Mr George Frederick Crowe

Mr George Frederick Crowe, 30, of 1809 Melton Road, Fitzhugh, Southampton was on his first trip with the White Star line although he had been with I.M.M. on the American Lines, serving as steward, storekeeper and barkeeper. He had been at sea 11 years in all.

At the time of the collision, he was off duty, in his bunk on E deck, when he felt a "kind of shaking" and thought they had dropped a propeller. Was then told by a saloon steward to "...come up on deck with as much warm clothes as I could get." He went to lifeboat 14, his assigned station, and assisted in putting women and children in the boat. A senior officer (he wasn't sure if it was Chief or First) asked him if he could man an oar, to which he replied 'yes'. Fifth Officer Lowe was put in charge of the boat.

He claimed to have seen the Titanic break in half before she sank.

Crowe stated to the American Inquiry that there were 57 passengers in the boat with 6 or 7 crewmen. He further stated that Lowe fired his pistol to keep the boat from being rushed. "He fired perfectly clear, upward or downward,not injuring anybody." There was no disorder after that. He also stated after the boat was lowered, water began coming in. Two men and a woman bailed it out with pails put in the lifeboats for that purpose.

Lowe wanted to go back for survivors but the ladies in the boat protested. When they did go back, Crowe testified they picked up a large man (William Hoyt) and a Japanese man (one of the Chinese sailors) on top of some wreckage. (See the Charlotte Collyer article in "The Semi-Monthly Magazine")

Lastly, Crowe stated there had been no boat drill on Sunday, 14th.