Jonathan:
So, just the one book, not many as you originally claimed?
The author, Robin Gardiner, does not have a very good reputation for historical accuracy around here. He's the guy (or one of the guys) who floated the phoney-baloney story about the Olympic/Titanic switch.
The quote Peter is refering to (from Gracie) is:
"Number 3 and Number 5 were both marked on our boat. Our seaman told me that it was an old one taken from some other ship, (2) and he didn't seem sure at the time which was the correct number, which apparently was 3."
The footnote (2) is "'All boats were new and none transfered from another ship,' President Ismay's testimony."
Sounds like a lot of hearsay to me, not much in the way of proof. And why would White Star put one old lifeboat amongst a bunch of new ones, on a brand new ship?