Belfast NIR - Titanic Belfast Lifeboats of the RMS Titanic
The lifeboats of the RMS Titanic played a crucial role in the disaster of 14–15 April 1912. The ship had 20 lifeboats that, in total, could accommodate 1,178 people, approximately half of the 2,208 on board the night it sank. RMS Titanic had a maximum capacity of 3,547 passengers and crew.
18 lifeboats were used, loading between 11:45 p.m. and 2:15 a.m., though Collapsible Boat A floated off the ship's partially submerged deck, and Collapsible Boat B floated away upside down minutes before the ship upended and sank.
Many lifeboats only carried half of their maximum capacity; there are many versions as to the reasoning behind half-filled lifeboats. Some sources claimed they were afraid of the lifeboat buckling under the weight, others suggested it was because the crew were following orders to evacuate women and children first. As the half-filled boats rowed away from the ship, they were too far for other passengers to reach, and most lifeboats did not return to the wreck, due to fear of being swamped by drowning victims. Only lifeboats 4 and 14 returned to retrieve survivors from the water, some of whom later died.
1,503 people did not make it on to a lifeboat and were aboard Titanic when she sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean. 705 people remained in the lifeboats until later that morning when they were rescued by RMS Carpathia. Those aboard the lifeboats were picked up by Carpathia over the course of 4 hours and 30 minutes, from about 4 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., and 13 of the lifeboats were also taken aboard. The lifeboats were returned to the White Star Line at New York Harbor, as they were the only items of value salvaged from the shipwreck, but subsequently vanished from history over time.
Although nothing remains of the original lifeboats, some surviving fittings can still be seen such as nameplates reading 'S.S. TITANIC' of which several are known to exist in museums and private collections, along with brass numbers, port plates reading 'LIVERPOOL' and house flags of the White Star Line such as a burgee removed from the hull of one lifeboat by a souvenir hunter and now displayed in the museum of the Titanic Historical Society. A full-size, accurate replica lifeboat is now on display at the maritime museum in Falmouth, England and a less accurate one in Belfast at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction.
Belfast NIR - Titanic Belfast Lifeboats of the RMS Titanic
The lifeboats of the RMS Titanic played a crucial role in the disaster of 14–15 April 1912. The ship had 20 lifeboats that, in total, could accommodate 1,178 people, approximately half of the 2,208 on board the night it sank. RMS Titanic had a maximum capacity of 3,547 passengers and crew.
18 lifeboats were used, loading between 11:45 p.m. and 2:15 a.m., though Collapsible Boat A floated off the ship's partially submerged deck, and Collapsible Boat B floated away upside down minutes before the ship upended and sank.
Many lifeboats only carried half of their maximum capacity; there are many versions as to the reasoning behind half-filled lifeboats. Some sources claimed they were afraid of the lifeboat buckling under the weight, others suggested it was because the crew were following orders to evacuate women and children first. As the half-filled boats rowed away from the ship, they were too far for other passengers to reach, and most lifeboats did not return to the wreck, due to fear of being swamped by drowning victims. Only lifeboats 4 and 14 returned to retrieve survivors from the water, some of whom later died.
1,503 people did not make it on to a lifeboat and were aboard Titanic when she sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean. 705 people remained in the lifeboats until later that morning when they were rescued by RMS Carpathia. Those aboard the lifeboats were picked up by Carpathia over the course of 4 hours and 30 minutes, from about 4 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., and 13 of the lifeboats were also taken aboard. The lifeboats were returned to the White Star Line at New York Harbor, as they were the only items of value salvaged from the shipwreck, but subsequently vanished from history over time.
Although nothing remains of the original lifeboats, some surviving fittings can still be seen such as nameplates reading 'S.S. TITANIC' of which several are known to exist in museums and private collections, along with brass numbers, port plates reading 'LIVERPOOL' and house flags of the White Star Line such as a burgee removed from the hull of one lifeboat by a souvenir hunter and now displayed in the museum of the Titanic Historical Society. A full-size, accurate replica lifeboat is now on display at the maritime museum in Falmouth, England and a less accurate one in Belfast at the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction.