Titanic Lifeboat No. 6

Titanic Lifeboat No. 6 is perhaps the most famous lifeboat in all of "Titanic" lore. It is most well-known for being the lifeboat that carried "The Unsinkable" Molly Brown. It is also interesting that this lifeboat contained two men who were both present on the deck at the time of the ship's collision with the iceberg. With a capacity of 65, No. 6 was launched with only 28 on board. Put in charge of No. 6 was Quartermaster Robert Hichens, who was at the wheel of the ship at the moment of impact. Also on board this lifeboat was lookout Frederick Fleet, the man who first sighted the iceberg, and made the infamous call screaming, "Iceberg, right ahead!" The lifeboat was loaded and launched from the port side of the ship at 12:55 a.m. by Second Officer Charles Lightoller. Once the boat had reached the water, Lightoller realized that there was only one seaman (Fleet) on board the lifeboat. In an attempt to remedy this, Lt. Colonel Arthur Godfrey Peuchen, Vice Commodore of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, volunteered his services to the lifeboat. Lightoller agreed to this and Peuchen shimmied on a rope down the side of the ship and into the lifeboat.

Once the "Titanic" sank, it became apparent that Quartermaster Hichens felt he had full control of the boat. While manning the tiller, he constantly beat back attempts by those on the boat who suggested they return to pick up survivors. Hichens' greatest opposition came from Molly Brown, who eventually threatened to throw him overboard. As a result of this threat, Hichens sat gloomily at the tiller and allowed the women to row around and look for survivors, of which they found none. This boat was also photographed several times by a passenger on board the rescue ship, RMS "Carpathia". [http://www.maritimequest.com/liners/titanic_page_10.htm]

In this famous photo, Quartermaster Hichens can be seen at the rear of the ship manning the tiller and Frederick Fleet is seen at the very front of the ship preparing to catch a tow-line from the "Carpathia". Lt. Colonel Peuchen can also been seen in this photo to the right of Fleet manning an oar.

In James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster film "Titanic", lead female character Rose DeWitt Bukater is originally intended to be in this boat, but runs away before it is launched. In the film, it is launched without Rose, but with her mother Ruth DeWitt Bukater on board.

External links

* [http://www.titanic-titanic.com/lifeboats.shtml/ Lifeboat No. 6 in Titanic-Titanic.com]