Faces of the Titanic: Mary Burns lost her life while tending to the needs of others on board

Saw a very good documentary on British TV the other night quite by chance. A point they emphasised was that socio-economic or class predetermined you chances of survival. If you travelled third class in steerage, i.e well below decks, your chances of survival were el-zippo. Some well-to-do passangers exerted their undue influence to dissuad lifeboat pilots from going back to save people because it might endanger their chances of survival in the ensuing melee. A example of the good ol' British class system of social Darwinism one hears very little about these days.

The thing that staggers me is that many of the lifeboats had capacity for many more people to survive!