Name
Lifeboat from Titanic
Lifeboat to Carpathia
Confidence Level
Laroche, Mrs Juliette Marie Louise 10 (7 votes)
? (1 vote)
10 (7 votes)
? (1 vote)
3.21
1.00
Laroche, Miss Simonne Marie Anne Andrée
10 (7 votes)
? (1 vote)
10 (7 votes)
? (1 vote)
3.21
1.00
Laroche, Miss Louise
10 (7 votes)
? (1 vote)
10 (7 votes)
? (1 vote)
3.21
1.00

 


An article from Commutator #130 (Vol 19 No 2) does not give us many details about the Laroches on the Titanic, or their escape (page 45).  However it does say:
    “Neither Madame Mallet nor Juliette Laroche could remember what number lifeboat they had escaped in from the foundering liner.  The only detail Juliette remembered was that in her boat a countess (‘or someone with a title, a Lady”) was among those who rowed all night long.  The boat had icy water in the bottom and her feet were frozen.”

Juliette Laroche said in Le Matin, May 3, 1912:
    "I found myself in the lifeboat, beside my little Simone ... There, on the bridge, in the midst of the crush, I caught a glimpse of my husband, who, both arms outstretched above the crowd, was holding our younger daughter. He was trying to shield her from all the pushing ... he was struggling with the crewmen, and was showing them the little girl, to try to convince them that she had been separated from me, her mother ... Finally, someone grasped my little Louise from my husband's arms, she would soon be in my own arms. ... And the lifeboat moved down inexorably towards the sea. I hardly had time to shout a final farewell to my husband. .... Then the lifeboat moved off into the distance ... A crewman, the only man who was with us and an English lady, manned the oars."

It's important to focus on three things; that there was a man in her boat, that a woman rowed, and that there was water in the boat.

Point 1: Mrs. Laroche commented that there was only one man in the boat. By that, we don’t mean a single man, but so few crew that, from her point of view, it appeared that there was only one man in her boat, so much so that at least one woman had to row. For that reason we rule out 4, 5, 14, 15 and D. They had enough men / crew in them, and we can’t reconcile that with the one man comment. It does leave in 10, 12, and 7.

Point 2: There were crowds around the boat, and enough confusion to make it difficult for Joseph to help his wife and children into the boat easily. That rules out 5 and 7. The witnesses entering these boats don’t mention any difficulty with a crowd, but they do say it was hard for the crew to persuade people to go. We also think it is unlikely that the forward starboard boats took anyone other than first class passengers and crew.  The crowds suggest either one of the after port boats; 10, 12 or 14, or perhaps 15. But we've ruled out 14 and 15, due to the numbers of men. The crowds don’t easily suggest D, where, according to some accounts, crew were stationed to guide women and children through. In which case, Joseph would have had to have handed his children to crew members, before they were passed to his wife.

That leaves us with #10 and #12.

Point 3: A lady rowed, or an English lady. Or we would say, English speaking. But the word lady is not especially helpful. It can imply respect and disrespect. Personally, we think Juliette was just saying that an English speaking woman in the boat rowed. Most of us don’t believe that it means more than that. The best we can say, is that Juliette was in a boat where women rowed.  Boats 10 and 12 had women who rowed.

Point 4: There was water in the boat. As we have established quite a number of boats held water, including almost all of the ones discussed here; 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 15 and D.

We kept coming back to boats 10 and 12. There are witnesses who describe boat 10 as carrying more children – very many children, more than any other boat, 3-4 children, 7-8 children, 10 children. Whereas witnesses in boat 12, don’t seem to mention children very much. Given that Juliette left the ship with both her children, it is more likely that she was in boat 10, than boat 12. That said, we are aware that Lillian Bentham said there was a French women in boat 12: “There was a French woman there, too, who was very much possessed.” Could this be Mrs Laroche? We don’t think so. It sounds more like a woman by herself, than one who was minding her children.

Lastly, there is an account by Mary Marvin. We haven’t established for certain which boat Mrs. Marvin left the Titanic in, but she did say this, in
The New York Press, April 19, 1912:
    “In our boat several women were compelled to row because there was not enough sailors in it. I was not one of them, however. .. We were in the boat for more than two hours before we were picked up. In my boat was a woman who was in her nightgown, but had grabbed a fur coat just when she was called to the deck. Just as I got into the lifeboat a little French girl, 5 years old, was put in my arms. I carried her all the time in the boat. The little girl was brave, and did not cry one bit. On the Carpathia I saw the little girl frequently.”

In short, the evidence seems to point in the direction of lifeboat #10.  Though not all of us agreed to that conclusion