Iceberg as life raft

[Inger Sheil]

Ah yes - I can imagine feeling the need to scrub off some of the mud when you've had to dive into those murky waters...!

Cheers -

Inger

 

[Lynn Jones]

I always wondered if they could have maneuvered the ship back to the iceberg or to any iceberg before taking on too much water and somehow used the iceberg to save passengers. Could the flotation capacity of the iceberg have been used?
I see the question is well covered and deemed not too feasible. But there were not a lot of options.
I suppose by the time they got turned, they would be 1/4 mile past the iceberg. If the lifeboats had all been tied together, they would have been capable of saving many more people. All hindsight 98 years too late.

 

[Jeremy Aufderheide]

The iceberg wasn't a flat shelf...it was more mountainous. That would have been difficult to cling to. Also clinging to solid ice would probably have frozen people as quickly as the water...

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>But there were not a lot of options.<<

I'm afraid the iceberg wasn't one of them. Even if they could have found it in the dark, it was a mountainous bit of work and not really useful for beaching.

>>If the lifeboats had all been tied together, they would have been capable of saving many more people.<<

Surprisingly as it may seem, this just isn't the case. Oar powered lifeboats aren't the most handy craft in the world, but singly at least, they can manuever and be taken from point A to point B. Tied up in a massive raft, all they can do is drift with the current. They are incapable of going back to pick up swimmers and that's what they would have needed to be able to do.

 

[Russell Smith]

This is a good example of a recently upended berg. Clearly, no place to hang onto.

 

[Ioannis Georgiou]

Good picture Russell! The complete idea is "silly"! Aside that the people were not able to "climb" or "hang on" an iceberg and survive on it, the ship would have rammed the iceberg by trying to go alongside.

 

[Jason Schleisman]

Hi Russell, is that a real berg? That photo looks like it could've been doctored a bit, but perhaps it's just me. The ice is truly magnificent, no? So gorgeous, but so deadly.....

 

[Russell Smith]

Im assuming it's real.

Here's 1 more I came across:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/58/177711098_9302c1afbd.jpg

 

[George L. Lorton]

Hey Jason and Russell,

I think it's real a upended berg but the photo was doctored on it brightness and color. Plus the shadows where taken out.

 

[Jeremy Aufderheide]

Isn't that a theory, that the berg that the Titanic struck was recently upended?

 

[George L. Lorton]

quote:

Isn't that a theory, that the berg that the Titanic struck was recently upended?

Hi Jeremy,

Yep. I remember that theory from as far back as '93 when Titanic: Death Of A Dream and Titanic: The Legend Lives On was shown on A&E.​

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Isn't that a theory, that the berg that the Titanic struck was recently upended?<<

It's been kicked around in one form or another since 1912. The problem is that we don't know if the testimony to the effect was honest or a piece of misdirection.

 

[Laurel]

Please excuse the odd title, but this crossed my mine as I was reading some alternate collision theories and their suspected survivability rate. Theoretically, could the iceberg itself have been used as a sort of giant raft, i.e. the passengers just sit on it and wait for rescue? It would alleviate the lifeboat shortage and underfilled lifeboat problem, at least to an extent. I assume blankets and linens could be taken and laid out on the iceberg to add some insulation, although the first class would probably never agree to the idea of sitting on a giant lump of ice in the Atlantic. Despite the fact that this is completely unrealistic because most would not agree to it, if they were willing to wait on the iceberg would it have been possible to do so without also contracting hypothermia from the cold of the ice and air, and could the iceberg have even been sat on? I'm not sure how jagged or flat it was, or how an iceberg of that size would be generally shaped.

If this could have happened, I think it would be best to have children and the elderly or sick on lifeboats, and able bodies on the ice, or have mixed groups in lifeboats and on ice and then switch after a time if possible to keep the cold of the ice from causing any extreme harm. Ideally class separation would not be a problem, although in reality it most likely would. Maybe the classes could be separated with certain lifeboats for classes, at least with designated "third class" lifeboats and mixed "first and second class" boats?

I believe the Titanic had actually left the iceberg behind a bit, but considering that some of the lifeboats rowed towards distant lights and made fairly good time in rowing, could they have possibly ferried people to and from the iceberg? I'm sure this would have taken time, but could it have been done? If Titanic had stopped right when it hit the iceberg this would probably be a much more effcient theory, but I think anything that might give a slightly better survival rate is better than the 1,517 deaths that took place due to underfilled boats and a lack of sufficent boats to begin with.

 

[J Sheehan]

Personally, I wouldn't sit on an iceberg that might be highly unstable enough without any additional top weight on it...not to mention its sheer cliff like walls.

In that situation, I'll be honest, I'd rather take my chances in the water.

 

[Robert T. Paige]

I think it would be rather difficult, if not impossible, to get on an iceberg in the first place.
Ice is rather slippery.
Are there any instances of people getting on an iceberg ?