Carpathia's lifeboats
- Thread starter David Schulz
- Start date
Dave Gittins
Member
She had 18 boats, supposedly capable of holding 1,072 people. Her approved maximum company was 2,854. Information from my mole at the Board of Trade, via the Digitally Enhanced Ouija Board. (Patent Pending. Also serves as pizza plate.)
David Schulz
Guest
Dave thankyou so much I have been looking forever on the net without success!!
David Schulz
Guest
Ok Dave i have been told that this is not the right number of lifeboats!!I am not sure it is out there somewhere!! thanks again anyway
Dave
Dave
Bob Godfrey
Member
The answer is 20. That's from the best possible source - Captain Rostron at the US Inquiry.
Dave Gittins
Member
Bob, Rostron said 18 in Mersey's court. (Question 25364). My Board of Trade source agrees.
Bob Godfrey
Member
Point taken, Dave. At the British Inquiry he clearly states that then (ie at the time of the rescue) he had 18 boats. At the American Inquiry he said "we carry 20", but in answer to a later question "Do you carry 20 in obedience to certain regulations of the British Board of Trade?" he said "I think it is 20; yes." I had thought that to mean he wasn't sure how many he was required to have, but it seems he wasn't sure at that time how many he actually had - unless he had acquired a couple more following the disaster. But in the light of his more precise testimony in Britain I move into your camp and agree on 18.
David Schulz
Guest
Ok just to set the record straight according to the Titanic Historical society the answer is 20. This is just to clarify what they say!!Thanks for all the posts though.
Dave Gittins
Member
Then they are wrong, probably not for the first time. I have the official Board of Trade record.
Donald J A Smith
Member
Dave Gittins
Member
The old ouija board tells me that Caronia was evidently the Cunard liner with the most boats. She had 27, supposedly enough for 1,388 people. I don't see one with 28 in 1912. Funny that Caronia had an odd number.
I've tried to work out how Carpathia could have carried "boats for all". It's not easily done, because of the way her bridge break up the boat deck. The results are not encouraging and look something like this.
She would have needed 16 pairs of davits, all with two boats under them, plus two small emergency boats. She then needed rafts for an addtional 712 people.
A popular legend is that the new rules required "boats for all". They didn't and they still don't. It's always been permissable to carry boats for only 75%, plus a certain number of rafts. Because Carpathia was so short, relative to her passenger numbers, she would have used the 75% rule. It would be that, or three boats under each pair od davits. Whatever they did, it would have been utterly impractical.
I've tried to work out how Carpathia could have carried "boats for all". It's not easily done, because of the way her bridge break up the boat deck. The results are not encouraging and look something like this.
She would have needed 16 pairs of davits, all with two boats under them, plus two small emergency boats. She then needed rafts for an addtional 712 people.
A popular legend is that the new rules required "boats for all". They didn't and they still don't. It's always been permissable to carry boats for only 75%, plus a certain number of rafts. Because Carpathia was so short, relative to her passenger numbers, she would have used the 75% rule. It would be that, or three boats under each pair od davits. Whatever they did, it would have been utterly impractical.
Donald J A Smith
Member
Dave: Many thanks for that. Possibly 'Carpathia' had 18 life-boats, plus 2 "small emergency boats", in 1912: so '18' and '20' were *both* correct! Then, applying the "75% rule", perhaps she carried a total of '28' [even 28+2] soon afterward: about as many as 'Caronia' had before. Would this have been practical?
Dave Gittins
Member
The new rules required at least 16 pairs of davits for a ship of Carpathia's length and by my estimation that would be about all she could take. The problem is the length of the ship and her bridge design. Eight 30' boats with their davits would occupy around 320 feet. Carpathia was only 540' LBP and boats can't be carried well forward or well aft. Hence the need to have two or more boats per set of davits.
The new rules were a nightmare to put into practice. Some German ships, not much longer than Carpathia, carried around 4,000 people. Ever seen a floating boatyard? Ironically some of the most problematical ships were sunk in WW I, thus solving the problem. The practice of carrying more than one boat per set of davits lasted until the 1960s. It is now banned.
The length problem is with us still. Many cruise ships are shorter than Titanic but carry much the same number of people. They get by with a mixture of boats and rafts.
The new rules were a nightmare to put into practice. Some German ships, not much longer than Carpathia, carried around 4,000 people. Ever seen a floating boatyard? Ironically some of the most problematical ships were sunk in WW I, thus solving the problem. The practice of carrying more than one boat per set of davits lasted until the 1960s. It is now banned.
The length problem is with us still. Many cruise ships are shorter than Titanic but carry much the same number of people. They get by with a mixture of boats and rafts.
Deleted member 162143
Guest
What type of davits did the Carpathia have? Did the Carpathia have Welins Davits like Titanic or did they have another type of davits?
robert warren
Member
It appears the Carpathia had different davits. Hers looked like upside down L shaped ones that faced inward towards the boat deck . It looks like Cunard had its own davits since these look like the ones on the Lusitania and Mauritania. Judging from the looks of these davits, it seems that to lower lifeboats, the davits were spun around so that the curved top faced out towards the sea.
