As the realization of their continued peril became clear, crewmen and passengers--men and women and older children--clawed and battled for position along the ship's rails, terrified that the horribly wounded ship would be torn to pieces or slip beneath the waves before the boats were launched. Somehow, Gates and Somers and Captain Newport managed to impose order on the ship's terror-stricken passengers and the equally frightened crewmen. Fortunately for those on board, by the time the Sea Venture took ground, the storm had abated enough to allow the crew to lower the ship's boats--a longboat and the skiff--into the relatively calm water that lay in the lee of the stricken ship.