Titanic Lifeboat Question

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bob_read

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I am not a boat person by any measure. I am doing research on RMS Titanic's lifeboats. Specifically there are two
block-like structures on top of the aft thwart of the 30 ft. main lifeboats. What are these and what is their function? I believe they may either be a type of cleat or fairlead. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Here are links to two photos.
One is of Titanic's lifeboats in New York after the disaster.
The second is an enlarged cropped photo showing the structures in question. Thanks for any help.

http://webpages.charter.net/bpread/photos/Lifeboat%2003.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/bpread/photos/990.jpg

Regards,
Bob Read
 
If there is more than one - it may be to hold a plank or similar going fore and aft.

Can't see how it could be either a cleat or a fairlead.

I think you should target lifeboat builders specifically. There were a number of yards on the Clyde on the south side of the river in Glasgow (Kinning Park and Paisley Road West areas) that produced nothing but lifeboats. A Google may help.

Regards

Donald
 
They are spar chocks

Their purpose is to retain the mast and yard in position when stowed in the boat, against the rolling of the parent vessel and during launching.

I was never in North Atlantic passenger ships, but I have a colleague who was in the "Mary" and the "Elizabeth" in the 60's and he remembers them as being fitted in their boats.

(He commented that they had better boats than the Titanic!)
 
Re: They are spar chocks

Guys:
Thanks for the quick reply. If these structures were to prevent movement of the mast and yard when stowed then why was there only one on the aft thwart? If that was their function I would expect to see a similar structure on a forward thwart wouldn't I? In another forum dedicated to Titanic someone ventured that these were to retain a compass. Is this a possibility or way off base? I'm not saying your answer is not the correct one. I just wonder why
there was only one pair on one thwart. The mast was not held at its heel by any gooseneck. It was loose and was retained when raised by a jaw mounted on a forward thwart.
Maybe someone could clarify. Thanks.

Regards,
Bob Read
 
Re: They are spar chocks

Look at the length of the masts in your photograph. The heel of the mast jams up into the eyes of the boat, what we East Anglians would call the foresheets, so it won't roll anywhere. Only a single chock is needed.

Do you know who the men standing in the boats are?
 
Re: They are spar chocks

The photo of the life boats is very moving. Info here mentions compass, but I think Mirelle is on the right track.
 
Re: They are spar chocks

The men are White Star Line officers and workers. I assume that they are from the Olympic though I am not sure.

Regards,
Bob Read
 
Re: They are spar chocks

The life boats which were 'saved' when titatic sank were re-used for the next white star line vessel Olympic and they were designed by RODERICK CHRISHOLM sorry no reference to your blocks
 
Re: They are spar chocks

Actually the fate of Titanic's lifeboats is the subject of considerable mystery. There seems to be some evidence that they were returned on Olympic. Other evidence seems to indicate that they were detained in New York for quite some time as "evidence" for the Senate investigation after which the trail of custody goes cold. There has been considerable discussion about this on the website
Encyclopedia Titanica. I strongly suspect that all Titanic identification was removed and they were simply reused. Nobody wanted reminders of the disaster hanging around. Especially White Star.

Regards,
Bob Read
 
Re: They are spar chocks

Titanic lifeboats -- ambling along the Thames bank at Kingston some years back, I was jolted out of a daydream by the sight of a scruffy, upturned clinker lifeboat.

Reading up side down I could decipher the letters RMS Titanic.

Quite a shock until I realised I was passing Mike Turk's yard: he makes a living out of film props, among other things (such as the Grand Turk -- but you'll never see her on the Thames, worse luck).

Cheers

Chris
 
Great picture by the way Bob!

There is two blocks on the thwart and they look like the inside edges are diagonal. You would assume that a piece of wood appropriately shaped slid through the blocks to the stern. looking at the stern end at the Lazarette area there appears to be a plank going for and aft and could be a the point where the plank would butt. I can only see this as something that would assist when in sailing rig as opposed to when pulling?
Regards.

peter.
 
Peter:
The prevailing thinking at the present on a Titanic forum in which I participate proposes that the base of a compass was
held by this structure.

Regards,
Bob Read
 
Yes of course! The compass would have been set in the plank and slid into the groove created with the 2 blocks.

Clever stuff!
 
Just had a quick look around for "antique lifeboat compasses" - they all seem to have in common that they were (i) internally gimballed - thus intended to be fixed to the boat (ii) designed to be viewed from behind and above - i.e. from the helm position. They also all seemed to be of about the right size to be fixed to a wooden 'slide' that would match that of the chocks in the lifeboat piccy. Example:
86_1_b.JPG
 
Just seen your post re Titanic lifeboats. As a merchant navy deck officer whose career started in in 60's I can answer this question. They are designed to hold the lifeboat compass binacle in place. You will see that they are only on the aft thwart and on the centre line. Oars and the mast were normally lashed on the side benches. As a cadet I have spent many hours in lifeboats doing the required checks - servicing equipment and replacing old stores with fresh. More modern lifeboats had a circular binacle, normally made from copper with a small intergrated oil lamp. Normally the binacle was painted grey. On the aft thwart was a device for securing the binacle in place but the actual design tended to vary slightly depending on the builder. If you have further questions I would be happy to answer them if I can. R_P
 
Presumably this means that lifeboats of Titantic's days were much the same as those of the '60's. I wonder how much change there has been over the last 40 odd years?

One thing that I am confused about. Was a "whaler" the same as a "lifeboat"?
 
Cutters and whalers were commom designs for ships 'lifeboats'. There was not the thought that is today in what we would call lifeboats, other than they had contained space alond the hull sections under the thwarts and hence the side benches. Normally filled with cork. Either way thay were whaler or cutter designed vessels.
 
The lifeboats of the sixties were virtually identical to those on the Titanic. Also you have to realise that there were still ships built during the war and pre-war still sailing in the 60's and 70's. The major difference tended to be the material of construction. This changed from timber clinker to cold moulded to aluminium to finally GRP. Regulations regarding provisons also changed slightly but very little. There used to be a requirement for all life boats to carry charts printed on cloth but with the advent of modern radio communications the idea of shipwreck sailors undertaking long voyages in an open boat went out of the window with the advice instead being to maintain position close to sinking. Nowadays the move is towards liferafts with one boat on each side to tow the rafts away from the side of the vessel. Also fast rescue boats for man over board are now required. Re the difference between lifeboats and whalers. Whalers are not designed to carry more than the pulling crew and a few passengers. The have a relatively low freeboard and are therefore more suitable as a rowing boat. They also make good sailing vessels as they are a lot narrower in the beam and have a centre board. Lifeboats on the other hand have a high freeboard when unladen. With a full compliment of upwards of 80 souls the freeboard might be lower but it is virtually impossible to row. The same can be said for sailing. With a loose footed standing lug sail and no centre board sailing upwind was virtually impossible and even with the wind on the beam the leeway was massive. Before the advent of small efficient inboard engines the whaler or gig (its smaller cousin) would be method used to ferry pasengers and crew ashore whilst at the ship lay at anchor. As a cadet at the School of Nav in Warsash during the 60's, training in the handling of gigs under both oar and sail was mandatory.
 
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