By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON – When the ship is sinking is it really women and children first, or every man for himself? The answer, it seems, may depend on how fast it’s going down.
Comparing who survived two of history’s most famous sinkings – the Titanic and the Lusitania – indicates sharply different behavior on the two doomed vessels, neither of which had enough available lifeboats for all passengers.
When a torpedo sent the Lusitania to the bottom in just 18 minutes, claiming 1,198 lives, most survivors were young, fit people age 16 to 35 who could rush to a spot in the lifeboats and hang on to it.