Sixteen Miles

[Cheryl Adair]

I just read one of the articles here on the website, a newspaper account given by one of the survivors - a Mrs. Peter Reniff. She tells of her escape and her rescue by the crew of the Carpathia. She also talks about the seaman, and how they kept up the spirits of the other survivors. She says that one of them told her he "swam sixteen miles" before he was picked up. Is that possible? Could he really have swam 16 miles in freezing cold water? I thought anyone in the water died in just a short time?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>She says that one of them told her he "swam sixteen miles" before he was picked up. Is that possible? Could he really have swam 16 miles in freezing cold water?<<

Sounds like the seaman in question was just telling her a really good Sea Story. The water temperature that night was found to be in the 28-29° range. While there are some tough swimmers out there, even the Polar Bear Club doesn't try that for more then a minute.

You're very wise to be skeptical of newspaper articles. These people didn't mind taking "liberties" with the facts, nor were they bothered by using outright fabrication.

 

[Dave Gittins]

For a real story of swimming a mile in water at freezing, go to--

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/03/lbl.lynne.cox/

There's quite a bit about Lynne Cox elsewhere on the Internet. As they say on TV, don't try this at home!

 

[Cheryl Adair]

Very interesting. I am reminded of the late Katherin Hepburn, she was reported to have taken a swim in the cold waters near her home every single day, no matter what the temperature outside happened to be. Summer, winter, spring, fall. Year round. I think swimming, diving, or bathing in cooler water can be good for you in the long run. If nothing else, very cold water should at least freeze to death whatever germs happen to be on your body!

Seriously, it didn't seem to hurt her at all. Lots of folks swear by it.

 

[Ken Lupton]

I recently read about a seaman who said he was in the sea for two hours before he was picked up by a lifeboat. I didn't believe it, but perhaps it was the same person. He was questioned in one of the Enquiries. I'll see if I can find it.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Lots of folks swear by it<<

Unfortunately, lots of people die by it too. There's a big difference between somebody who has a lifetime of training and acclimation for something like this, and the average Joe and Jane that lacks the training and whatever critical physical attributes make this sort of thing possible. I certainly wouldn't attempt it.

I dislike being cold and I'm a rotten swimmer!

 

[monica e. hall]

Insulation! i.e. fat, that's what you'd need. And youth. Not having either, I think I'd die of sheer misery on the way down, or cardiac arrest on hitting the freezing water. But I'd have given me more of a chance when I was young, even though I wasn't any fatter. I'm sure some of those younger ones given up for dead were not actually dead, but suffering from hypothermia. But in those days, even if they'd heaved them aboard and tried to resuscitate them, they'd have probably killed them in their efforts to warm them up, as the cold blood re-circulated back to the heart kills mercilessly. The 'Japanese' survivor who stunned Lowe in Boat 14 by reviving rapidly and rowing strenuously, was probably a young man, used to being cold, with plenty of natural insulation. I think Katherine Hepburn was simply obdurate. Jane Fonda, who worked with her in 'On Golden Pond', said she was extremely unforgiving of people she termed 'soggy' for being nervous about taking physical chances. Jane gulped, and did a back-flip into icy water, and credited Katherine for having made her do it. She didn't do it again, though.

 

[Ken Lupton]

It was Charles Joughin what said at the British Inquiry that he spent two hours treading water before being picked up by Lightoller's collapsible.

 

[Susan Alby]

>>I recently read about a seaman who said he was in the sea for two hours before he was picked up by a lifeboat. I didn't believe it, but perhaps it was the same person. He was questioned in one of the Enquiries. I'll see if I can find it.<<

Wasn't this the Cook, who was "fortified" with alcohol and was able to withstand the freezing temps? When the survivors were rescued by the Carpathia they had water and brandy waiting for them.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Yes, that was Charles Joughin, the Baker for whom such claims have been made and the one about his being drunk was one he vigerously denied all his life. While we're on the subject of alcohol, it's wise to clear up the myth that it somehow makes people resistant to freezing temperatures. At best it would numb you to the pain so you can swim. The catch is that it dilates blood vessels which causes your body to lose heat *faster* if you don't get out of the water...in other words, you freeze to death sooner then anyone else.

 

[Wesley Burton]

So how could he have survived several hours in the water?
Surely someone noticed him come aboard the collapseable. Simply compare that time to when the ship sank. If they hapened to have a watch, which I doubt.
Two hours after the Titanic sank wouldnt the sun be coming up at this point?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>So how could he have survived several hours in the water?<<

In all probability he didn't survive "several hours" but was in the water for a much briefer time. Having a watch wouldn't have done him any good as the water would have seized up the mechenism fairly quickly. It helps to know that in situations like this, people's time sense...which is rarely that swift in any event tends to get badly warped. You may be in the water for only a few minutes, but if the water happens to be 28°F, it would surely feel like forever!

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Joughin's story was that he was 'paddling and treading water' until the earliest light of dawn, when he headed towards a just visible shape which turned out to be Collapsible B. His testimony is not too clear at this point, but it seems that with the help of the chef, Maynard, he was able to pull himself partly out of the water so that only his legs or at most his lower body was submerged, and he remained in this position until he swam across to boat 12 some time later.

By Joughin's reckoning he was in the water for about two hours before he reached the Collapsible and it was a further half hour before he was finally pulled out of the water into boat 12. We know for sure that he went into the water at 2.20, and I think that collapsible B became visible to boat 12 in the early light of dawn at about 3.40? From much closer and a lower viewpoint, Joughin probably spotted it a little earlier and got there quicker; certainly he had been alongside and partly out of the water for some time when boat 12 arrived.

That suggests that he was completely immersed for at least one hour, but probably not much more. He seems also from his own account to have been relatively calm and he kept his muscles working, two elements which would delay the fatal effects of hypothermia - he later claimed that he felt colder in the lifeboat than he had at any point when he was in the water! Add to that the fact that human physiology is never totally standardised, and it becomes more believable that he was able to survive conditions which most could not.
.

 

[Susan Alby]

Was Joughin wearing a life jacket? If not, that may have helped him to survive the hour (or more) he spent in the freezing water. Proficient swimmers probably would have been better off without a life vest because it would have forced them to keep moving to stay afloat, keeping their bodies warm a little longer. I can't imagine that all the lifeboats were that far away, some were probably within swimming distance.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Was Joughin wearing a life jacket?<<

Idon't know. He may have been. It would seem that some kept them on and some just didn't bother.

>> If not, that may have helped him to survive the hour (or more) he spent in the freezing water.<<

Questionable. One of the real tricks to staying alive in the water is to keep your head out of it so you don't end up inhaling the stuff. You can move with or without the thing on.

>>Proficient swimmers probably would have been better off without a life vest because it would have forced them to keep moving to stay afloat, keeping their bodies warm a little longer.<<

Maybe, but I'm a bit skeptical of that. The problem here is that you have a bit more of your body *in* the water and that would tend to chill it faster.

>>I can't imagine that all the lifeboats were that far away, some were probably within swimming distance.<<

Certainly a couple of the collapsibles were, but to my knowladge, most of the boats had put a respectable distance between themselves and the sinking vessel. There was that fear...realistic or not...of being taken down with suction when thew ship foundered. Can't say as I blame any of them for getting as far away as they could.