As soon as it became obvious that Titanic was mortally wounded, Captain Smith
Ordered the crew to be mustered, the lifeboats to be uncovered and the passengers brought up to the decks. He then directed Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall to calculate the ship’s position. His estimate — 4l°46’North, 50°l4’West, which was off by many miles — was taken to Jack Phillips in the wireless room, who began sending out distress calls.
The inefficiency and confusion brought about by sailing on what was perceived as an “unsinkable” ship quickly became apparent. There was not a consistent plan of action, most of the crew had not received adequate training in launching the lifeboats and the captain had not held the standard passenger lifeboat drill. Moreover, most of the passengers were already in their cabins, there was no public address system and when the stewards informed the passengers of the situation, they gave widely varying instructions. Slowly, however, a number of people made their way to the promenades and boat decks.
At 12:25am, Smith ordered the loading of lifeboats, with women and children first. Even this was carried out haphazardly as, on port side, men were denied access to the boats, while on starboard they were allowed in if there were no women waiting. The actual loading of the boats began to bring home the reality of the dangers, and many passengers crowded the pursers’ offices to demand their valuables back.
Several other problems became apparent as the boats were loaded. First, many of the passengers were extremely hesitant and, after looking at the water far below, chose to not leave the comforts of the ship for the tiny, creaking vessels. In addition, the officers were concerned about loading the boats too heavily, evidently unaware that the new Welin davits were able to withstand the full load of 65 adults. One plan was to lower the boats half-full, and then take more passengers from the gangway doors at water level, but the men sent to open the doors disappeared. Boat after boat went down the side with numerous empty spaces on it.
At about 12:45am, First Officer William Murdoch ordered the first lifeboat — Number 7 on the starboard side — to be lowered away with only 28 people aboard. Near the same time, Boxhall fired off the first of a series of distress rockets. Hope increased when the lights of another ship became visible some 10—16 kilometres (6—10 miles) off the port side.
Lifeboat 5 was the second boat lowered, with some 40 occupants. In command of it was Third Officer Herbert Pittman, whom Murdoch sent so that he could also look after the other boats when they reached the water. Also in the boat was Quartermaster Alfred Olliver, who, as it descended, desperately tried to find the plug for
A I had not heard the Band Playing, but in the distance I could hear people singing ‘For Those in Peril on the Sea’. After a while Mr Webb got all the Lifeboats to keep together as he said there was a better chance to be seen. We transferred our 58 passengers to the other boats, and then started to search for any survivors after the ship had disappeared. Before she sank we could see her well down at the Fore port and her stern well out of the water. Some lights were still showing and continued to do so till she took the final plunge. yy
— A. Pugh
BOTTOM RIGHT: The life-jacket worn by Madeleine Astor. It is now part of the Titanic Historical Society Collection held at the Titanic Museum in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts.
World History
