Lifeboat food

[ScottyBK]

I know Joughin came on deck and put bread in some of the lifeboats. Would he have brought butter etc.too? Was the head chef also supposed to stock the boats with say cold meats, Cheese, things like that? I never heard of anyone but Joughin fooding the boats. Were the kitchen workers on boat crew supposed to bring the food to the boat stations?

I realize you can't expect a 4 course meal on the lifeboat , but some cold meat and such would seem a good idea. Lifeboats today Im sure have freeze dried food enough to supply 2000 calories per day, also baby formula, desalination machines, etc.

 

[Steven Christian]

Titanic's lifeboats were supposed to be stocked with provisions but most weren't or had very little. It would have been most likely tins of biscuits and water that had a long shelf life. BOT regs were weak in those days and probably left up to the individual shipping commpanies but don't quote me on that. They wouldn't be stocked up with food that would go bad in a day or 2. It probably wasn't a priority because like many have pointed out they viewed the lifeboats as transports to get from one ship to another in a matter of hours...not a swiss family robison scenario. I have read that today during some lifeboat drills they will point out that it's ok to stuff your pockets with food..candy/granola bars...ect. I think in that situation if I could that might included a pint of Jack. Of course one would have to be willing to share. Cheers.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Titanic's lifeboats were supposed to be stocked with provisions but most weren't or had very little.

That's probably because the delays and disruption caused to its maiden voyage due to the Olympic-Hawke incident, the coal strike etc. I read somewhere that Thomas Andrews was giving instructions about decor of rooms etc right up to the day before departure. I guess with so many things in mind, they simply did not consider the need to provide lifeboats with supplies.

It would have been most likely tins of biscuits and water that had a long shelf life.

I have always wondered, what were the ingredients of a "ship's biscuit" in those days? As a matter of fact, even today I think the Americans call our sort of biscuits as "cookies" while a 'biscuit' is some sort of farmhouse product. I have eaten some of those in the US and they are quite good with a mug of strong coffee in the morning or afternoon.

I would have thought the might have provided fruit like apples and oranges in lifeboats. They have a good shelf life at least for the duration of the voyage under those coldish conditions.

 

[ScottyBK]

In America "cookies" are a desset item/treat, like "chocolate chip cookies." Biscuits here are eaten with dinner, sort of like small pieces of bread.

I agree that fruits woud be a good idea., also some savory item like a nice rib or joint of cold beef. Maybe even a small oil stove so that if it came to it they could cook and warm up foods whilst onboard.

 

[Steven Christian]

That's probably because the delays and disruption caused to its maiden voyage due to the Olympic-Hawke incident, the coal strike etc. I read somewhere that Thomas Andrews was giving instructions about decor of rooms etc right up to the day before departure. I guess with so many things in mind, they simply did not consider the need to provide lifeboats with supplies.


I have always wondered, what were the ingredients of a "ship's biscuit" in those days? As a matter of fact, even today I think the Americans call our sort of biscuits as "cookies" while a 'biscuit' is some sort of farmhouse product. I have eaten some of those in the US and they are quite good with a mug of strong coffee in the morning or afternoon.

I would have thought the might have provided fruit like apples and oranges in lifeboats. They have a good shelf life at least for the duration of the voyage under those coldish conditions.

To me regular biscuits are what you bake in the oven or a kettle when out camping...covered in gravy and in my case a healthy dose of tabasco sauce. But survival biscuits at leastt to me are more like hard tack. They'll last for 20 years in tins. But for you and ScottyBK if interested I ran across this looking for something else. From the British Inquiery.

The Commissioner:
I suppose he only says that because he only saw some women come up. Some certainly did come up and got into his boat.


3648. (Mr. Cotter.) You are not sure what was going on down below?
- No.


3649. You say the second steward, Mr. Dodd, came back with a dust coat over his head?
- Yes, he had his dust coat in his hand and gave me his lifebelt, and did not come back for it.


3650. Did he give any orders?
- No, he gave orders in the glory hole; he had no business to give orders on the deck.


3651. Are you sure he had no right to give orders to the steward department on deck?
- Certainly not; it is under the Officers, that.


3652. Now when you got into the boat did you find any biscuits and water there?
- No. I trampled over a loaf of bread, a big pan loaf; there were biscuits carried up, but nobody seemed to care to put them in.


3653. Who carried the biscuits up?
- Williams had one box - Billy Williams - and there might have been four or five boxes carried up through the companion way. They were shoving each other on.


3654. There were some stewards bringing the stores up?
- Yes, they were bringing the stores up.

TIP | British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry | Day 5 | Testimony of James Johnson, cont.

Electronic - Fully Searchable - transcripts of the complete U.S. Senate and British Board of Trade inquiries, and reports, into the sinking of the S.S. 'Titanic.'

www.titanicinquiry.org

 

[ScottyBK]

I wonder when the Carpathia brought the boats up if they threw the bread and such overboard ? It had to be kind of stale by then, I mean whatever wasn't eaten whilst they were still in/on the lifeboats.

 

[ScottyBK]

I recall reading that there were lifeboat instructions etc posted in the bulletin board in the kitchen. I wonder if maybe there were directions there for fooding the boats? In a total loss situation like Titanic it's a shame to let all that food become fish food, they had expensive prime meats, fois gras, waldorf pudding etc. I wonder if there was one lifeboat that was supposed to sort of act like a floating galley to be filled with food and a couple cooks etc. The idea being the lifeboats would be a flotilla and one boat would serve as the food boat.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

I wonder if there was one lifeboat that was supposed to sort of act like a floating galley to be filled with food and a couple cooks etc.

Nope. Not at all. Lifeboats were not intended for long duration survival. They were made to facilitate evacuating the passengers and crew from a distressed vessel to a rescue vessel. If they boats had to serve long term, the need would be to have nonperishable foods and sealed tins of water.

 

[Baltic sea car ferry fan]

I have read somewhere, that the equipment of the lifeboats was stored in containers outside the lifeboats, and during the sinking, they were mostly not taken from the ship. So basically the only equipment on the lifeboats were oars.

 

[James T. Shorter]

They were made to facilitate evacuating the passengers and crew from a distressed vessel to a rescue vessel

The idea at the time was that Titanic could be her own lifeboat and that she could stay afloat until another ship arrived on scene they couldn't fathom any damage that would cause her to sink faster than rescue could arrive. So in a sense they wouldn't have seen the need for a long term lifeboat or one that would have enough food and water to last a week or two

regards

-James T. Shorter

 

[Bob Read]

The 16 wooden lifeboats had biscuit tanks and water breakers. The water breakers were regularly refilled but I don’t know about the biscuit tanks. I would think that both would have been inspected for adequate provisions by the BoT while she received her final inspection in Southampton.

 

[Steven Christian]

I have read somewhere, that the equipment of the lifeboats was stored in containers outside the lifeboats, and during the sinking, they were mostly not taken from the ship. So basically the only equipment on the lifeboats were oars.

From the article below. Normally I don't like using Wiki but I'm being lazy today. Cheers.
They were fitted with a variety of equipment to aid the occupants, comprising 10 oars, a sea anchor, two bailers, a painter (effectively a tow-rope) 150 feet (46 m) long, two boat-hooks, two 10 imperial gallons (45 L) tanks of fresh water, a mast and sail, a compass, a lantern and watertight metal provision tanks which contained biscuits.[4] This equipment was not kept in the boats for fear of theft, but in locked boxes on the deck. In many cases, the equipment was not transferred to the boats when they were launched on 15 April and ended up going down with the ship.

Lifeboats of the Titanic - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Bob Read]

One part that is definitely wrong in the article is that the equipment mentioned except for the biscuit tanks was absolutely kept in the boats. There was no fear of theft because the boats were covered with canvas boat covers. There were a few items of equipment which were not kept on the boats like lanterns, boat compasses and biscuit tanks which were kept in the wheelhouse.

 

[Steven Christian]

One part that is definitely wrong in the article is that the equipment mentioned except for the biscuit tanks was absolutely kept in the boats. There was no fear of theft because the boats were covered with canvas boat covers. There were a few items of equipment which were not kept on the boats like lanterns, boat compasses and biscuit tanks which were kept in the wheelhouse.

Yes they did not make that clear as to what was stored separate from the boats. I don't think they were worried about somebody trying to steal oars or a sail. But I understand why the did it. On my ship there was a routine to check the emergency stores. Because they often got raided...mostly for the cigarettes and the hard candy that were in the emergency survial kits that went on the life rafts. Cheap ass swabbies....cigs were only .25c a pack when I was in. Cheers.

 

[Bob Read]

Here is are storage shelves on the aft bulkhead of early Olympic's wheelhouse where the biscuit tanks, lanterns, and boat compasses were stored.