Next tuesday is the anniversary of the sinking.Yes my friend...

Next tuesday is the anniversary of the sinking.

Yes my friend there are indeed lifeboats for the 1st class passengers but alas no Carpathia:

Lifeboat #6 was equipped to hold 65 passengers. However, it pushed off from the Titanic with 21 women, 2 men and a twelve-year-old boy on board. As the lifeboat was being lowered, Margaret noticed with horror a gush of water spouting from an opening in the side of the ship. The last orders given to the group by Captain Smith were "row to the light and keep the boats together." As the lifeboat moved away from the sinking Titanic they realized there was no light.

Margaret slid the heavy wooden oar into place with the help of another woman, and the two assisted in rowing the lifeboat safely away from the Titanic. "As we pulled away from the boat, we heard sounds of firing, and later were told it was officers shooting as they were letting down the boats from the steamer trying to prevent those from the lower decks jumping on the lifeboats. Others said [correctly] that it was the boilers."

Margaret could still hear sounds of dogs barking and children crying. She had to believe that they too were being loaded onto lifeboats. Finally, the cries ceased and a great rumbling sound was heard as the boilers exploded and all the contents of the ship slid to one side. "Suddenly," she wrote, "there was a rift in the water, the sea opened up and the surface foamed like giant arms spread around the ship, and the vessel disappeared from sight." At 2:30 a.m. April 15th the Titanic sank. Of the approximately 2,300 on board 1,600 were lost.

The occupants of Margaret's lifeboat stood in silent shock in the middle of their lifeboat. They demanded to go back and help the people struggling in the water, but Quartermaster Hutchens ordered that it was their lives now that were in danger, and that the drowning victims would capsize the small life boat in their efforts to be saved. Reluctantly, the women went back to their oars sobbing at the sounds of death surrounding them.

They continued to row for four more hours occasionally seeing flares sent up by the other lifeboats. At 4:30 a.m. Margaret saw a flash of light. It was from the approaching ship Carpathia that, although not the nearest ship to the Titanic, was the first to answer the distress call. After some difficulty, lifeboat #6 pulled up along side of the Carpathia, and the occupants were pulled aboard one at a time. On deck the group was given hot coffee and stimulants as they achingly scanned the deck for familiar faces.

Margaret, though sore, tired and cold, began to take action. Her knowledge of foreign languages enabled her to console survivors who spoke little English. She also rifled through the ship to find extra blankets and supplies to distribute to women who were sleeping in the dining room and corridors. She compiled lists of survivors and arranged for information to be radioed to their families at her expense. Margaret realized that these women had lost everything- husbands, children, clothes, money and valuables- and needed to start a life in a new country. She rallied the first class passengers to donate money to help less fortunate passengers. Before the Carpathia reached New York $10,000 had been raised.

The Carpathia docked at New York's pier 54 where it was met by a crowd of 30,000 people. Margaret was surrounded by reporters and was asked to what she attributed her survival. "Typical Brown luck," she replied. "We're unsinkable."