Lifeboats

Traditional lifeboats are hung above the gunwales on davits that can lower them on cables to the water, assuming the ship is not listing too much and the crew can get it together. * The Titanic carried life rafts invented by Maria Beasley and collapsible Engelhardt lifeboats sufficient to save fifty-three percent of its passengers and crew. * The Washington state ferries keep at the ready in glassed-in closets off the passenger decks life rafts in large barrels. These can be automatically jettisoned and inflated. Forget your car; if this thing springs a leak and starts to sink, mind the women and children but jump for anything that floats.