Insufficient deck crew

[Adam Francis]

Did the ship actually lack the necessary deck crew to launch and crew the lifeboats?

While I'm sure the number of deck crewman was in line with other ships of it's size, it seems that during the sinking they became scarce according to some survivor's accounts (although they may not have known one crewman from another).

I don't remember seeing anything in depth stating that a certain amount of crew were assigned to each boat.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Did the ship actually lack the necessary deck crew to launch and crew the lifeboats?<<

Yes. If you take a look at the crew listings, you'll see that the Deck Department was one of the smallest on the ship. 62 people all told and that included the surgeon as well as the officers. It's not hard to see that they ran out of deck crew long before they ran out of boats, and it's a big reason why some of the boats were despatched with scratch crews of firemen and even passengers!

For day to day operations, the people they had were adaquate. Boats were another matter entirely but then they never expected to actually need them!

 

[David G. Brown]

To launch each boat took six trained sailors.

There were two teams of two men (total four men) on the deck handling the boat falls. One of these men actually "surged" the line over the cruciform bitt to lower the boat while the second man made sure the rope was clear and stood ready to help stop a runaway situation. The boats were divided into two groups, four forward and four aft on each side. A minimum of 16 seamen were needed to simultaneously launch boats port & starboard from each group.

Two more men were required in each boat, one at either end. They had to release the falls at exactly the right moment to prevent capsizing the boat. Looking at these requirements, the ship's 16 regular boats required a minimum of 32 trained sailors to be lowered in them.

The total number of men thus needed to properly handle all of Titanic's 16 lifeboats was 16 plus 32, or 48 hands. And, this is the number of trained sailors carried in Titanic.

— David G. Brown

 

[Adam Francis]

Thanks Michael and David.

David, that is the information I couldn't find. Was crew added to the Olympic when more boats were added to her?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

I don't know if more crew were added. Perhaps a few extra but I wouldn't bet the beer money on it since for the most part, they wouldn't be needed for routine day to day operations, and there were only so many extra berths to put them.

While adding more hands would have been welcome on any ship...as any sailor will cheerfully tell you, you can always use more guys...from the vantage point of the shipowner, the more cost effective solution would be to cross train other members of the crew to deal with boat handling.

As a matter of regulatory reform, ultimately, that was exactly what happened.

 

[David G. Brown]

Michael is correct. While cooks and stewards are not seamen, on today's ships many are trained to be qualified crew for launching and operating lifeboats. This was the only practical way to add trained hands without adding otherwise unnecessary people to the ship's crew.

-- David G. Brown

 

[Adam Francis]

That's kind of what I was thinking.

I wonder if (post sinking) any boat drills involved stokers? Seems like a good source for extra hands during a sinking.

 

[Brad Rousse]

Wasn't it the stokers of Olympic that struck shortly after the sinking to demand more lifeboats?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Wasn't it the stokers of Olympic that struck shortly after the sinking to demand more lifeboats?<<

Yes, but there's a bit more to it then that. Their assertion was that the extra boats were unsafe. I'm not sure they were entirely wrong either. They were sound enough but all the extra boats under the davits were collapsibles and if the experience with the Titanic was any indication, would have been troublesome to launch in extremis.

 

[Dave Gittins]

The collapsibles referred to were Berthon boats, which were pretty well all canvas. They were claimed to be very old relics from troop ships. It was said holes could be poked in them with a finger. The dispute started as an argument over safety but escalated when scab labour was brought in. Men were charged with disobeying lawful orders. A sympathetic judge convicted them without penalty. He thought they were affected by the Titanic affair.}

 

[Stefan Fordham]

There were simply a shortage of able seamen and that's that. Crew from the engine and steward's department weren't really trained in launching these boats; even the deck department had seldom been in these situations.

I believe I remember Lightoller mentioning somewhere that in the latter stages of the sinking, he had to limit the number of sailors per lifeboat.

 

[Jim Currie]

Stefan,

There was an adequate number of seamen to launch these boats. In fact, they were all ABs which is significant. All were highly trained and perfectly capable of launching these boats. The new davits were a God-send. The same number of men were perfectly capable of launching any kind of boat launching system. The problem was not the launching but the manning of the boats once they were in the water.

JC

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Jim, not to argue with your main point which is perfectly valid, but just to keep the record straight I don't think all the deck crew were ABs. I don't have the sheets to hand, but if I remember right a few were signed on as Ordinary Seamen.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Anybody who wishes too can view the Deck Crew list at https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-deck-crew/

I counted 29 AB's and one Ordinary. In fairness, some were in stations such as lookout and Quartermaster which was a higher grade. Cut it any way you like, thems the numbers.

 

[Stefan Fordham]

Jim, yes you're quite right there. I probably didn't word that very well. There was enough to launch all the boats properly, but the problem lies in manning them.