The Sinking of the Titanic: Its Story and Lessons

One of the survivors of the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912, Lawrence Beesley wrote a successful book about his experience, The Loss of the SS Titanic (June, 1912), published just nine weeks after the disaster. He saw two second class women who tried to get on a lifeboat, who were told to go back to their own deck, and that their lifeboats were waiting there. At the time of Lifeboat No. 13's launching on the Boat Deck, no women or children were in immediate sight, but it seemed there was room for more. As a result, Beesley was ordered to jump into it just before it launched. He managed to survive a subsequent incident, where Lifeboat No. 15 nearly came on top of No. 13. A stoker managed to cut the ropes connecting the boat to the falls at the last minute, and those in both boats emerged unhurt. Beesley and the rest of the survivors were picked up by the RMS Carpathia early morning on April 15.