's Lifeboat No. 14 was one of the ship's fourteen main lifeboats, located on the port side; under British Board of Trade rules, the lifeboat had an official capacity of 65.
It was launched to sea around 1:30 am, nearly two hours after the Titanic collided with an iceberg and began sinking on 14 April 1912. Lifeboat No. 14 is best known for being the only lifeboat to return to search for survivors in the icy waters after Titanic had sunk, under the command of Fifth Officer Harold Lowe and crewed by six volunteering men. From the water, they managed to save four people (one of whom died soon after rescue) and then picked up around 12 to 14 survivors from the swamped Collapsible Boat A.
About 45 to 55 people occupied Lifeboat No. 14 when it was launched from Titanic and around 30 occupied it when they were rescued by at 7:15 am. On the way to Carpathia, the boat also took Collapsible Boat D into tow.
Background
One of 14 clinker lifeboats which were equipped aboard Titanic, lifeboat No. 14 was located on the portside of the boat deck between lifeboats No. 12 and 16. And on 15 April 1912, after Titanic had struck an iceberg and began to sink, the lifeboat was uncovered and swung over the side on her davits, ready to be filled and launched.
Sinking
Chief Officer Henry Wilde, Second Officer Charles Lightoller, Fifth Officer Harold Lowe and Sixth Officer James Moody oversaw the loading of the lifeboat and only allowed women and children to board the lifeboat. After the lifeboat had been filled with about 20 women and children, a group of men tried to rush the boat, which prompted the officers to threaten to shoot any man who put his foot into the lifeboat. After successfully subduing the effort to seize the boat, No. 14 was filled up with more women and children before Lowe called for volunteers in the crowd who could row. A few crewmen volunteered and were allowed to enter the lifeboat, before Lowe also ordered Second-Class passenger Charles Williams to man an oar in the lifeboat.
As the lifeboat seemed almost filled to capacity, Lowe asked Able Seaman Joseph Scarrott how many occupants it had. Scarrott answered that it held as many as he could count and that the boat was able to stand the weight of those on board. Following this, Lowe prepared to lower the boat, but having already launched five lifeboats before No. 14 without a ship's officer taking command of one, Lowe decided that an officer should take command of Lifeboat No. 14. He asked Sixth Officer Moody which one of them should take command of the boat, and Moody told Lowe to take No. 14 and that he would get in another boat. So Lowe took command of Lifeboat No. 14 and gave the order to launch it at about 1.30 am. Lowe later testified that two men tried to jump into the boat, of which one succeeded but was quickly thrown back onto the Titanic by Lowe. Because Lowe feared that more men would jump into the boat, which could possibly capsize the lifeboat or could result in the falls snapping due to the increased weight, he took out his revolver and fired a warning shot either alongside the ship or in the water below as to avoid hitting anyone. Lowe then noticed many men were gathered alongside the open promenade decks of A deck and B deck and subsequently fired another two shots, one for each open deck they passed, to keep the crowd back and prevent any more men from jumping into the lifeboat. Afterwards, Lowe put the gun in his pocket with the safety catch on as the boat was lowered further down. However, The lifeboat's block and tackle had gotten twisted while it was about 5 feet (1.5 meters) above the water. Lowe, after asking advice from Able seaman Joseph Scarrot, then proceeded to "slip" the lifeboat, which dropped the rest of the way into the ocean.
Launch
After the lifeboat's successful launch, Lowe ordered to row away from the sinking Titanic to avoid any possible suction, but to stay nearby so they would be close enough to pick any swimmers up that came by and immediately return. However, passengers in the boat protested against his plan and Lowe ordered the boat pulled away a little further. The lifeboat got about 150 yards (137 meters) away from the Titanic and Scarrott could make out that four other lifeboats were near No. 14's position in the dark. Lowe also ordered any crewmember or passenger with tobacco and matchsticks to hand them over to him, reasoning that tobacco smoking would have led to thirst and, with limited supply of provisions and no guarantee of rescue, this would ration what they had.
The occupants of Lifeboat No. 14 then watched on as Titanic entered its final plunge, with several people on the lifeboat stating later that they had witnessed the Titanic breaking in two. Lowe later testified that the whole ordeal was very dark as Titanics lights had cut out about five minutes before the stern slipped beneath the waves, and that he had only heard about four explosions coming from the sinking liner. During this time, Lowe collected and managed to assemble nearby lifeboats together (Lifeboats No. 4, No. 10, No. 12 and Collapsible D) and asked them who was in charge of the boats and if they had any officers aboard them. When every lifeboat stated that they did not have any officers with them, Lowe said that they were now under his command and to stay with his boat. After that, Lowe ordered the boats to be tied up together by their painters, head and tail, so as to make the lifeboats more visible to any rescue ship and be able to stick together better.
Lowe then proceeded to order all the people of his lifeboat, to be distributed over the other boats so that he could go back in search of any survivors from the water. Lowe asked each boat how many people were in them, so he could transfer as many people in them as there were still empty seats before moving on to the next lifeboat. During the transfer of passengers, Saloon Steward George Crowe noticed that Lifeboat No. 14 seemed to have sprung a leak and was taking in water. A lady in the boat had brought awareness to the issue as she had felt water coming over her ankles, and two men alongside the woman were bailing out the water over the sides. Also during the distributing of passengers, Lowe noticed a passenger with a shawl who was in a great hurry to get into the other lifeboat, so he grabbed them and pulled off the shawl and discovered it was a man who had disguised himself as a woman. Without saying a word, he proceeded to toss the man into the fore part of another lifeboat.
Return to wrecksite After the passengers were distributed among the other lifeboats, Lowe asked for any seamen to join him in going back to look for survivors. Lowe had managed to assemble a crew of seven men to return with him:
Able seaman Joseph Scarrott Bathroom steward Frank Morris Saloon steward George Crowe Second-class passenger Charles Williams Leading fireman Thomas Threlfall Able seaman Frank Evans Able seaman Edward Buly
Though there have been claims by some passengers that they returned with the lifeboat to the wrecksite, Lowe and two others who made up the crew of the boat testified under oath they transferred out all the passengers with the exception of Williams who volunteered to stay and row. At the British inquiry, Lowe stated, "it would be no good me going back with a load of people" who could not do anything to help.
Lowe decided to wait until the yells and shrieks had subsided, as he feared being swamped if he returned too early. It is not clear how long he waited, with Lowe stating he had not kept note of time, but it appears he began transferring passengers to other boats soon after the ship sank in preparation to return. Several eyewitnesses in the flotilla noted that Lowe wished to return to pick up survivors as soon as possible but, after passengers under his care protested against his plan, he began to redistribute them and it took longer than he had anticipated and had to yell at passengers to hurry as the noises began dying down faster than he realised.
After completing the transfer of passengers to other boats, the boat arrived at the wreck site by 3:00 A.M. and could hear moaning from the water. The crew discovered a man wearing a lifebelt nearby and had great difficulty hauling the large gentleman aboard. Once in the lifeboat, they propped the man up at the stern of the boat and took off his collar and loosened his shirt so he could get more air. However, the man was bleeding from the mouth and nose and did not regain consciousness. Not even when Saloon steward George Crowe tried to move the man's limbs and rubbed his chest to restore his warmth, and the man later died and was identified as First-Class passenger William Fisher Hoyt. As they neared the center of the wreckage, Able seaman Frank Oliver Evans stated to seeing between 150 and 200 bodies between the debris and that all were wearing lifebelts. Able seaman Edward Buly proceeded to turn over some of the bodies to see if any were still alive, but could quickly see that they were dead and appeared to be frozen.
As the bodies were floating close to each other between the debris, the men in Lifeboat No. 14 found it difficult to proceed through the mass as they could not row but had to rather push their way through the mass of bodies. Saloon steward George Crowe noted how at the centre of the wrecksite, they spotted a man sitting on a piece of wooden debris that was calling out to them. It took a considerable effort to reach the man due to the mass of bodies and debris around the lifeboat, but were able to get close enough to the man to extend an oar out to the man for him to grab. The crew eventually got the man into the lifeboat, but the man was very cold and his hands were stiff. He was identified as Second-Class steward Harold Phillimore and he recovered enough throughout the night to survive his ordeal. Later, Lifeboat No. 14 came across Chinese Third-Class passenger Fang Lang floating on a door. He was pulled into the lifeboat and proceeded to help row the boat with the crew. A fourth man was reported to have been recovered from the water and to have thus survived, but the name of this person is not entirely certain. It is possible that the last man to be pulled out of the icy water alive by Lifeboat No. 14, was Second Class passenger Emilio Ilario Giuseppe Portaluppi or First Class passenger Robert Williams Daniel, both of whom claimed to have been picked up from the water.
Collapsible boats and Carpathia
As daylight broke, the crew of Lifeboat No. 14 spotted Collapsible D which had fallen behind as the other lifeboats in Lowe's flotilla had separated in order to row towards the rescue ship which had arrived on the scene to rescue Titanics survivors. Lowe pulled his lifeboat up besides them and asked if they needed to be towed. The people in Collapsible D accepted his offer, whereupon Lowe erected Lifeboat No. 14's sail and took the Collapsible in tow towards the Carpathia. As the lifeboats sailed towards their rescue ship, they spotted the waterlogged Collapsible Boat A with around a dozen survivors still aboard it. Able Seamen Evans and Scarott both stated that Lowe fired three or four warning shots into the water and warned the people on the waterlogged Collapsible not to rush his boat. Lifeboat No. 14 ultimately picked up 12 to 14 survivors from Collapsible A.
The lifeboats reached the Carpathia by 7.15 am and all aboard were rescued. The body of William Fisher Hoyt was brought aboard the Carpathia and buried at sea on 16 April. After all her occupants were safely aboard Carpathia, Lifeboat No. 14 was set adrift alongside six other lifeboats of the Titanic as Carpathia didn't have the room to recover all 20 of Titanics lifeboats. The lifeboat was never seen again.
Occupants This is a list of known passengers and crew who were saved by Lifeboat No. 14.
First Class passenger Second Class passenger Third Class passenger Crew member