Titanic’s
Lifeboats
When the Titanic
sale on her Maiden
Voyage she did not
have enough lifeboats for all the passengers and crew. The
White Star Line had decided to put only 20 lifeboats on board
instead of the 48 that Harland and Wolff had suggested. This
meant that the lifeboats, if filled, could only take 52% of
those on board.
This may seem shocking but Titanic did have more than the
legal requirement for the time.
One of the most controversial aspects of the Titanic disaster
was the under filling of the lifeboats especially if you consider
that even when full they could not take all the passengers.
Loading
officer
Lightroller
Boats Loaded Actual
Actual
seats
people
4 standard
4 x 65
145
1 collapsible
1x 47
= 307
Lowe
1 standard
65
58
Moody
2 standard
2 x 65
105
=130
Murdoch
7 standard
7 x 65
331
1 emergency 1 x 40
= 495
Wilde
1 collapsible
1 x 47
69
1 emergency 1 x 40
= 69
Total
18
1084
708
2 collapsible floated away with no one on board.
Source A – Titanic-Titanic.com website
% filled
47%
89%
81%
67%
79%
65%
Task A: The Lifeboats
Copy the above heading.
Answer the following questions in sentences –
1) How many lifeboats did the Titanic have?
2) Who wanted more lifeboats?
3) What % could have been saved on the night of the
disaster if all the lifeboats had been filled?
4) Who in your opinion was the best officer at loading the
lifeboats – think not just about % filled but also the
number of boats launched. Explain your answer.
5) Can you think of any reasons why the lifeboats were not
fully filled?
6) Draw a bar graph to show the % filled by each of the
Officers. Remember to put in a heading and label both
axes. Colour code the officers.
7) Now draw a bar chart of the number of lifeboats
launched by each officer. (heading, axes, same colour
code)
Truth and Fiction
William Murdoch - First Officer of the Titanic
The release of the Hollywood Titanic film by Cameron yet again brought
the actions of the crew under public scrutiny. Unfortunately, this has also
perpetuated myths about the principal officers such as Captain Smith and
his First Officer William Murdoch. The film has incorrectly portrayed
Murdoch as a man who committed suicide by shooting himself for being
responsible for the collision.
Source B – Dalbeattie (Scotland) town website – Home town of Murdoch
In the film Murdoch is shown taking a bribe, shooting a passenger and
then killing himself. Titanic Historians say that none of these events are
true. Passenger reports say that Murdoch remained calm throughout and
help to save many lives. He stayed on board the ship throwing deck chairs
over board for passengers already in the water. He drowned when the
ship when down. The Titanic Filmmakers ending up giving $8,340 to a
Murdoch Memorial fund set up in the town.
Another error in the film are the scenes showing crew keeping the third
class passengers locked below deck. The Official Inquiry into the disaster
found that Third class passengers were not prevented from getting to
the lifeboats. Many Third class passengers had refused to leave their
cabins thinking the ship to be unsinkable.
Task 2: Truth and Fiction
1) Where was Murdoch from?
2) Can you think of any reasons why source B might be biased?
3) Outline the difference between Murdoch’s character in the film
and the information given above.
4) What other inaccuracies are there in the film?
5) In both the films you have watched in S2 you have seen
inaccuracies. Write a paragraph about the problems of inaccuracies
in films based on real historical events.
6) Try to write a list of Historical film – are there any you know of
where the story has also been changed to suit the Filmmakers?