When the real Titanic sank, did they really lock people in the lower decks to stop them getting to life boats?

There were some locked gates, but they were supposed to be opened in an emergency (some stewards either didn't get the word to open the gates or abandoned their posts). The gates were there to keep the poorer 3rd class passengers from mingling with the well-to-do 2nd and 1st class passengers, not to restrict access to life boats.

There were some locked gates, but they were supposed to be opened in an emergency (some stewards either didn't get the word to open the gates or abandoned their posts). The gates were there to keep the poorer 3rd class passengers from mingling with the well-to-do 2nd and 1st class passengers, not to restrict access to life boats.

No. First class passengers were much closer to the boat decks, which is why most of the boats lowered at first contained first class passengers. A lot of people weren't in much of a hurry to get into the boats, because they expected another ship to arrive to rescue them soon. So it's not as if the first clas passengers were in any hurry to leave the ship. But everyone thought that another ship would come and rescue the passengers, which is why they didn't bother too much about making sure the boats were filled before they were lowered. The normal procedure would have been for the boats to take the first lot of passengers to the other ship, and then come back for more people. But the other ship didn't come until it was too late for many, and to this day nobody is quite sure why no other ship got there in time. Films about the Titanic never get it right. The fact is that nobody started to panic until right in the end, when the realisation dawned that the ship was going down and that the expected rescue wasn't coming. Moreover, if you look at the statistics about percentages saved, you will see that the group that came off worst was second class men, only 8 percent of whom survived, as opposed to 33 percent of first class, and 16 percent of third class. Women did much better, 98 perecent of 1st class survived, 88 percent of second class, and 46 percent of third class.

No. It is quite possible (the evidence is scant) that some doors which were routinely locked were not unlocked in the confusion, but there is no question that third class passengers were deliberately shut away. The quickest proof of this is the fact that the proportion of female third-class passengers who survived was greater that the proportion of first-class male passengers who did so.

No. It is quite possible (the evidence is scant) that some doors which were routinely locked were not unlocked in the confusion, but there is no question that third class passengers were deliberately shut away. The quickest proof of this is the fact that the proportion of female third-class passengers who survived was greater that the proportion of first-class male passengers who did so.

YEEEEES! they did

On Robert Ballard's first expedition and discovery on September 1, 1985, he did find a closed gate that kept 3rd class passengers from the upper decks til the 1st and 2nd class boarded the life boats.

No, it didn't.

On Robert Ballard's first expedition and discovery on September 1, 1985, he did find a closed gate that kept 3rd class passengers from the upper decks til the 1st and 2nd class boarded the life boats.