🚢 Titanic’s Collapsible Lifeboat A – The Floating Tomb and a Fight for Survival
A Collapsible Boat of the Kind Used on the Titanic. The bottom is of wood and the sides are canvas. © Motor Boating, New York. The Literary Digest (22 June 1912) p. 1294. GGA Image ID # 108848707b
The Collapsible Lifeboat When in Use. The cross members swing down to keep the boat extended. The large cork-filled fenders will support the crew if the boat capsizes. © Motor Boating, New York. The Literary Digest (22 June 1912) p. 1294. GGA Image ID # 10887703c2
Titanic Survivors in the Canvas Collapsible Lifeboat. The Truth About the Titanic (1913) p. 158-b. GGA Image iD # 1072198dc8
🚢 Collapsible Lifeboat A – Titanic’s Last Lifeboat and a Grim Reminder of the Disaster
🔍 Overview: The Last Lifeboat, A Struggle for Survival on a Waterlogged Raft
Collapsible Lifeboat A was one of the last lifeboats to leave Titanic, but unlike others, it was never properly launched. Instead, it was washed off the deck as the ship sank at 2:20 AM. With no proper sides and partially submerged, the survivors clung to it in freezing water for hours before being rescued by another boat. Tragically, several men died from exposure before help arrived.
📌 Why is Collapsible Lifeboat A historically significant?
✔ One of the most chaotic and tragic survival stories of Titanic’s lifeboats.
✔ Only two women and sixteen men survived the night on this raft-like boat.
✔ Contains key figures such as first-class passenger Richard Norris Williams, who suffered extreme frostbite.
✔ Recovered a month later by the crew of the RMS Oceanic, with bodies still inside.
📌 For teachers, students, genealogists, and historians, Collapsible Lifeboat A provides one of the most harrowing survival stories from the Titanic disaster. It highlights the dangers of hypothermia, the chaos of Titanic’s final moments, and the heartbreaking reality of those who perished waiting for rescue.
Facts About Lifeboat A (LB-A)
Collapsible Lifeboat A, floated off partially submerged at 2:20 am, located on the officers' Quarters, starboard side, with 18 occupants comprised of 4 First Class, 8 Third Class, and 6 Crew Members (2 Women and 16 Men). The boat was essentially capsized.
Interesting Discoveries About Collapsible Lifeboat A
- It contained the bodies of three men – first-class passenger Thomson Beattie, a steward and a fireman – who had frozen to death the night of the sinking
- Collapsible A, which looked as if she would go down at any moment, was found the following month by the crew of the Oceanic.
- George Rheims, who remained for some five hours in waist-high water on a partially submerged collapsible lifeboat
- The last boat of all on the starboard side, collapsible A, was washed off the Titanic.
- August Wennerstrom in collapsible A was in the thick of the survivors in the water.
- The starboard collapsible, A, was right side up, but most of the canvas gunwales were drooping and it was hardly more than a raft beneath the weight of the people forcing the air-pocketed bottom under the water.
First Class Passengers - LB-A
- Mr. Thomson Beattie (36) Fergus, Ontario, Canada [LB-A[64]]
- Mr. Peter Dennis Daly (51) Lima, Peru
- Mr. George Alexander Lucien Rheims (36) Paris, France
- Mr. Richard Norris II Williams (21) Geneva, Switzerland
Third Class Passengers - LB-A
- Mrs. Rhoda Mary Abbott (née Hunt) (39) East Providence, Rhode Island, US
- Mr. Olaus Jørgensen Abelseth (25) Perkins County, South Dakota, US
- Mr. Carl Olof Jansson (21) Swedeburg, Nebraska, US
- Mr. Arthur Keefe (39) Rahway, New Jersey, US
- Mr. Edvard Bengtsson Lindell (36) Hartford, Connecticut, US
- Mrs. Elin Gerda Lindell (née Persson) (30) Hartford, Connecticut, US
- Mr. Oskar Wilhelm Olsson (32) Manitowoc, Wisconsin, US
- Mr. August Edvard Andersson Wennerström (27) Chicago, Illinois, US
Engineering Crew - LB-A
- Mr. William McInytre (22) Trimmer
- Mr. John William Thompson (42) Fireman/Stoker [LB-A/14]
Victualling Crew - LB-A
- Mr. Edward Brown (34) Saloon Steward
- Mr. William Thomas Kerley (28) Assistant Saloon Steward
- Mr. William Lucas (34) Saloon Steward
- Mr. Augustus Henry Weikman (51) First Class Barber
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.
Return to Content Links
🌟 Most Engaging & Noteworthy Content
📌 A Lifeboat That Wasn’t Ready
📌 Unlike other lifeboats, Collapsible A was not properly launched—it floated away as Titanic sank, with people desperately clinging to it.
📜 Why This Story Matters:
✔ Survivors were already in freezing water when they reached the lifeboat.
✔ It had no solid walls, meaning water poured in constantly.
✔ Many of its occupants didn’t survive the cold.
🚢 A lifeboat that symbolized the chaotic final moments of Titanic.
📌 The Bodies Left Behind
📌 Collapsible A was discovered by the RMS Oceanic a month later—still carrying the bodies of three men who had died of exposure.
📜 Why This Story Matters:
✔ One of the few physical remnants of Titanic still at sea.
✔ A chilling reminder of the deadly conditions survivors faced.
✔ Help came too late for many who clung to the boat.
🚢 A tragic, floating memorial to Titanic’s lost souls.
📌 The Survival of Richard Norris Williams
📌 First-class passenger Richard Norris Williams survived on Collapsible A despite suffering severe frostbite.
📜 Why This Story Matters:
✔ Doctors wanted to amputate his legs, but he refused—and later won the U.S. Open in tennis.
✔ One of the most famous survivor stories from the Titanic.
✔ A testament to human endurance in extreme conditions.
🚢 From near death to sports legend—an incredible survival story.
📌 The Heroism of Rhoda Abbott, the Only Woman to Survive from Collapsible A
📌 Rhoda Abbott was the only woman to survive on this lifeboat—tragically, her two sons did not.
📜 Why This Story Matters:
✔ One of the only women to be in the freezing water for hours and live.
✔ A heartbreaking story of loss and survival.
✔ Highlights the dangers of exposure and hypothermia.
🚢 A mother’s unimaginable loss at sea.
📚 Relevance for Different Audiences
📌 🧑🏫 For Teachers & Students:
✔ A case study in extreme survival conditions.
✔ Examines Titanic’s flawed lifeboat system.
✔ Focuses on the human cost of the disaster.
📌 📖 For Historians & Maritime Researchers:
✔ One of the most tragic lifeboats, with survivors rescued from freezing water.
✔ Gives insight into the state of Titanic’s final moments.
✔ Shows how collapsible lifeboats functioned—or failed.
📌 🧬 For Genealogists & Family Historians:
✔ Contains notable survivors like Richard Norris Williams and Rhoda Abbott.
✔ One of the few lifeboats where multiple passengers died after escaping the sinking.
✔ A haunting reminder of those who didn’t make it.
🌟 Final Thoughts: The Lifeboat That Became a Memorial
📌 Collapsible Lifeboat A was unlike any other—its survivors barely made it out alive, and it was later found with bodies still on board.
✔ A lifeboat that was never properly launched.
✔ The tragic fate of those who died in freezing waters.
✔ Home to legendary survivor Richard Norris Williams.
✔ A lifeboat that served as a grim, floating memorial.
🚢 A lifeboat that tells one of Titanic’s most chilling survival stories.
