Name |
Lifeboat from Titanic |
Lifeboat to Carpathia |
Confidence Level |
Thomas, Mr Benjamin James | 15 | 15 | 4.00 |
From the Western Daily Mercury, April 30th 1912: "Thomas was described as 'One of the stewards, who was allotted to boat 15, on the starboard side – the last of the odd numbers.' Thomas went on to say that 'A lady – a second class passenger – complained of the lack of room, and grumbled almost all the way to the Carpathia. If she realised her good fortune in being saved, she did not show it.' He endorsed the statement made by others that some of the officers made sure of order by firing their revolvers over the heads of the people. Just after one of the boats was discharged, the officer in charge said ‘If anyone disobeys me I will shoot’.” We also have this account by a stewardess in no.15, reported in the Western Morning News, April 30th 1912. “Continuing, the stewardess said, 'I was told to get in boat No.15. It was rapidly filled…… An old lady of 70 was seated close by me, and she was very troublesome. At the start she asked if one of the sailors would stop rowing and fasten her boot. She was piqued when this was refused, and I pointed out to her that many had no boots at all. Then she complained of the crush, and said that she was sorry she came. I again reproved her, and said that it was a matter of life, not comfort. Scant was the ceremony observed, and to stop the old lady’s bickering one of the men spoke sharply to her. After that she was quiet.' " Possible candidates for this woman could be identified in other boats, including boat 13 and boat 14. And his comment about the shooting sounds very much like what Officer Lowe said at #14. The group felt that, with the mention made by Thomas of shooting, and the lack of identity of the woman passenger, we could not be 100% positive of his statement about being in #15, but we still have to go with what he said. |