51 people packed in a raft for 25.

Air Force Journalist and Ditching Survivor Peter Foley did a lot of writing about the horrors of the ditching and joys of survival. One of  his stories with perhaps the most impact appeared in the Saturday Evening Post magazine in October of 1962. Included with that story was an artist rendition of the single, flooded and overcrowded life raft. The picture tells the story quite accurately. (Packed like sardines.)