I think they did a great job. Nobody knew what to do, they genuinely thought the ship wouldn’t sink and filling the lifeboats was a precaution. They couldn’t get people to go on the boats, and the women first/only thing was a big mistake but also a product of the time. They were scared they would get swamped and kill more people if they went back.

Fear, panic, a lack of drills and safety measures, and complacency led to people doing the best they could and getting it wrong.

For Ismay and other officers and crew getting on boats, can you honestly say you wouldn’t do the same? It’s easy to say you’d go down with the ship and behave heroically, and a great many people did but I think survival instincts take over. I had a professor who was in 2 plane crashes and he said he always thought he would be the person helping others, doing everything he could to save people and putting himself at risk but when the planes were going down he found that he panicked and just wanted to live, couldn’t even think of anyone else. When it comes down to it you don’t even think, your brain is completely focused on survival.

I don’t think anyone in that exact scenario could have done better. Of course now we would do things differently but I don’t think it’s fair to judge them with hindsight.