What happened to the Titanic lifeboats?

Answer 1

You mean the ones that weren't there? I believe the story was that they, the builders where so positive the boat was unsinkable that they only put the barest minimum on board. Not nearly enough to cover the amount of people on the ship. Sad, so sad.
Most of them were salvaged by the rescue vessel RMS Carpathia when she rescued the survivors, all except three of the rigid ones (two of which were half-sunken anyway) and the collapsible Englehardt ones, which were set adrift and presumably eventually sank. The salvaged boats were stowed on the Carpathia's foredeck and taken to New York, where they were unloaded and moored at the White Star Line's docking pier.

Their subsequent fate is not known, although some survivors reported seeing workmen busily removing their number plates and hurriedly sanding the name Titanic from their hulls. However, it is presumed that they were freighted back to England and put back into service on other White Star liners, including possibly the Britannic which was built two years later and herself sunk by an enemy submarine in 1916, whilst serving as a hospital ship during WW1.

Over the ensuing decades, they may well have been transferred from vessel to vessel, and were the same type as dozens more used by the White Star Line, so it wouldn't have been long before it would have become impossible to tell if a lifeboat was ex-Titanic or not. However, they were of wooden construction, and would have eventually suffered the ravages of time after being exposed to the ravages of salt spray and sea winds whilst hanging from the davits of a succession of liners, so they may well have ended up being broken up for scrap, probably some time in the late 1930s. However, some may well have been auctioned off to private owners, who may have converted them to fishing boats, inshore yachts or motorised leisure cruisers.

It's very unlikely that any survive now, but it's not entirely impossible that there may be a converted former Titaniclifeboat somewhere in the world- but if there is, nobody would know that it was!

The number plate from Boat no.12 was salvaged by a stoker and presented in a frame to the Countess of Rothes, whose courage and care for her fellow survivors impressed him- they remained in correspondence until her death.

Answer 2

They were renamed and put on the Lusitania

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This previous answer is likely incorrect or facetious. After Titanic sank with insufficient lifeboats, there was a sudden demand for lifeboats. However, Titanic belonged to the White Star Line while the Lusitania belonged to Cunard. If the Titanic's lifeboats were to be reused, they would likely go to another White Star Line steamer such as RMS Olympic, one of Titanic's sister ships.

Answer 3

Two did, actually. Lifeboat 4 and lifeboat 14.

But for the most part, many people were afraid that the doomed passengers would pull them down, which caused some fighting to some degree on most of the boats.