Collapsible A was one of the four collapsible lifeboats of the RMS Titanic. It was stored on the starboard side on top of the crew quarters of the ship. Collapsible A along with Collapsible B were the two lifeboats that weren't properly launched during the sinking because the crew was out of Titanic and the sea had overflowed the Boat Deck. Instead, they were washed off the ship and floated away with a few dozen people struggling to survive on them.
Collapsible A was recovered a month later after the disaster by the RMS Oceanic.
In the film[]
After Collapsible Boat C was lowered the water, William Murdoch, Henry Wilde and the crew attempted to bring it down onto the Boat Deck, but its hull was partly submerged and some of her benches broke. The crew attempted to fix its davits but it was too late, because Titanic's sinking had sped up and the ship took a nosedive, water overflowing the bridge.
Many passengers attempted to board this boat since it was one of the last two lifeboats left aboard the Titanic, most notably Tommy Ryan, Fabrizio De Rossi and Caledon Hockley. The crowd, consisting of mostly men, had wanted to get into the boat but Murdoch would not let them. Tommy Ryan yelled at Murdoch for not letting any men onto on the boat, and called him a bastard. Caledon Hockley then confronted Murdoch about the deal that they had, earlier having bribed him for entry, but Murdoch threw the money back into his face saying "your money can't save you any more then it could save me" and pushed him back. Murdoch then threatened to shoot any man who tried to board the lifeboat, since they were still enforcing the "Woman and Children" policy. A man attempted to do so by jumping over Murdoch but was shot down. Tommy was then shoved from behind, causing Murdoch to shoot Tommy in the left lung instinctively. Tommy collapsed and died in the hands of Fabrizio, who called Murdoch a bastard for killing his friend. Murdoch, having realised his actions, saluted Henry Wilde and raised his gun to his temple. Henry shouted at him not to shoot but Murdoch shot himself in the temple anyway and his body fell into the sea.
Cal then spotted an abandoned child which he scooped up and lied to Henry Wilde that he was the child's father. Wilde let him on. Minutes later the water was streaming up the sinking deck towards the boat. Fabrizio untied Tommy's lifebelt and donned it.
At approximately 2:07 A.M, 13 minutes before Titanic would sink, Collapsible A was in the water, yet still attached to its falls. Fabrizio used the pocket knife he won from the poker game at the start of the film to cut the falls of the lifeboat. He failed to board, however, and was later crushed by a falling smokestack. Cal managed to stay in the boat and was seen to shove passengers attempting to board from the water back into the sea, saying that they would swamp [the boat].
After the Titanic sunk, the survivors were eventually transferred into other lifeboats as Collapsible A was itself beginning to sink. Collapsible A was set adrift with three bodies in it along with a few other lifeboats. It was recovered a month later in May 1912 by the RMS Oceanic.