🚢 RMS Titanic Lifeboat 10 – The Boat of Controversy, Diversity, and Titanic’s Last Survivor

📌 Discover the incredible story of Titanic’s Lifeboat 10, carrying Japan’s only survivor (Masabumi Hosono), the Laroche family (one of Titanic’s few Black survivors), and Millvina Dean (Titanic’s last living survivor). Explore the controversy of a man disguised as a woman, and why this lifeboat left the Titanic with 32 empty seats.

Facts About Lifeboat 10 (LB-10)

Lifeboat 10, the 7th one launched at 1:20 am, located on the boat deck, port side, with 33 occupants comprised of 8 First Class, 16 Second Class, 5 Third Class and 4 Crew Members (23 Women and 10 Men). Capacity for the lifeboat was 65 (51% of Capacity).

🚢 RMS Titanic Lifeboat 10 – A Lifeboat of Diversity, Controversy, and Future History

🔍 Overview: A Lifeboat Filled with Women, Children, and Unusual Survivors

Lifeboat 10 was the seventh lifeboat launched at 1:20 AM from the port side of the Boat Deck, carrying 33 occupants—only 51% of its full capacity of 65 people. Among the survivors were several notable passengers, including Japan’s only survivor Masabumi Hosono, the young Millvina Dean (Titanic’s last living survivor), and Juliette Laroche, a Black woman who escaped while her husband perished.

📌 Why is Lifeboat 10 significant?

✔ It was one of the most international and diverse lifeboats, carrying passengers from North America, Europe, and Asia.

✔ One of the few lifeboats with an infant (Millvina Dean, just 2 months old, who became Titanic’s last living survivor).

✔ Included Masabumi Hosono, the only Japanese passenger to survive—later ostracized in Japan for "failing to die honorably."

✔ The lifeboat also included the wife and children of Joseph Laroche, one of Titanic’s few Black passengers.

✔ Another tragic example of a half-full lifeboat—32 potential lives were left behind.

📌 For teachers, students, genealogists, and historians, Lifeboat 10 provides an incredible case study in racial, gender, and national dynamics aboard the Titanic, as well as the broader impact of the disaster on survivors.

Interesting Discoveries About Lifeboat 10

• As the only Japanese passenger was Mr Masabumi Hosono, an official of Japan's Transportation Ministry, who left in Lifeboat 10.
• 1:20 a.m.: Lifeboat 10 I Lifeboat 10, on the port side of the Boat deck, was lowered. By this time, one hour and forty minutes after Titanic had struck the iceberg, almost everyone was aware that the ship was in grave peril.
• (The Sun, New York, April 21, 1912) A man in woman's clothes was among the survivors in lifeboat 10
• Juliette and Joseph Laroche, along with their daughters Simonne and Louise, took the fateful Titanic voyage in 1912. ... Joseph died on the sinking ship that night, but Juliette and the girls are believed to have left the ship in Lifeboat 10.

First Class Passengers - LB-10

1. Miss Kornelia Theodosia Andrews, (62)  Hudson, New York, US [LB-10]
2. Mrs. Mary Fortune (née McDougald) (60)  Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada [LB-10]
3. Miss Ethel Flora Fortune, (28)  Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada [LB-10]
4. Miss Alice Elizabeth Fortune, (24)  Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada [LB-10]
5. Miss Mabel Helen Fortune, (23)  Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada [LB-10]
6. Mrs. Anna Louisa Hogeboom (née Andrews) (51)  Hudson, New York, US [LB-10]
7. Miss Gretchen Fiske Longley, (21)  Hudson, New York, US [LB-10]
8. Mrs. Mary Graham Carmichael Marvin (née Farquarson) (18)  New York, New York, US [LB-10]

Second Class Passengers - LB-10

1. Mrs. Anna Abelson (née Wizosky?) (28)  Russia [LB-10]
2. Mrs. Ada E. Ball (née Hall) (36)  Bristol, Avon, England [LB-10]
3. Mrs. Lulu Thorne Drew (née Christian) (34)  Greenport, New York, US [LB-10]
4. Master Marshall Brines Drew, (8)  Greenport, New York, US [LB-10]
5. Mrs. Annie Margaret Hold (née Hill) (29)  Porthoustock, Cornwall, England [LB-10]
6. Mr. Masabumi Hosono, (41)  Tokyo, Japan [LB-10]
7. Miss Nora Agnes Keane, (46)  Castleconnell, Limerick, Ireland[note 1] [LB-10]
8. Mrs. Antoinette Marie Mallet (née Magnin) (24)  Montreal, Quebec, Canada [LB-10]
9. Master André Clément Mallet, (1)  Montreal, Quebec, Canada [LB-10]
10. Miss Anna Sinkkonen, (30)  Turku, Finland, Russian Empire[note 6] [LB-10]
11. Mr. Ernst Adolf Sjöstedt, (30)  Hjo, Västergötland, Sweden [LB-10]
12. Mrs. Florence Louise Ware (née Long) (31)  Bristol, Avon, England [LB-10]
13. Mrs. Mathilde Françoise Weisz (née Pëde) (37)  Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England [LB-10]
14. Mrs. Ada Mary West (née Worth) (33)  Bournemouth, Dorset, England [LB-10]
15. Miss Constance Mirium West, (4)  Bournemouth, Dorset, England [LB-10]
16. Miss Barbara Joyce West, (10 mo.)  Bournemouth, Dorset, England [LB-10]

Third Class Passengers - LB-10

1. Mrs. Eva Georgetta Dean (née Light) (32)  Wichita, Kansas, US [LB-10]
2. Master Bertram Vere Dean, (1)  Wichita, Kansas, US [LB-10]
3. Miss Elizabeth Gladys "Millvina" Dean, (2 mo.)  Wichita, Kansas, US [LB-10]
4. Mr. Neshan Krekorian, (25)  Brantford, Ontario, Canada [LB-10]
5. Mrs. Florence Kate Thorneycroft (née Stears) (32)  Clinton, New York, US [LB-10]

Deck Crew - LB-10

1. Mr. Edward John Buley, (27)  Able Seaman [LB-10]
2. Mr. Frank Oliver Evans, (24)  Able Seaman [LB-10]

Engineering Crew - LB-10

1. Mr. Charles Rice, (32) Fireman/Stoker [LB-10]

Victualling Crew - LB-10

1. Mr. William Burke, (31) Saloon Steward [LB-10]

Legend For Survivor or Lost Passengers and Crew Members

• LB-# or A-D - Survivor on Lifeboat 1-16 or Collapsible Lifeboat A-D
• P-BNR - Perished, Body Not Recovered or Body Not Identified
• MB – CS Mackay-Bennett (bodies 1–306)
• M – CS Minia (bodies 307–323)
• MM – CGS Montmagny (bodies 326–329)
• A – SS Algerine (body 330)
• O – RMS Oceanic (bodies 331–333)
• I – SS Ilford (body 334)
• OT – SS Ottawa (body 335)

Numbers 324 and 325 were unused, and the six bodies buried at sea by the Carpathia also went unnumbered. Several recovered bodies were unidentifiable and thus not all numbers are matched with a person.

Upon recovery, the bodies of 209 identified and unidentified victims of the sinking were brought to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Of those, 121 were taken to the non-denominational Fairview Lawn Cemetery, 59 were repatriated, 19 were buried in the Roman Catholic Mount Olivet Cemetery, and 10 were taken to the Jewish Baron de Hirsch Cemetery. The bodies of the remaining recovered victims were either delivered to family members or buried at sea.

📌 Masabumi Hosono: Japan’s Only Survivor and the "Coward of the Titanic"

📌 Masabumi Hosono, a Japanese government official, was the only Japanese passenger on the Titanic. He survived by boarding Lifeboat 10 but was later disgraced in Japan for not adhering to the samurai code of dying with honor.

📜 His story is particularly compelling for historians and students:

✔ Hosono was publicly shamed in Japan, lost his government job, and his name was erased from history books.

✔ He kept a personal account of his escape, describing his fear and hesitation to board the lifeboat.

✔ His story was later used by Hollywood (in James Cameron’s Titanic, the scene of a man sneaking into a lifeboat disguised as a woman is likely inspired by Hosono’s tale).

🚢 Lifeboat 10 wasn’t just a vehicle for survival—it became the center of one of the Titanic’s most infamous post-tragedy controversies.

📌 The Laroche Family: A Rare Black Titanic Survivor

📌 Juliette Laroche and her daughters Simonne and Louise survived on Lifeboat 10—her husband, Joseph Laroche, did not.

📜 Why This Story Matters:

✔ Joseph Laroche was one of Titanic’s only Black passengers.

✔ Juliette and her daughters represent a rare non-white survival story from the Titanic.

✔ Their story is often overlooked but highlights the racial and class struggles of the time.

✔ Joseph had chosen the Titanic for its accommodations, unaware of the disaster to come.

🚢 Lifeboat 10 gives us one of the few survival stories of a Black family aboard the Titanic.

📌 The Infant Survivor: Millvina Dean—Titanic’s Last Living Survivor

📌 At just 2 months old, Millvina Dean was the youngest passenger aboard Titanic—and the last living survivor, passing away in 2009.

📜 Why This Story Matters:

✔ Millvina’s survival represents the longest-lasting connection to Titanic’s living memory.

✔ Her survival alongside her mother and brother, but without her father, echoes the countless family separations that night.

✔ She became a lifelong advocate for Titanic history, donating many of her family’s artifacts to museums.

🚢 Lifeboat 10 carried not just a survivor but the future voice of Titanic’s legacy.

📌 The Controversial Report: A Man Disguised as a Woman?

📌 A report from The Sun (New York, April 21, 1912) claimed a man dressed as a woman survived in Lifeboat 10.

📜 Why This Story Matters:

✔ It raises questions about survival ethics—were men sneaking aboard lifeboats?

✔ Did panic and fear cause people to abandon social norms?

✔ Was this a sensationalized newspaper report, or was there truth behind it?

🚢 Lifeboat 10 adds another chapter to Titanic’s most debated survival stories—who really escaped, and how?

📌 Another Half-Full Lifeboat—Why Were 32 Seats Left Empty?

📌 Lifeboat 10, like many others, left the Titanic at only 51% capacity, with 32 empty seats.

📜 This raises important discussion points:

✔ Why didn’t more people board? Were there too few passengers nearby, or were they discouraged?

✔ Did crew members prioritize social order over saving as many people as possible?

✔ What lessons about fear, leadership, and decision-making can we learn from this?

🚢 Lifeboat 10 is yet another example of lost potential—lives that could have been saved but weren’t.

📚 Relevance for Different Audiences

📌 🧑‍🏫 For Teachers & Students:

✔ An excellent case study for ethics—was Masabumi Hosono a coward, or just a man trying to survive?

✔ Discusses the racial and national dynamics of Titanic survivors—why were some treated differently?

✔ Illustrates how misinformation (like the disguised man rumor) can spread in times of crisis.

📌 📖 For Historians & Maritime Researchers:

✔ One of the best lifeboats to study global survival rates, with passengers from Canada, the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

✔ Explores how Titanic’s social divisions played out in real time.

✔ A crucial lifeboat for understanding survival disparities among men, women, and children.

📌 🧬 For Genealogists & Family Historians:

✔ Features some of the most famous Titanic survivors—Millvina Dean, Masabumi Hosono, and the Laroche family.

✔ A lifeboat with many immigrant families—useful for tracing lineage and migration patterns.

✔ Includes one of the few well-documented accounts of a Black survivor’s experience.

🌟 Final Thoughts: The Complex Legacy of Lifeboat 10

📌 Lifeboat 10 is more than just a vessel—it represents some of Titanic’s most compelling survival stories.

✔ It was one of the most internationally diverse lifeboats.

✔ It carried Titanic’s last living survivor.

✔ It was home to one of the most controversial figures of the disaster.

✔ It highlights the deep social divisions and ethical dilemmas of survival.

🚢 Lifeboat 10 isn’t just another lifeboat—it’s a microcosm of Titanic’s broader story, revealing the heartbreak, injustice, and heroism that defined the world’s most infamous maritime disaster.