Collapsible Boat D was a lifeboat from the Titanic. It was one of the last boats launched to sea, over two and a half hours after the Titanic collided with an iceberg and began sinking on 14 April 1912. Collapsible D was the last lifeboat to be successfully launched from the port side around 2.05 am, and the last lifeboat to be successfully launched from Titanic overall. It held amongst others the two Titanic orphans and First-Class passengers Hugh Woolner and Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson. About 30 to 35 people occupied the Collapsible when they were rescued by RMS Carpathia at 7:15 am.
Description Collapsible Boat D was located on the port side of the ship and was one of the four "collapsible" Engelhardt lifeboats. They were boat-shaped unsinkable rafts made of kapok and cork, with heavy canvas sides that were raised to form a boat. These "collapsible" boats measured long and wide by deep. Their capacities were of and each could carry 47 people. Inspired in a Danish design, they were built by McAlister & Son of Dumbarton, Scotland. Their equipment was similar to that of the cutters, but they had no mast or sail, had eight oars apiece and were steered using a steering oar rather than a rudder.
Collapsible D was one of two Collapsible Boats that were successfully launched between 2.00 and 2.15 am, with only one from each side of the ship getting safely to sea. Collapsible Boat C (starboard) was launched at 2.00 am with about 44 people on board under the command of Quartermaster George Rowe. Collapsible Boat D (port) was also successful in its launching at 2.05 am, carrying about 20 people, and under the command of Quartermaster Arthur Bright.
The two other collapsibles were located on top of the Officer's Quarters and needed to be pushed off to be launched. While Collapsible A was brought down upright, Collapsible B fell over upside down. Both boats were not launched but were washed away as the water began reaching the bridge. Collapsible B floated off upside down and would eventually be taken charge off by Second Officer Charles Lightoller. It had around 23 survivors when assisted by other lifeboats, including Wireless Operator Harold Bride, Chief Baker Charles Joughin and First-Class passengers Archibald Gracie IV and Jack Thayer. Collapsible A floated away right side up and had no crewmember in charge of it as Officers James Moody, William Murdoch, and Henry Wilde, handling the launch of A, were swept away after a surge of water from the staircase leading below decks. It had around 14 survivors when assisted by other lifeboats, including First-Class passenger R. Norris Williams and Third-Class passenger Rhoda Abbott.
History
Collapsible Boat D was located on deck next to the swung out Emergency Lifeboat No. 2. And on 15 April 1912, after Lifeboat No. 2 had been launched at 1:45 am, Collapsible D was retrieved from its stored position on the boat deck and had her canvas sides erected before it was attached to the davits and swung out over the side by 1:50 am. The only thing missing on the Collapsible, seemed to be the bottom plug, which Second Officer Charles Lightoller and Able Seaman William Lucas tried to look for until giving up the search. Chief Officer Henry Wilde and Second Officer Charles Lightoller oversaw the loading of the lifeboat and only allowed women and children to board the Collapsible. However, Second Officer Lightoller experienced great difficulty in finding any women to fill the boat with. The second officer called out for more women to step forward, to which the many men on deck replied that there were no more and began to board the lifeboat themselves. Just as the men began to enter the Collapsible, a man on deck shouted that there were more women nearby. As the few women arrived at the Collapsible, all the men disembarked it and returned to the boat deck while the women were helped on board. This event occurred again and perhaps even once more as more women began to trickle into the Collapsible. Second-Class passenger Michel Navratil Sr. stepped forward and placed his two young sons into the Collapsible, however he himself was denied entry by Second Officer Lightoller despite the fact that the boys' father was their only guardian aboard Titanic. Mr. Navratil bid farewell to his children and stepped back, he did not survive the sinking. Meanwhile, First-Class passenger Archibald Gracie IV spotted fellow First-Class passengers Caroline Brown and Edith Corse Evans wandering around deck, and decided to escort them to Collapsible D as it was the last lifeboat left on the port side besides Collapsible B (which still lay stored on top of the Officers' Quarters). Caroline Brown entered the lifeboat while Edith Corse Evans did not, making Miss Brown the last passenger to enter a lifeboat from the davits. Why Miss Evans didn't board the Collapsible is not known, but it is assumed that she seemed to believe the Collapsible to be full and would simply await the launching of the last two Collapsibles. She was one of only four First-Class women to not survive the sinking. As Second Officer Lightoller had now filled the boat with about 15 to 20 women and children, he deemed the Collapsible to be filled enough as he doubted the stability of the lifeboat, because he deemed Collapsible boats to be frailer than the standard sized wooden lifeboats. He ordered in a few crewmen to help row the boat and put Quartermaster Arthur John Bright in command of the Collapsible. Second Officer Lightoller noticed that a few more people could possibly be seated in the Collapsible as there was still room left on it, but decided against it as he could not see any more women on deck and was concerned that the lifeboat would be rushed if he would allow the many men left on the boat deck to enter it. So with only 25 of her 47 seats filled, Collapsible D was launched at 2.05 am and would become the last lifeboat from the Titanic to be successfully lowered.
Due to the Titanic having already sunken a significant amount since striking the iceberg, the Collapsible only had to be launched some ten feet (3 meters) before she reached the water. At the same time as Collapsible D was lowered, First-Class passengers Hugh Woolner and Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson found themselves all alone on the port side A deck promenade while it was already starting to flood and the lights were burning with a deep red colour. Just as the men got ready to jump overboard, they noticed Collapsible D being lowered only about nine feet (2.7 meters) away from them as Titanic had taken on a port list. The men could see that there was still an empty space at the bow of the Collapsible and decided to jump in it. Björnström-Steffansson leaped first and tumbled head over heels into the lifeboat, while Woolner hit the lifeboat's gunwale with his chest after jumping, leaving his legs dangling in the water. He proceeded to hook his right heel over the boat's gunwale before trying to pull himself aboard, being aided shortly after by Björnström-Steffansson. Another First-Class passenger named Frederick Maxfield Hoyt, who had shortly before helped his wife board Collapsible D, now also jumped off the Titanics boat deck and swam towards the Collapsible, being hauled aboard by Woolner and Björnström-Steffansson. Following the launch of the Collapsible, it was quickly found out that the bottom plug was missing and a bit of water started entering the boat. The women in the Collapsible then removed their stockings to plug up the hole.
Quartermaster Arthur John Bright instructed his men to row away from the Titanic to avoid any suction as the ship went down. The Collapsible only made it about 150 yards (137 meters) away from Titanic when the ship entered its final plunge. Quartermaster Bright and Frederick Hoyt witnessed the Titanic breaking in half while Woolner only heard a continuous rumbling noise as he could barely see the Titanic after her lights gave out. Once the Titanic was gone, Quartermaster Bright decided to try and find any other lifeboats in the vicinity and row towards them. Collapsible D circled around as her crew had difficulty locating other lifeboats and after about 15 minutes, the crew could hear other boats and having gotten better night vision, were able to row towards them.
Collapsible D joined Lifeboats No. 4, No. 10, No. 12 and No. 14 after which Fifth Officer Lowe of Lifeboat No. 14 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. Fifth Officer 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. Fifth Officer Lowe asked how many occupants Collapsible D had, so steward John Hardy of the Collapsible's crew counted the people on board and relayed this information to Fifth Officer Lowe. The officer then proceeded to transfer 10 to 12 people from his lifeboat into the Collapsible while ordering one seaman to get out and join him in Lifeboat No. 14. Fifth Officer Lowe then left with a nearly empty lifeboat that only held himself and about seven crewmen in search of any survivors. The lifeboats then stayed together until daylight broke, and the rescue ship RMS Carpathia was spotted in the distance after they had already noticed the ship's lights and rockets during the night. The Carpathia however, came to a stop quite a distance away from the pack of lifeboats and so they untied each other and proceeded to row towards the steamer. As Collapsible D had trouble making headway due to the low amount of men it had to row the oars, Fifth Officer Lowe pulled up besides them in his lifeboat whereupon he had erected its sail. Fifth Officer Lowe offered to tow the Collapsible to the Carpathia, to which its crew agreed, and as the lifeboats sailed towards Carpathia, they spotted the waterlogged Collapsible Boat A with about 14 survivors still aboard it. They sailed towards it and rescued all the survivors, with Collapsible D taking on First-Class passenger R. Norris Williams and Third-Class passenger Rhoda Abbott. The Collapsible reached Carpathia at 7.15 am and a photograph that was taken of the lifeboat as it was approaching the Carpathia shows about 30 people aboard it. After all her occupants were safely aboard Carpathia, Collapsible D 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 Collapsible D.
First Class passenger Second Class passenger Third Class passenger Crew member