As emotional as it was, the passengers were not locked below decks during the evacuation. It took almost an hour after the collision to get the boats ready for launch and stocked with bread and supplies. Everybody had to wait. First class sat in the lounge and listened to the band playing, but for Third class it would have felt like they were being deliberately kept below decks, but it just wasn't time yet to go to the boat deck as the crew had to get the boats swung out and ready without the hindrance of passengers crowding the deck. When the boats were finally ready the evacuation could begin, the order was passed down "woman and children first". The stewards escorted groups of women and children to the boats but incredibly some of them turned around and went back to their rooms because it was too cold outside.
3rd class Steward - John Hart (he escorted groups to the boat deck).
"Those that were willing to go to the boat deck were shown the way. Some were not willing to go to the boat deck, and stayed behind. Some of them went to the boat deck, and found it rather cold, and saw the boats being lowered away, and thought themselves more secure on the ship, and consequently returned to their cabin." Survivor Daniel Buckley said there was a gate but it was only waist high and when the women and children were asked to come up the men naturally tried to go up as well. The waist-high gate was open but when one man tried to rush forward a steward pushed him back and locked the gate, the man broke the gate and chased after the guy who pushed him down. The order was still women and children first but when the waist-high gate was broken everyone went to the boat deck.
Third class passenger - Daniel Buckley
Q - Did these passengers in the steerage have any opportunity at all of getting out?
A - Yes; they had.
Q - What opportunity did they have?
A - I think they had as much chance as the first and second class passengers.
Q - After this gate was broken?
A - Yes; because they were all mixed. All the steerage passengers went up on the first-class deck at this time, when the gate was broken. They all got up there. They could not keep them down.
The chaos below decks occurred during the first hour when everyone had to wait for the boats to be swung out and made ready. There was trouble getting the Third class to understand what was happening. There was confusion as many did not speak English and they had to get a translator to calm down the passengers. Some refused to leave their husbands, fathers and sons below decks, and the men would have argued and demanded to know where their wives and children were being taken as they were escorted off the ship, while others refused to leave their luggage and this ended up jamming the corridor as each person had to drop their bags before they could come upstairs to the boat deck, so one can imagine the chaos during the first stages of the evacuation.
reply
share
Jitterbug88
8 years ago
Well that makes me feel a bit better about it. I do understand the movie took some things that may or may not have been the truth (Murdoch shooting a passenger, and then himself, for instance. Witnesses claim to have seen it but it's never been confirmed) and greatly exaggerated them for dramatic effect. I do think the panic could have been handled better by the staff or avoided all together had they been better prepared for the emergency.
reply
share