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Analysing Titanic's Lifeboat Loadings


Titanic's LifeboatsOne of the most controversial aspects of Titanic's sinking was the amount of lifeboats that were under filled, a terrible fact when you consider that there were not enough places for everybody even if every lifeboat had been launched with a full complement.

There are different ways of looking at the figures, but I've broken them down to show the most 'efficient' loading officer, and the differences between the loading of Port and Starboard lifeboats. It's not designed to point fingers or tarnish reputations, it's just a simple breakdown of the rather basic information available.

I've not included the lifeboats collapsibles A and B, as they simply floated-off, so there are only actually 18 lifeboats analyzed.

It's also worth pointing out that some of the officers were under the mistaken impression that lowering a lifeboat with a full complement of people would buckle the lifeboat, and on a couple of occasions, lifeboat were told to 'stand by' to pick up more people, either from the water, or from Titanic's aft gangway doors, for example. The lifeboats had in fact been tested at Harland & Wolff's Belfast yard, loaded with sandbags to the full capacity of the lifeboat, without any signs of buckling or damage at all.

Loading Officer
Boats Loaded
Actual Seats
Actual People
Percentage Filled
Lightoller 6,8,10,12,D (4 x 65) + (1 x 47) = 307 145 47.23%
Lowe 14 (1 x 65) = 65 58 89.23%
Moody 13,16 (2 x 65) = 130 105 80.76%
Murdoch 1,3,4,5,7,9,11,15 (1 x 40) + (7 x 65) = 495 331 66.86%
Wilde 2,C (1 x 40) + (1 x 47) = 87 69 79.31%
Totals 18* 1084* 708 65.31%
Side Of Ship Actual Seats Actual People Percentage Filled
Port (1 x 40) + (1 x 47) + (7 x 65) = 542* 300 55.35%
Starboard (1 x 40) + (1 x 47) + (7 x 65) = 542* 408 75.27%
Totals 1084*
Notes:
* Collapsibles A and B omitted as they floated free, and are not included in any of the figures above.
An Emergency Cutter (Nos. 1 & 2) has seats for 40.
A Standard Lifeboat (Nos. 3 - 16) has seats for 65.
A Collapsible Lifeboat (A, B, C & D) has seats for 47.
Even numbers and Collapsibles B & D are port-side, odd numbers and Collapsibles A & C are starboard.

Related Reading: Lifeboats And Their Construction | Lifeboat Lowering Sequence & Times | Ratio Of Lost And Saved Passengers And Crew

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