A Night to Remember

Word spread among the crew that the Titanic was rapidly taking on water. First-class stewards instructed their charges to don warm clothing and report to the deck on the Captain’s orders. Stewards continued to insist that there was no need for alarm and were frustrated when some passengers refused to cooperate with procedure. Many collected precious items from their staterooms, some sentimental, others of monetary value. Lord writes, “The things people took with them showed how they felt” (39). Passengers emerged in a hodgepodge of evening clothes, sportswear, bedclothes, and heavy outerwear. Second-class passengers were ushered up on deck. In the third-class section, behind locked barriers, people milled about in confusion.

First-class passengers joked with one another, blasé as they awaited further instructions. Officers began to prepare the lifeboats for boarding; there were 16 wooden lifeboats in total, eight on each side, and four collapsible canvas lifeboats. A total of 2,207 passengers were aboard the Titanic when she struck the iceberg; the maximum capacity for all 20 lifeboats was 1,178 people. The crew was without direction, waiting for leadership from higher officers. Officer Lightoller began asking for women and children to come forward and be loaded into the boats; many refused.