Mr. Lawrence Beesley’s book, already cited, gives an excellent description of No. 13’s history, but for further details, see his book, The Loss of the SS. Titanic, Houghton, Mifflin Co., Boston.
F. Barrett, leading stoker (Br. Inq.):
Witness then made his escape up the escape ladder and walked aft on to Deck A on the starboard side, where only two boats were left, Nos. 13 and 15. No. 13 was partly lowered when he got there. Five-sixths in the boat were women. No. 15 was lowered about thirty seconds later. When No. 13 got down to the water he shouted: “Let go the after fall,” but, as no one took any notice, he had to walk over women and cut the fall himself. No. 15 came down nearly on top of them, but they just got clear. He took charge of the boat until he got so cold that he had to give up to someone else. A woman put a cloak over him, as he felt so freezing, and he could not remember anything after that. No men waiting on the deck got into his boat. They all stood in one line in perfect order waiting to be told to get into the boat. There was no disorder whatever. They picked up nobody from the sea.
F. D. Ray, steward (Am. Inq., p. 798):
Witness assisted in the loading of boat No. 9 and saw it and No. 11 boat lowered, and went to No. 13 on A Deck. He saw it about half filled with women and children. A few men were ordered to get in; about nine to a dozen passengers and crew. Dr. Washington Dodge was there and was told that his wife and child had gone away in one of the boats. Witness said to him: “You had better get in here then,” and got behind him and pushed him and followed after him. A rather large woman came along crying and saying: “Do not put me in the boat; I don’t want to get in one. I have never been in an open boat in my life.” He said: “You have got to go and you may as well keep quiet.” After that there was a small child rolled in a blanket thrown into the boat to him. The woman that brought it got into the boat afterwards.
We left about three or four men on the deck at the rail and they went along to No. 15 boat. No. 13 was lowered away. When nearly to the water, two or three of them noticed a very large discharge of water coming from the ship’s side which he thought was the pumps working. The hole was about two feet wide and about a foot deep with a solid mass of water coming out. They shouted for the boat to be stopped from being lowered and they responded promptly and stopped lowering the boat. They pushed it off from the side of the ship until they were free from this discharge. He thinks there were no sailors or quartermasters in the boat because they apparently did not know how to get free from the tackle. Knives were called for to cut loose. In the meantime they were drifting a little aft and boat No. 15 was being lowered immediately upon them about two feet from their heads and they all shouted again, and they again replied very promptly and stopped lowering boat No. 15. They elected a fireman (Barrett) to take charge. Steward Wright was in the boat; two or three children and a very young baby seven months old. Besides Nos. 9, 11, and 13, No. 15 was lowered to Deck A and filled from it. He saw no male passengers or men of the crew whatever ordered out or thrown out of these lifeboats on the starboard side. Everybody was very orderly and there was no occasion to throw anybody out. In No. 13 there were about four or five firemen, one baker, three stewards; about nine of the crew. Dr. Washington Dodge was the only first-class passenger and the rest were third-class. There was one Japanese. There was no crowd whatever on A Deck while he was loading these boats. No. 13 was full.
Extracts from Dr. Washington Dodge’s address: “The Loss of the Titanic,” a copy of which he kindly sent me:
I heard one man say that the impact was due to ice. Upon one of his listeners’ questioning the authority of this, he replied: “Go up forward and look down on the fo’castle deck, and you can see for yourself.” I at once walked forward to the end of the promenade deck, and looking down could see, just within the starboard rail, small fragments of broken ice, amounting possibly to several cartloads. As I stood there an incident occurred which made me take a more serious view of the situation, than I otherwise would.
Two stokers, who had slipped up onto the promenade deck unobserved, said to me: “Do you think there is any danger, sir?” I replied: “If there is any danger it would be due to the vessel’s having sprung a leak, and you ought to know more about it than I.” They replied, in what appeared to me to be an alarmed tone: “Well, sir, the water was pouring into the stoke ’old when we came up, sir.” At this time I observed quite a number of steerage passengers, who were amusing themselves by walking over the ice, and kicking it about the deck. No ice or iceberg was to be seen in the ocean.
I watched the boats on the starboard side, as they were successively filled and lowered away. At no time during this period, was there any panic, or evidence of fear, or unusual alarm. I saw no women nor children weep, nor were there any evidences of hysteria observed by me.