Mellengers: Lifeboat 12 or 14

[P.J.A. Sutherland]

Greetings, Bravo! your web site is very well done, informative and above all accurate! I attended Divine Service this morning at Trinity Anglican Church and undertook a casual discussion with an elderly lady (Mrs. E.R. Mellenger) Coincidently, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were rescued 2nd class passengers (Mrs. Elizabeth Anne and Miss Madeleine Violet Mellenger) I was attempting to ascertain which boat saved them! Alas they are no longer with us and your site does not list which boat. Mrs E.R. mentioned that Mrs. Elizabeth pulled an un-named engineering officer from the water and gave him her cloak to wrap around him since his clothes were wet. That would make it boat 13 or 15 perhaps. Mrs. Elizabeth indicated that an existing photo of a boat alongside the Carpathia showed a lady with a child of 10 seated next to a gentleman with a cloak. If you have any thoughts, e-mail me! Regards, P.J.A.S.

P.J.A. Sutherland
Saint John, N.B. ,Canada

 

[scott mann]

hi everyone. I'm new to this and was reading that there is confusion about these 2 boats. I was just re-reading the account my grandmother left me and it clearly states twice that they [Madelline Mellinger and her mom ] were transfered from boat 12 to boat 14. Can this be true? And does anyone have any further info on that sequence of events regarding the Mellingers? Thanks Scott.

 

[Lester Mitcham]

Hello Scott,

I believe that your family were in boat 14 and were transferred to boat 12.

The 5th officer transferred the passengers in boat 14 to several other boats.

Perhaps over the years the lifeboat numbers were reversed in family accounts.

In ANTR Walter Lord noted that Madeleine sat at the feet of the 2nd officer in lifeboat 12 as it approached the Carpathia and still has the cape and hood that he wore which was donated by Elizabeth. - Do family records say anything about that?

I hope that helps,
Lester

 

[Inger Sheil]

Hallo Scott - I don't recall if it was you or another member of your family with whom I corresponded a while back? If I recall what I was told correctly, the emphasis in the accounts told by your grandmother was on Lightoller rather than Lowe? This would tend to support the idea that they were in Boat 14 and transferred to 12, as Lester suggests.

Welcome to the board, btw - looking forward to hearing more about your family history!

 

[scott mann]

I am going to post three pictures that I have from my Grandmother's book. One is the inside cover, where she's written, the second is a picture of a page of The Maiden Voyage that she has written along in, and the third is a picture of a Titanic Enthusiasts America certificate.
If you are able to zoom in on the pictures you will have an easier time.

1) Certificate
sordeo.com/articles/bigimages/certificateoftitanic.jpg

2) Inside of Book
sordeo.com/articles/bigimages/insideofbook.jpg

3) Page from Book
sordeo.com/articles/bigimages/pageofbook.jpg

 

[Lester Mitcham]

Hello Scott,

Thank you for posting those. Every other source and record I have seen including testimony from the 5th officer says that boat 14 was the one that had the passengers transferred out of it and went back. From Lowe's testimony at the American Inquiry:
"I was in No. 14. Then I had 10, I had 12, and I had another collapsible, and one other boat the number of which I do not know. I herded them together and roped them - made them all tie up - and of course I had to wait until the yells and shrieks had subsided - for the people to thin out - and then I deemed it safe for me to go amongst the wreckage. So I transferred all my passengers - somewhere about 53 passengers - from my boat, and I equally distributed them between my other four boats. Then I asked for volunteers to go with me to the wreck, and ......"
In his book: The Truth About the Titanic, Gracie states that it was boats 12 and 4 who rescued the men off of boat B. Gracie [and 2nd officer Lightoller] got into boat 12.

 

[Inger Sheil]

Those are great images, Scott, and very interesting notes and annotations. Many thanks for posting them!

I wonder if perhaps this is simply confusion over the lifeboat numbers on Madeleine's part? Everything else reads correctly (save for the reference to Boat 14 only rescuing one man) if you transpose her references to Boats 12 and 14. She states that they were transferred from Boat 12 to 14, and then says that Boat 12, under Lowe's command, returned to search for survivors while Boat 14 arrived at the Carpathia under Lightoller's command.

It was, however, Boat 14 that returned under Lowe's command (as per Lester's quote above, supported by numerous sources), and Boat 12 that Lightoller took to the Carpathia.