# You Are Stuck On The Titanic-What Can You Do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 11, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499 "2012-04-11T21:40:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/21 "2012-04-12T17:46:35Z")
The first class cabins were ornately furnished, and, IIRC, located on the upper decks. Might they not have contained wardrobes, chests, lockers, etc., that might have floated if hefted over the side? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/22 "2012-04-12T19:49:51Z")
Would they not have been fixed in case of rough seas? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/23 "2012-04-12T19:57:42Z")
Strip naked, run around hooting and shrieking while waving the knife about, and finally charge one of the crew who as been armed with a gun. Dying by gunshot sounds better to me than the array of drowning/freezing combinations that are available. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/24 "2012-04-12T21:44:56Z")
Get stinking drunk and ride the starboard side into the water. [Titanic Survivor Charles Joughin | Titanic Universe](http://www.titanicuniverse.com/titanic-survivor-charles-joughin/1349) If it doesn’t work, at least I’m drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/25 "2012-04-13T03:50:43Z")
Hang on to the drunk cook. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2012, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/26 "2012-04-13T10:26:41Z")
Grab the tuba from the band, ram a cork in one end and use it as a makeshift vessel. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Stanley Lord is busy sucking up to the owners and not risking the _California_ by going into the ice field. Lord was a scapegoat, he had no reason to think the Titanic was sinking. The culpable parties were those that let the ship go to sea without a lifeboat place for everyone, and her captain, who tried to navigate an ice field at 22 knots. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/27 "2012-04-14T10:56:14Z")
Yeah, the biggest problem was the lack of time because the ship sank so quickly. Once the realization set in that the ship really was going down, there just wasn’t time for anyone to craft a decent flotation device. My first thought was to throw in all those wooden dining tables and deck chairs. Or taking the wooden doors off their hinges. (Does a door have to be hollow to float?) But they didn’t have time. And the drop was so far. Anything you dropped might kill someone already in the water. Another thought was to find something warm and water proof to survive a few hours in the water. But remember at the time, I don’t think that they had any idea that help was coming in a few hours. Wireless communication was in its infancy, and the survivors were damn lucky that other ships didn’t follow “California’s” lead. Can you imagine how long those hours stretched for the people in the lifeboats – after watching such an unimaginable disaster, having to wonder if help was ever coming? Brrr! ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/28 "2012-04-14T11:00:04Z")
I would definitely try to nail the slutty rich chick in an antique car. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/29 "2012-04-14T11:01:39Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Loot, then swim like hell towards a less-then-full lifeboat! Some were hauled in from the water, but many of the boats opted to NOT try and save swimmers for fear they’d overturn the lifeboat trying to haul them in. > **[Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](https://au.news.yahoo.com/)** > > Latest news coverage, email, free stock quotes, live scores and video are just the beginning. Discover more every day at Yahoo! ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/30 "2012-04-14T12:30:24Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Grab the tuba from the band, ram a cork in one end and use it as a makeshift vessel. > > Lord was a scapegoat, he had no reason to think the Titanic was sinking. The culpable parties were those that let the ship go to sea without a lifeboat place for everyone, and her captain, who tried to navigate an ice field at 22 knots. Good point. Captain Lord’s watch officer saw the Tiatanic’s rockets (but they should have been red, not white). Why didn’t he wake up the radioman and have him check it out? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/31 "2012-04-14T13:55:51Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Why didn’t he wake up the radioman and have him check it out? Well, they do _now_. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/32 "2012-04-14T15:07:17Z")
Fall in love with a plucky young drifter and get him to save me from the oppresive expectations of my family? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/33 "2012-04-14T20:40:00Z")
rope. I’d jump in the water and swim to a life raft with the intent on lashing the boats together for stability and thus able to handle more people. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/34 "2012-04-14T21:03:23Z")
Jump and swim towards one of the lifeboats that left with room left. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/35 "2012-04-14T22:22:46Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Some were hauled in from the water, but many of the boats opted to NOT try and save swimmers for fear they’d overturn the lifeboat trying to haul them in. Ah, but you see, I have\* looted!\* I have pockets of treasure to _buy_ my way onto a boat! 😃 Gotta plan for contingencys… ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/36 "2012-04-16T00:16:27Z")
When I was on my first cruise a few years ago, I was very amused to discover during the “muster drill” that not only were passengers issued a lifejacket (to be worn inside the lifeboat) but that lifeboats themselves had another set of inflatable lifejackets, and it’s own collection of inflatable lifeboat dinghies. So, in the event that people hopped aboard the lifeboat from the sinking ship without their lifejacket, never fear! There’s plenty more aboard the lifeboat. Your lifeboat also sinks? Never fear! Jump into the inflatable lifeboat dinghy! Or–you’ve fallen into the water a la Titanic and there’s no room in the lifeboat? Never fear! They can toss you a lifejacket and inflate a dinghy for you, which can then be tied on to the bigger lifeboat. The lifeboats are also frequently utilized as tender ships, so the crew is very accustomed to loading them, they know exactly how the davits work (this was a problem on Titanic) and how to get the lifeboats to go where they want them to go, since they have motors and not a pile of 1st class ladies with rickety little oars, looking at each other like “WTF do we do with these things?” All of these double-triple-safety nets do go to show that the lessons from Titanic were learned - at a high price, perhaps, but at least we learned something. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/37 "2012-04-16T01:14:31Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > When I was on my first cruise a few years ago, I was very amused to discover during the “muster drill” that not only were passengers issued a lifejacket (to be worn inside the lifeboat) but that lifeboats themselves had another set of inflatable lifejackets, and it’s own collection of inflatable lifeboat dinghies. > > So, in the event that people hopped aboard the lifeboat from the sinking ship without their lifejacket, never fear! There’s plenty more aboard the lifeboat. > > Your lifeboat also sinks? Never fear! Jump into the inflatable lifeboat dinghy! > > Or–you’ve fallen into the water a la Titanic and there’s no room in the lifeboat? Never fear! They can toss you a lifejacket and inflate a dinghy for you, which can then be tied on to the bigger lifeboat. > > The lifeboats are also frequently utilized as tender ships, so the crew is very accustomed to loading them, they know exactly how the davits work (this was a problem on Titanic) and how to get the lifeboats to go where they want them to go, since they have motors and not a pile of 1st class ladies with rickety little oars, looking at each other like “WTF do we do with these things?” > > All of these double-triple-safety nets do go to show that the lessons from Titanic were learned - at a high price, perhaps, but at least we learned something. I’d be very impressed over amused. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/38 "2012-04-16T01:22:10Z")
> [@glaeken](#): > > I have actually thought about this before and the answer is the in film. Take off some doors. I figure 5 or 6 doors lashed together would make a pretty sturdy raft and would keep you out of the water. Launching it would still be an issue though and of course you would need a screw driver to get the doors off. Don’t forget to make a stop at the food pantry. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/39 "2012-04-17T19:05:49Z")
And don’t forget to change into your woman’s disguise outfit. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499/40 "2012-04-17T19:08:41Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Hang on to the drunk cook. Well, I’d have been doing \*that \*regardless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-stuck-on-the-titanic-what-can-you-do/618499.md?page=3)