Name |
Lifeboat from Titanic |
Lifeboat to Carpathia |
Confidence Level |
Mellinger, Mrs Elizabeth Anne |
14 | 12 | 4.80 |
Mellinger,
Miss Madeleine Violet |
14 | 12 | 4.80 |
In an article from Commutator #31, Madeleine says she was put in #14 with Officer Lowe. This would imply she was likely transferred to another lifeboat later. In 1971, Madeleine Mellinger (Mann) was interviewed by the CBC: “When we got up and stepped out on deck, there was no commotion around. That was the Second Class Deck which was by the last two funnels …., and Officer Lowe was standing by a boat, I think Number 14, and we went over and I was picked up and thrown in.” Since Lowe had to move people out of #14, to go back into the wreckage to search for survivors in the water, the Mellingers had to be moved out to another boat. From the article at http://www.beachmetro.com/2012/04/03/story-titanic-survivor/ we find: "After the great ship sank, the Mellingers were told to climb from boat 14 to number 12 so that Fifth Officer Lowe could go back for a search and rescue mission. In response to Second Officer Charles Lightoller’s shrill whistle, boats 4 and 12 saved the thirty exhausted men who had balanced precariously all night long atop the overturned collapsible lifeboat B. Elizabeth helped to revive a freezing Lightoller by giving him her cape and rubbing his arms and hands to restore circulation. Around 8:30 am, Lightoller was the last to board the Carpathia, the most senior officer to survive the sinking. Lightoller wanted to thank Mrs. Mellinger, but all he had was the tin whistle he had blown to attract the rescue boats. Elizabeth cherished the silver whistle until the day she died in 1961. Madeleine donated the whistle to Walter Lord, the historian who had kept the memories of that night alive by collecting firsthand accounts from the survivors. The prized whistle and Elizabeth’s hooded woolen cape are now on display at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England." |