Under Collabsible B A safe place

[Ross VanSant]

I know no one did this, but would it be possible for someone to survive in the air pocket under collapsible B? I know Harold Bride was down there, but he came out and got on top of the collapsible. Could someone in his position have climbed under the benches and wedged themselves between the benches and the bottom of the boat? Would that have been a safe or wise thing to do? Or maybe several people could have gotten under the collapsible, and clung to the benches, keeping their upper body out of the water. Could anyone have survived like that?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Could anyone have survived like that?<<

I strongly doubt it. A lot of people climbed up on top of the collapsible so that anybody underneath would have been in constant contact with freezing water. If the air running out didn't kill you, the cold would have. The key to survival that night if you ended up in the water was to get out of it as soon as possible.

If you didn't, you never would.

 

[Dave Gittins]

There was very little space between the seats and the bottom of the boat. The collapsibles were what the Board of Trade called "Decked Lifeboats". There was a deck beneath the seats that covered compartments filled with cork. Anybody under the boat would have soon been drowned.

As Michael said, the key thing was to get out of the water. Even those who did get out of it didn't always survive.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Getting out of the 28° water at least gave one a sporting chance whilst staying in it was a dead certainty, with the emphesis on "dead." Take a look at the people who were ultimately recovered thanks to lifebelts. Very few people actually drowned and those who did were, arguably, the lucky ones since their suffering was brief. Most of these people froze to death.

 

[Timothy Trower]

Harold Bride testified that he found no air pocket underneath Collapsible B.

 

[Alex McLean]

If Bride said there was no air pocket under Collapsible B, where did the stories come from? It seems almost every story I hear about Collapsible B features Bride in an air pocket 'under' the boat. Aside from the testimony (which I haven't got access to at the moment), did he say anything to anyone else (the interviews he did after returning to New York? Once again I have no access to this at the moment.)

Alex

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Bride's testimonies are inconsistent on this point, as they were on a number of others:

At the US Inquiry:
Senator SMITH: You remained under the boat how long?
Mr BRIDE: I should say about three-quarters of an hour, or a half.
Senator SMITH: Was there breathing space under the boat when it was turned over in that way?
Mr BRIDE: Yes, sir.

At the UK Inquiry:
16613. I only want you to tell us about it. I have looked up your evidence in America. Did you find yourself at the under-side of the collapsible boat? - I was on the under-side of the boat, yes.
16614. I want you to tell us about it? - I was on the underside of the boat. After I had been there two or three seconds I cleared myself and swam away from it.
16619. (The Solicitor-General.) You were lying on your back, and found yourself on the underside of this raft? - Yes.
16620. Was there an air space between the underside of that and the top of the water? - I could not find it.

Take your pick!