Survival rate of teenage boys

[jynx]

In the titanic, survival rate of teenage boys (ages 10-15) are very low.

In the first class, there are two boys whose ages are 10-15. These two boys are 11 years old William Carter and 13 years old John Ryerson. Both of them were saved in lifeboat 4 (port). 13 years old John Ryerson had been initially denied entry into the boat by Second Officer Lightoller. But his father protested that he should go as he was only 13. Lightoller relented. 11 years old William Carter just managed to join his mother and sister in lifeboat 4 but it was a close thing. After reluctantly allowing 13 years old John Ryerson into the boat Chief Second Steward George Dodd had demanded 'no more boys,' but his mother put a hat on young William's head and together they boarded the boat.

In the second class, there is only one boy who is 10-15 years old. It's 14 years old George Frederick Sweet. There is one day before his fifthteenth birthday. He became employed by Samuel Herman, a farmer and proprietor of the Britannia Hotel in Castle Cary. He became part of Samuel's family, consisting of his wife Jane and twin daughters and he boarded Titanic with them as second class passangers. On the night of the sinking, George, alongside Samuel Herman, saw Mrs Herman and her daughters off in one of the lifeboats.14 years old George Frederick Sweet died in the sinking. He was probably deterred from entering a lifeboat and died with Samuel Herman.

In the third class, there are sixteen boys whose ages are 10-15. Only two of them survived. The ones who survived are 11 years old Ilyas Narid and 14 years old Johan Svensson.14 years old Johan Svensson sneaked onto the first class boat deck and after being refused twice finally got into lifeboat 13, the third boat he tried to enter. 11 years old Ilyas Narid was saved in Collapsible C with his older sister (age 14). The rest of fourteen boys (age 10-15) in third class died in the sinking.

In total, only 3 out of 19 teenage boys survived. There is a %16 survival rate.

There is a %100 survival rate in second class children (they didn't count George Frederick as a child). But the most important cause of this is that there is no second class boy whose age is 10-13. After George Frederick Sweet, the oldest second class boys in second class are two 8 years old boys John Davies and Marshall Drew. If there were boys who are 10-13 years old, the survival rate of second class children probably wouldn't have been %100.

 

[vonfrieddorf]

Actually, I believe the statistics were even worse than you documented above. Survivor Johan Charles Asplund was actually 23 years old; the 13-year-old boy was Filip Oscar Asplund (no relation), who was lost in the sinking.

 

[jynx]

Yes, you are right. I also forgot 11 years old Ilyas Narid survived. I edited my message.

 

[jynx]

I made a mistake again. But i can not edit my message. 4 out of 19 teenageboys survived. There is a %21 survival rate.

 

[vonfrieddorf]

There is a %21 survival rate.

And it gets even worse when you factor in the crew in that age range: Bellboys Arthur Barratt,15, and William Albert Watson,14; also Plate Steward Frederick William Hopkins, age 14.

 

[Talira Greycrest]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that on the night of the sinking, 3rd Class passenger, Rhonda Abbott, was offered a seat in a lifeboat but was told her two teenage sons, Rossmore and Eugene, would have to stay behind. At the ages of 13 and 16, the boys were considered to be men. Rhonda refused to abandon her children, which left them at the mercy of the freezing ocean. After Titanic sank, Rhonda, barely alive, was found and dragged into a lifeboat. In the chaos, she'd become separated from her sons. A few days later, Rossmore Abbott's body was recovered. He was buried at sea. To my knowledge, Eugene's body was never found, and if it was, it was never identified.

 

[jynx]

Yes, When they arrived the boat deck, they saw Colappsible C was loading. But when Rhoda Abbott realised that her sons wouldn't be permitted to board the lifeboat, she refused to enter the lifeboat.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

In 1912 there was no such thing as a 'teenager', and whilst a 13-year old was legally neither a child nor a man, a 16-year old certainly was a man. So it makes more sense to consider young males and their fates on the Titanic in terms of the three groupings which had legal and social significance at that time. These were children aged up to 11, 'young people' aged 12-15, and adults aged 16 and over.. If you're particularly interested in the boys aged 10-15, they are best considered as two groups - the children (aged 10-11) who should have had a legal right of access to the boats, and the young persons aged 12-15 who theoretically had no right of entry.

 

[Aaron_2016]

Children smoked and went to work at a young age and looked much older before their time. Easy to mistake a child for an adult.



Working class children

Upper class children

Kids today use cell phones and debit cards and dress up in clothes entirely inappropriate (especially girls) for their age. I think the boys on the Titanic would have seen themselves as grown men and would have declined to step forward if the officer had called for any more children, and they would probably choose to stay with their father on the ship rather than go into the lifeboats with all the girls.


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[Bob Godfrey]

That's exactly what happened to Alfred Rush, who was traveling in 3rd Class with the Goldsmiths. During the sinking the two adult males in the party were stopped at a gate, while a crewman tried to pull young Alfred through with the women and children. But Alfred's 16th birthday had been that very day when the ship struck the iceberg. He was proud to have become a man, and was determined to stay - and, as it turned out, to die - with the other men. It's unlikely, however, that even if he had passed through the gate onto the boat deck he would have been allowed into a boat.

 

[Robert T. Paige]

Of course, it is all fiction, and it is in the "Titanic" movie of 1953, which is considerd "the worst 'Titanic' movie ever made."

Young "Norman Sturges" (Harper Carter) , who considers himself "old enough to wear long trousers" ,gives up his seat on a lifeboat to an elderly lady, goes back on Titanic, searches for his father, "Richard Ward Sturges" (Clifton Webb)and finds him . They are last seen standing by the rail , singing "Nearer My God, To Thee" just before Titanic takes its final plunge. There is quite a bit more to the story, too.

According to further information, Harper Carter was born in 1939, so he would have been about 14 years old when the movie was made in 1953.

 

[Robert T. Paige]

I should have said that the movie was released and shown in 1953.
So it could have been made earlier and Harper Carter could have been only 12 or 13 years old at that time.

 

[Ezekiel]

In 1912 there was no such thing as a 'teenager', and whilst a 13-year old was legally neither a child nor a man, a 16-year old certainly was a man. So it makes more sense to consider young males and their fates on the Titanic in terms of the three groupings which had legal and social significance at that time. These were children aged up to 11, 'young people' aged 12-15, and adults aged 16 and over.. If you're particularly interested in the boys aged 10-15, they are best considered as two groups - the children (aged 10-11) who should have had a legal right of access to the boats, and the young persons aged 12-15 who theoretically had no right of entry.

There was no such thing as a 'legal' right to enter the boats or not. Only Wilde and Lightoller doing as much damage as they could.

I think the boys on the Titanic would have seen themselves as grown men and would have declined to step forward if the officer had called for any more children, and they would probably choose to stay with their father on the ship rather than go into the lifeboats with all the girls.

Johan Svensson evidently thought otherwise, as he tried three times to get into one until he finally succeeded. Most of those who did not survive were unfortunately unable to tell their story.

 

[starrynightskies]

How awful. I suppose young teenage boys in those days weren't seen as kids but 'young men' and thus protected and cared for considerably less than their female counterparts. I imagine on the night of the sinking, many were left to fend for themselves.