<P> It was also thought in the event of an emergency, Titanic's design would enable her to stay afloat long enough for her passengers and crew to be transferred safely to a rescue vessel . It was never anticipated that all passengers and crew would be evacuated rapidly at the same time . </P> <P> Compounding the disaster, Titanic's crew were poorly trained on using the davits (lifeboat launching equipment). As a result, boat launches were slow, improperly executed, and poorly supervised . These factors contributed to the lifeboats departing with only half capacity . </P> <P> 1,512 people did not make it on to a lifeboat and were aboard Titanic when she sank to the bottom of the sea at 2: 20 a.m. on 15 April 1912 . 712 people, mostly women and children, remained in the lifeboats until later that morning when they were rescued by RMS Carpathia . Those aboard the lifeboats were picked up by Carpathia over the course of 4 hours and 30 minutes, from about 4 a.m. to 8: 30 a.m., and 13 of the lifeboats were also taken aboard . The lifeboats were returned to the White Star Line at New York Harbor, as they were the only items of value salvaged from the shipwreck, but subsequently vanished from history over time . </P> <P> Titanic had 20 lifeboats of three different types: </P>

How many boats made it back from the titanic