Common sense and logicrefusal to get into a lifeboat

[Jeff Brebner]

I worked on an offshore oil rig in the Aleutians in the early 80's. We had drills all the time. Fire, lifeboat, h2s... We all knew what to do and what the various alarms meant. One day we had a real fire. Nothing serious - a small fire in a locker that was quickly put out - but it's a whole different experience when they say on the PA, "This is NOT a drill!" One of my co-workers was so paniced that I had to grab him by his collar and steer him to our station, and he'd done these drills 100 times more often than I. You just never know how you'll react.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>You just never know how you'll react.<<

Some people don't do well under duress of any kind. To a point, it's understandable because it's one thing to go through some drills and quite another to find yourself dealing with the real thing and realizing "Damn! This could really kill me!"

Fortunately, nobody on my first ship came unglued when we had the real thing happen down in Four Main Machinary Room. Not in my repair locker anyway. We had drilled on a nearly constant basis so that we knew what we were doing. Even knowing that things were out of control, we knew we had the training and the resources to get it all under control and that, in my opinion, made a major difference.

 

[Trista Holland]

I would panic. I have a 1yr old and a 6yr old that would have been coming with me. I would shove and kick till I got in a boat, even being in 3rd class.

 

[mozartbeatle]

PLEASE,I KNOW THAT WHAT I AM GOING TO SAY IS NOT RELATED TO THE TOPIC, BUT I HAVE A QUESTION.
AT FIRST MANY FIRST AND SECOND CLASS PASSENGERS DIDNT BELIEVE THAT THE SHIP WAS ACTUALLY SINKING AND THOUGHT THAT IT WASN'T A GOOD IDEA TO ABANDON THE WARM AND WELL LIT TITANIC, BUT LATER THEY REALIZED THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE SITUATION AND PANIC BROKE OUT. WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN? WHEN DID THE MOOD ON BOARD CHANGE?

[Moderator's Note: This message was originally posted to the "Did Coal Contribute To Titanic's Port List?" thread, to which it is completely unrelated, and has been moved to this thread addressing a related subject. MAB]

 

[Mark Baber]

1. Please note what I told you here about using all capitals.

2. Also note what I wrote here about using only a first name. Please modify your registration accordingly or contact a moderator.

3. Please don't plop messages down indiscriminately into threads you know they don't relate to. If you can't find an appropriate thread, contact a moderator for assistance.