#ewardian

In contrast to popular belief, there was precaution taken in regard to the lifeboats of Titanic deliberate consideration for the passengers’ safety, justifying the empty seats that were never filled as the lifeboats dropped into the North Atlantic.

The floating capacity was limited to a maximum of 65 persons per each lifeboat, with a few exceptions being the collapsable lifeboats, which were smaller and held less passengers. In the case of the sinking of Titanic, many lifeboats were barely halfway filled, if even, as they were detached from the ship. The lifeboat with the most passengers was astonishingly over the recommended 65 by one or two, but was a special case, as the majority were fairly empty.

Most of us see the lack of people in the half-filled life boats as a fatal error, a foolish decision made by the crew that resulted in the loss of even more lives, but it is not necessarily so. The maximum floating capacity was 65, but the lowering capacity was much less. There were only two crew members lowering each lifeboat at a time. Lowering a lifeboat was a difficult process, time consuming, taxing on the body, and no doubt scary. The lives of those in the boats were entrusted to the two men that lowered them down the several stories of Titanic into the black ocean. This meant that if any one of their strength failed (and keep in mind that they were lowering it manually by rope as the technology of the time allowed) everyone in the lifeboat would fall to an icy death. So, to avoid losing more lives, they did not fill the boats to their full capacity, which reduced their weight, making the job more manageable for the crew.

As Titanic sank it became more and more tilted as time passed, and quickly too. This made lowering the vessels even more challenging. Restrictions placed on the amount of passengers per boat was a safety precaution and not a lapse in judgment. It is worth it to consider what might have happened if the lifeboats were completely filled and how many more live could have been lost that night if a rope slipped.