Englishmen on Titanic less likely to survive than Americans 'due to good manners'
Englishmen aboard the Titanic were less likely to survive than their American counterparts because of their good manners, a new study suggests.
They may have insisted that lifeboat places were given to "women and children first" and queued for a place while others made saving their own lives the priority, it is believed.
English people were seven per cent less likely to survive the 1912 disaster than others on board, according to the study. By contrast, Americans were 8.5 per cent more likely to survive than the norm.
Yet there was practically no difference in the survival rate among the two countries' women, indicating that English gentlemen gallantly sacrificed themselves.
The ship struck an iceberg during its maiden voyage of April 14, 1912 and sank shortly after. There were only 1,178 lifeboat spaces to go around the 2,223 people on board. Only 706 survived the disaster, with 1,517 perishing in the icy Atlantic.
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
They may have insisted that lifeboat places were given to "women and children first" and queued for a place while others made saving their own lives the priority, it is believed.
English people were seven per cent less likely to survive the 1912 disaster than others on board, according to the study. By contrast, Americans were 8.5 per cent more likely to survive than the norm.
Yet there was practically no difference in the survival rate among the two countries' women, indicating that English gentlemen gallantly sacrificed themselves.
The ship struck an iceberg during its maiden voyage of April 14, 1912 and sank shortly after. There were only 1,178 lifeboat spaces to go around the 2,223 people on board. Only 706 survived the disaster, with 1,517 perishing in the icy Atlantic.