Name |
Lifeboat from Titanic |
Lifeboat to Carpathia |
Confidence Level |
Peuchen, Major Arthur Godfrey | 6 | 6 | 5.00 |
American Inquiry Testimony of Frederick Fleet, page 327 Fleet was in #6. Senator SMITH. Did anyone step into your boat, man or woman, and then step out of it? Mr. FLEET. No, sir. There was just one passenger, when we was lowering away, come in the boat. Senator SMITH. Who was that? Mr. FLEET. One of the men passengers. Senator SMITH. Who was it; do you know? Mr. FLEET. I do not know who he was, sir. Senator SMITH. When you were lowering away? Mr. FLEET. Yes, sir. Senator SMITH. How far had you gotten below the boat deck? Mr. FLEET. It was not very far; just about the length of the table down. He got over the life lanyard and swung in and come down the fall. American Inquiry Testimony of Charles Lightoller, page 80 Mr. LIGHTOLLER. Yes. That was the boat I had to put a man passenger in. I could only find one seaman. I had started to lower the boat. I had put two seamen in and then I wanted two for lowering. It is absolutely necessary to have a seaman on each fall. No one else can lower a boat. I was calling for seamen, and one of the seamen jumped out of the boat and started to lowering away. The boat was half way down when the women called out and said that there was only one man in the boat. I had only two seamen and could not part with them, and was in rather a fix to know what to do, when a passenger called out and said, "If you like, I will go." Senator SMITH. Did you know him? Mr. LIGHTOLLER. I did not. Senator SMITH. Was he an officer of the ship? Mr. LIGHTOLLER. No, sir; a first-class passenger. Senator SMITH. You don't know who he was? Mr. LIGHTOLLER. I have found out who he was since. Senator SMITH. Who was he? Mr. LIGHTOLLER. Maj. Pusey. [Major Arthur Peuchen] Senator SMITH. Of Toronto? Mr. LIGHTOLLER. Of Toronto. That is the name, yes. Senator SMITH. What did he say? Mr. LIGHTOLLER. He merely said, "I will go if you like." I said "Are you a seaman," and he said "I am a yachtsman." I said "If you are sailor enough to get out on that fall" - that is a difficult thing to get to, over the ship's side, 8 feet away, and means a long swing on a dark night - "if you are sailor enough to get out there you can go down." And he proved he was, by going down. And he afterwards proved himself a brave man, too. American Inquiry Testimony of Arthur Peuchen, page 336-337 Maj. PEUCHEN. After that the boat was lowered down some distance, I should imagine probably parallel with C deck, when the quartermaster called up to the officer and said, "I can not manage this boat with only one seaman." Senator SMITH. Where was this call from? Maj. PEUCHEN. As the boat was going down, I should think about the third deck. So he made this call for assistance, and the second officer leaned over and saw he was quite right in his statement, that he had only one man in the boat, so they said, "We will have to have some more seamen here," and I did not think they were just at hand, or they may have been getting the next boat ready. However, I was standing by the officer; and I said, "Can I be of any assistance? I am a yachtsman, and can handle a boat with an average man." He said, "Why, yes. I will order you to the boat in preference to a sailor." Maj. PEUCHEN. Yes. That was his suggestion; and I said I did not think it was feasible, and I said I could get in the boat if I could get hold of a rope. However, we got hold of a loose rope in some way that was hanging from the davit, near the block anyway, and by getting hold of it I swung myself off the ship, and lowered myself into the boat. Senator SMITH. How far did you have to swing yourself? Maj. PEUCHEN. The danger was jumping off from the boat. It was not after I got a straight line; it was very easy lowering. But I imagine it was opposite the C deck at the time. .... I went forward and got an oar on the port side of the lifeboat; the sailor was on my left, on the starboard side. But we were just opposite each other in rowing. Senator SMITH. Who was the sailor? Maj. PEUCHEN. He was the man who gave evidence just before me. Senator SMITH. Mr. Fleet, from the lookout. The evidence is very clear that Major Peuchen got into lifeboat #6. |