RMS Titanic and for the ship's operational use. Although "Titanic" had advanced safety features such as watertight compartments and remotely activated watertight doors, it only carried enough lifeboats for 1,178 people—about half the number on board, and one third of her total capacity—due to outdated maritime safety regulations. The ship carried 16 lifeboat davits which could lower three lifeboats each, for a total of 48 boats. However, "Titanic" carried only a total of 20 lifeboats, four of which were collapsible and proved hard to launch during the sinking. After leaving Southampton on 10 April 1912, "Titanic" called at Cherbourg in France and
Crew of the RMS Titanic It should be noted that the "Hometown" field may be misleading. Many crew had secondary or temporary addresses in Southampton, which they gave when signing the crew list, and others may have only recently relocated there. In particular, the number of crew from Merseyside is understated; for example, Chief Engineer Joseph Bell and Chief Steward Andrew Latimer lived with their families in the Liverpool area. Dr. Alan Scarth, in his book "Titanic and Liverpool", identifies 115 crew members with close connections to the city, of whom only 28 survived. The "Titanic" employed: a lifeboat and take charge of that boat