Titanic Survivors of Lifeboats Four, Five and Six

Work in Progress

There were Twenty Lifeboats aboard the Titanic on that fateful journey that ended so disastrously. The ship was built with all the most up to date safety measures however there were only enough lifeboats to carry a fraction of the passengers and crew should the unthinkable happen which did happen.

Had the twenty been used as intended they could have carried 1,178 of the 2,224 on board. The total number of survivors on the night of 14-15 April 1912 was only 706.

The aim of this group of projects is to list those survivors linked to the lifeboat they were rescued in so that we can get a clearer picture of who experienced that nightmare together and what their reactions were under such severe stress and fear.

This project will list those survivors who were in Lifeboats One, Two, and Three and attempt to describe the unthinkable nightmare they would have experienced, though mere words will be inadequate.

Order of Lifeboat Launches

1. Boat 7 (starboard)
2. Boat 5 (starboard)
3. Boat 3 (starboard)
4. Boat 8 (port)
5. Boat 1 (starboard)
6. Boat 6 (port)
7. Boat 16 (port)
8. Boat 14 (port)
9. Boat 12 (port)
10. Boat 9 (starboard)
11. Boat 11 (starboard)
12. Boat 13 (starboard)
13. Boat 15 (starboard)
14. Boat 2 (port)
15. Boat 10 (port)
16. Boat 4 (port)
17. Collapsible Boat C (starboard)
18. Collapsible Boat D (port)
19. Collapsible Boat B (port)
20. Collapsible Boat A (starboard)

Lifeboat Four

Lifeboat 4 was launchedat the same time as boat 10, last of the wooden lifeboats, and Lightoller put Quartermaster Walter Perkis in charge of it. As it was lowered it is thought that it contained 40 women and children and two or three crewmembers however it went on to collect Thomas Ranger and Frederick William Scott who climbed down from the davits of boat 16 and lamp trimmer Samuel Ernest Hemming who climbed down from another boat's davit and swam about 200 metres to boat 4 which was also the only boat to immediately return following the sinking of the Titanic to save people from the water. It picked up a further 6 or 7 men from the water and later some occupants of Boat 14 and Collapsible Boat D were transferred to boat 4 meaning that when it was finally rescued by the Carpathia at 8:00 am there were about 60 occupants.

Occupants:

• John Foley
• Madeleine Astor, the pregnant wife of the American millionaire John Jacob Astor who did not survive the disastor
• Mrs. Emily Ryerson, the two daughters, a maid and governess. The son, John, was not allowed, until the father, Arthur Ryerson, contested the decision, proclaiming, "Of course, that boy goes with his mother. He is only 13." the father, who dutifully stayed behind did not survive.
• Thomas Ranger
• Frederick William Scott
• Samuel Ernest Hemming
• Steward Sidney Conrad Siebert later died of exposure
• William Henry Lyons later died of exposure on the Carpathia
• fireman Thomas Patrick Dillon
• William McCarthy
• steward Andrew Cunningham
• storekeeper Frank Winnold Prentice
• Walter John Perkis
• unidentified swimmers

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Lifeboat Five

Lifeboat 5, from the starboard side was the second to be lowered. Third Officer Pitman assisted Murdoch and Lowe loading the boat with mainly women and children but also with some husbands. Lowering the boat was a slow process due to the recently painted ropes causing sticking.It is thought there were 36 on board when the boat was lowered but following the sinking some 5 or 6 people were transferred to boat 7 leaving about 30 aboard by the time they were rescued by the Carpathia. Herbert Pitman would have wished to rescue some of the people in the water following the sinking and spent his life regretting allowing the women in boat 5 to dissuade him.

Occupants

• Karl Behr, American tennis star and banker
• Annie May Stengel, who was knocked unconscious and broke two ribs when overweight First Class passenger H.W. Frauenthal jumped on top of her into the lifeboat as it was being lowered.
• Third Officer Herbert Pitman, put in charge of the boat by Murdoch
• Mrs Dodge
• Quartermaster Alfred Olliver

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Lifeboat Six

One occupant of Lifeboat Six, Margaret Brown later described the scene in an interview with The New York Times:

The whole thing was so formal that it was difficult for anyone to realise it was a tragedy. Men and women stood in little groups and talked. Some laughed as the boats went over the side. All the time the band was playing ... I can see the men up on deck tucking in the women and smiling. It was a strange night. It all seemed like a play, like a dream that was being executed for entertainment. It did not seem real. Men would say 'After you' as they made some woman comfortable and stepped back.

Frederick Fleet and Robert Hitchens were in charge of Boat Six. As a port side lifeboat no men were allowed as passengers by Lightoller but followling pleas from the ladies on board for another male to row Major Arthur Godfrey Peuchen volunteered citing his membership of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club as just qualification. It seems there was a personality clash between Hitchens and Major Peuchen or possiblky Hitchens felt threatened by Peuchen as they argued creating tensions in the boat through the night. Following the sinking of the ship and pleas to rescue Hitchens ordered the rowers to stop and retorted "There's no use going back,there's only a lot of stiffs out there," adding: "It's our lives now, not theirs."

When Margaret "Molly" Brown requested that the ladies be allowed to row in an attempt to keep warm Hitchens was not going to allow it but she started to pass the oars round regardless. When Hitchens tried to physically prevent her from doing so she threatened to throw him overboard. Despite Brown having the support of others in the boat Hitchen continued to swear and shocking a stoker into saying "Don't you know you're talking to a lady?" Magaret got the support of Helen Candee who, despite having broken her ankle getting into the lifeboat insisted on helping with rowing. Brown became known as the "unsinkable Molly Brown" when this story became public.

Occupants

• Helen Churchill Candee D.C. writer and feminist
• Margaret Brown
• Quartermaster Robert Hitchens
• Lookout Frederick Fleet
• Major Arthur Godfrey Peuchen of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club

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