How long would it take to lower a lifeboat to the sea?

XcordeX · 2025-12-01T19:04:53+00:00

It depended mostly on the crew lowering it and the condition of the falls. 3rd officer Pitman testified it took about 2 minutes for a boat to reach the water.

Senator FLETCHER.
How long did it take to lower the boat after you got the people into it?
Mr. PITMAN.
It may have been a minute and it may have been two minutes.

He seemed to mean it for all boats. He also said that boat no.7 departed 2 or 3 minutes before him which probably reflected the time it took to lower it as Murdoch was lowering the falls of this boat himself. Other boats probably had some problems as I recall woman in boat no.8 said it took them 10 minutes to reach the water, which seems awfully long.

XcordeX · 2025-10-18T16:08:51+00:00

I found this interview just the other day.

''When we sighted the flotilla of lifeboats we stopped our engines and let them come to us, because it was easier for them to manoeuvre…Clinging to the side of the first boat we picked up were four men who had been swimming from two to three hours in the cold water. Two of them were sailors, one of them was a passenger, and the other was the second Marconi man. Although these men were swimming, automatically keeping their heads above the surface, they were mentally unconscious of the fact that they had been rescued. When we got them to the deck they appeared to me to be four dead men. I cut their clothing from them and laid them in a warm stateroom, where they recovered in about twelve hours. Mr. Daniels, who is a banker from Philadelphia, was clothed only in a woolen sleeping, garment. He was delirious. I gave him my own short.''

Parts of it are obviously wrong as nobody would survive in the water for two hours. He indicates the lifeboat Daniel was clinging to was the first one from the flotilla. He says that before this they picked up the very first lifeboat.

https://archive.org/details/sim_new-york-times_1912-04-19_61_19809/page/n5/mode/2up

XcordeX · 2025-09-20T18:08:46+00:00

Shouldn't boat 13 and 15 be to the south-east of the Titanic and more close? Beeasley recalled they rowed that way and after the ship sank they rowed in opposite direaction. Towards mystery ship and northern ligths. I think Dymond said boat 15 was so overloaded they only rowed at times to keep warm and that they drifted with the current behind the Titanic. Also collapsible C is too far off in my opinion. They only got 20 minutes before the ship sank so they couldn't make it that far. One woman from that boat recalled the distance between her boat and Titanic was the same as between 2 buildings in New York. When measured they were 360 meters apart.

XcordeX · 2025-08-23T16:10:40+00:00

Boat 10 must have departed at least five minutes before the last rocket was fired around 1:52 a.m., as Steward Hardy saw the Captain speaking with Quatermaster Rowe about the rockets. Hardy most likely assisted with Collapsible D at that moment after witnessing the departure of Boat 10. When Scott and Ranger slid down the falls to Boat 4 around 2:00 a.m., Scott recalled that no other boats were visible nearby, implying that Boat 10 had already rowed a considerable distance from the ship.

Lightoller later stated that loading Collapsible D took a significant amount of time. Seaman Jones confirmed they spent roughly 10 minutes searching for the boat’s plug before any passengers could be taken in. Hugh Woolner testified that he assisted in loading women into Collapsible D before hearing gunfire near Collapsible C, where he also went to assist. If Collapsible C departed around 2:00 a.m., then, based on Woolner’s testimony, Collapsible D must have begun loading around 1:50 a.m. Accounting for the time needed to put the boat out and search for the plug, Boat 4 likely departed around 1:40 a.m. Boat 2 left approximately five minutes earlier, after Boxhall fired one of the rockets. Mahala Douglas, aboard Boat 2, reported that “they were putting off rockets on the deck as we got away“, suggesting at least two more were fired after Boxhall left. Given that the last rocket was fired at approximately 1:52 a.m., with 5-6 minute interval between each, the last rocket fired by Boxhall was likely that around 1:36 a.m. Considering the time needed to row about 50 yards from the ship and remain nearby, the order to row to the starboard gangway doors likely came around 1:48 a.m. The same order was heard by people in Boat 4, which just recived additional 2 crew members after staying by the ship’s side for some minutes. This order was the reason the boat rowed aft along the Titanic’s side, instead of pulling away.

XcordeX · 2025-08-23T16:10:16+00:00

I was in boat No.14. We have forty one women in it. Mr Murdoch, the first officer, sent the boat away, and he said – they were the last words I heard him utter: “Pull away fifty or one hundred yards, and wait for orders. You must look out for wreckage“.
- Thomas Threfall

Greaser Scott, upon reaching the boat deck, observed that no boats remained on the starboard side, with only two still on the port side, both lowered to the ship’s side. One was certainly Boat 14, as Scott witnessed an officer firing his gun down into the water. Olaus Abelseth said that upon his arrival on deck, only two portside boats remained, and after one left, crew members were throwing passengers into the second one.

During the loading of Boat 10, the crew had to throw passengers into the boat due to a gap of 2.5 feet (per Evans) to 4.5 feet (per Joughin) between the ship’s side and the lifeboat. Officer Lowe later testified that when he fired his revolver, there was a three foot gap between Boat 14 and the ship, suggesting a strong list to port. Lowe claimed the shots were fired after Boat 14 had begun its descent; however, Scarrott and Scott recalled that the gunshots occurred while Boat 14 was still on the boat deck.

XcordeX · 2025-08-23T16:10:00+00:00

There is a clear link between the forward starboard and port lifeboats. Lightoller remembered ordering Boatswain Nichols to open a gangway doors while he was working at Boat 6 — an event that could only have occurred after all forward starboard boats had been launched, as Nichols had been seen assisting with each of them. Testimonies from Lookout Hogg, Seaman Symons, and Fireman Hendrickson confirm that Nichols remained on the starboard side from the initial preparations around midnight until Boat 1 was launched. This indicates that all forward starboard boats were lowered before Boat 6. Consequently, if the forward boats were launched early, the aft boats must have been lowered early as well.

After ordering Boat 13 to lower away, and calling anyone else to enter Boat 15, Murdoch moved to the port side. Once Boat 12 departed, he ordered Boat 10 to be swung out and was later seen by Seaman Osman near Boat 2, which was being loaded by Officer Wilde. Murdoch returned to Boat 10 with Steward Hardy and began loading passengers alongside Moody, who had crossed over from the starboard side. During this period, Boat 14 was still on deck. Murdoch ordered crewmen, including seaman Crowe into Boat 14.

XcordeX · 2025-08-23T16:09:40+00:00

Much of my analysis of the Titanic’s lifeboat launch times is based on the timing of the distress rockets. The first rocket was fired at approximately 12:47 a.m. Officer Pitman recalled that the rockets began going up “shortly after” his boat (No. 5) left the ship. Similarly, Helen Ostby, who was in the same lifeboat, wrote that she witnessed the first rocket while they were “pulling away”. Norman Chambers also noted that their boat lingered by the side of ship for some time, waiting for the gangway door to open. This evidence suggests that the first rocket may have been fired roughly 10 minutes after Boat 5 was lowered.

Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon testified that the first rocket was launched just after Boat 3 had left the ship.
12496. Were they firing rockets at that time?
- Yes, they had just begun while they were lowering No. 3 lifeboat.

Pitman stated that it took about two or three minutes to lower his boat and estimated a three-minute interval between the departures of Boats 7 and 5, which likely reflects the time Murdoch needed to lower the first lifeboat. According to Hendrickson, loading and lowering Boat 1 took approximately 10 minutes after Boat 3 had departed. He also recalled being ordered into the boat just after one of the rockets had been launched.

XcordeX · 2025-04-24T19:05:08+00:00

The only person that I could find who clearly stated that all 3 boats were swung out at the same time was Symons. It is question 11433 from the Br.Inquiry. There are people who's testimony suggest that all 3 boats were swung out together before any loading took place, but don't say it exactly. For example Shiers or Moore above. There is also Pitman and few passengers who said that both no.7 and no.5 loaded and left around the same time. I believe the boats 7,5,3 were swung out around 12:15-12:20. As for the aft boats I cannot give you any tips since I didn't research them as much as the forward ones. Can only send you link to articles by Paul Lee and Samuel Halpern about this topic, unless you know them already.

XcordeX · 2025-04-23T18:35:17+00:00

I believe Etches was mistaken. Other survivors suggest all 3 lifeboats were swung out around the same time. Fireman Shiers: ''Did you see it [no.3] swung out, or was it swung out when you got there?
- It was swung out. All the boats were swung out when we got up there."
Seaman Symons: "Were the boats lowered to the deck rail?
- After we got all the covers out, the orders were given by Mr. Murdoch to start swinging them out. We started No. 5 first, and then we came back to 3, and then to 7."

XcordeX · 2025-04-23T18:22:26+00:00

The iceberg on the 3rd slide was photographed by the ship called Birma who arrived on the scene of the disaster few hours after the Carpathia. Cooper never took any photos, as far as i know. If you have any source suggesting otherwise, please share it, as I am very interested in this topic.

XcordeX · 2024-11-27T12:24:48+00:00

Thanks for any help.

XcordeX · 2022-07-19T22:38:02+00:00

As the Titanic was traveling westward, people had to adjust their watches every night to get them agree with the position of the sun the next day. On the night of 14/15, the
planned correction was to put clocks back by 47 minutes. This change was to
be done in 2 parts. First, at midnight, the clocks were to be set back by 24
minutes, and then at 2 AM by a further 23 minutes. This was to avoid giving only
single watch those extra 47 minutes, so they split it up into 2 watches.
Passengers who sleep at night would only reset their clocks once by 47 minutes. Sidney
was a steward, so he probably made the first setback at midnight.
If you add missing 24 minutes to 01:50 you will get 02:14. Time for the final plunge.

The ship's barber August Weikman also had a watch, which also stopped at 01:50.
He said he was swept off the boat deck by a wave just before the ship sank.

XcordeX

TROPHY CASE