Cabins and berths
- Thread starter Ann
- Start date
-
- Tags
- cabins kitchen crew staff
Jay Roches
Member
Most of the kitchen crew, as well as the stewards and waiters, had cabins on E Deck on the port side, along the long working alleyway known as Scotland Road. You can see their cabins on this plan of E Deck. The a la carte restaurant staff had their quarters furthest aft on E Deck, and there are stories (I am not sure how credible, but the story appears in many books) that most of the restaurant staff were locked in their cabins during the sinking. In general the kitchen crew had cabins closer amidships and the stewards were further forward. There was something of a hierarchy in accommodations, with more senior staff occupying smaller cabins. The chef had his own cabin, some cooks shared cabins for four, and the more general cooks had cabins for as many as 12.
For the First Class galley, kitchen staff could climb a staircase located amidships that would take them directly from their quarters to the galley. The Third Class galley was on F Deck but most Third Class kitchen staff had their accommodations close by on F Deck.
There were only 23 women among the crew. Most were stewardesses. Two of the a la carte restaurant staff were women (IIRC they were cashiers) and the Turkish Bath masseuses also numbered among the 23. 21 of the 23 women survived.
For the First Class galley, kitchen staff could climb a staircase located amidships that would take them directly from their quarters to the galley. The Third Class galley was on F Deck but most Third Class kitchen staff had their accommodations close by on F Deck.
There were only 23 women among the crew. Most were stewardesses. Two of the a la carte restaurant staff were women (IIRC they were cashiers) and the Turkish Bath masseuses also numbered among the 23. 21 of the 23 women survived.
Bob Godfrey
Member
I agree with Athlen's total of 23 women working on board, but the total for the survivors was 20. The three victims were Catherine Wallis (3rd Class Matron), Katherine Walsh and Lucy Snape (2nd Class stewardesses).
Jay Roches
Member
Thanks for the correction, Bob. I did miss one.
Rio Amazoco
Member
Could somebody enlighten me as to where the "ordinary" butchers were quartered? I found stewards, waiters, bakers, even scullions and plate washers on the deck plan ... but no butchers other than the Chief Butcher.
Thomas Krom
Member
They were berthed on F-deck, behind the port side third class pantry beside the dormitory for the bakers.
Rio Amazoco
Member
Thank you very much ... so this cabin is wrongly labelled on the deck plan? The plan says "6 Bakers" and "8 Bakers" ... I would assume it should be "6 Butchers" and "8 Bakers"? But even then, isn't there someone missing?
E-Deck:
Chief Butcher
Chief Baker
2nd Baker (apparently also wrongly labelled "2nd Butcher" on the plan)
Confectioner
F-Deck:
6 Butchers
8 Bakers
But shouldn't it be 14 bakers and 8 Butchers? There are still missing one butcher and three bakers, as it seems?
E-Deck:
Chief Butcher
Chief Baker
2nd Baker (apparently also wrongly labelled "2nd Butcher" on the plan)
Confectioner
F-Deck:
6 Butchers
8 Bakers
But shouldn't it be 14 bakers and 8 Butchers? There are still missing one butcher and three bakers, as it seems?
Arun Vajpey
Member
One source of numerical confusion among the Titanic bakers is frequent inclusion of the non-existent survivor, the "Chief Night Baker" Walter Belford. He is mentioned in several works including A Night To Remember; there was such a man but he got nowhere near the Titanic. He probably was not even a baker.
Rio Amazoco
Member
Maybe, but Samuel Halpern once compiled a list of bakers without Belford, and their number was still 14. Also, regardless of one person missing, his empty berth should have been on the ship anyway. So I'm still wondering where the missing bakers were quartered ...
Thomas Krom
Member
There were indeed 14 bakers (confectioners included), these being:
Chief baker Charles John Joughin (1878-1956)
Second baker John Robert Giles (1879-1912)
Extra second baker John James Davis (1884-1912)
Third baker William Edward Hine (1876-1912)
Extra third baker Charles Burgess (1893-1960)
Vienna baker George William Feltham (1870-1912)
Assistant Baker George Henry Chitty (1862-1912)
Assistant Baker Harold Bentley Neal (1886-1950)
Assistant Baker James William Smith (1887-1912)
Assistant Baker Percy Wake (1874-1912)
Assistant Baker Frederick Charles Barnes (1872-1912)
Assistant baker Albert Vale Barker (1893-1912)
Confectioner Ernest John Farenden (1890-1912)
Assistant confectioner Archibald Leader (1889-1912)
As well as eight butchers:
Chief butcher Alfred Maytum (1859-1912)
Second Butcher Thomas Topp (1884-1912)
Third Butcher Frank John Roberts (1875-1912)
Assistant Butcher Charles Henry John Barrow (1876-1912)
Assistant Butcher Herbert George Ernest Hensford (1885-1912)
Assistant Butcher Christopher Mills (1860-1930)
Assistant Butcher Thomas Henry Porteus (1878-1912)
Assistant Butcher William Aubrey Willsher (1878-1912)
On the Titanic her official general plan, which has no furniture layout, shows that the capacity of the butchers dormitory compared to the Olympic was increased from 6 to 8. With the chief butcher being in his own E-deck cabin it would mean that there was enough space for all the 7 additional butchers.
However, on this same plan is states that the dormitory for the bakers had one bunk bed removed, making the capacity 6 instead of 8 bakers. However, according to the surveys by Francis Carruthers, the Surveyor of the Board of Trade tasked to oversee the construction of the Titanic in Belfast, both dormitories were certified for eight people.
With Joughin (who switched rooms with Farenden), Giles and Farenden (who switched rooms with Joughin) on E-deck that means that the rest were on E-deck. It must be noted that according to Extra third baker Burgess his press statements in Plymouth that there were night shifts amongst the bakers, which means it is possible beds were shared.
Rio Amazoco
Member
Thank you. I also noticed that there are berths simply marked with "Crew" or "Extra Beds" (e.g. in the room with the 2nd Class and 3rd Class cooks farther forward on E-Deck), so obviously no one had to sleep on the floor.
