Titanic LifeBoats

The higher classes had the advantage when it came to boarding the Titanic lifeboats and being closer to the top deck they knew exactly where the lifeboats were being launched. 

If there had been sufficient lifeboats on the Titanic that night every person aboard could have been saved, though the history of the Titanic shows there were nowhere near enough lifeboats.


Titanic Facts
  • The number of lifeboats originally planned for by the chief designer Alexander Carlisle was 48 . 
  • The White Star Line decided only 20 would be carried. This was actually 4 more than was required by the Trade Regulations of the time.
  • Even though only 20 were carried this would provide only 33% of the capacity for all the people aboard which was a key factor in the reduced number of eventual Titanic survivors.
  • There were 2 x wooden emergency cutters (capacity 40 people each); 14 standard wooden lifeboats (capacity 65 people each); 4 x folding or 'collapsible' lifeboats (capacity 47 people each).
  • While they would hold 1,176 passengers if they were all filled to capacity, facts about Titanic show many of them were lowered into the water with just a few passengers on board 
  • The higher classes had the advantage when it came to boarding lifeboats and being closer to the top deck they knew exactly where the lifeboats were being launched. - 
  • The first lifeboat number 7 only left with 28 people, though the lifeboat had a capacity of 65.
  • Titanic Facts show some of the lifeboats had plugs missing from them when they were launched, while others capsized. 
  • The ship had enough life jackets for all the passengers, but the longest anyone could survive in the icy Atlantic water was 20 minutes at the most.
  • The standard Titanic lifeboats were located on the boat deck with eight on either side of the ship. 
  • The two emergency lifeboats were located over the hull and were attached to tilting cranes. 
  • The canvas collapsibles were located next to the emergency lifeboats and on top of the officers quarters.



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