Lifeboat Launch Order

[Paulo Renato]

I'm planning to make a titanic sinking simulation in virtual sailor, i searched and i'm not certain of the order!

Someone can help me?

(I'II Put more topics of that simulation!)

 

[Tad G. Fitch]

Hi Paulo, how are you? Bill Wormstedt, George Behe and I have done extensive research on the lifeboat launch sequence and times. Our findings regarding this, along with all of the evidence cited, are available at the following links:

Lifeboat Launching Sequence Re-Examined

Table 2 Launch Times Re-Examined

I hope that this helps with your project, and I hope it turns out well.

Kind regards,
Tad

 

[Paulo Renato]

Hi Paulo, how are you? Bill Wormstedt, George Behe and I have done extensive research on the lifeboat launch sequence and times. Our findings regarding this, along with all of the evidence cited, are available at the following links:

Lifeboat Launching Sequence Re-Examined

Table 2 Launch Times Re-Examined

I hope that this helps with your project, and I hope it turns out well.

Kind regards,
Tad

Oh thank you, this would be a lot useful!

 

[Christophe Puttemans]

Lifeboat launching times vandalism

Hi everyone,

As you may or may not know, I've been the administrator of the Titanic wikia for quite a while, and recently there has been an anonymous user who has changed the lifeboat launching times on all articles. I always assumed the launching times given by Bill Wormstedt, Tad Fitch and George Behe helped by Sam Halpern and J. Kent Layton were correct, but he/she is persistent with new, completely different launching times. I want to know what his/her source is. He/she is consistent, always giving the same numbers. A vandalation block will ensue once I got the source.

These are the times he/she gives:

Lifeboat	launching time from Wormstedt	launching time from vandal
7	12:40	12:15
5	12:43	12:45
3	12:55	12:30
8	1:00	12:40
1	1:05	12:50
6	1:10	12:25
16	1:20	1:00
14	1:25	1:05
12	1:30	1:05
9	1:30	1:10
11	1:35	1:10
13	1:40	1:15
15	1:41	1:15
2	1:45	1:20
10	1:50	1:25
4	1:50	1:25
C	2:00	1:40
D	2:05	1:30
B	2:15	2:05
A	2:15	2:05

So, where are these times coming from? And is there any truth about them?

 

[Ioannis Georgiou]

The times in your "launching time from vandal" list are a little to off.

I had published a series about the lifeboats in the magazine of the Swiss and British Titanic Society trying to keep the starboard and port list into account and came to a partly different order.

 

[Samuel Halpern]

I think that this shows the problem with people having access to on-line encyclopedic sites that allow anyone to change anything anytime they feel like it. The truth is that nobody can prove beyond a doubt anything that is put down on a subject such as this. One can only document how they came up with a particular sequence, and that is all they can do. It doesn't mean it is right. Unfortunately, many readers take whatever they find on a website and believe what they read without question.

 

[Bruce Harwood]

You mean I can go in and change anything I want? Ooooooooh! I gleefully twist the ends of my Edwardian mustaches while planning havoc.

Really though, there should be some way of tracing the miscreant. And surely a responsible and honest person would post a correction under their own name? NOT pukkah!

 

[Ioannis Georgiou]

Actually you could build up several launching orders as you can find several accounts for them. In many cases the eyewitness accounts contradict each other. In some cases it is because the memory was wrong of those survivors and in other cases they did have the number of the boat wrong best example is Beesley who in his early version mistakenly thought that it was lifeboat No. 14 which was nearly coming on top of No. 13 but there are also crew members who had also the boat number mixed believing boat No. 7 was No. 1 and the boat closed to the bow was No. 7.

I can only talk for my research work which is a combination of eyewitness accounts and the position of the ship, especially the list to starboard and port. For me it tells a good picture of what took place. I am right with it? I do not know and I never claimed that it is 100% correct or to be the "true" one. I show both sides those accounts which fit and those who does not.

 

[B-rad]

Taking a very brief look at the times, what strikes me is the launch times of boat 7 and Coll. C. It appears that whoever this person is has a ship's time issue. It appears that the person believes that there was a time adjustment, or that a time adjustment can explain certain anomalies. IE: boat 7 (Rowe see's a boat rowing and calls the bridge around 12:25). Coll. C, Rowe states the time this boat left as being 1:40. This of course doesn't explain all the times, as some of the times are anywhere from a couple of minutes to a half an hour. Perhaps the person is taking literal times stated by survivors. IDK, just an observation.

 

[David G. Brown]

Might I suggest caution in using time of day as recalled by survivors. It would have been difficult for most people to know the exact time of anything. Pocket watches were hard to read in semi-darkness and I've seen no evidence that anyone ever checked the clock in the forward grain stairway. Rather than rely on stated times, most researchers have found more success in using a chronological method based on the order of events. This is then compared against what the witnesses described during the launching of their lifeboats. While tedious and time-consuming, this sort of effort yields far more insight. After all, the exact moment is less important than the order of launch. Just a suggestion...

-- David G. Brown

 

[Samuel Halpern]

>>In many cases the eyewitness accounts contradict each other. In some cases it is because the memory was wrong of those survivors <<

Very true. Eyewitness accounts are notorious for being wrong more often than being right, especially when questioned about an events that took place many days or weeks afterward. Unfortunately, many of us forget this and point to some eyewitness account as if it were absolute, especially if it agrees with your preconceived ideas. Verification of accounts is important. And searching for that is where you will find contradictions and inconsistencies, but sometimes supporting evidence that tends to increase the reliability. Also, one must be very careful of any subjective estimate like time periods or distances.

 

[Cam Houseman]

what's the proper launch times? I'm only sure of 12:45 being Lifeboat 7's, 1am for Lifeboat 6, and 1:40 for Lifeboat 13

 

[Samuel Halpern]

what's the proper launch times? I'm only sure of 12:45 being Lifeboat 7's, 1am for Lifeboat 6, and 1:40 for Lifeboat 13

Look here: revised launch times

 

[Cam Houseman]

Look here: revised launch times

thanks Sam, can always count on you lol

 

[Arun Vajpey]

The full article about Revised Launch Times (same table as above) by Bill Wormstedt is carefully and logically analyzed, taking into account all available witness statements and trying to make sense out of them. While, as Sam points out, no one can be 100% certain, I believe that the revised Wormstedt Table comes closest to what actually happened.