifeboats for everyone on board!
Why is this? SOLAS states that ships only have to carry enough *lifeboats* for 75% of its total capacity. Thus, providing that 75% of its total capacity get into the lifeboats, what happens to the other 25%? They might be accommodated in inflatable life rafts. These rafts are stored in the cylindrical storage units seen on modern ships. The idea, is that if a ship sinks so quickly and the crew can’t prepare them, the cylindrical unit is fitted with a hydrostatic release. The water pressure will fire a blade into the line that’s securing the life raft. The raft will inflate in seconds, much like the emergency escape slides on airplanes. If the ship sinks so fast, the inflated raft will then be able to snap the chord that’s securing it to the storage unit. It will then float to the surface. If there’s time to prepare it, there’s a chord flailing from the storage unit which can be yanked. The raft will inflate immediately. The raft will then be swung over the side using a davit, and then lowered into the water. There, it can then be towed away from the vessel by one of the lifeboats.
Why did this have to be so? Well, if a ship has enough lifeboats for it’s total capacity, there’s the risk of it becoming less stable. This rule always applies, no matter how far down the lifeboats are stored. So ships can only safely carry enough lifeboats for 75% of their total capacity. The Eastland showed us this. Queen Mary 2, the only true ocean liner in service today, also only has enough lifeboats for 75% of her total capacity. But the strange thing is, her lifeboats are stored much higher up. This indicates her status as an ocean liner. The reason why an ocean liner’s lifeboats are stored higher up, is to protect them from massive waves. This is thanks to an ocean liner needing to be capable of long distance journeys across rough oceans on a regular basis. The same principle also applies to its navigating bridge.
So, how did lifeboat accommodation change in response to the Titanic and the Eastland? The answer lies in the fact that Titanic’s lifeboats could only accommodate half of those on board. But less than a third of her total capacity! Titanic was only half full during her voyage. She was capable of carrying 3,547 people and she had 2,200 on board (1,300 passengers and 900 crew members). Yet her lifeboats could only accommodate 1,154 people. So 2,393 people would be left stranded if fully laden. One can only imagine how much deadlier the disaster could have been if Titanic was fully laden. This needed improving, as seen by the Board of Trade, so this is why the number of lifeboats increased. But the Eastland proved too many lifeboats are dangerous. So lifeboat accommodation was and is much better than it was when the Titanic sank. But since the Titanic’s twenty lifeboats could all only be launched in time, how can more people be saved with fewer lifeboats. It boils down to the amount of bigger and stronger, but lighter lifeboats. So more passengers can be saved, without destablising the ship. Typically, a modern lifeboat is capable of carrying 370 people, which is impressive. Only the passengers would be uncomfortably packed in like sardines. So, it’s less comforting to board a lifeboat than to stay onboard and wait for rescue.
References
YouTube Videos
“Why Don’t Ships Have Enough Lifeboats?”. YouTube. Uploaded by Casual Navigation. December 17th, 2021. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwuS7BQDgE4
“The Surprising Truth about Titanic’s Lifeboats”. YouTube. Uploaded by Oceanliner Designs. October 6th, 2022. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-MSIpLFJIs
“The Terrifying Wreck of the SS ATLANTIC (Halifax, 1873–150th ANNIVERSARY)”. YouTube. Uploaded by Part-Time Explorer. March 28th, 2023. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w4U4vwCS8o
Films/Documentaries
Marsh, E.W. (Director). (1997). Heart of the Ocean — Titanic Featurette. [Documentary]. Automat Pictures, Eminence Font Productions, Genuine Buck Films, Incue and KG Productions.
Reams, P. (Director). (2008). The Unsinkable Titanic. [Film]. Channel 4 Television, Discovery Channel Canada, Handel Productions, National Geographic and Pioneer Productions.
Levy, N. (Director). (2012). Titanic: Case Closed. [Film]. Airborn TV and Film, Bedlam Productions.
Articles
Stranahan, S. 2014. The Eastland Disaster Killed More Passengers Than the Titanic and the Lusitania. Why Has It Been Forgotten?. Smithsonian Channel. Link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/eastland-disaster-killed-more-passengers-titanic-and-lusitania-why-has-it-been-forgotten-180953146/
Titanic Inquiry Project. 2017. British Wreck Commissioner’s Inquiry Day 20. Link: https://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTInq20Carlisle01.php
Images
Figs 1–3, 8–12. Public Domain
Fig 4: Reams, P. (Director). (2008). The Unsinkable Titanic. [Film]. Channel 4 Television, Discovery Channel Canada, Handel Productions, National Geographic and Pioneer Productions.
Fig 5: Levy, N. (Director). (2012). Titanic: Case Closed. [Film]. Airborn TV and Film, Bedlam Productions.
Figs 6–7. “The Terrifying Wreck of the SS ATLANTIC (Halifax, 1873–150th ANNIVERSARY)”. YouTube. Uploaded by Part-Time Explorer. March 28th, 2023. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w4U4vwCS8o
Fig 14: “Why Don’t Ships Have Enough Lifeboats?”. YouTube. Uploaded by Casual Navigation. December 17th, 2021. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwuS7BQDgE4
Figs 13 and 15: Author’s Collection
