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An extremely descriptive piece of writing with an interview from an actual survivor of the Titanic.

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The Survivors

My mother had a premonition from the very word 'GO.' She knew there was something to be afraid of and the only thing that she felt strongly about was that to say a ship was unsinkable was flying in the face of God. Those were her words."

- Eva Hart, - Titanic survivor

Being a survivor of the most famous maritime disaster of all time was in many ways a tough legacy for some to live with and in some cases, some simply couldn't, and later took their own life. The Titanic survivors carried the burden of explaining the tragedy to the world and justifying why their life was spared above others.

The great injustice of the story of survival on the Titanic was that the wealthy survived and the poor perished. Even to the point that many second and third-class women and children were sacrificed at the expense of notable and wealthy men.

"I can never understand why God would have spared a poor Finnish girl when all those rich people drowned."

- Anna Turja Lundi, Titanic survivor.

J. Bruce Ismay would survive the Titanic but was murdered by the press for his decision to place his life above those of passengers. This was exemplified at the highest manner by J. Bruce Ismay - The owner of Titanic and a man who should have accepted much responsibility for the lack of lifeboats and other cost-cutting measures that inevitably lead to the sinking of Titanic. Ismay managed to find a spot on a lifeboat and watched hundreds of paying passengers die on the morning of April 15, 1912.

J. Ismay Retired as planned from the International Mercantile Marine in June 1913. Still, the position of managing director of the White Star Lines that he hoped to retain was denied him, surviving the Titanic Disaster had made him far too unpopular with the public.

He spent his remaining years alternating between his homes in London and Ireland. Because Ismay had never had many close friends, and subsequently had few business contacts, it was mistakenly easy to assume that he had become a recluse, he did enjoy being kept informed of shipping news, but those around him were forbidden to speak of the Titanic. He died in 1937.

A Complete Titanic TEACHING UNIT

For a complete list of Titanic Survivors click here. For a great demographic breakdown of survivors of the Titanic click here.

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Madeline Astor, Aged 19, was the maiden of the richest man on board.
Madeline Astor

Madeline Astor

The maiden of multi-millionaire Jacob Astor, Madeline inherited from her husband the income from a five million dollar trust fund and the use of his home on Fifth Ave and in the Newport so long as she did not marry. In August 1912, she gave birth to a son with whom she was pregnant on the Titanic, and she named him after her husband, John Jacob Astor. She relinquished the Astor income and mansions during WWI to marry William K. Dick of New York. She had two more sons; she divorced Dick in Reno, Nevada, in 1933 to Marry Italian Prize Fighter Enzo Firemonte. Five Years later, this marriage also ended in divorce. She died in Palm Beach, Florida in 1940 at age 47.

"As I was put into the boat, he cried to me, 'It's all right, little girl. You go. I will stay.' As our boat shoved off he threw me a kiss, and that was the last I saw of him."

- Mrs Daniel Warner Marvin - On her honeymoon

The unsinkable Molly Brown

The 'Unsinkable' Molly Brown

Molly's life took a surprising turn after the sinking. Previously, her efforts to be accepted by Denver society had been unsuccessful, the Selflessness and heroism she had shown on the Titanic prompted her neighbours, for a short time, to open their doors to her.

In 1924 she was named a potential candidate for Congress. As time passed on, however, she grew increasingly eccentric. Her husband died without leaving a final will and testament, and she found herself at odds with her children over his money.

In 1932, at the age of 65, she died suddenly in New York City after a stroke. It was only after her death when she became the subject of the hit Broadway musical and film, "The unsinkable Molly Brown" That she gained some of the fame she would have so enjoyed in life.

"Not until the last five minutes did the awful realization come that the end was at hand. The lights became dim and went out, but we could see. Slowly, ever so slowly, the surface of the water seemed to come towards us. So gradual was it that even after I had adjusted the life jacket about my body it seemed a dream. Deck after deck was submerged. There was no lurching or grinding or crunching. The Titanic simply settled. I was far up on one of the top decks when I jumped. About me were others in the water. My bathrobe floated away, and it was icily cold. I struck out at once. I turned my head, and my first glance took in the people swarming on the Titanic's deck. Hundreds were standing there helpless to ward off approaching death. I saw Captain Smith on the bridge. My eyes seemingly clung to him. The deck from which I had leapt was immersed. The water had risen slowly, and was now to the floor of the bridge. Then it was to Captain Smith's waist. I saw him no more. He died a hero. The bows of the ship were far beneath the surface and to me only the four monster funnels and the two masts were now visible. It was all over in an instant. The Titanic's stern rose completely out of the water and went up 30, 40, 60 feet into the air. Then, with her body slanting at an angle of 45 degrees, slowly the Titanic slipped out of sight."

- Robert W. Daniel - Philadelphia Banker

This infographic visually represents the survival rates of each class and gender on Titanic.

"I was on the whale deck in the bow calling the watch that was to relieve when the ice first came aboard. The collision opened the seams below the water-line but did not even scratch the paint above the line. I know that because I was one of those who helped to make an examination over the side with a lantern. I went down into the engine-room at 12:40am. We even made coffee, so there was not much thought of danger. An hour later I was still working at the light engines. I heard the chief engineer tell one of his subordinates that number six bulkhead had given way. At that time things began to look bad... I was told to go up and see how things were, and made my way up a dummy funnel to the bridge deck. By that time all the boats had left the ship, yet everyone in the engine-room was at his post. I was near the captain and heard him say, 'Well boys, it's every man for himself now.'"

- Alfred White - a greaser in the engine-room

"When the Titanic struck the iceberg, I was in bed. However, for whatever reason I was awake and remember the jolt and cessation of motion. A steward knocked on the stateroom door and directed us to get dressed, put on life preservers and go to the boat deck, which we did... The steward as we passed was trying to arouse passengers who had locked themselves in for the night. Elevators were not running. We walked up to the boat deck. Al was calm and orderly. An officer was in charge. 'Women and children first,' he said, as he directed lifeboat number 11 to be filled. There were many tearful farewells. We and Uncle Jim said good-bye... The lowering of the lifeboat 70 feet to the sea was perilous. Davits, ropes, nothing worked properly, so that first one end of the lifeboat was tilted up and then far down. I think it was the only time I was scared. Lifeboats pulled some distance away from the sinking Titanic, afraid of what suction might do... As row by row of the porthole lights of the Titanic sank into the sea this was about all one could see. When the Titanic upended to sink, all was blacked out until the tons of machinery crashed to the bow... As this happened hundreds and hundreds of people were thrown into the sea. It isn't likely I shall ever forget the screams of these people as they perished in water said to be 28 degrees... At this point in my life I was being brought up as a typical British kid. You were not allowed to cry. You were a 'little man.' So as a cool kid I lay down in the bottom of the lifeboat and went to sleep. When I awoke it was broad daylight as we approached the Carpathia. Looking around over the gunwale it seemed to me like the Arctic. Icebergs of huge size ringed the horizon for 360 degrees."

- Marshall Drew Eight-year-old travelling with his Aunt and Uncle

Paul Chevre - French Sculptor & Titanic Survivor

"When our boat had rowed about half a mile from the vessel the spectacle was quite fairylike, The Titanic, which was fully illuminated, was stationary, like some fantastic piece of stage scenery. The night was clear and the sea smooth, but it was intensely cold. Presently the gigantic ship began to sink by the bows, and then those who had remained on board realized the horror of their situation. Suddenly the lights went out and an immense clamor filled the air in one supreme cry for help. Little by little the Titanic settled down, and for three hours cries of anguish were heard. As moments the cries of terror were lulled and we thought it was all over, but the next instant they were renewed in still keener accents. As for is we did nothing but row, row, row to escape from the death cries. In our little boat we were frozen with cold, having left the ship without overcoats or rugs. We shouted from time to time to attract attention, but obtained no reply. A German baron who was with us fired off all the cartridges in his revolver. This agonizing suspense lasted for many hours until at last the Carpathia appeared. We shouted 'Hurrah!' and all the boats scattered on the sea made towards her."

- Paul Chevre - French Sculpture

"As I dressed, I heard the order shouted, 'All the passengers on deck with life belts on.' We all walked up slowly with the life belts tied on over our clothing, but even then we presumed that this was merely a wise precaution the captain was taking. The ship was absolutely still, and except for the gentle, almost unnoticeable, tilt downwards, there were no visible signs of the approaching disaster. But, in a few moments, we saw the covers being lifted from the boats and the covers being lifted from the boats and the crews allotted to them standing by and uncoiling the ropes, which were to lower them. We then began to realize that it was a more serious matter than we had at first supposed. Presently we heard the order, 'All men stand back away from the boats. All ladies retire to the next deck below.' The men all stood away and waited in absolute silence, some leaning against the end railings of the deck, others pacing slowly up and down. The boats were level with the deck where all the women were collected, the women got in quietly, with the exception of some, who refused to leave their husbands. In some cases they were torn from their husbands and pushed into the boats, but in many instances they were allowed to remain, since there was no-one to insist that they should go."

- Lawrence Beesley - English Schoolmaster

"After sinking with the ship, it appeared to me as if I was propelled by some great force through the water. This might have been occasioned by explosions under the water, and I remembered fearful stories of people being boiled to death. Again and again I prayed for deliverance, although I felt sure that the end had come. I had the greatest difficulty in holding my breath until I came to the surface. I knew that once I inhaled, the water would suffocate me. When I got under water I struck out with all my strength for the surface. I got to air again after a time, which seemed to me to be unending. There was nothing in sight save the ocean, dotted with ice and strewn with large masses of wreckage. Dying men and women all about me were groaning and crying piteously. By moving from one piece of wreckage to another, at last I reached a cork raft. Soon the raft became so full that it seemed as if she would sink if more came on board her. The crew for self-preservation had therefore to refuse to permit any others to climb aboard. This was the most pathetic and horrible scene of all. The piteous cries of those around us still ring in my ears, and I will remember them to my dying day. 'Hold on to what you have, old boy!' we shouted to each man who tried to get on board. 'One more of you would sink us all!' Many of those whom we refused answered as they went to their death, 'Good luck - God bless you!'"

- Colonel Archibald Gracie Jumped from the top deck and was sucked down with her

"A number of us who were enjoyed the crisp air were promenading about the deck. Captain Smith was on the bridge when the first cry from the lookout came that there was an iceberg ahead. It may have been 30 feet high when I saw it. It was possibly 200 yards away and dead ahead. Captain Smith shouted some orders... A number of us promenaders rushed to the bow of the ship. When we saw he could no fail to hit it, we rushed to the stern. Then came a crash, and the passengers were panic-stricken."

- George Brayton - First Class Passenger

"I saw the way she was carrying herself and the quiet, determined manner in which she spoke, and I knew she was more of a man than most aboard, so I put her in command at the tiller. There was another woman in the boat who helped, and was every minute rowing. It was she who suggested we should sing, and we sang as we rowed, starting with 'Pull for the Shore.' We were still singing when we saw the lights of the Carpathia, and then we stopped singing and prayed."

- Seaman Thomas Jones praised the courage of the Countess of Rothes in lifeboat number eight.

"I was in my bunk when I felt a bump. One man said, "Hello! She has been struck." I went on deck and saw a great pile of ice on the well deck before the forecastle, but we all thought the ship would last some time, and we went back to our bunks. Then one of the firemen came running down and yelled, "All muster for the lifeboats." I ran on deck, and the Captain said, "All firemen keep down on the well deck. If a man comes up I'll shoot him." Then I saw the first lifeboat lowered. Thirteen people were on board, eleven men and two women. Three were millionaires one was Ismay [J. Bruce Ismay, Managing Director of the White Star Line; a survivor]. Then I ran up on to the hurricane deck and helped to throw one of the collapsible boats on to the lower deck. I saw an Italian woman holding two babies. I took one of them, and woman jump overboard with the baby, while I did the same the other. When I came to the surface the baby in my arms was dead. I saw the woman strike out in good style, but a boiler burst on the Titanic and started a big wave. When the woman saw that wave, she gave
up. Then, as the child was dead, I let it sink too.
I swam around for about half an hour, and was swimming on my back when the Titanic went down. I tried to get aboard a boat, but some chap hit me over the head with an oar. There were too many in her. I got around to the other side of the boat and climbed in."

- Harry Senior - Fireman

"We did not begin to understand the situation till we were perhaps a mile or more away from the Titanic. Then we could see the rows of lights along the decks begin to slant gradually upward from the bow. Very slowly the lines of light began to point downward at a greater and greater angle. The sinking was so slow that you could not
perceive the lights of the deck changing their position. The slant seemed to be greater about every quarter of an hour.That was the only difference.

In a couple of hours, though, she began to go down more rapidly. Then the fearful sight began. The people in the ship were just beginning to realize how great their danger was. When the forward part of the ship dropped suddenly at a faster rate, so that the upward slope became marked, there was a sudden rush of passengers on all the decks towards the stern. It was like a wave. We could see the great black mass of people in the steerage sweeping to the rear part of the boat and breaking through into the upper decks. At the distance of about a mile we could
distinguish everything through the night, which was perfectly clear. We could make out the increasing excitement on board the boat as the people, rushing to and fro, caused the deck lights to disappear and reappear as they passed in
front of them.

This panic went on, it seemed, for an hour. Then suddenly the ship seemed to shoot up out of the water and stand there perpendicularly. It seemed to us that it stood upright in the water for four full minutes.

Then it began to slide gently downwards. Its speed increased as it went down head first, so that the stern shot down with a rush. The lights continued to burn till it sank. We could see the people packed densely in the stern till it was gone
. . .
As the ship sank we could hear the screaming a mile away. Gradually it became fainter and fainter and died away. Some of the lifeboats that had room for more might have gone to their rescue, but it would have meant that those who were in the water would have swarmed aboard and sunk her. "

- Mrs D. H. Bishop - Eyewitness account from Lifeboat

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Being a survivor of the most famous maritime disaster of all time was in many ways a tough legacy for some to live with and in some cases, some simply

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An amazingly accurate and in-depth representation of how the great RMS Titanic sank.

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New CGI of How Titanic Sank | Titanic 100

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An incredible series of descriptive articles to further deepen your understanding on the tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic.

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The Titanic Sinking: A Complete Guide | Ultimate Titanic

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Without the Titanic sinking, the fame of Titanic is greatly diminished. It would be merely a footnote in the engineering history of the early twentieth century.

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An incredibly accurate diagram and representation of it's passengers.

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Demographics of the
TITANIC Passengers:
Deaths, Survivals,
Nationality,
and Lifeboat Occupancy

I hesitated before creating yet another Titanic Web site, but after I saw the movie Titanic [that tells you how long this page has been around], I was inspired to finish up some research I had started quite some time before. I was curious about the demographics of the passengers and crew of the Titanic -- who perished, who survived, and who occupied which lifeboats. How gravely was the tragedy enhanced by gender, class distinction, and prejudice?

On this site I have compiled numbers, comparing several different sources. The numbers make it all too clear that a rule of First Class First far outweighed the principle of Women and Children First. In addition to simply compiling numbers, however, I have included some notes and analysis and share the sources I used to compile the data.

Deaths and Survivals
Compared:
Women, Children, and Men

Breakdown of Passengers by Class

Women

Children

Men

Total

First Class
Women (Servants*)

First Class
Men (Servants*)

Second Class
Women (Servants*)

Second Class
Children

Total: 25
Died: 0
Survived: 25
% Survived: 100%

Second Class
Men (Servants*)

Further Steerage Breakdown

Breakdown of Passengers by Nationality

Nationality FIRST CLASS SECOND CLASS THIRD CLASS Total

Total

Survived

Died

Percent Survived

Total

Survived

Died

Percent Survived

Total

Survived

Died

Percent Survived

Total

Survived

Died

Percent Survived

Belgian

1

1

0

100%

1

0

1

0%

22

5

17

23%

24

6

18

25%

Bulgarian

0

0

33

0

33

0%

33

0

33

0%

FIRST CLASS SECOND CLASS THIRD CLASS Total

Total

Survived

Died

Percent Survived

Total

Survived

Died

Percent Survived

Total

Survived

Died

Percent Survived

Total

Survived

Died

Percent Survived

The nationality numbers were adapted from lists and raw data compiled by Hermann Söldner. Note: the numbers on this chart do not match the totals on the two tables above. Although I can account for some of the discrepancies (for example, I think he included the musicians among the British Second Class passengers, but I did not), I do not have enough information about his sources to be able to square his numbers with my own.

Breakdown of Officers and Crew
by Employment Category

Women

Men

Total

Total
Female Sailing Crew

None.

Total
Female Staff, non-White Star Employees

Total
Female Staff and Crew

Demographics
of the Lifeboats

Order launched

Time
launched

Number of boat, location

Approx. No. aboard / Capacity / Percentage

Class of
passengers

Men, other than crew, aboard?

5th or 6th

1:10

1
OFFICERS Deck,
Starboard

12/40
30%

only FIRST

10 of the 12 were men

15th

1:45

2
OFFICERS Deck,
Port

20/40
50%

FIRST & THIRD

men were removed from the boat before it was moved for launch. At least 1 aboard by the time of launch.

16th

34/65
52%

Primarily FIRST

none initially, but a few male passengers were hauled aboard; only First Class Deck lifeboat to haul up passengers.

17th

1:50

39/49
80+%

primarily THIRD,
some FIRST

at least 10, including J. Bruce Ismay, White Star director

18th

2:05

17/49
35%

all

at least 4, including those hauled out of water

not launched;
floated off
partially
submerged

2:20

unknown (only 13 reached the Carpathian alive)/49

all but 1 were men

2:20

unknown (only 28 reached the Carpathian alive)/49

all men, but few were passengers

NOTES ON THE TABLES ABOVE

1. There is no exact or definitive number for the people aboard the Titanic, nor for those who survived. Estimates you can find on the web range widely, and even among reputiable scholars, numbers differ by as many as 40 passengers. There are official documents, such as a Contract Ticket List, a Certificates of Clearance, lists of alien passengers prepared for the United States Immigration Service. There were two official lists of deceased passengers created in 1912. There are discrepancies, inaccuracies, inconsistences, omissions, and other mistakes with both names and numbers. Researchers, such as Michael A. Findlay, Philip Hind, and Lester J. Mitcham, have been able to correct many errors and solve many mysteries, but there will always be a few problems that will never be solved. Because of their research, however, even if an exact number will never be known, wild guesses and faulty estimates from the past can now be rejected.

2. In several cases the distinction between a passenger and a member of the crew is not clear. Some employees, such as musicians and employees of Harland and Wolff (the shipbuilder), were on board for work. So, even if they were given First or Second Class accommodations, I have included them among the crew, not among the passengers. Until recently, 1296 was my total for number of passengers in the first table. That figure was based on research done by Michael Findlay in the 1990s. With the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, I did some more tabulations, based on more recent estimates and revised it upward to 1300. The number of passengers in the first and second tables now agree. The total numbers in the table for nationalities do not agree, however, since they are based on calculations done by Hermann Söldner, who must have used different sources than I have.

3. Despite the discrepancies, I think the numbers are close enough to draw some legitimate conclusions. However, I urge you use caution and skepticism as you review them.

4. Figures for the crew are even less reliable than the numbers for passengers. No accurate crew list was compiled at the time.

DISCUSSION OF THE TABLES ABOVE

To me, a non-statistician, the tables above show significant indications of class discrimination. Evidence of numbers and testimony have proven that only on one side of the Titanic did the rule "Women and children first," apply. What becomes even more clear when looking at the numbers is that a more important concept of the day was "First Class first."

CLASS DISTINCTIONS

1. For some perspective, here is the price of tickets: First Class tickets ranged from £30 for a berth to £870 for a luxury suite with a private fifty-foot promenade and the only private lavatory and toilet facilities in all the ship. A Second Class ticket could be purchased for as little as £12. Steerage tickets ranged from £3 (for children) to £8, but family tickets were also available to make tickets even more affordable to large families. I have seen various estimates of how much that would be worth in current US dollars, so I think it makes more sense to make a different comparison. The cheapest ticket would have cost a clerk, typist, or shipyard worker a month's salary, and in many cases families would have had to use all their savings to afford the passage. The most expensive First Class ticket was similar in price to that of a very expensive luxury automobile.

2. The lifeboats were launched from the First Class decks first and the Second Class decks second. There were no decks or lifeboats dedicated to the Third Class.

3. First Class suites, berths, and social rooms were located principally on the center of the ship on decks A, B, and C (or more poetically the Boat Deck, Promenade Deck and Bridge Deck), with additional cabins on decks D and E. They had either immediate or easy access to the Boat Deck where all of the lifeboats were housed. Lifeboats numbered 1 through 8, which were the first to be launched, were located in the fore of the ship, the First Class Deck. The numbers indicate that First Class Passengers utilized any lifeboat available without compunction.

4. Second Class rooms were mostly located on decks D and E, with some on lower decks F and G. Where Second Class passengers were on the same deck as First Class passengers, the Second Class passengers were further aft. Some Second Class passengers would have had easy access through a stairway to the stern of the Boat Deck (Second Class Deck) where lifeboats numbered 9 through 16 were located. More by cultural than physcial barriers, the Second Class passengers would have been prohibited from entering the First Class section of the Boat Deck.

5. Steerage passengers had rooms on lower decks F and G, with some exceptions, and no direct or immediate access to lifeboats on the boat deck. Many steerage passengers who survived did so only by reaching the last of the lifeboats that were launched.

6. It is difficult for us now living more than a century later to realize and imagine how different people lived and thought. Bigotry of all sorts, especially classism and racism were commonplace and accepted or expected by both the privileged classes and races and the underprivileged.

7. By law, passed for public health reasons, gates separating steerage passengers from the other passengers had to be locked. Back then steerage passengers were equated with emigrants who were equated with disease and pestilence, and it was thought important to give passengers in more luxurious accommodations peace of mind that the ship would not breed contagion or other hazards to their well-being. The locked gates proved to be the most deadly, but there were other measures used on steerage passengers alone. Before boarding, steerage passengers had to submit to a health inspection, for at least obvious signs of infection, lice, or disease.As a public health measure, the public toilets in steerage had an automatic flushing feature.

8. Since adult male passengers were more likely to die than women and children, the sex of the passengers should probably by factored in when comparing the survival rate by class, but the percentages are not significantly different. More than 62% of the steerage passengers were adult males, compared to and 64% in Second Class, and 57% of the First Class passengers.

9. There is contradictory evidence about the degree of physical restraint used to keep steerage passengers from getting to the lifeboats. In addition to the reports that the locked gates remained locked, there were stories that passageways were blocked by armed guards. Testimony by at least one steerage passenger indicated there was no such restraint, which if true would indicate at least one crew member to unlock and free the passageways.

10. Annie Kelly, an Irish steerage passenger, said that the stewards not only did not wake the steerage passengers with an alarm but told alarmed third class passenger who came up to the deck to go back down as there was no danger. However, similar assurances were given to First and Second Class passengers.

11. Colonel Archibald Gracie testified at the American inquiry that a "mass of humanity" from steerage poured up onto the boat deck only after all the lifeboats had been launched.

12. According to several writers and historians, indifference toward steerage passengers and resignation by many steerage passengers may have been more responsible for the low percentages of steerage passenger survival than physical barriers.

13. Walter Lord, in A Night To Remember, indicates that the White Star Line always denied class distinction in filling the boats, and that both US Senate and British inquiries backed them up.

14. A contempt for "foreigners" was admitted by the crew in their own testimony, especially when telling stories of men who showed cowardice. The testimony of one officer at the U.S. Senate hearing so angered the Italian ambassador he demanded (and received) a retraction and an apology.

WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST?

1. In simple terms, almost all of the women and children in First and Second Class survived, while most of the women and children in steerage died. In contrast, most of the men in First, Second, and Third Class died.

2. The "Women and children only" rule was applied on the port side of the ship. It is not clear whether or not the "Women and children first" rule was applied on the starboard. Men comprised the majority of passengers aboard the First Class starboard deck lifeboats, but there was testimony that the men did wait until all the women present and willing had already boarded.

3. First Class women and children were about 6% of those aboard the Titanic, but constituted 20% of the survivors. In contrast, steerage passengers were a third of all aboard, but only one fourth of those saved.

4. At least three of the four women in First Class who perished had the opportunity to board a lifeboat but elected to stay with their husbands and/or family. When they initially made their decisions, most passengers still believed that the Titanic would and could not sink and may have been fearful for the safety of the lifeboats and the boarding process itself. There were several

5. Over half of the women in steerage perished.

6. All of the lifeboats launched from the starboard First Class Deck had more men than women aboard.

7. Who was a child was relative depending on class. For example, 14 year old Lucile Carter in First Class was considered a child, but a 14 year old Annie McGowan in Steerage was considered to be an adult. The only child in First Class to go down with the ship was Lorraine Allison. The Allison family was separated from their infant son. The Allisons refused to board a lifeboat until they could find their missing baby. Since the child's nurse had already been taken him on board a lifeboat, the rest of his family never found him and died together.

8. It may be statistically insignificant because of low numbers, but children from Second Class were the only members of a group to have a 100% survival rate.

9. Less than a third of the children from steerage survived.

10. Although half of the Irish women (defined as women boarding in Queenstown) survived, only one of the six Irish children survived (and I am including 14 year old Annie McGowan, whom some do not).

ADULT MALE PASSENGERS

1. Honor and shame ruled society in 1912 unlike they do a hundred years later. Gentlemen were expected to be honorable and feared being shamed. Men aboard the Titanic, especially those among the upper class, had to weigh their own survival with doing what society would deem the right thing. To survive but live in shame was a risk some men would not take. Different men, dispite which class they belonged to, made different decisions. Famously several of the wealthiest men, John Jacob Astor, George Widener, and Isodor Strauss, refused to board a lifeboat on grounds of honor, even after it was clear that the Titanic would sink.

2. Men in First Class had no better than a one in three chance of surviving, so compared to women, even women from steerage, they fared poorly. Compared to men from other classes, they did remarkably well. At the time when most of the lifeboats from the First Class decks were launching, it was not certain among the passengers that the Titanic was doomed, and many of the men from First Class who could have gone aboard a lifeboat (those on the starboard side) elected to remain behind.

3. Even though some men had no trouble boarding lifeboats, there was a report that the wealthiest man on the Titanic, John Jacob Astor, attempted to board the lifeboat with his wife, but was rebuffed by Second Officer Lightoller, who told him, "Women and children, only, sir." Other accounts are differ, however, including one that he was seated in a lifeboat, but gave up his seat at the last minute. Another is that Astor chose to stay behind to encourage William Carter to get on board, promising the boy that he would take care of his dog.

4. An adult male in Second Class had only an 8% chance of surviving. Even adult male steerage passengers had a better chance of surviving than that. Without supporting evidence, it is hard to say that the men from Second Class gave up their seats to women from steerage, but if it was true, they were more gallant by far than the men from First Class.

5. Men in Second Class had no physical barriers to pass, so honor and resignation may have reigned high. However, more compelling than a sense of good manners and gentlemanliness was probably the stigma of shame and cowardice that would be attached to many adult males who had the audacity to survive the sinking. As a result, adult male survivors had compelling reasons for their defensiveness and inventions of excuses for boarding a lifeboat.

6. Panic and confusion may have been an even greater consideration for the loss of life by many men. As Lawrence Beesley, a Second Class passenger, reported in his 1912 book, The Loss of the SS Titanic, a false rumor that men were allowed to board lifeboats on the port side caused many men to cross over to the side of the ship where they had a much smaller chance of being allowed on board a lifeboat.

7. A high percentage of the men in steerage who got to lifeboats reached them only by leaping onto them after they were launched or by scrambling aboard the two emergency lifeboats as they floated off moments before the Titanic finally went down.

1. The numbers used above are adapted from a list of country of origin created by researcher Hermann Soldner. His compilations were published in Switzerland in 2000 as a booklet, "RMS Titanic: Passenger and Crew List 10 April 1912-15 April 1912." His research was used as the primary source for the Country of Residence section of the Encyclopedia Titanica.

2. Most official lists provide no breakdown by nationality beyond British and Non-British.

3. If any stereotype can be read in the demographics, one might be tempted to cite those spunky Irish, almost all of whom were in steerage, but whom survived by greater precentage than the British, of whom only slightly more than half were in steerage. However, to put that premise in doubt, even more significant is that almost half of the Irish were women, and gender, not nationality, may have been a greater factor in determining likelihood of survival.

4. Passengers with Third Class tickets are usually billed as immigrants and refugees, and the image that that description can be bring is one of disreputable, disease-laden, dark complected foreigners. However, almost two thirds were English-tongued British, Americans, and Irish, or fair skinned Scandinavians. The British and Swedes had among the worse survival rates among nationalities in steerage.

5. By percentage, the Japanese did the best, with a 100% survival rate, but since there was only one Japanese passenger on board, that's a meaningless statistic. The Chinese, Spanish, and Swiss also had a very high survival rate, but there numbers were also all very small. The French survived as well as the Americans, but there were one tenth as many French as Americans.

6. Nationality is not equivalent to ethnicity. For example, although there is a designation for Finland, ethnic Finns living in Sweden were counted among the Swedes. As result, the number is imprecise. I have altered the number I orginally had based on figures determined by the Swedish Emigrant Institute. The majority from Austria-Hungary were neither German nor Magyar (Hungarian), but from the various Slavic ethnic groups. There were contemporary accounts of many Italians aboard the Titanic, but the statistics do not bear this out. It appears likely "Italian" was the label given most any foreigner with a dark complection.

7. Haiti is not listed, but one passenger who must have been listed as French was Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche, who had been born in Haiti. He had been living in France for more than a decade, and his wife and two children were all born in France. He has been called the only passenger aboard the Titanic of known African ancestry.

8. Countries, borders, and geopolitical understanding were quite different in 1912 than they are today. There were two Australians and five South Africans, but both nations were considered to be part of the British Commonwealth, so they were originally tallied as British. I have separated them out and subtracted the number from the British totals. There are probably many others from Commonwealth nations that should also be separated out. Turkey and Syria were both part of the Ottoman Empire, but researchers have discovered that most Middle Easterners aboard the Titanic were actually Lebanese Christians. Those listed as Syrians had one of the best survival rates of any nationality in steerage.

9. Because of the small sample sizes and inexact determination of ethnicity, it seems inappropriate to make any broad conclusions about the personalities of national groups based on survival rates. There was a controversy back in January 2009 that caused this site to get a huge number of hits. The controversy occurred after the BBC and other journalists reported on research that concluded that British passengers were more likely to perish than Americans because they were more polite. In any eyewitness accounts I've read, I've seen no evidence that British men failed to get on lifeboats because of a greater degree of gentlemanliness. Surely the stigma of shame and cowardice, as well as opportunity, fear, confusion, and panic, were greater factors than politeness in who boarded the lifeboats.

TITANIC CREW, EMPLOYEES, AND SERVANTS

1. The crew of the Titanic were divided into Deck Crew, Engineering Crew, and Victualling Crew. I have created my own employment category of Sailors to single out officers, able-bodied seamen, quartermasters, lookouts, and masters-at-arms from other members of the deck crew.

2. Seventy percent of the 60 sailors on board survived, many, but not all, because they had been commanded to take charge of lifeboats or to serve as rowers. It may have been the duty of the captain to go down with the ship, but that was not true for most other officers.

3. Other members of the deck crew were non-sailors. The non-sailing crew were 38% of those aboard the Titanic but only 25% of the survivors. Non-sailing crew members included trimmers, firemen, greasers, window cleaners, carpenters, messmen, engineers, stewards and stewardesses, bell boys, lift attendants, boots, baths, barbers, chefs, cooks, butchers, bakers, confectioners, platemen, scullions, medical staff, and a gymnasium instructor. Only a couple of the non-sailing crew, all firemen, were recruited as rowers on lifeboats.

4. All 30 engineer and electrical engineers perished. They were true heroes who stayed down below until almost the end trying to keep the ship afloat and the electrical system working.

5. Some members of the Titanic's crew were not employees of the White Star line. These included nine Guarantee Group members (employees of the shipbuilder, Harland and Wolff, who were on board to familiarize the crew with the ship), eight musicians, two Marconi operators, five postal clerks, and the nearly seventy members of the staff of the First Class a la carte restaurant. This group of non-White Star line crew members had the worst rate of survival.

6. The musicians, who traveled in Second Class, and the Guarantee Group, three of whom traveled in First Class and five of whom in Second Class, are included among passengers in some lists, as is Frans Olof Carlsson, who was the first mate on the liner St. Louis, but had been stranded by the coal strike and was traveling in First Class to return to his ship. I have included them with the crew. All were men; all perished.

7. Almost all of the a la carte restaurant workers were French. All but two were men. Both women, neither of whom were French, reached a lifeboat. Only one male restaurant worker survived.

8. As an indication of class distinction, the first official lists of Titanic passengers did not include the names of the maids and manservants who traveled with the First Class passengers. They were merely extensions of the passenger. For example, "Cardeza [sic], Mrs. J. W. M. and Maid."

9. The story quickly emerged that four maids died, trapped below deck, because they had been sent down to the purser's office to fetch their employers' valuables. In the first official lists, indeed, four maids are listed among those who perished, the maids of Mrs. Cardeza, Mrs. Douglas, Mrs. Hays, Mrs. Penasco y Castellana. Researcher Michael Findlay, however, has disproved the myth by documenting that all four of these women, Bertha LeRoy, Fermina Oliva y Ocana, Annie Perreault, and Anne Ward, survived. In fact, all female servants traveling in First and Second Class survived.

10. While maids, nurses, and valets traveled in First Class, three chauffeurs and a cook traveling with First Class passengers were given Second Class accommodations. The cook (a female) survived, but none of the chauffeurs (all male) did.

11. Only two menservants survived. One was Henry Sleeper Harper's Egyptian dragoman (an interpreter and guide) named Hamad Hassah, "whom he picked up in Cairo as a sort of a joke [according to Walter Lord]." The Harpers also brought on board the lifeboat their other "pet," a Pekingese, named Sun Yet-sen. The other surviving manservant was Gustave Lesueur, valet to Mr Thomas Cardeza. Cardeza was traveling with his mother, and there was a report that the mother, son, and two servants boarded Lifeboat 3 as an entourage.

LIFEBOATS

1. Lifeboats were the luxury of the First Class. The White Star Line staff was deferential to the First Class in all things, so it was natural that the launching of the lifeboats began on the First Class decks. Half the lifeboats, and all of the first six launched, contained only passengers from First Class, plus crew members to do the work. Although no one but First Class passengers could board a First Class deck lifeboat, First Class passengers were welcome to board First and Second Class deck lifeboats.

2. Lawrence Beesley, a surviving Second Class passenger, reported that several women in Second Class were turned away when they tried to enter the part of the deck reserved for First Class where half the lifeboats were located. Later, however, First Class passengers easily found their way to the lifeboats not located on the First Class deck.

3. The total capacity of the combined total of lifeboats was rated at 1,178, but the rating was not necessarily a practical number. According to testimony provided at the British inquiry, a more realistic capacity for a lifeboat rated for 65 was closer to 50, except on the most favorable conditions. On the night of the sinking of the Titanic, the sea was absolutely smooth and still -- "most favorable conditions."

4. All of these early launched "First Class" lifeboats were notorious for being launched at less than half capacity. The number of passengers was also far below what would have been a comfortable number.

5. All of the lifeboats launched from the starboard First Class Deck had more men than women aboard. Whether or not they boarded after all the women were given a chance is not certain.

6. The crew loading passengers on the port side were quite extreme in enforcing a "Women and Children Only" policy. They not only refused to allow men to board, but in at least one case, physcially removed men who had seated themselves.

7. According to testimony of Dr. Washington Dodge, a third of the lifeboats had been launched, including those furthest from capacity, before there was a general consensus among the passengers that the Titanic would or could sink.

8. Especially early on, when only the First Class passengers had the option to board, most believed that boarding a lifeboat was not wise or necessary. The crew was not well trained in lowering the boats, the pulleys did not function smoothly, so anyone watching the jerky, delayed, and hesitant lowering might easily conclude that the safer option would be to stay aboard the world's largest most luxurious lifeboat, the Titanic itself.

9. Although lifeboat 4 picked up six or eight passengers from the water and D hauled in at least one man before they distanced themselves from the ship, the only lifeboat to go back to try to rescue people after the Titanic went under was 14, not a "First Class" lifeboat. It was only able to pick up three or four passengers from the water.

10. Testimony has made it clear that Captain Smith and the chief officers of the Titanic knew before the first lifeboat was launched that the Titanic would sink, but no one among the crew took measures to ensure that all boats were adequately filled.

11. Naval traditions and social customs and some absence of knowledge did not give the crew doing the actual loading of the lifeboats any capacity for planning or making any but the most pressing reasoned judgments.

12. The decision to allow so many lifeboats to be launched at less than half capacity when it was known that the Titanic would sink in a matter of hours rested with Captain Smith. Some have charged that it was his indecision, rather than any overt decision by him, that cost so many lives.

RESOURCES WITH TITANIC FACTS AND STATISTICS

RESOURCES USED FOR CALCULATING THE TABLES:

My initial source for compiling passenger statistics was Titanic Passenger List, 10 April 1912, by Michael Findlay. Mr. Findlay is probably the world's leading authority, having spent years of research tracking down individuals from around the world to produce his list. It can be found in two print sources that I have seen. It is an appendix found inTitanic: Women and Children First, by Judith B. Geller (Norton, 1998) and Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy by John P. Eaton & Charles A. Haas (Patrick Stephens, 1994).

I have also extensively used Philip Hind's Encyclopedia Titanica, beginning when it was called R.M.S. Titanic: Her Passengers and Crew. Hind has also used Michael Findlay's list as a starting point and adapted and added to it, especially with biographical details. His is the best and almost only readily available source I know of for information about the Titanic's crew.

Hermann Soldner's booklet, "RMS Titanic: Passenger and Crew List 10 April 1912-15 April 1912," once available on the web, was my principle source for nationality information. His research data are still available in different and expanded formats on Encyclopedia Titanica.

Two researchers who have presented Titanic statistics online are Lester J. Mitcham and Chuck Anesi. Although I didn't discover their pages until after I had created my own tables, I have since compared my numbers with theirs, and though none of our statistics quite agree, their compilations were helpful as I tried to get my tables to mesh with each other.

Titanic: A Tragic Destiny, a site no longer maintained, featured a chronology and other information that I found helpful in putting together the the lifeboat table.

Titanic Inquiry Project provides the official transcripts of the inquiries made by both the British Board of Trade and the United States Senate. Thousands of pages are available and searchable.

There were earlier efforts attempted to compile passenger names and information, as well:

Walter Lord included as an appendix the passenger section of the White Star Line's final list of lost and saved, dated May 9, 1912 in his A Night To Remember (Henry Holt, 1955). The list was official, but it was full of errors.

Lists were also reported in the London Times in the days following the disaster. By April 20, the Times reproduced an official list supplied by the White Star Line. It differs in form and content from the list in A Night To Remember.

Colonel Archibald Gracie's The Truth about the Titanic (1913) was the first published attempt to compile information about who was on which lifeboats. It is incomplete and for the most part ignores steerage passengers.

All photographs used on this page are in the public domain. The animated illustration at the top of the page showing the sinking of the Titanic is based on the following six sketches of the sinking drawn by Jack Thayer, a 17-year old surviver, who also drew them while on board the Carpathian on April 15, probably not long after he came aboard. His sketches were first published to illustrate an account he wrote that was included as a chapter in Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters - As Told by First Hand Account of Survivors and Initial Investigations edited by Logan Marshall, was published in 1912 by several publishers, including The International Bible House, which was my source. Thayer controversially showed the Titanic breaking in two. This fact was not widely believed until after Robert Ballard's underwater team proved him to be right in 1985.

This page maintained by John R. Henderson (jrhenderson9 @ gmail.com).
I am a retired librarian who created this page when working at Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY.
First created on 6 June 1998. Links last checked on 26 January 2023.
URL: http://www.icyousee.org/titanic.html

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icyousee titanic titanic unsinkable demographics sinking passengers crew lifeboat lifeboats

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ICYouSee: discussion and analysis of the demographics of the passengers and crew of the Titanic

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A good and factual explanation of every piece of info you need to know about when it sank.

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Titanic, the so-called "unsinkable ship," struck an iceberg on April 15, 1912, and sunk to the bottom of the ocean, claiming the lives of more than 1,500 of the 2,220 people onboard.
The ship's designers, paid well by the White Star Line, went out of their way to tell the world that the construction was safe and sound for the voyage across the northern Atlantic Ocean, from Southampton, England, to New York. The designers were so convinced of the infallibility of their design that they included only 20 lifeboats, enough for one-third of the people onboard to vacate the ship if necessary.

On April 10, the giant ship left port. After four days, the unthinkable happened and the unsinkable ship sank, having struck a large iceberg that ripped large enough holes in the lower decks to split the ship in half.

The collision occurred 375 miles south of Newfoundland and caused several of the ship's watertight compartments to open, allowing water to rush in and trapping many people on the lower decks.

Only 18 of the 20 lifeboats were launched, and none of them were filled to capacity. Some had only 20 or 30 people onboard, and the population of lifeboats was top-heavy in terms of class, with many more first-class passengers than anyone else. (This eyewitness account from a survivor says that only 36 people were in her lifeboat.)

In many ways, the Titanic passenger list reflected the wide class divide of the times. Of the 1,296 total passengers onboard the massive ocean liner, 319 were labeled as first class, 269 were termed second class, and 699 were called third class, or steerage.

A closer look at the casualty figures reveals that of the 319 first-class passengers, 200 survived and of the 269 second-class passengers, 117 survived. Only 172 of 699 third-class passengers survived. A similar percentage can be found among crew and staff: 215 of 918 survived.

This happened for a few reasons, most notably that the first-class passengers were, by and large, the first ones into the lifeboats. Of the 20 lifeboats onboard, 18 were set afloat. All but three of the lifeboats had a capacity of 65 (the others could carry 40), but very few lifeboats began their journeys away from the sinking ship with 65 people aboard.

First-class passengers only were allowed on the first several lifeboats. Second-class passengers were on the eighth lifeboat to launch, and third-class passengers were not on a lifeboat until the 12th one to go.

Another contributing factor to the death of so many third-class passengers was the public health law that required the locking of gates that separate these lower-deck passengers from the "higher" classes.
More in-depth statistics
The Titanic had struck the iceberg at 11.40 p.m. on the night of April 14. About 2:20 a.m. the next morning, the boat broke apart and sank, bow-first, with more than 1,000 people still onboard. The water was freezing, and hundreds of people died quickly from hypothermia.

Survivors were eventually rescued by crew aboard another large ship, the Carpathia.

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The Titanic, the so-called 'unsinkable ship,' struck an iceberg on April 15, 1912, and sunk to the bottom of the ocean, claiming the lives of more than 1,500 of the 2,220 people onboard.

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An amazing article chalk-full of interesting and magnificent facts.

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Read about the tragic shipwreck in the frigid North Atlantic Ocean.

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This is a spectacular model of the interior and exterior of the Titanic, and the places people could go on it.

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Detailed RMS Titanic deckplans. Explore the design of the Titanic in high resolution deckplans.

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Summary:
An amazing article chalk-full of interesting and magnificent facts.

Why a Must-Read?
This Article was absolutely amazing. It was very simple yet detailed, and a perfect read for anyone who needs general facts of the Titanic.

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Read about the tragic shipwreck in the frigid North Atlantic Ocean.

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Summary:
An incredible series of descriptive articles to further deepen your understanding on the tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic.

Why a Must-Read?
This article clearly stated unbelievable facts of the Titanic. Some of the stuff in this absolutely blew my mind, and I really enjoyed reading.

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The Titanic Sinking: A Complete Guide | Ultimate Titanic

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Without the Titanic sinking, the fame of Titanic is greatly diminished. It would be merely a footnote in the engineering history of the early twentieth century.

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Summary:
An extremely descriptive piece of writing with an interview from an actual survivor of the Titanic.

Why a Must-Read?
This article was very enjoyable, as it was very descriptive on who rode on the titanic and general information about them. It also shows what kind of people rode it. An overall great read.

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The Survivors

My mother had a premonition from the very word 'GO.' She knew there was something to be afraid of and the only thing that she felt strongly about was that to say a ship was unsinkable was flying in the face of God. Those were her words."

- Eva Hart, - Titanic survivor

Being a survivor of the most famous maritime disaster of all time was in many ways a tough legacy for some to live with and in some cases, some simply couldn't, and later took their own life. The Titanic survivors carried the burden of explaining the tragedy to the world and justifying why their life was spared above others.

The great injustice of the story of survival on the Titanic was that the wealthy survived and the poor perished. Even to the point that many second and third-class women and children were sacrificed at the expense of notable and wealthy men.

"I can never understand why God would have spared a poor Finnish girl when all those rich people drowned."

- Anna Turja Lundi, Titanic survivor.

J. Bruce Ismay would survive the Titanic but was murdered by the press for his decision to place his life above those of passengers. This was exemplified at the highest manner by J. Bruce Ismay - The owner of Titanic and a man who should have accepted much responsibility for the lack of lifeboats and other cost-cutting measures that inevitably lead to the sinking of Titanic. Ismay managed to find a spot on a lifeboat and watched hundreds of paying passengers die on the morning of April 15, 1912.

J. Ismay Retired as planned from the International Mercantile Marine in June 1913. Still, the position of managing director of the White Star Lines that he hoped to retain was denied him, surviving the Titanic Disaster had made him far too unpopular with the public.

He spent his remaining years alternating between his homes in London and Ireland. Because Ismay had never had many close friends, and subsequently had few business contacts, it was mistakenly easy to assume that he had become a recluse, he did enjoy being kept informed of shipping news, but those around him were forbidden to speak of the Titanic. He died in 1937.

A Complete Titanic TEACHING UNIT

For a complete list of Titanic Survivors click here. For a great demographic breakdown of survivors of the Titanic click here.

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Madeline Astor, Aged 19, was the maiden of the richest man on board.
Madeline Astor

Madeline Astor

The maiden of multi-millionaire Jacob Astor, Madeline inherited from her husband the income from a five million dollar trust fund and the use of his home on Fifth Ave and in the Newport so long as she did not marry. In August 1912, she gave birth to a son with whom she was pregnant on the Titanic, and she named him after her husband, John Jacob Astor. She relinquished the Astor income and mansions during WWI to marry William K. Dick of New York. She had two more sons; she divorced Dick in Reno, Nevada, in 1933 to Marry Italian Prize Fighter Enzo Firemonte. Five Years later, this marriage also ended in divorce. She died in Palm Beach, Florida in 1940 at age 47.

"As I was put into the boat, he cried to me, 'It's all right, little girl. You go. I will stay.' As our boat shoved off he threw me a kiss, and that was the last I saw of him."

- Mrs Daniel Warner Marvin - On her honeymoon

The unsinkable Molly Brown

The 'Unsinkable' Molly Brown

Molly's life took a surprising turn after the sinking. Previously, her efforts to be accepted by Denver society had been unsuccessful, the Selflessness and heroism she had shown on the Titanic prompted her neighbours, for a short time, to open their doors to her.

In 1924 she was named a potential candidate for Congress. As time passed on, however, she grew increasingly eccentric. Her husband died without leaving a final will and testament, and she found herself at odds with her children over his money.

In 1932, at the age of 65, she died suddenly in New York City after a stroke. It was only after her death when she became the subject of the hit Broadway musical and film, "The unsinkable Molly Brown" That she gained some of the fame she would have so enjoyed in life.

"Not until the last five minutes did the awful realization come that the end was at hand. The lights became dim and went out, but we could see. Slowly, ever so slowly, the surface of the water seemed to come towards us. So gradual was it that even after I had adjusted the life jacket about my body it seemed a dream. Deck after deck was submerged. There was no lurching or grinding or crunching. The Titanic simply settled. I was far up on one of the top decks when I jumped. About me were others in the water. My bathrobe floated away, and it was icily cold. I struck out at once. I turned my head, and my first glance took in the people swarming on the Titanic's deck. Hundreds were standing there helpless to ward off approaching death. I saw Captain Smith on the bridge. My eyes seemingly clung to him. The deck from which I had leapt was immersed. The water had risen slowly, and was now to the floor of the bridge. Then it was to Captain Smith's waist. I saw him no more. He died a hero. The bows of the ship were far beneath the surface and to me only the four monster funnels and the two masts were now visible. It was all over in an instant. The Titanic's stern rose completely out of the water and went up 30, 40, 60 feet into the air. Then, with her body slanting at an angle of 45 degrees, slowly the Titanic slipped out of sight."

- Robert W. Daniel - Philadelphia Banker

This infographic visually represents the survival rates of each class and gender on Titanic.

"I was on the whale deck in the bow calling the watch that was to relieve when the ice first came aboard. The collision opened the seams below the water-line but did not even scratch the paint above the line. I know that because I was one of those who helped to make an examination over the side with a lantern. I went down into the engine-room at 12:40am. We even made coffee, so there was not much thought of danger. An hour later I was still working at the light engines. I heard the chief engineer tell one of his subordinates that number six bulkhead had given way. At that time things began to look bad... I was told to go up and see how things were, and made my way up a dummy funnel to the bridge deck. By that time all the boats had left the ship, yet everyone in the engine-room was at his post. I was near the captain and heard him say, 'Well boys, it's every man for himself now.'"

- Alfred White - a greaser in the engine-room

"When the Titanic struck the iceberg, I was in bed. However, for whatever reason I was awake and remember the jolt and cessation of motion. A steward knocked on the stateroom door and directed us to get dressed, put on life preservers and go to the boat deck, which we did... The steward as we passed was trying to arouse passengers who had locked themselves in for the night. Elevators were not running. We walked up to the boat deck. Al was calm and orderly. An officer was in charge. 'Women and children first,' he said, as he directed lifeboat number 11 to be filled. There were many tearful farewells. We and Uncle Jim said good-bye... The lowering of the lifeboat 70 feet to the sea was perilous. Davits, ropes, nothing worked properly, so that first one end of the lifeboat was tilted up and then far down. I think it was the only time I was scared. Lifeboats pulled some distance away from the sinking Titanic, afraid of what suction might do... As row by row of the porthole lights of the Titanic sank into the sea this was about all one could see. When the Titanic upended to sink, all was blacked out until the tons of machinery crashed to the bow... As this happened hundreds and hundreds of people were thrown into the sea. It isn't likely I shall ever forget the screams of these people as they perished in water said to be 28 degrees... At this point in my life I was being brought up as a typical British kid. You were not allowed to cry. You were a 'little man.' So as a cool kid I lay down in the bottom of the lifeboat and went to sleep. When I awoke it was broad daylight as we approached the Carpathia. Looking around over the gunwale it seemed to me like the Arctic. Icebergs of huge size ringed the horizon for 360 degrees."

- Marshall Drew Eight-year-old travelling with his Aunt and Uncle

Paul Chevre - French Sculptor & Titanic Survivor

"When our boat had rowed about half a mile from the vessel the spectacle was quite fairylike, The Titanic, which was fully illuminated, was stationary, like some fantastic piece of stage scenery. The night was clear and the sea smooth, but it was intensely cold. Presently the gigantic ship began to sink by the bows, and then those who had remained on board realized the horror of their situation. Suddenly the lights went out and an immense clamor filled the air in one supreme cry for help. Little by little the Titanic settled down, and for three hours cries of anguish were heard. As moments the cries of terror were lulled and we thought it was all over, but the next instant they were renewed in still keener accents. As for is we did nothing but row, row, row to escape from the death cries. In our little boat we were frozen with cold, having left the ship without overcoats or rugs. We shouted from time to time to attract attention, but obtained no reply. A German baron who was with us fired off all the cartridges in his revolver. This agonizing suspense lasted for many hours until at last the Carpathia appeared. We shouted 'Hurrah!' and all the boats scattered on the sea made towards her."

- Paul Chevre - French Sculpture

"As I dressed, I heard the order shouted, 'All the passengers on deck with life belts on.' We all walked up slowly with the life belts tied on over our clothing, but even then we presumed that this was merely a wise precaution the captain was taking. The ship was absolutely still, and except for the gentle, almost unnoticeable, tilt downwards, there were no visible signs of the approaching disaster. But, in a few moments, we saw the covers being lifted from the boats and the covers being lifted from the boats and the crews allotted to them standing by and uncoiling the ropes, which were to lower them. We then began to realize that it was a more serious matter than we had at first supposed. Presently we heard the order, 'All men stand back away from the boats. All ladies retire to the next deck below.' The men all stood away and waited in absolute silence, some leaning against the end railings of the deck, others pacing slowly up and down. The boats were level with the deck where all the women were collected, the women got in quietly, with the exception of some, who refused to leave their husbands. In some cases they were torn from their husbands and pushed into the boats, but in many instances they were allowed to remain, since there was no-one to insist that they should go."

- Lawrence Beesley - English Schoolmaster

"After sinking with the ship, it appeared to me as if I was propelled by some great force through the water. This might have been occasioned by explosions under the water, and I remembered fearful stories of people being boiled to death. Again and again I prayed for deliverance, although I felt sure that the end had come. I had the greatest difficulty in holding my breath until I came to the surface. I knew that once I inhaled, the water would suffocate me. When I got under water I struck out with all my strength for the surface. I got to air again after a time, which seemed to me to be unending. There was nothing in sight save the ocean, dotted with ice and strewn with large masses of wreckage. Dying men and women all about me were groaning and crying piteously. By moving from one piece of wreckage to another, at last I reached a cork raft. Soon the raft became so full that it seemed as if she would sink if more came on board her. The crew for self-preservation had therefore to refuse to permit any others to climb aboard. This was the most pathetic and horrible scene of all. The piteous cries of those around us still ring in my ears, and I will remember them to my dying day. 'Hold on to what you have, old boy!' we shouted to each man who tried to get on board. 'One more of you would sink us all!' Many of those whom we refused answered as they went to their death, 'Good luck - God bless you!'"

- Colonel Archibald Gracie Jumped from the top deck and was sucked down with her

"A number of us who were enjoyed the crisp air were promenading about the deck. Captain Smith was on the bridge when the first cry from the lookout came that there was an iceberg ahead. It may have been 30 feet high when I saw it. It was possibly 200 yards away and dead ahead. Captain Smith shouted some orders... A number of us promenaders rushed to the bow of the ship. When we saw he could no fail to hit it, we rushed to the stern. Then came a crash, and the passengers were panic-stricken."

- George Brayton - First Class Passenger

"I saw the way she was carrying herself and the quiet, determined manner in which she spoke, and I knew she was more of a man than most aboard, so I put her in command at the tiller. There was another woman in the boat who helped, and was every minute rowing. It was she who suggested we should sing, and we sang as we rowed, starting with 'Pull for the Shore.' We were still singing when we saw the lights of the Carpathia, and then we stopped singing and prayed."

- Seaman Thomas Jones praised the courage of the Countess of Rothes in lifeboat number eight.

"I was in my bunk when I felt a bump. One man said, "Hello! She has been struck." I went on deck and saw a great pile of ice on the well deck before the forecastle, but we all thought the ship would last some time, and we went back to our bunks. Then one of the firemen came running down and yelled, "All muster for the lifeboats." I ran on deck, and the Captain said, "All firemen keep down on the well deck. If a man comes up I'll shoot him." Then I saw the first lifeboat lowered. Thirteen people were on board, eleven men and two women. Three were millionaires one was Ismay [J. Bruce Ismay, Managing Director of the White Star Line; a survivor]. Then I ran up on to the hurricane deck and helped to throw one of the collapsible boats on to the lower deck. I saw an Italian woman holding two babies. I took one of them, and woman jump overboard with the baby, while I did the same the other. When I came to the surface the baby in my arms was dead. I saw the woman strike out in good style, but a boiler burst on the Titanic and started a big wave. When the woman saw that wave, she gave
up. Then, as the child was dead, I let it sink too.
I swam around for about half an hour, and was swimming on my back when the Titanic went down. I tried to get aboard a boat, but some chap hit me over the head with an oar. There were too many in her. I got around to the other side of the boat and climbed in."

- Harry Senior - Fireman

"We did not begin to understand the situation till we were perhaps a mile or more away from the Titanic. Then we could see the rows of lights along the decks begin to slant gradually upward from the bow. Very slowly the lines of light began to point downward at a greater and greater angle. The sinking was so slow that you could not
perceive the lights of the deck changing their position. The slant seemed to be greater about every quarter of an hour.That was the only difference.

In a couple of hours, though, she began to go down more rapidly. Then the fearful sight began. The people in the ship were just beginning to realize how great their danger was. When the forward part of the ship dropped suddenly at a faster rate, so that the upward slope became marked, there was a sudden rush of passengers on all the decks towards the stern. It was like a wave. We could see the great black mass of people in the steerage sweeping to the rear part of the boat and breaking through into the upper decks. At the distance of about a mile we could
distinguish everything through the night, which was perfectly clear. We could make out the increasing excitement on board the boat as the people, rushing to and fro, caused the deck lights to disappear and reappear as they passed in
front of them.

This panic went on, it seemed, for an hour. Then suddenly the ship seemed to shoot up out of the water and stand there perpendicularly. It seemed to us that it stood upright in the water for four full minutes.

Then it began to slide gently downwards. Its speed increased as it went down head first, so that the stern shot down with a rush. The lights continued to burn till it sank. We could see the people packed densely in the stern till it was gone
. . .
As the ship sank we could hear the screaming a mile away. Gradually it became fainter and fainter and died away. Some of the lifeboats that had room for more might have gone to their rescue, but it would have meant that those who were in the water would have swarmed aboard and sunk her. "

- Mrs D. H. Bishop - Eyewitness account from Lifeboat

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Being a survivor of the most famous maritime disaster of all time was in many ways a tough legacy for some to live with and in some cases, some simply

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Summary:
A good and factual explanation of every piece of info you need to know about when it sank.

Why a Must-Read?
This was an incredible article overall, and shows you just how factual you can get with when the Titanic sank. It also includes more In-Depth Statistics on when it sank.

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Titanic, the so-called "unsinkable ship," struck an iceberg on April 15, 1912, and sunk to the bottom of the ocean, claiming the lives of more than 1,500 of the 2,220 people onboard.
The ship's designers, paid well by the White Star Line, went out of their way to tell the world that the construction was safe and sound for the voyage across the northern Atlantic Ocean, from Southampton, England, to New York. The designers were so convinced of the infallibility of their design that they included only 20 lifeboats, enough for one-third of the people onboard to vacate the ship if necessary.

On April 10, the giant ship left port. After four days, the unthinkable happened and the unsinkable ship sank, having struck a large iceberg that ripped large enough holes in the lower decks to split the ship in half.

The collision occurred 375 miles south of Newfoundland and caused several of the ship's watertight compartments to open, allowing water to rush in and trapping many people on the lower decks.

Only 18 of the 20 lifeboats were launched, and none of them were filled to capacity. Some had only 20 or 30 people onboard, and the population of lifeboats was top-heavy in terms of class, with many more first-class passengers than anyone else. (This eyewitness account from a survivor says that only 36 people were in her lifeboat.)

In many ways, the Titanic passenger list reflected the wide class divide of the times. Of the 1,296 total passengers onboard the massive ocean liner, 319 were labeled as first class, 269 were termed second class, and 699 were called third class, or steerage.

A closer look at the casualty figures reveals that of the 319 first-class passengers, 200 survived and of the 269 second-class passengers, 117 survived. Only 172 of 699 third-class passengers survived. A similar percentage can be found among crew and staff: 215 of 918 survived.

This happened for a few reasons, most notably that the first-class passengers were, by and large, the first ones into the lifeboats. Of the 20 lifeboats onboard, 18 were set afloat. All but three of the lifeboats had a capacity of 65 (the others could carry 40), but very few lifeboats began their journeys away from the sinking ship with 65 people aboard.

First-class passengers only were allowed on the first several lifeboats. Second-class passengers were on the eighth lifeboat to launch, and third-class passengers were not on a lifeboat until the 12th one to go.

Another contributing factor to the death of so many third-class passengers was the public health law that required the locking of gates that separate these lower-deck passengers from the "higher" classes.
More in-depth statistics
The Titanic had struck the iceberg at 11.40 p.m. on the night of April 14. About 2:20 a.m. the next morning, the boat broke apart and sank, bow-first, with more than 1,000 people still onboard. The water was freezing, and hundreds of people died quickly from hypothermia.

Survivors were eventually rescued by crew aboard another large ship, the Carpathia.

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The Titanic, the so-called 'unsinkable ship,' struck an iceberg on April 15, 1912, and sunk to the bottom of the ocean, claiming the lives of more than 1,500 of the 2,220 people onboard.

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Summary:
An amazingly accurate and in-depth representation of how the great RMS Titanic sank.

Why a Must-Watch?
This video was incredibly interesting and entertaining. Using CGI, these people made an extremely detailed and accurate reenactment of how it sank.

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New CGI of How Titanic Sank | Titanic 100