Name
Lifeboat from Titanic
Lifeboat to Carpathia
Confidence Level
Lucas, Mr William A. Collapsible D 12 5.00

 


British Inquiry
Testimony of William Lucas
    1515. What was the last boat you got in? - The collapsible boat, the port side, inside the emergency boat.
    1516. Is that the one you got into? - I got into her and got ordered out.
    1517. Who ordered you out? - Mr. Lightoller.
    1518. What did you do then? - I went over to the starboard side to see if there was any more boats there. There were no more boats there so I came back and the boat was riding off the deck then. The water was up under the bridge then. The ladies sung out there was no sailor in the boat and no plugs, so I was a sailor and I jumped into the boat.
    1519. It was a boat that was on the deck, just explain that? - Just here (pointing to the model).
    1520. What boat was that? - A surf boat; they call them collapsible boats.

    1532. Now what did you do with her? - I pulled her to the davits.
    1533. Did you hook her on the falls? - The same falls used for the emergency boat picked up that boat.
    1534. Did you get the falls up again? - Yes, but the water was about 1 1/2 feet then when she was strung up to the davits.
    1535. What falls do you say? - The same falls as the emergency boat used.
    1536. They had been hauled up again? - Yes.
    1537. Did you lower her and get her to the water by these falls? - No, they only required lowering. They were already in the water.
    1538. Who got into her? - About forty women.
    1539. And what men? - Well, I found three men in the boat afterwards, but I never saw them in the boat when she went away.
    1540. Did you go away in that boat? - I went away in that boat.

    1595. Did you go back in your boat? - I transferred all the women from my boat to No. 8 boat because I was frightened of my boat capsizing and going down.
    1596. Whose boat was No. 8 boat? - Poingdestre was in charge.
    1597. You got all your women out of your boat into No. 8? - Yes.
    1598. Then what did you do with your boat? - Poingdestre asked me if I would go in the boat and get hold of an oar and I said yes, and then I went over to the upturned boat where we had picked up 36 from the wreckage.

Lucas' testimony makes it clear he left the Titanic in Collapsible D, on the port side.  However, he makes an error when he claims he transferred to #8.  He actually transferred to lifeboat #12, the boat that
Poingdestre was in charge of.  And the boat that helped picked up the survivors on Collapsible B.
.