After the collision, most passengers were not aware that the ship was going to sink. Determined to avoid a panic, Captain Smith instructed crew members to calmly inform the passengers to put on their lifejackets and report to the boat deck. Many were told that entering the boats was merely a precaution, and they would return to Titanic by morning. These reassuring words persuaded many reluctant wives to leave their husbands and board the lifeboats. Third class passengers were not even advised to report to the boat deck. They were simply assembled below and told to await instructions. It was commonly reported that, most likely in an effort to manage the crowd, many staircases and passageways leading from lower sections of the ship were locked off, thus preventing escape to all but the most intrepid. (Since there was virtually no testimony taken from third class passengers in either of the two official investigations of the disaster, these reports did not come to public attention until years later.) One steward, John Hart, escorted two groups of third class women and children up through the tortuous route from the base of the third class stairwell to the boat deck. Aside from Hartıs heroic efforts, the third class passengers were left to find their own way, and most of them did not succeed.

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