Carpathia's lifeboats

[Lars Lifvendahl]

Hello!
I would like to know if the Carpathia had enough lifeboats for its passengers before taking on board the Titanic survivors.
I've heard Captain Rostron navigated his ship in total darkness amongst the ice fields, to assist the Titanic. If carpathia would have struck an iceberg would it have been yet another catastrophe, on the same night, in lack of lifeboats???
I really hope anyone could help me with this question as I simply can not find the information in any book!

Lars L.

 

[Jim Kalafus]

Hi, Lars: I don't have the book on hand to check, but I believe that Walter Lord, in A Night To Remember, gives a generalised accounting of the Carpathia's passenger load for that voyage (in the chapter "We're Going North Like Hell") and says that she was below capacity. So, it is possible that had she struck an iceberg, and sank as slowly and evenly as the Titanic did, it might not have quite as catastrophic for HER passengers and crew as was the Titanic.

 

[Lars Lifvendahl]

Hello James!
Thanks for the answer!!!

Greetings,
Lars

 

[jean leysman]

Hi Lars.

Like almost all ships at that time, the Carpathia did not by far have enough lifeboats to seat all the passengers in case of an emergency.
Maybe she was not filled to capacity but still...
I have a pretty accurate account of the number of lifeboats on ships in 1912 as per company. I do not have it at hand right now but I will be back to inform you.

Jean

 

[jean leysman]

Hi Lars

I promised and I deliver!
I did some research and I found out that the lifeboat situation on the Cunard line ships (among them Carpathia) was even worse than on the White Star Line ships (Titanic).
I'm sorry I don't have the exact numbers for Carpathia, but I do for another Cunard Line ship: the Carmania.
On Carmania (capacity 3520) there were 20 boats for 1039 souls. If this ship would have sunk while filled to capacity the disaster would have been even more dramatic than on Titanic. I'm almost sure it was no better on the Carpathia. The rule "lifeboats for all" simply didn't apply in 1912. In fact there even were proposals by the British Board to further decrease the number of lifeboats on big ships. They were convinced recent vessels of that time were unsinkable.

Hope you find this interesting to know, however tragic it is.

Jean

 

[Lars Lifvendahl]

Thank you Jean!!!
This information was very interesting!
Yours truly,
Lars