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Step 1. Don't be a man Step 2. Don't be poor. 97% of First Class women and 87% of female crew members survived the sinking of the Titanic. https://www.anesi.com/titanic.htm
Step 2 don’t be a man.
Seems like the safest thing to do would be to wait until the ship is about to go down, then activate your time machine and return from whence you came...
-- Know your surroundings, specifically where your exits are. The nearest exit may be behind you.
-- Break the rules. Officials may try to deter you from using passages, ladders or stairwells. Ignore them. If you need to kick open a door or pick a lock, do it.
-- Be where the well-connected people are, and look/act the part. Try to blend into the tribe, be a part of the group that's getting out.
Obviously in a modern context, these guidelines don't apply. Ignoring the instructions of flight attendants in a plane evacuation will get you killed. They are trained to evac that plane in 90 seconds. They won't be able to do it if you still have your briefcase, or haven't taken off your shoes as requested.
Step 1. Don't be a man Step 2. Don't be poor. 97% of First Class women and 87% of female crew members survived the sinking of the Titanic. https://www.anesi.com/titanic.htm
Step 1 don’t be poor. (Most poor died by default.) Step 2 don’t be a man.
clickbait title, the author only describes how to escape Titanic in 1912 if you happen to have a time machine and a cheap ticket to lower deck. This advice doesn't generalize well.
Titles are supposed to pique your interest. That's about it. And "How to Escape a Sinking Ship" is a much better title than yours.
- Pick a ship with robust safety measures, procedures, and equipment, sailing in favourable conditions, if at all possible.
- Rehearse evacuation. Drilling and mentally noting escape routes and pitfalls makes successful performance during an actual emergency the more likely.
- Maintain situational awareness. Things can go pear-shaped remarkably quickly. Numerours modern shipping disasters have transpired in a few minutes, or less. (Edmund Fitzgerald, Costa Concordia, MV Sewol, Estonia, El Faaro, ...) Size alone is no guarantee at all of safety, and can work catastrophically against you if below-decks.
- Easier said than done: avoid panicking, and avoid both panicky and oblivious people. If you're good at keeping a clear head and useful goal focus during crisis, so much the better. Even if you do, others panicking or ignoring clear dangeer can kill you (usually along with themselves). The aspect of Titanic dramatisations I've found most compelling is noting who realises when that the ship is in fact doomed, and how they respond. Some early, some late, some never, some quietly, some loudly, some selflessly, some selfishly.
Once off the stricken vessel, survival depends on keeping your head above water, literally, and remainung uninjured, warm, dry (generally), hydrated and fed (if rescue is not immediate), healthy, and rescued or returned to hospitable land. Survival even in very cold water is generally not an immediate threat. Drowning, injury from falling debris or flotsam, and hyperthermia are the most immediate risks. Past a day or so, hydration, food, and exposure become more critical. Shipwreck survivors have lasted months on rations, fish, and rainwater, in instances.
Signalling your location or attracting attention through orange equipment (many rescue evacuation craft, survival suits, life jackets), flags, flares, beacons, strobes, radio locators, mirrors, or fires (avoid burning your craft), etc., help.
Somewhat tongue in cheek, but still some good advice here: -- Know your surroundings, specifically where your exits are. The nearest exit may be behind you. -- Break the rules. Officials may try to deter you from using passages, ladders or stairwells. Ignore them. If you need to kick open a door or pick a lock, do it. -- Be where the well-connected people are, and look/act the part. Try to blend into the tribe, be a…
I would say that in general, when a ship is in danger of sinking, hatches are closed and dogged off for a reason, usually to control flooding, so this is a really bad advice. On the other hand, when a hatch is secured, you usually can't open it from one side, so if you are on the side that can lock, you are probably better off looking for another door.