RIGHT AFTER MIDNIGHT, as the Titanic creaked and groaned and began its collapse into the sea, hundreds of desperate people swarmed toward the middle of the boat. The ship’s crew tried to load panicked people into lifeboats, about 60 at a time, but a terrible reality set in almost immediately: Only about one-third of the ship’s 2,240 passengers were going to fit.
Women and children were to be taken first, with everybody else milling around, hoping for some kind of miracle or a generous crew member to wave them onto a lifeboat. Many clung to the idea that perhaps a rescue ship would show up before the Titanic took its last breath. There were also plenty of people who stayed put — they still believed that the mighty Titanic was unsinkable.
