Did some passengers in the lifeboats turn away from the Titanic during the last moments?

[Dan Kappes]

I know Ismay did, because he didn't want to see the ship go down.

I think some other passengers in the lifeboats turned away also, does anyone know names of survivors who did?

 

[Kyle Naber]

I can’t think of any names, but I know a great deal of them would have. It was too traumatic to see all that was going down for many.

 

[Seumas]

Had I been in one of the boats I certainly don't think I would have it in me to have looked.

I always felt really sorry for the members of the ships's crew in the boats whose shipmates included family members. Was their brother, brother-in-law or cousin still on the ship as she made "the final plunge" or if they had made it into one of the boats ?

No doubt dreading the real prospect of having to go back home to Southampton and have that long, awkward, heartbreaking conversation with their elderly mother or father, or sister etc that "the last I saw of our Bill, he was putting bread into one of the boats" or "the officer ordered me to stay in the boat and your Jim went aft, I never saw him again."

 

[Kyle Naber]

Had I been in one of the boats I certainly don't think I would have it in me to have looked.

I think I would have done the same. But you never really know until you’re in the moment. Sometimes you can’t look away.

 

[Dan Kappes]

I think I'd have looked. Every time I watch ANTR, the 97 film, and even the real-time sinking video on YouTube, I look intensely at it, and remember if it breaks in two or not.

If I was on a spaceship leaving Earth before it was destroyed, I'd probably not look, unlike the kid in this video.

 

[Brad Rousse]

I think I'd have looked. Every time I watch ANTR, the 97 film, and even the real-time sinking video on YouTube, I look intensely at it, and remember if it breaks in two or not.

This isn't a fair comparison. You're watching a recreation far after the fact with hindsight and expectations in the comfort of home. The people in the boats are watching a very real tragedy in real time.

 

[Dan Kappes]

I guess the only people who wouldn't look away from the sinking liner are those who didn't have family on board.

And I remember some people saying they looked away from the burning World Trade Center on 9/11.

I guess people can only stand to watch a tragedy for so long. It's hard even being at someone's deathbed.