Lowe's actions were not unique. Let's not forget the efforts of the crew of boat 4, who stayed close enough to the wreck to take twice as many people from the water as did Lowe's boat 14.
Did the lifejackets kill the passengers and crew
- Thread starter Paul Lee
- Start date
didn't say that Lowe was unique, just admirable. I know there were many people who contributed to the saving and the morale of others.
Hallo Mark -
No worries on the misprint - we all make errors like that in the more casual discourse of the board. I would have assumed it was a typo, but when you specifically mentioned Lowe, B and Bride, I thought it was worth clearing up.
The duration of Bride's experiences under Collapsible B are certainly open for discussion...take his own testimony. In America we have this:
No worries on the misprint - we all make errors like that in the more casual discourse of the board. I would have assumed it was a typo, but when you specifically mentioned Lowe, B and Bride, I thought it was worth clearing up.
The duration of Bride's experiences under Collapsible B are certainly open for discussion...take his own testimony. In America we have this:
But in the UK we have this:
So now the airpocket has vanished, and he was there 'two or three seconds.' Definitions of 'some time' are going to vary, but it does seem to imply a longer period of time than a few seconds. The discrepency in his UK/US evidence did not go unnoticed:
The point of the flat contradiction (air pocket/no airpocket) was never cleared up.
This is probably somewhere on the board but I will ask anyway. Did passengers break their necks when they jumped into the water with their life jackets on? Someone mentioned that to me and I didn't know what to tell them.
[Moderator's Note: This subject is, indeed, already on the board and this message, originally posted under a different topic, has been moved to the pre-existing discussion. MAB]
[Moderator's Note: This subject is, indeed, already on the board and this message, originally posted under a different topic, has been moved to the pre-existing discussion. MAB]
Probably. I've found at least 6 accounts from the Morro Castle in which people were killed by their life preservers (one extremely disturbing) and an larger number of accounts by passengers who were "stunned" "knocked out" "left unconscious" by life jackets slamming up under their chins when they hit the water. Which is why, when you take a cruise out of US Ports, they make you take the time to learn how to jump with your arms properly postioned to prevent that from happening.
Hi Darren,
There is definitely evidence that passengers were injured, or even killed by jumping from the rising stern of the ship, or even just the side of the ship, wearing the lifejackets and having their shoulders or necks broken.
Imagine jumping from something which is over 60ft from the water with a hard cork-filled lifejacket clamped tight around you. The chances that you come out of something like that unscathed are very small.
Carla
There is definitely evidence that passengers were injured, or even killed by jumping from the rising stern of the ship, or even just the side of the ship, wearing the lifejackets and having their shoulders or necks broken.
Imagine jumping from something which is over 60ft from the water with a hard cork-filled lifejacket clamped tight around you. The chances that you come out of something like that unscathed are very small.
Carla
Looking at some of these old life vests with cork blocks sewed inside unbleached natural canvas pockets and side snap rings or ties, it seems like "one size fits all"-with the result that if you were a really petite woman or a child, there could be plenty of room for shifting upon impact with the water. I am not sure just when children's life jackets came into being, or the familiar bright orange color.
Remember that anybody jumping from the great heights involved would probably been killed anyway, with or without lifebelts. Imagine going over from the stern towards the end. Like hitting concrete!
Was it not the case of poor instructions on how to fasten the lifebelts ?
People must have put them over their heads and neglected to fasten them tightly round their waists.
You can hardly blame the design or the materials used, they weren't meant to be used by people jumping into water from a great height.
People must have put them over their heads and neglected to fasten them tightly round their waists.
You can hardly blame the design or the materials used, they weren't meant to be used by people jumping into water from a great height.
>>Was it not the case of poor instructions on how to fasten the lifebelts ?<<
I don't know that they had any instruction on how to fasten lifebelts. Not that it would make any difference for the vast majority of people who were trapped on the ship. If they rode it down, they tended to freeze to death. Anyone jumping from a great hight with the lifebelt on might as well have fitted a noose around their necks then jump. The results would have been the same.
I don't know that they had any instruction on how to fasten lifebelts. Not that it would make any difference for the vast majority of people who were trapped on the ship. If they rode it down, they tended to freeze to death. Anyone jumping from a great hight with the lifebelt on might as well have fitted a noose around their necks then jump. The results would have been the same.
The life jackets probably probably broke or hurt their necks when they jumped into the water from the stern. I remember watching a programme on TV several years ago and they wanted to see if the life jackets actually were fit for purpose. So, one of the men made a life jacket like the ones from the Titanic and jumped into a swimming pool from a high diving board. He said that it worked but that the life jacket also hurt his neck.
Good post. I always felt that modern announcements on board aircraft etc should explain more clearly the dangers of inflating the lifevests before hitting the water. IMO, in a real emergency a lot of panicking passengers would otherwise do just that.
Life jackets
I dont know how exactly I got this in my head but I found myself suddenly thinking about life jackets and then remembered watching the Titanic movie as a kid where people jumped from the ship with them on. So my questions is
- Did someone actually jump or is it just in movies and documentaries?
- Wouldnt that have broken your bones? neck etc and led to death?
- I tried to find information but couldnt. Are there any evidence, eyewitness that saw this happening?
I dont know how exactly I got this in my head but I found myself suddenly thinking about life jackets and then remembered watching the Titanic movie as a kid where people jumped from the ship with them on. So my questions is
- Did someone actually jump or is it just in movies and documentaries?
- Wouldnt that have broken your bones? neck etc and led to death?
- I tried to find information but couldnt. Are there any evidence, eyewitness that saw this happening?
Many people jumped off the ship. One of particular interest is Frank Prentice. He and two other mates were at the very stern of the ship and as the ship rose his two mates jumped off. As he was preparing to jump, the ship broke in two, and that is when he jumped. So he didn't fall from too much of a great height. Nevertheless, he encountered one of his mates in the water and he was severely injured. Frank stayed with him until he died. So I think it's all but certain that his friend was mortally wounded by the fall, because his friend jumped right before the break, which means that he jumped from the maximum height that the ship reached that night. Though the stern never reached the height that we saw in the Cameron movie, Prentice's friend likely fell from perhaps as high as 150 feet, which generally isn't survivable into water.
