What happened to the Titanic lifeboats?

[Ioannis Georgiou]

14 of Titanic's boats had been recovered and were brought to New York and put on the 2nd floor loft between piers 58 & 59 where they were until the end of December 1912. They were most likely sold and the amount added to the total sum for compensation.
As Eaton&Haas found out there were reports that pieces from boats were put in pubs but nothing had survived.

 

[Dave Gittins]

I believe a few name plates from the boats exist. The number from boat 8 certainly exists, having been pinched by seaman Jone and mounted in wood for presentation to the Countess of Rothes. I've personally seen it.

The disposal of the boats in December 1912 makes sense. In October 1912 a court found White Star's liability was limited by America law to the salvage value of the boats, plus freight moneys for the voyage. White Star was ordered to pay $96,000 into court. Once this was done, the boats could be sold or scrapped. I rather think they were scrapped after drying out right through a New York summer. Clinker built boats are like that. One or two were already leaking when Titanic sank.

 

[timberwolf]

Do u have a picture of life boat 8s plate if so could u send a picture of it loiblfishing@gmail.com it would be greatly appreciated

 

[timberwolf]

Hello,

Does anyone know

Hi Brandon,

I've seen that photo on page 118 of "Titanic, Journey Through Time" by Eaton & Haas. All I can tell you is that collapsible A was not cast adrift, but instead taken back to new york and placed in pier 58/59's loft in New York along with the other remaining Titanic lifebaots. I'm uncertain as to what became of A afterwards, but I'd be surprised if it was put to any further use(except maybe firewood

).

Regards,
Ben

I was woundering if they were put in a loft at pier 58/9 with other Titanic artifacts is it possible one or two r still there

 

[Ioannis Georgiou]

I was woundering if they were put in a loft at pier 58/9 with other Titanic artifacts is it possible one or two r still there

Only the boats and their content (oars etc.) nothing else. The piers are long gone.

 

[Mark Baber]

Pier 59 is still there; it's a driving range that's part of the Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment complex. Pier 58 is gone.

 

[Doug Criner]

The boats were unloaded into the harbor adjacent to the White Star pier, where they sat for a time. There is a photo of the boats. They were reportedly vandalized and things removed before they were moved indoors.

 

[B-rad]

Here is a pic. of what Mark said

 

[Mark Baber]

Yep, that's it.

There used to be a microbrewery/restaurant called Chelsea Brewing on the Pier and we locals periodically took out-of-town visitors to dinner there. It's now relocated to the Bronx and I don't know whether it was replaced at Pier 59 by a similar establishment. One of these days I'll have to o check it out.

 

[Dave Gittins]

Here's the number from lifeboat 8.

Ask not how the prize I hold
It was not given, nor lent, nor sold.

 

[lordflea]

Hi Jean, I am of the opinion(As in I agree with you) that most though probably not all of the Titanic's usable boats were later installed onboard the Olympic. The problem is that there is not a smidgen of first hand evidence available to either support or refute that opinion. None that has seen daylight in nearly ninety years anyway. If you have or can find records to support this, it would be quite a find!

The additional boats installed on the Olympic initially were 40 Berthon collapsibles which came from the Royal Navy dockyard. 16 of them were later landed when it was realized that they were more then was needed. This sparked rumours that these boats were in poor condition and that was what led to the stokehold crew bolting the ship en masse. The gory details of this unhappy episode can be found in Simon Mills "RMS Olympic, The Old Reliable" on pages 27-28. On pages 29-30 of the same book, you can find details of the refit accomplished where among other things, the lifeboat arrangements were upgraded to a total number of 32 boats with a capacity of 3,510.

As there was a shortage of boats at the time due to the sudden damand for same, they had to make due with ten Berthon and six Henderson collapsibles until the permanent lifeboats could be aquired. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the Titanic's boats made it to other ships.

Cordially,
Michael H. Standart

What evidence is there that Carpathia transported the lifeboats to New York harbor other than everyone agreeing that it happened? There is a video of Carpathia coming up the Hudson with the survivors but there is no evidence of any extra lifeboats on the deck. All that can be seen are Carpathia's lifeboats hanging on the davits. Rostron went to pick up survivors. He worked for Cunard not White Star, we assume he was on a humanitarian mission not a salvage mission. All I can find are photos of wooden lifeboats supposedly in New York Harbor without any Titanic or number identification. I just cannot imagine why Rostron would waste time picking up 13 lifeboats. How long would that take? Then he went past Pier 54 up to the White Star dock and unloaded them before returning to Little West 12th st to off load the passengers? Does that make any sense? Did people not need medical attention? Then the lifeboats disappeared?

 

[B-rad]

Is it possible that one of Titanic's life boats was locked up in a warehouse in some navel yard or some boat yard I'm looking 4 any thing that could lead me to a possible lead to the truth of a mystery I knew a person who survived the titanic and it would be a shame to give up

[Moderator's note: Two threads addressing the same subject have been merged to form this one. MAB]

Yes there is photographic evidence of carpathia loading lifeboats on board, with lifeboats on board and off loading them. Plus the limitation of liability documents clearly has a list of all surviving artifacts within each boat. Further more, why would anyone make up a story of recovering lifeboats if deemed, as suggested, unneeded or a waste of time?

 

[B-rad]

Ps... The quote 'quoted above in my last post is not the one I meant to reply to. Don't know what happened. My post above is is in response to lordflea's post. Sorry timberwolf.

 

[Harland Duzen]

What evidence is there that Carpathia transported the lifeboats to New York harbor other than everyone agreeing that it happened? There is a video of Carpathia coming up the Hudson with the survivors but there is no evidence of any extra lifeboats on the deck. All that can be seen are Carpathia's lifeboats hanging on the davits. Rostron went to pick up survivors. He worked for Cunard not White Star, we assume he was on a humanitarian mission not a salvage mission. All I can find are photos of wooden lifeboats supposedly in New York Harbor without any Titanic or number identification. I just cannot imagine why Rostron would waste time picking up 13 lifeboats. How long would that take? Then he went past Pier 54 up to the White Star dock and unloaded them before returning to Little West 12th st to off load the passengers? Does that make any sense? Did people not need medical attention? Then the lifeboats disappeared?

That footage was likely filmed at a earlier or later date (perhaps when departing for her voyage after April 19th). In Reality, Carpathia arrived during the night so that footage isn't accurate.

 

[Markmcwhinney]

I was aboard a supposed Titanic lifeboat when I was 9 years old. It was within a mile of Harland and Wolf in Belfast at Sydenham boat club. A very old chap was selling a pleasure boat he converted from a lifeboat. I don't think he was lying! I attended Andrews Memorial primary school at the time and pictures around the hall confirmed the clinker hull was identical, albeit with a cabin top added. It may still be somewhere in NI today!

 

[Doug Criner]

There is a photo showing the recovered Titanic lifeboats floating near the pier in New York. I don't think it is known for certain where they finally wound up. Without some evidence tying it to Titanic, I'd be skeptical of the provenance of the boat you remember as a child.

 

[Aaron_2016]

Were the lifeboat covers rolled up and stored somewhere on the ship, or stored inside each lifeboat, or were they simply discarded on the deck? Cheers if anyone knows.


.

 

[Markmcwhinney]

The East Belfast Yacht Club, Sydenham, was a workers club for H&W Belfast. I asked my father about his recollection today regarding the sale(1979) PERHAPS the lifeboats returned to H&W Belfast being reused upon another ship which was subsequently scrapped in Belfast. PERHAPS it was saved by a club member long since deceased who had access to hull records. It's probably nonsense, but I like to think that a lifeboat lives on with the current owner oblivious to its former history. The sellers nickname was the Gollywog, perhaps that's the only fact. I once saw a private archive from the drawing room in H&W. It was enormous! In 1991 it filled a hay barn. People around the area did take home memorabilia.