It had more lifeboats than were required. The Board of Trade regulations simply hadn’t kept up with the rapid expansion in the size of vessels in the previous decades.
Not that it would have mattered, as they didn’t have enough time to properly launch all the boats they did have.
I am just now reading that the addition of four collapsible lifeboats was what went beyond requirements. Two of those boats were not “properly launched”. Collapsible A was washed off the deck with a very few people aboard, and went into the water half submerged. Collapsible B had fallen upside down on the deck while being dismounted and subsequently abandoned, but it floated off (still inverted), and some crew were able to cling to it and survive.
Once “full”, however, they had to shove their crewmates still in the water away to prevent it from capsizing.
Yup. Those collapsibles were stowed on the roof, with pulleys on the funnel guy wire to allow them to be lifted off. Either the crew didn’t know this or they couldn’t find the correct tackle for the operation.
The biggest issue seems to be that the passengers weren’t convinced the ship was actually going down, and were reluctant to sail the Atlantic on the tiny boats.
It had more lifeboats than were required. The Board of Trade regulations simply hadn’t kept up with the rapid expansion in the size of vessels in the previous decades.
Not that it would have mattered, as they didn’t have enough time to properly launch all the boats they did have.
I am just now reading that the addition of four collapsible lifeboats was what went beyond requirements. Two of those boats were not “properly launched”. Collapsible A was washed off the deck with a very few people aboard, and went into the water half submerged. Collapsible B had fallen upside down on the deck while being dismounted and subsequently abandoned, but it floated off (still inverted), and some crew were able to cling to it and survive.
Once “full”, however, they had to shove their crewmates still in the water away to prevent it from capsizing.
Yup. Those collapsibles were stowed on the roof, with pulleys on the funnel guy wire to allow them to be lifted off. Either the crew didn’t know this or they couldn’t find the correct tackle for the operation.
The biggest issue seems to be that the passengers weren’t convinced the ship was actually going down, and were reluctant to sail the Atlantic on the tiny boats.