PeterChappell
Member
The actions and decisions of the Titanic Captain, Officers and crew that night might be judged in the context of previous sinkings, particularly the SS Arctic in 1854, which sank after a collision with another ship. Coincidentally, the Arctic was the luxury liner of its day which sank in becalmed conditions off Newfoundland, although in this case the problem was fog not ice. An experienced seaman such as Captain Smith and several of the officers would surely have been aware of this sinking, since it was one of the most notorious and worst peacetime seaborne disasters up to that time.
The Arctic carried only six lifeboats, capable of taking 180 persons, half of those on board. Sound familiar? So far from the Titanic being exceptional, it was very much a repeat incident, albeit on a larger scale and with more important people on board.
There were some differences though. Unlike the Titanic, discipline broke down and there was no observance of “women and children first”. Members of the crew and able-bodied male passengers rushed to take most of the places. All the women and children on board the Arctic perished and the 85 survivors consisted of 61 of the crew and 24 male passengers. In fact this wasn't unusual in sinkings. Far from women and children being first, it was a matter of survival of the strongest, and there were rarely enough lifeboats for everyone. In 18 maritime disasters from 1852 to 2011, involving some 15,000 passengers from more than 30 nations, the survival rate of women was on average about half that of men, and children had the lowest survival rate of all. In an analysis of 16 shipwrecks that had not been analysed previously, women and children were also at a significant disadvantage to men, whilst crew members had a higher survival rate than passengers, and only nine of 16 captains went down with their ships.
Captain Smith and the Officers of the Titanic reversed some of these statistics, since proportionately more women & children survived. They also maintained order almost up to the end. All we know about the 3rd class passengers is that they were directed to the back of the ship, and most only discovered about the need to evacuate until too late. The minority that did survive didn't report encountering any locked gates or threats; but drawing wider conclusions based on this could introduce survivorship bias.
The myth of the 'women and children first rule' was probably the consequence of the HMS Birkenhead sinking in 1852, in which there were only 193 survivors out of 638 passengers and crew, but all the women and children were saved. However, these were the family of officers on this troopship, so it's hardly suprising. Although this chivalry might be projected onto the Titanic's crew, their decision probably killed more people than it saved, because some families refused to seperate, slowing the evacuation.
The Arctic carried only six lifeboats, capable of taking 180 persons, half of those on board. Sound familiar? So far from the Titanic being exceptional, it was very much a repeat incident, albeit on a larger scale and with more important people on board.
There were some differences though. Unlike the Titanic, discipline broke down and there was no observance of “women and children first”. Members of the crew and able-bodied male passengers rushed to take most of the places. All the women and children on board the Arctic perished and the 85 survivors consisted of 61 of the crew and 24 male passengers. In fact this wasn't unusual in sinkings. Far from women and children being first, it was a matter of survival of the strongest, and there were rarely enough lifeboats for everyone. In 18 maritime disasters from 1852 to 2011, involving some 15,000 passengers from more than 30 nations, the survival rate of women was on average about half that of men, and children had the lowest survival rate of all. In an analysis of 16 shipwrecks that had not been analysed previously, women and children were also at a significant disadvantage to men, whilst crew members had a higher survival rate than passengers, and only nine of 16 captains went down with their ships.
Captain Smith and the Officers of the Titanic reversed some of these statistics, since proportionately more women & children survived. They also maintained order almost up to the end. All we know about the 3rd class passengers is that they were directed to the back of the ship, and most only discovered about the need to evacuate until too late. The minority that did survive didn't report encountering any locked gates or threats; but drawing wider conclusions based on this could introduce survivorship bias.
The myth of the 'women and children first rule' was probably the consequence of the HMS Birkenhead sinking in 1852, in which there were only 193 survivors out of 638 passengers and crew, but all the women and children were saved. However, these were the family of officers on this troopship, so it's hardly suprising. Although this chivalry might be projected onto the Titanic's crew, their decision probably killed more people than it saved, because some families refused to seperate, slowing the evacuation.
