Lifeboats Adrift : Surviving the Titanic

Twenty lifeboats floated silently on the cold Atlantic. One floated upside down with its passengers precariously balanced upon it. Two boats were filled to capacity and sat dangerously low in the water, while another held only twelve persons. Unbelievably, the Titanic had sunk into the sea, and the survivors in those small vessels faced the uncertainty of how or when their rescue might occur.The night was clear; stars shimmered brightly overhead; the waters were calm. Some fortunate families huddled together in the frigid night air, but many more were overwhelmed with the thoughts of loved ones who had gone down with the ship. Here is the story of these lifeboats, including the challenges of getting them loaded, lowered from the deck, and finally rowed to safety in the darkness. The unifying grandeur of the Titanic had been exchanged for twenty modest boats, complete with rumors of possible bribery, the music of a mechanical pig, the risk of turning back to rescue those victims who were still floundering in the water, and numbed silence broken by muffled sobs. Only when they reached the Carpathia would these 714 fortunate survivors once again be reunited but forever haunted by the memories of that night.