by Nic Compton
That must be taken into consideration a very great deal – the fact that you have to lower a boat from a great height and get her safely into the water. It is of more importance to get the boat into the water than it is to actually fill her at the boat deck, because it is no use filling her if you are going to lose those people before you get her down; it is far better to save a few and safely.
I did not know it was urgent then. If had known, I would have taken more risks. I should not have considered it wise to put more in, but I might have taken risks.
Edward Wilding – Naval Architect, Harland & Wolff
I do not think there was any doubt the boats were strong enough to be lowered containing the full number of passengers. We design and construct them ourselves for the purpose of carrying that number and of being lowered. Whether they are filled once afloat, of course, is a question of sea discipline; but we feel that we must provide, at any rate, that the boats can be lowered from the boat deck with their full number, whatever way they are actually used. To the best of our knowledge and belief we did so.
As far as I know there was no special direct intimation given to the officers that they would carry their full number, but I should have thought it was a matter of general knowledge that they were so constructed. If I had thought there was any doubt on the matter in the officers’ minds, I would have done my best to remove it. Of course, what the officers thought one really cannot tell. If the officers had asked about it, or had expressed any doubt about it at Belfast, they would have been told, and the test would have been mentioned to them.
Charles Lightoller – Second Officer
I knew there was this light on the port bow about two points. I had already been calling many of the passengers’ attention to it, pointing it out to them and saying there was a ship over there, that probably it was a sailing ship, as she did not appear to come any closer, and that at daylight very likely a breeze would spring up and she would come in and pick us up out of the boats, and generally reassuring them by pointing out the light; but whether I told them to pull towards the light I really could not say. I might have done and I might not.
I had already told the boatswain to go down below and take some men with him and open the gangway doors, with the intention of sending the boats to the gangway doors to be filled up, if there were sufficient time. We had what we term a pilot ladder – a rope ladder – which the men would be able to climb down. I had not discussed the matter with the captain, but it came to both our minds. Anyone familiar with the ship would know at once that was the best means of putting the people into the boat, for it is far better to get the boat waterborne before filling her.
I heard the commander two or three times hail through the megaphone to bring the boats alongside, and I presumed he was alluding to the gangway doors, giving orders to the boats to go to the gangway doors.
Whether the doors were opened, I could not say. I do not think it likely, because it is most probable the boats lying off the ship would have noticed the gangway doors, had they succeeded in opening them. Hanging about the ship they could not very well fail to see if the gangway doors were open – the light shining through, the blaze of lights, and they would very soon be hailed by people at the gangway doors.
The boatswain was down there. He has to use a little common sense as well, and when he has opened the gangway door he would naturally hail a boat, and tell them, ‘Starboard gangway door open,’ ‘The port gangway door open,’ and so let them know. On a calm night like that, the voice will carry a long way.
But I did not take that into consideration at that time; there was not time to take all these particulars into mind. In the first place, at this time I did not think the ship was going down. I knew it was serious, and yet I did not think at that time that the ship was going down. By the time I came to the third boat I was aware that it was getting serious, and then I started to take chances. I filled her up as full as I could, and lowered her as full as I dared.
Samuel Hemming – Lamp-trimmer
Mr Lightoller called me and said, ‘Come with me.’ He said, ‘Get another good man.’ I says, ‘Foley is here somewhere.’ He says, ‘I have no time to stop for Foley.’ So he called a man himself, and he said, ‘Follow me.’ So we followed him, and he said, ‘Stand by to lower this boat.’ It was No 4 boat. We lowered the boat in line with the A deck, when I had an order come from the captain to see that the boats were properly provided with lights.
We had no handy lamps. Every lamp that we had was supplied for a certain purpose. We had none outside of that. They were all in the lamp room, where there was a special compartment to keep them in.
I called Mr Lightoller and told him that I would have to leave the boat’s fall; so he put another man in my place. I went away into the lamp room lighting the lamps, and I brought them up on deck. Fourteen, all full of oil. Then I lit the lamps and brought them up, four at a time, two in each hand. The boats that were already lowered, I put them on the deck, and asked them to pass them down to the end of the boat fall. I do not know whether they got lights or not. As to the boats that were not lowered, I gave them into the boats myself.
It was a square lamp. About ten inches high and six inches square, fuelled by Colza oil.
‘There was no such thing as selecting. I simply shouted “Women and children first”’
Mary Smith – First Class Passenger
While I dressed, my husband and I talked of landing, not mentioning the iceberg. I started out, putting on my life-preserver, when we met a steward, who was on his way to tell us to come on deck. However, I returned to the room with the intention of bringing my jewellery, but my husband said not to delay with such trifles. However, I picked up two rings and went on deck. After getting to the top deck, the ladies were ordered on deck A without our husbands. I refused to go, but, after being told by three or four officers, my husband insisted, and, along with another lady, we went down. After staying there some time with nothing seemingly going on, someone called saying they could not be lowered from that deck, for the reason it was enclosed in glass. That seemed to be the first time the officers and captain had thought of that, and hastened to order us all on the top deck again.
There was some delay in getting lifeboats down: in fact, we had plenty of time to sit in the gymnasium and chat with another gentleman and his wife. I kept asking my husband if I could remain with him rather than go in a lifeboat. He promised me I could. There was no commotion, no panic, and no one seemed to be particularly frightened; in fact, most of the people seemed interested in the unusual occurrence, many having crossed 50 and 60 times. However, I noticed my husband was busy talking to any officer he came in contact with; still I had not the least suspicion of the scarcity of lifeboats, or I never should have left my husband.
When the first boat was lowered from the left-hand side, I refused to get in, and they did not urge me particularly. In the second boat, they kept calling for one more lady to fill it, and my husband insisted that I get in it, my friend having gotten in. I refused unless he would go with me. In the meantime Captain Smith was standing with a megaphone on deck. I approached him and told him I was alone, and asked if my husband might be allowed to go in the boat with me.
He ignored me personally, but shouted again through his megaphone, ‘Women and children first.’ My husband said, ‘Never mind, captain, about that; I will see that she gets in the boat.’ He then said, ‘I never expected to ask you to obey, but this is one time you must; it is only a matter of form to have women and children first. The boat is thoroughly equipped, and everyone on her will be saved.’ I asked him if that was absolutely honest, and he said, ‘Yes.’ I felt some better then, because I had absolute confidence in what he said. He kissed me goodbye and placed me in the lifeboat with the assistance of an officer. As the boat was being lowered he yelled from the deck, ‘Keep your hands in your pockets; it is very cold weather.’
That was the last I saw of him, and now I remember the many husbands that turne
d their backs as the small boat was lowered, the women blissfully innocent of their husbands’ peril, and said goodbye with the expectation of seeing them within the next hour or two.
Hugh Woolner – First Class Passenger
Then I took Mrs Candee up on to the boat deck, and there we saw preparations for lowering the boats going on. My great desire was to get her into the first boat, which I did. We had brought up a rug, which we threw in with her, and we waited to see that boat filled. It was not filled, but a great many people got into it, and finally it was quietly and orderly lowered away.
The captain was close by at that time. He sort of ordered the people in. He said, ‘Come along, madam,’ and that sort of thing. There was a certain amount of reluctance on the part of the women to go in, and then some officer said, ‘It is a matter of precaution,’ and they came forward rather more freely. It was a very distressing scene – the men parting from their wives.
So far as I could see, all the women were persuaded to go on the boats, with the exception of Mrs Straus. She would not get in. I tried to get her to do so, and she refused altogether to leave Mr Straus. The second time we went up to Mr Straus, I said to him, ‘There seems to be room in this boat. I am sure nobody would object to an old gentleman like you getting in.’ He said: ‘I will not go before the other men.’
Arthur Peuchen – First Class Passenger
When I came on deck first, there were about a hundred stokers up with their dunnage bags, and they seemed to crowd this whole deck in front of the boats. One of the officers – I do not know which one, but a very powerful one – came along and drove these men right off that deck. He drove them, every man, like a lot of sheep, right off the deck, and they disappeared. I do not know where they went, but it was a splendid act. They did not put up any resistance. I admired him for it.
I saw Mr Hays again on the upper deck. I shook hands with him then and he said, ‘Peuchen, this boat is good for eight hours yet. I have just been getting this from one of the best old seamen, Mr Crossley.p’ And he said, ‘Before that time, we will have assistance.’
I noticed the crew were not at their stations, ready to man the boats. I imagine this crew was what we would call in yachting terms a scratch crew, brought from different vessels. They might be the best, but they had not been accustomed to working together.
I was standing near by the second officer and the captain, and one of them said, ‘We will have to get these masts out of these boats, and also the sail.’ He said, ‘You might give us a hand.’ I jumped in the boat, and we got a knife and cut the lashings of the mast, which is a very heavy mast, and also the sail, and moved it out of the boat, saying it would not be required. Then there was a cry, as soon as that part was done, that they were ready to put the women in; so the women came forward one by one. A great many women came with their husbands.
This was the largest lifeboat – the first large lifeboat toward the bow on the port side. They would only allow women in that boat, and the men had to stand back. That was the order. The second officer stood there and he carried out that to the limit. He allowed no men, except the sailors who were manning the boat. There were no male passengers that I saw got into that boat.
After a reasonable complement of ladies had got aboard, she was lowered. The boat was loaded, but I think they could have taken more in this boat. They took, however, all the ladies that offered to get in at that point.
I never saw such order. It was perfect order. The discipline was splendid. The officers were carrying out their duty and I think the passengers behaved splendidly. I did not see a cowardly act by any man.
I only got into the boat to assist in taking out the mast and the sail. Then I got out again, and I assisted the ladies into the boat. We then went to the next boat and we did the same thing – got the mast and the sail out of that. There was a quartermaster in the boat, and one sailor, and we commenced to put the ladies in that boat. After that boat had got a full complement of ladies, the boat was lowered down some distance, I should think about the third deck, when the quartermaster called up to the officer and said, ‘I cannot manage this boat with only one seaman.’
The second officer leaned over and saw he was quite right in his statement, that he had only one man in the boat, so they said, ‘We will have to have some more seamen here.’ I did not think they were just at hand, or they may have been getting the next boat ready. However, I was standing by the officer, and I said, ‘Can I be of any assistance? I am a yachtsman, and can handle a boat with an average man.’
He said, ‘Why, yes. I will order you to the boat in preference to a sailor.’
The captain was standing still by him at that time, and I think, although the officer ordered me to the boat, the captain said, ‘You had better go down below and break a window and get into the boat through a window.’ That was his suggestion, and I said I did not think it was feasible. I said I could get in the boat if I could get hold of a rope. So we got hold of a loose rope that was hanging from the davit, and by getting hold of it I swung myself off the ship and lowered myself into the boat.
I never saw the captain after that. He was doing everything in his power to get women in these boats, and to see that they were lowered properly. I thought he was doing his duty in regard to the lowering of the boats.
Harold Lowe – Fifth Officer
Mr Murdoch gave the order that that was enough in the boat. He said, ‘Lower away,’ and I lowered away. It is a matter of opinion whether that boat was properly filled or not. 65 is the floating capacity – that is when she is at rest in the water. That is not when she is in the air. The dangers are that if you overcrowd the boat, it will buckle up at the two ends, because she is suspended from both ends and there is no support in the middle.
The number you put on a boat depends on the man in charge. One man will say, ‘I will take the chance with 50 people in this boat.’ Another man will say, ‘I am not going to run the risk of 50; I will take 25 or 30.’ I should not like to put more than 50 in, but it is purely personal what a man considered safety. I am different from another man. I may take on more risk, we will say, than you; or you may take on more risk than me.
The lowering of that boat was not up to me; I was not the boss there. Mr Murdoch was running the show.
Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon – First Class Passenger
My wife and her secretary Miss Francatelli were standing with me; they had refused to go. My wife had refused to leave me and go in the boats, and consequently we stood against the deck house while the boats were going. They were asked two or three times to go. Some men from No 3 boat got hold of her and tried to pull her away, but she would not go. When the third boat had been lowered, she said to me: ‘Ought not we to do something?’ I said: ‘No, we have got to wait for orders.’
Then an officer – I do not know who he was – said to a number of firemen or crew who were standing there, ‘Man the emergency boat.’ I then spoke to him and I said, ‘May we get into the boat?’ and he said, ‘Yes, I wish you would,’ or ‘Very glad if you would,’ or some expression like that. There were no passengers at all near us then. He put the ladies in and helped me in myself, and we were joined by two Americans who came running along the deck. He then told two other or three of the firemen that they might just as well get in, and then he put one man in charge of the boat, Symons.
Lady Lucy Duff Gordon – First Class Passenger
The sailors came and tried to drag me away. I was holding my husband’s arm. They were very anxious that I should go. I absolutely refused. After the three boats had gone down, my husband, Miss Franksq and myself were left standing on the deck. There were no other people on the deck at all visible, and I had quite made up my mind that I was going to be drowned. Then suddenly we saw this little boat in front of us. We saw some sailors, and an officer apparently giving them orders, and I said to my husband, ‘Ought we not to be doing something?’ He said, ‘Oh, we must wait for orders.’
We stood there for quite some ti
me while these men were fixing up things, and then my husband went forward and said, ‘Might we get into this boat?’ The officer said in a very polite way indeed, ‘Oh certainly do, I will be very pleased.’ Then somebody hitched me up from the deck and pitched me into the boat, and then I think Miss Franks was pitched in. It was not a case of getting in at all. We could not have got in; it was quite high. They pitched us up into the boat, and after we had been in a little while the boat was started to be lowered, and one American gentleman was pitched in while the boat was being lowered down.
Henry Stengel – First Class Passenger
After the five boats on the starboard side were loaded, I turned toward the bow. I do not know what led me there, but there was a small boat that they called an emergency boat, in which there were three people, Sir Duff Gordon and his wife and Miss Francatelli. I asked the officer if I could not get into that boat. There was no one else around, not a person I could see except the people working at the boats, and he said, ‘Jump in.’
The railing was rather high – it was an emergency boat and was always swung over toward the water. I jumped on to the railing and rolled into it. The officer then said, ‘That is the funniest sight I have seen tonight,’ and he laughed quite heartily. That rather gave me some encouragement. I thought perhaps it was not so dangerous as I imagined. After getting down part of the way there was a painter on the boat, and we were beginning to tip, and somebody hollered to stop lowering. Somebody cut that line and we went on down.