Lifeboat 'in charge'

Revised Launch Times
by Bill Wormstedt, Tad Fitch & George Behe
from "The Lifeboat Launching Sequence Re-Examined"

**Lifeboat In Charges**
Port Side			Starboard Side
Time	Boat	In Charge of Lifeboat	Time	Boat	In Charge of Lifeboat
12:40			12:40	7	Lookout Hogg
12:45			12:45	5	3rd Officer Pitman
12:50			12:50
12:55			12:55	3	AB Moore
1:00	8	AB Seaman Jones	1:00
1:05			1:05	1	Lookout Symons
1:10	6	QM Hitchens	1:10
1:15			1:15
1:20	16	Master-at-Arms Bailey	1:20
1:25	14	5th Officer Lowe	1:25
1:30	12	AB Seaman Pogndestre	1:30	9	Boatswain Haines
1:35			1:35	11	AB Humphries
1:40			1:40	13 15	Leading Fireman Barrett Fireman Dymond
1:45	2	4th Officer Boxhall	1:45
1:50	10 4	AB Seaman Buley QM Perkis	1:50
1:55			1:55
2:00			2:00	C	QM Rowe
2:05	D	QM Bright	2:05
2:10			2:10
2:15	(B)	2nd Officer Lightoller¹	2:15	(A)	none
2:20			2:20

Interesting! 4 out of the 6 Quartermasters are in charge of lifeboats. Of the other 2, Wynn was in 9 (under Boatswain Haines), and Olliver was in 5 (under 3rd Officer Pittman).

Appears to me that, specifically on the starboard side, Murdoch ran out of 'qualified' personnel to put in charge, and had to resort to other crew, such as Firemen Barrett & Dymond (this is not meant as insult to either of these men, just that I would suppose normal procedure would give this duty to men of the Deck Department). Quartermaster Rowe had been busy with rockets and the Morse Lamp during the earlier launchings, and wasn't available until sometime after 1:50 AM, when the last rocket was fired.

All in all, the assigment of 'in charges' shows evidence of some of the chaos on the decks that night.

¹In actual fact, no one was appointed 'in charge' of Collapsible B. Lightoller assumed command, as highest rank among the survivors on the overturned boat.