Question about lifeboat 4

[Jessica Mingoia]

I've heard different things about this one boat and it's actually starting to get confusing. On what deck did the passengers really board it on. I've heard that it was the boat deck and then I heard that it was on the A deck promenade. Where was the boat actually loaded? And if it was on A deck, was it just for easier boarding of the upper class like the Astors, Carters, Ryersons, etc.?
Jess

 

[Jessica Mingoia]

Oh, also, what time did this boat actually leave the Titanic?
Thanks,
Jess

 

[Lester Mitcham]

Hi Jessica,

My understanding is that boat 4 was lowered to A-deck to be loaded. However owing to problems with opening the windows and also with the sounding spar the lady passengers [some of whom who had been separated from their husbands and escorts] sent to A-deck were ordered back to the boat deck. Some seem to have done so, others seem to have wandered off. Eventually some found their way back to A-deck [whether or not any stayed put for the whole time I do not know] and were eventually loaded into boat 4 starting at about 1:45 am with the boat being lowered at about 1:55 am.

I hope that helps.

 

[Jessica Mingoia]

Yeah, it does a lot. Thanks.

 

[Christopher Repole]

I have always wondered what kept all those wealthy families on the ship so late into the sinking. It would have been clear by then that the well deck was awash and I beleive by that point the water had risen over the forward B-Deck promenade railing. I am familiar with the accounts of the women and children being shuttled first to A Deck, then back up to the boat deck, and then back down (to Mrs Thayer's exasperation). Yet would this process have taken quite so long? I would think that these people would have noticed, at least by 110 or 120, by which point many others realized the severity of the situation, that the ship was indeed sinking, and get off in an earlier boat- like 8 or even 10. Did these powerful families really just wait by boat 4 because they were told to? It seems doubtful.

 

[João Carlos Pereira Martins]

Christopher, I think that some of these rich families woke up when the first lifeboats started to lower away. Mrs. Hippach and her daughter were asked to put on lifebelts close to 1.30 and others, like the Wideners, Carters and Thayers thought they had plenty of time to leave the ship, not just because they stayed in the interior, not realizing the danger of the situation, but also because the stewards continued to told the passengers that it was just a precaution and these people didn't have rush to get on a lifeboat. Mrs. Ryerson had lost her son short time before and was reluctant to leave her husband, such as the Astors. And I read something that the first passengers to board boat 4 were women and children from second class and they were told to wait there until Lightoller had finished launching boat 2. And lots of people didn't understand what was going on, because there was confusion at that time. Some crew members told that they had hit an iceberg and the ship would be soon repaired and other crew members said to the passengers they had dropped a propeller and everything would be fine the next morning. The panic started in first class pretty near the final plunge.

Regards, João

 

[Lester Mitcham]

Hello João,

Do you recall where you read:
"And I read something that the first passengers to board boat 4 were women and children from second class and they were told to wait there until Lightoller had finished launching boat 2."
A reference would be appreciated.

Lester

 

[João Carlos Pereira Martins]

Lester, once again, I do research on Titanic since 1998 and I've heard so many stories and so many myths! I made some short useless short stories about Titanic and I passed my days in web pages, searching information as accurate as I could. However, I was seven or eight years old at that time and I believed in everything I read about Titanic, not concerning accurance of it.

I used to thought it was just an obsession for a short time but quickly it became a "Titanic illness"! I didn't note down the sites I found because I thought I wouldn't need them in the future and I'm very regretful about that. But, just to clarify your mind, I've a personal opinion about that: I read that the second class passengers boarded boat 4 at 1.30 but it would be ridiculous, in that case the first class wealthy families would get on at once; although, this passengers could be on the Boat Deck, but someone of the crew would alert them immediately.

I'm not inventating, I just write things I've heard and I forget to inform you. I do apologize if my doubtful resources disappoint you, but I'm doing an effort to put the adresses of Titanic's sites on ET not to forget it later.

Best regards and great summer, João

 

[João Carlos Pereira Martins]

Hi again!

I was wondering if boat 4 was lowered and stood nearby B-Deck portholes. In an article here in ET, I read that the lifeboat started to lower but Col. Astor begged the officer to "hold on it" to allow Mrs. Hippach and her daughter to board the boat. Following Mrs. Hippach accounts, she said that the Colonel took them to B-deck and they boarded passing a porthole. Is it true? Could it be possible?

Best regards, João