Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic: rare photos of those days. What happened to the surviving passengers after the Titanic sank

April 9, 1912. "Titanic" in the port of Southampton the day before sailing for America.

April 14 marks the 105th anniversary of the legendary catastrophe. The Titanic is a British steamer of the White Star Line, the second of three Olympic-class twin steamships. The largest passenger liner in the world at the time of its construction. During the first voyage on April 14, 1912, she collided with an iceberg and sank after 2 hours and 40 minutes.


There were 1,316 passengers and 908 crew members on board, for a total of 2,224 people. Of these, 711 people were saved, 1513 died.

Here is how the Ogonyok magazine and the New Illustration magazine talked about this tragedy:

Dining room on the Titanic, 1912

Room for second class passengers aboard the Titanic, 1912.

The main staircase of the Titanic, 1912.

Passengers on the deck of the Titanic. April, 1912

The Titanic orchestra had two members. The quintet was led by the 33-year-old British violinist Wallace Hartley, it included another violinist, double bass player and two cellists. An additional trio of musicians from a Belgian violinist, a French cellist and a pianist were hired for Titanic to give Caf? Parisien continental touch. The trio also played in the lobby of the ship's restaurant. Many passengers considered the Titanic's ship's orchestra to be the best they had ever heard on a ship. Usually, the two members of the Titanic orchestra worked independently of each other - in different parts of the liner and at different times, but on the night of the ship's death, all eight musicians played together for the first time. They played the best and most cheerful music until the last minutes of the liner's life. In the photo: Musicians of the ship's orchestra "Titanic".

Hartley's body was found two weeks after the sinking of the Titanic and sent to England. A violin was tied to his chest - a gift from the bride.
There were no survivors among the other members of the orchestra ... One of the rescued passengers of the Titanic will write later: “Many heroic deeds were committed that night, but none of them could compare with the feat of these few musicians who played hour after hour, although the ship sank deeper and deeper, and the sea crept up to the place where they stood. The music they performed gave them the right to be included in the list of heroes of eternal glory. In the photo: The funeral of the conductor and violinist of the ship's orchestra "Titanic" Wallace Hartley. April 1912.

The iceberg that the Titanic is believed to have collided with. The photo was taken from the Mackay Bennett, a cable ship operated by Captain DeCarteret. The ship "Mackay Bennett" was one of the first to arrive at the site of the Titanic disaster. According to Captain DeCarteret, it was the only iceberg near the crash site of the ocean liner.

Lifeboat "Titanic", filmed by one of the passengers of the ship "Carpathia". April, 1912

The rescue ship Carpathia picked up 712 survivors of the Titanic. A photo taken by Carpathia passenger Louis M. Ogden shows lifeboats approaching the Carpathia.

April 22, 1912. Brothers Michel (4 years old) and Edmond (2 years old). They were considered "orphans of the Titanic" until their mother was found in France. My father died in a plane crash.

Michel died in 2001, the last male survivor on the Titanic.

A group of rescued Titanic passengers aboard the Carpathia.

Another group of rescued passengers of the Titanic.

Captain Edward John Smith (second from right) with the ship's crew.

Drawing of the sinking Titanic after the disaster.

Passenger ticket for the Titanic. April 1912.

Guys, we put our soul into the site. Thanks for that
for discovering this beauty. Thanks for the inspiration and goosebumps.
Join us at Facebook and In contact with

Almost everyone knows about the sad fate of the huge Titanic liner. His death is shrouded in myths and conjectures: someone believes that the speed of the ship was too high in the danger zone, someone blames the weather conditions, and someone thinks it was an accident. But the truth about what happened then could only be known and told by the surviving passengers of the Titanic.

website shares with you the stories of people who managed to survive that fateful day.

On April 10, 1912, the passenger ship Titanic left on her first and last voyage. More than 2,000 "lucky ones" boarded the liner, and about 1,000 people came to say goodbye to their families. On the night of April 14-15, a huge ship collided with an iceberg and was wrecked. Approximately 700 people survived.

Orphans of the Titanic

Michel (aged 3) and Edmond Navratil (aged 2) sailed on a ship with their father under the assumed names of Luis and Lotto. Father Michel Sr. posed as a widower and told everyone that his wife had died. In fact, he divorced his wife and took the children away without her knowledge. When the ship sank, Michel Sr. took the kids and put them in the last boat that was launched. The last words he said to them were: “My baby, when mom comes for you, and she, of course, will come, tell her that I loved her very much and still love her. Say that I expected her to follow us so that we could live happily together in the peace and freedom of the New World."

Since their father died, and the children were still small and did not speak English, their relatives could not be found for a long time. Later, the boys' mother saw their photo in the newspaper and was able to reunite with her sons only a month later, on May 16.

The further fate of the brothers was different. Michel married his fellow student, became a professor of psychology, lived the rest of his life in Montpellier and died at 92.

Edmond was also married, worked as an architect and builder, joined the French army during World War II, but later deteriorated and died at 43.

Unsinkable Molly

Margaret Brown was known to everyone long before the sinking of the Titanic. She was one of the first women in the US to run for political office, 8 years before women gained the right to vote.

When she was in Europe, she received a message that her grandson was ill and decided to go to New York immediately. Due to her quick decision, few people, including her family, knew that Margaret was on board the Titanic.

After the ship collided with an iceberg, Margaret was placed in boat number 6, where she led the people, while Robert Hichens, who was responsible for this, was emotionally unstable. By the time the Carpathia reached New York, Margaret had been elected chairman of the committee of shipwreck survivors and managed to raise almost $ 10,000 for the needy. She did not leave the Carpathia until she made sure that all the survivors received medical attention and met with their families.

Margaret Brown was awarded the Order for helping those rescued from the Titanic, and later she received the Legion of Honor for her work on the committee for the liberation of France during the First World War. She died of a brain tumor in New York at the age of 65.

It is also known that she was never called Molly. This name was invented for her in Hollywood.

Girl who survived 3 plane crashes

Violet Constance Jessop was an ocean line stewardess for the White Star Line. She was on board the Olympic that collided with the USS Hawk in 1911, worked on the Titanic that sank in 1912, and during World War I served as a nurse aboard the hospital ship Britannic that sank. after a mine explosion.

Despite the wreckage, Violet continued to work on ships, and in 1950 she moved to Great Ashfield in Suffolk, where she filled her home with memories of 42 years spent at sea. Violet Jessop died at the age of 83 from heart failure.

The actress starred in the film in the same clothes in which she escaped from the Titanic

Actress Dorothy Gibson and her mother were in Paris when they decided to buy tickets for the Titanic in 1st class. On that fateful day, April 14, Dorothy was playing bridge with two bankers and at about 11:40 p.m. she went to her cabin when she heard a crunch. Dorothy, along with her mother, got into boat number 7, which was half empty, and asked the bankers to sail with them. A hole formed in the boat, and it seemed that they would go down with the Titanic, but, fortunately, they were able to plug the hole with clothes.

Upon her arrival in New York, her manager convinced her to star in a movie about a shipwreck. Dorothy Gibson wrote the script herself and wore the same clothes in which she escaped in the film. The film "Escaped from the Titanic" was released a month after the disaster.

Soon Dorothy left the cinema and devoted herself to work at the Metropolitan Opera. In 1928, she moved to Paris with her mother, and during World War II, when she lived in Italy, she was accused of anti-fascist sentiments and imprisoned in San Vittore prison in Milan, from which she managed to escape. The following years she lived in Paris, where she died of a heart attack at the age of 65.

The guy who was able to stand up after frostbite

Richard Norris Williams sailed on the ship with his father, and during the crash of the Titanic, they behaved very calmly. The Williams family wanted to sit at the bar, but the steward refused to open the door, so they went to the gym to keep warm. When the passengers were in the water, Richard Norris spotted the collapsible lifeboat and climbed into it. The father died from a collapsed chimney. Those who managed to survive in this boat were transferred to lifeboat No. 14.

On board the Carpathia doctors advised Richard to amputate frostbitten legs but he refused. Subsequently, Richard healed his legs, continued his career as a tennis player and won a gold medal at the Olympics, then fought on the fronts of World War I, after which he became a successful investment banker in Philadelphia and for 22 years was president of the Pennsylvania Historical Society.

Richard Norris Williams died of emphysema at the age of 77.

Stories to be told!

When the Titanic left Southampton on April 10, 1912 for her maiden voyage, she was the largest and most luxurious ship in the world. Tragically, the White Star shipping company never made it to New York. She collided with an iceberg on April 14, 1912 at 11:40 pm and sank in the North Atlantic at 2:20 am on April 15. Then more than 1,500 passengers and crew members died, and only 705 people managed to survive this terrible maritime disaster.

This event stunned the whole world, because many people initially believed that the luxury liner was unsinkable. This tragedy still attracts attention, many are interested in how the passengers and crew acted on that fateful night. Most of us know the fictional story of Jack and Rose or have heard of The Unsinkable Molly Brown, but there are also some intriguing but little-known stories.

1. Alex McKenzie

Alex McKenzie, 24, never set foot on board the Titanic, despite having already packed his luggage and queued up to board the luxury liner. His parents bought him a ticket for the first voyage of the ship as a gift. Suddenly, Alex heard a voice that warned him that he would die if he went on a journey on an advertised ship.

The voice sounded so clear that Alex looked around to see who was speaking, but no one was around. Deciding that he misheard, Mackenzie continued to move towards the gangway, but suddenly he heard this message again. He ignored him again, only to hear the voice again, much louder this time. Alex then obeyed and abandoned the trip, deciding to return to his hometown of Glasgow, where he would have to explain to his parents why he had refused to board the greatest ship in the world.

2. Edith Russell


Many people dreamed of being a first-class passenger aboard the Titanic, but not Edith Rosenbaum (later known as Edith Russell). She couldn't shake the bad feeling. Edith boarded the Titanic on her first stop in Cherbourg, France, returning from a French fashion show in Paris. In a letter to her secretary, Edith wrote: “We are going to Queenstown. I just hate leaving Paris and would love to come back here again. I was going to rest on this trip, but I can't get rid of the depression and foreboding. How I wish all this would be over as soon as possible!

When the Titanic hit an iceberg, Edith asked the steward to bring a pig-shaped music box from her first-class cabin. She stood on the boat deck with her hand on that music box and refused to get into the lifeboat until all the women and children had been put in. Suddenly, someone grabbed a box wrapped in a blanket, thinking it was a child, and threw it into the boat. Not wanting to part with such a beloved thing, Edith jumped into the boat. The music box saved her life.

3. Two homeless children in the sea


Since adult male passengers were not put on lifeboats during the sinking of the Titanic, the father was forced to place his two sons in the boat, while he himself remained on board the ship. The kids could only speak French and did not have any personal items with them, so the rescue ship "Carpathia" could not identify them in any way. In order to find a family of boys in France, newspapers printed articles about two "marine homeless children" and published their photographs.

Meanwhile, the mother desperately searched for her two sons, who disappeared without a trace. The story of two homeless children caught up with her in Nice, France. After the woman described the signs of her children to the rescue service, the boys were identified as four-year-old Michel and two-year-old Edmond. The boys were abducted by their father, Michel Navratil, who traveled on a ship under the alias "Mr. Hoffman" and hoped to start a new life in the US with his children.

4. Edward and Ethel Beane


Second class passengers Edward and Ethel Beane were about to celebrate their recent marriage aboard the Titanic. When the Titanic hit an iceberg, the newlyweds from England weren't bothered, as they, like many, thought the ship was unsinkable. They weren't worried until a passenger from the next cabin warned them twice about the seriousness of the situation.

Ethel reluctantly boarded the lifeboat, leaving Edward aboard the ship. While Ethel was swimming to safety, her husband had to jump overboard to be reunited with his wife. Edward swam away from the sinking ship until he found salvation on a boat. Fortunately, the happy couple is reunited to continue their married life.

5. Thomas Millar


After the death of his wife and three months before the Titanic's maiden voyage, Thomas Millar decided to take a job as a deck mechanic's assistant on the White Star luxury liner. He did this to secure the future of his two sons, Thomas and Ruddick.

Millar left his children in the care of an aunt in a village near Belfast. He hoped that he would be able to start a new life in the United States, which his sons would later join. Before leaving for America, Thomas gave each of his sons one penny and told them that they should not spend it until he returned. Thomas Millar never returned to his sons because he lost his life aboard the ship. While Thomas Jr. spent his penny, the Ruddick coin is still kept by the Millar family as a symbol of a father's love for his children.

6. Father Francis Brown


Father Francis Brown was a first class passenger on board the Titanic. He was one of those people who had many rare photographs of life on board the ship. The Jesuit priest was a passionate photographer; he received a ticket for the first flight of the Titanic as a gift from his uncle. Excited to be on board a luxury vessel and aware that he was attending a historic event, Father Brown took many photographs that were published in print publications around the world after the disaster.

While most of the Titanic's passengers were bound for New York, Father Brown was one of eight passengers who abandoned the ship as it called at Queenstown (now known as Coba) in Ireland, the last port before the Atlantic voyage. Despite the fact that the rich couple offered to pay for the remaining part of the trip to New York, the priest was called off the ship by his leadership. Therefore, Father Brown survived the disaster, as did the photographs he took, which now give us a glimpse of life on that ill-fated ship.

7. Two cousins


There were two cousins ​​aboard the Titanic, but neither of them was aware of the presence of their distant relative. William Edwy Ryerson was the steward who served the first-class saloon dining room. He knew little about his second cousin, Arthur Ryerson, who was also on board the ship as a first class passenger along with his wife, Emily, and their three children.

Arthur's family was on their way to their hometown of Cooperstown, New York, after they were informed that Arthur's son had passed away. William and Arthur had a common great-great-grandfather, but they were from completely different circles. William was born into a working-class family in Port Dover, Ontario, Canada, while Arthur lived a prosperous life.

While William was seating passengers on the lifeboats, Arthur negotiated with the crew members to place his 13-year-old son John in the lifeboat along with his wife and daughters. Arthur was the only member of the family to die in a sea disaster, while William escaped the sinking ship in a lifeboat.

8. Countess of Rothes


The Titanic also took some of the richest people in the world on a trip across the North Atlantic, and one of the honored passengers on board was Lucy Noel Martha, Countess of Rothes. She traveled to the US with her cousin Gladys Cherry and her maid, Roberta Mayoni. Her goal was to meet her husband and two children to start a new life in the USA.

The Countess and her cousin were awakened when the ship collided with an iceberg. Captain Smith instructed everyone to return to their quarters and put on life jackets. At about 1:00 a.m., the Countess, along with her cousin and maid, embarked on boat No. 8, which was the first to be launched. Tom Jones, a lifeboat sailor, quickly recognized the countess as a strict leader and ordered her to steer the boat. She sat at the helm of the boat and steered it for more than an hour, after which she switched places with her cousin to try to calm a Spanish bride who had lost her fiancé on the ship.

The Countess rowed the oars throughout the night and morally supported the passengers until the Carpathia arrived at the crash site.

She provided assistance not only during the journey on the boat. The Countess remained aboard the Carpathia after the ship docked in New York, helping those passengers who had lost everything in the crash. On her return to Scotland, the Countess of Rothes purchased a silver watch inscribed with "April 15, 1912, Countess of Rothes", which she sent to Tom Jones as a gift and in gratitude for his efforts on board the lifeboat. He responded to her gift with a letter, thanking her for her kindness and courage, and sent her a brass plaque from the lifeboat. The sailor and the countess corresponded until her death in 1956.

9. James Moody


Another hero aboard the ship was 6th Officer James Moody, who decided to stay on board despite being offered a place on the lifeboat. The 24-year-old junior officer received a small salary of $37 for his service on the ship and his own cabin while on board the Titanic.

Before the Titanic set off on its first transatlantic voyage, Moody unwittingly saved the lives of six crew members who were not allowed to board the gangplank because they were late. When the ship hit the iceberg, a young officer was on duty and answered Lukut's call to Frederick Fleet, asking him, "What do you see?" Fleet replied: "Iceberg, right in front of us!".

When the captain announced that the ship would sink within a few hours, Officer Moody launched lifeboats 12, 14, and 16. Fifth Officer Harold Lowe suggested that Moody steer lifeboat 14, which was normal for lower-ranking officers. But Moody turned down Lowe's offer. Despite his low rank, Moody remained on the ship and helped First Officer Murdoch until the water began to flood the boat deck. Moody was repeatedly offered to become the commander of the boat, but each time he courageously decided to stay on the ship in order to save as many lives as possible and watch the disaster to the very end. Second Officer Lightoller was the last person to see Moody alive at 2:18 a.m., when he was trying to launch collapsible lifeboats.

10 Jack Phillips


Jack Phillips was the senior radio operator aboard the Titanic and was paired with junior operator Harold Bride. Two men were engaged in receiving and sending messages from passengers using Morse code, and also received weather warnings for the captain.

Before the disaster, Phillips received numerous iceberg warnings from other ships, Bride delivered many of them to the captain. However, due to the high volume of passenger messages, Phillips was unable to deliver all warnings to Captain Smith; he believed that the captain had already received enough warnings about the danger of icebergs. When another report of the iceberg came from the steamer Californian, Phillips replied: “Shut up! I have negotiations with Cape Race! Subsequently, Phillips began to be called one of the perpetrators of the crash.

However, when the ship hit an iceberg 400 nautical miles off Newfoundland, Phillips did everything he could to send out distress calls to ensure the rescue of passengers and crew. The 25-year-old telegraph operator remained at his post even when the captain relieved him of his duties. He relentlessly sent messages to nearby ships until 2:17 a.m., when the ship was already sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

His connection to the Carpathia helped save 705 passengers. Many ships later reported that Phillips' messages were absolutely clear, despite the chaos that was going on around him. Unfortunately, despite having a collapsible lifeboat, Jack Phillips died in a sea disaster.

Natalia Derevianko

Dawn April 15, 1912. North Atlantic. The orange sun rises above the sea horizon, dimming the light of the stars and driving away the morning haze. The night is slowly receding, hiding the traces of one of the largest maritime disasters in the history of mankind.
Doors, cushions, chairs, tables, deckchairs, scraps of paper, debris were everywhere. They swayed smoothly on the waves among the white spots, reminiscent of seagulls from a distance. But upon closer examination, you understand that these spots are the bodies of the dead passengers and members of the Titanic crew in their snow-white life jackets. Some of them looked up at the sky, as if waiting for salvation, but most doomedly bowed their heads into the water, resigned to their fate. And no one will help them, no one will save them. Its end…

Perhaps such a picture was revealed to the eyes of the Carpathia, which, with the surviving passengers of the Titanic, changed course, walked past the crash site back to New York.

At the same time, the leadership of the White Star Line decided to raise the bodies of all the dead from the surface of the ocean. And this should have been done as quickly as possible, since the bodies were still more or less grouped and not carried away by the current. The second factor is that a long stay of the body in water can complicate the identification process. And of course, the company wanted to at least somehow rehabilitate itself before the families of the victims - by delivering the bodies to relatives for further burial.

The center of the entire operation to lift the bodies was the small Canadian town of Halifax. It was here that White Star Line chartered four ships:

  • Minia
  • "Montmagny"
  • "Algerin"

An agreement was also concluded with a large Halifax funeral home, John Snow and Company, to provide all funeral procedures.

Meanwhile, information began to appear in the press about the “cemetery in the ocean”, "...hundreds of dead bodies, frightening passengers, sailing past the ships ...".

McKay-Bennett was a British cable-laying vessel owned by the Commercial Cable Company. . His main task was laying and repairing deep-sea cables. In addition, the ship often participated in rescue operations (for example, saving the crew of the sinking schooner Caledonia on February 12, 1912). But that's not what made him famous.

April 17, 1912 at 12.35 after all the preparations, "Mackay-Bennett", under the command of Captain F. Lardner and with 75 crew members on board, sets off on his "terrible flight." During this mission, not a cable was loaded on board, but coffins. For this work, the leadership of the White Star Line undertook to pay the team $550 per day.

Mackay-Bennet cable layer

On board was the owner of the funeral company - John Snow Jr. Under his leadership, 103 coffins, several tons of ice, embalming solutions, bags and 20 tons of iron bars were loaded. The sailors, free from work, sewed bags from canvas for the personal belongings of the dead.

One of the bags for the personal belongings of the dead.

Flight engineer Frederick Hamilton described in detail everything that was happening:

“Morning April 20, 1912. To the north of us, the outlines of a huge iceberg are visible. I think we are very close to the crash site of many hopes and prayers. The embalmer is getting livelier, because soon he has a lot of work to do.

Evening April 20, 1912. The McKay-Bennett reaches the crash site. The start of the operation to remove the bodies was scheduled for the early morning of the next day. Men will need all their courage to survive what lies ahead.

It's been 6 days since the sinking of the Titanic...

The crew of the McKay-Bennett. 1912 Captain F. Lardner in the center of the second row.

Dawn April 21, 1912. The eyes of the crew are presented with a terrible picture - hundreds of bodies swaying on the waves, among the wreckage. And only now the sailors realized the scale of everything that had happened. Some began to pray, others were simply numb. Thus passed in silence for about half an hour. Then, having come to their senses, the sailors lowered the boats and carefully headed towards the "marine cemetery".

“The sea is restless. Wind southwest. Coordinates 41° 59` US 49 ° 25` ID. We take out the bodies. Breaking through the ice."

According to the description of one of the crew members, the skin of the passengers frozen in the water was white, their hair and eyebrows were covered with frost. The maceration and the fact that the bodies were swollen made the work very difficult, and the work had to be done very quickly. The bodies raised from the water in the air began to decompose very quickly. It was ordered to lift from 5 to 10 bodies and return to the ship.

The square indicates the search area for bodies by the Mackett-Bennet vessel. Photo from the original card.

During the first day, 51 bodies were raised (including two children and three women). 24 bodies were badly damaged or mutilated during the sinking of the ship, making identification impossible. It was decided to bury them at sea. The process of burial at sea was as follows. The iron bars that they took with them (weighing 12 kg with a hole at the end) served as a load for the bodies. When the boat sailed up to the body, the corpse was examined, and a decision was made to raise it or not. More lucky 1 and 2 class. Crew or third class were often buried at sea.

A life jacket was removed from the corpse, rods were tied to the legs, and the body sank. The rest of the bodies were taken aboard the McKay-Bennett, where they were disbanded. First, the bodies were laid out on deck. In the presence of two people, pockets were examined, and an inventory of everything found was compiled. Personal belongings, jewelry and other items were put in a bag. The corpse was assigned a number, the same number was applied to the bag with his personal belongings. This was supposed to facilitate the identification procedure on board or shore. Clothes were cut from the corpse and burned. Then the medical examiners set to work. They carefully examined the body, fixing all the abrasions, scratches, injuries, tattoos. Pajamas were then put on first-class passengers. All data obtained in this way, according to the new rules, was recorded in a special journal. An interesting fact is that such an identification procedure was used for the first time in history, and it is still used by experts working at the scene of mass deaths of people (air crashes, major accidents, in places of military operations, etc.). Even after the death of the passengers, their bodies were treated according to class. The bodies of the Titanic's crew were not embalmed or even sacked (on board they were in large boxes covered with ice). The bodies of second and third class passengers were placed in bags, while the bodies of first class passengers were placed in coffins. They were placed on the poop.

From Frederick Hamilton's notes:

"Monday April 22, 1912. This morning we passed a huge iceberg. I really wanted to take a picture of him, but it was raining. We are now east of a huge debris field. And among the deck chairs, parts of interiors, paper, boxes and other things - bodies, bodies, bodies ... "

“… 20.00. The bell rang twice. I hear a splash of water. This means that the funeral ceremony has begun. Again the bell tolls twice and again splash, splash, splash…”

It can be added that the ceremony was conducted by the priest of the Cathedral of All Saints in the city of Halifax, Cameron Hynd.

And here is what the captain himself writes in the ship's log:

“Today I made a difficult decision. We put 24 unidentified bodies in bags, attached a weight of 23 kg to each and buried them at sea. We simply won’t be able to bring everyone ashore.”

Note that almost all of them were third-class passengers or crew members. I noticed an interesting fact. After the body of J. Astor was found, for which the crew received a reward from his son Vincent in the amount of $ 10,000, none of the passengers were buried at sea anymore. Is it a coincidence?

MacKay-Bennett carried out the search and recovery of the bodies until April 26, when the Minia ship arrived to help him. On April 30, the ship returned to Halifax with her "cargo".

Funeral procession aboard the McKay-Benette.

The bodies of the deceased passengers of the Titanic aboard the McKay-Bennett.

The bodies of the Titanic crew in wooden boxes with ice were among the first to be demolished from the side, then the bodies of second and third class passengers, who were placed in bags. The bodies of the first class passengers were all in coffins, which were the last to be carried ashore. The whole procession passed in dead silence, although the pier was packed with relatives, onlookers, journalists who had already nicknamed the ship the “ship of death”.

Between April 21 and 26, 1912, McKay-Bennett found 306 bodies (body numbers 1-306). 116 were buried at sea and 190 were taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Sailors from the McKay Bennett inspect the overturned collapsible lifeboat B of the Titanic.

Minia

The Minia is the second ship chartered by the White Star Line to search for the dead. On April 21, 1912, a message came from McKay-Bennett that they had reached the crash site, about a large number of victims and they might not have enough bags, embalming composition, coffins, etc. On the same day, under the command of Captain William de Calteret, the Minia cable-laying ship (on board 150 coffins, 20 tons of ice and 10 tons of iron bars) comes to the rescue from Halifax.

On April 26, the ship reached the crash site and replaced the McKay-Bennett. On the same day, the weather deteriorated badly. The wind picked up and a fine, nasty rain began to fall, making a long search impossible. Lifting the bodies became dangerous for the rescuers themselves.

Minia cable layer.

From an interview with Captain W. de Calteret:

“We always had to wait for the weather to improve. And as soon as the ocean became favorable to us, we immediately began work. We saw the bodies, but they were drifting very far apart. It was difficult to get to them, and, unfortunately, the steamers passing by did not want to help us ... "

But, due to a break in an important cable off the coast of Canada, the Miniya had to be withdrawn earlier than planned.

The chronology of raising the bodies is as follows:

  • On April 26, 11 bodies were taken on board;
  • April 27 - 1;
  • April 28 - 1;
  • April 29 - 1;
  • April 30 - 1;
  • May 1 - 2;

The crew of the Minia lift the body of a deceased passenger on the Titanic.

There was a rumor that the members of the Minii team, in violation of all the rules, were engaged in looting. Overcoming long distances between lonely drifting bodies, they along the way collected things from the surface of the ocean as souvenirs. I had little faith in this, but collecting material for the article, I was convinced of the opposite. nReading the memoirs of Captain de Calteret, I came across this. I quote the paragraph in full.

“... The death of people occurred from hypothermia, only one choked. There was sea water in his lungs. I remember the bodies of two men the most. One probably fell from a great height and hit the superstructures.vessel. He was missing a foot, and the other leg was broken and twisted. The second may have died in the explosion. His face was burned and his eyes were missing. Yes, something definitely exploded there, I saw chairs from a restaurant on board, their headrests were stained with coal, some were broken. We also raised a large section of the wooden ladder…”

“… Chaise lounges were raised in good condition, a piece of beautiful fittings, a lady’s boa, a pantry locker from the first class cabin….”

But on the other hand, thanks to these people, today we can see those objects that, perhaps, would not have survived to this day.

Inspection of the body of the deceased passenger of the Titanic on board the Minia.

On board the Mini.

Having found 17 corpses (body numbers 307-323), of which two ( not identified) were buried at sea, on May 3, 1912, with 15 bodies on board, the ship headed for Halifax.

Representatives of John Snow and Company take the coffins from the Minia to the morgue.

On May 6, after mooring at the port of destination, the crew transferred the unused coffins and bags to the third ship, the Montmagny, to search for the bodies.

"Montmagny"

The Montmagny was a small lighthouse service vessel owned by the Canadian Department of Marine and Fisheries. Captain Peter Johnson. The ship left the small port of Sorel and headed for Halifax, where it was replenished on arrival and where additional crew members were hired. One of the embalmers at the John Snow and Company Funeral Home came aboard. A surgeon from a local hospital is called to help him. The Reverend S. Prince of the local St. Paul's Church went to sea as a chaplain.

Steamboat Montmagny.

On the morning of May 6, 1912, the Minia berthed in the port of Halifax. And while all attention was paid to unloading the ship and photographing, no one noticed how at noon the Montmagny quietly left at sea.

Having reached the site of the Titanic disaster, the weather deteriorated again. Rain is coming. "Montmagni" was able to pick up only 4 bodies during May 9-10 (numbers 326-329). For some unknown reason, they missed numbers 324 and 325. One body was buried at sea. The remaining three were delivered on May 13 to Louisbourg, where they were transported by rail to Halifax. Replenishing supplies, "Montmagni" again returned to the crash site, but, alas, apart from small wooden fragments, he did not find anything. No tel.

On May 19, at about 1800, the Montmagny relieved the Algerin, the last ship hired by the White Star Line. May 23, 1912 "Montmagny" returned to Halifax and continued its service for the benefit of the Canadian government.

"Algerin".

"Algerin" — the last, fourth vessel to participate in the body-lifting operation under the command of the White Star Line. Captain - John Jackman.

Cargo-passenger ship "Algerin".

There is very little information about what happened on board and around the Algerin voyage. It is known that the ship left the port of St. Johns (Newfoundland) and explored the crash site for three weeks. One body was found (number 330). Having stopped searching, Algerin returned to the port of St. Johns on June 6, 1912 and reloaded the coffin onto the Florizel steamer, which delivered the body to Halifax on June 11.

This concludes the official operation to recover the bodies of the passengers of the Titanic, organized by the White Star Line. The final lists of the dead and missing were compiled. But, despite all the efforts, the bodies continued to frighten the steamers passing by for some time.

What else can be added.

It is known that the Carpathia did not raise the bodies of the three dead from collapsible boat A, leaving the boat to drift. Officers Wild and Murdoch tried to lower this boat as one of the last, but because of the waves surging on the deck, the collapsible sides of the boat did not have time to raise. As a result, half-flooded and overloaded with passengers, she was washed into the ocean. A month later (May 13), ironically, another White Star Line steamer, the Oceanic, finds a lifeboat 160 miles south of the crash site. Later, passenger Sir Shane Leslie recalled:

“... At noon, the sea was calm when the lookout shouted that some incomprehensible object was visible ahead. The ship slowed down and it soon became apparent that the object was a lone lifeboat floating in the Atlantic. What was truly terrible were the three bodies that were in it. By order from the bridge, a boat was sent to her with an officer and a doctor. The spectacle that followed was terrible. The hair of two dead sailors was white from the sun and salt, and a third body, dressed in evening dress, sprawled on the benches. All three bodies were sewn into canvas bags with a steel bar attached. Then, one by one, they were wrapped in the British flag, buried and buried at sea."

These were bodies numbered 331-333, which are not included in the official lists.

June 6, 1912. the ship "Ilford" finds a body (number 334), which was buried at sea. Not on the official list.

On June 8, 1912, the steamer Ottawa accidentally finds a body (number 335). Buried at sea. Not included in the official list.

Summing up, we can say that during the operation from April 17 to June 8, 1912, 333 bodies out of 1512 dead (about 22%).

During the search period, 209 bodies were brought to Halifax. 59 of them were taken by relatives and buried in their homeland. Three different cemeteries in Halifax became the final resting place for the remaining 150 bodies.

101 years have passed since the sinking of the Titanic, but its victims are not forgotten and, it seems to me, will never be forgotten. Every year, memorial masses are held at the site of the wreck of the liner, and their names are remembered every year. And, as you know, the one who is not forgotten lives forever.

Appendix.

Breakdown by ships involved in the rise of the dead (04/17 - 06/06/1912).

Specially for:

Anatomy of the Titanic

The catastrophe that showed the world real miracles of love and fidelity

In September 1911, the White Star Line shipping company announced the Titanic's maiden voyage as March 20, 1912. However, the unsinkable liner set off on its last journey later - on April 10.

Like in the movies

At that time it was the most expensive, luxurious and huge ship in the world. Its length was 269, width - 28, and height - 18 meters. From Southampton, the ship was seen off by 10,000 onlookers. Only the Titanic never made it to New York. On April 14, 1912 at 11:40 p.m., the ship collided with an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m. on April 15. About 1,500 passengers and crew members died then. And only 705 people miraculously survived the largest maritime disaster.

In 1997, director James Cameron directed the Oscar-winning film Titanic, telling the love story of the fictional passengers of the liner - Rose DeWitt Bukater and Jack Dawson. They were played by actors Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. The beautiful and sad story of Rose and Jack is not the only one that could make a blockbuster, if you remember the real fate of the Titanic passengers: sad, mysterious and loving.

By the way: The only woman rescued from the water was named almost like the main character of the movie "Titanic", Rose - Rose Abbott. She survived by being caught on a raft. Passenger J. Dawson was also on board the Titanic - but not Jack, butJoseph Dawsonfrom Dublin. He died.


wikipedia

The power of feelings

The Countess' maid, 21-year-old Roberta Elizabeth Mayoni, traveled first class with her mistress. Shortly before the disaster, the girl had an affair with a handsome steward from the ship. After the Titanic collided with an iceberg, a man in love ran to her cabin. The young man gave Roberta his life jacket and put him on the boat. Already in New York, in the pocket of her outerwear, the girl found a badge with a white star. Before saying goodbye, the young man put it in memory of himself. Unfortunately, he himself died. Until the end of her days, Roberta did not reveal his identity.

Voice in my head

It is not known what the journey on the liner would have turned out to be for 24-year-old Alex Mackenzie, who, having a ticket, did not dare to step aboard the Titanic. It was a gift from his parents, and the young man was already ready for an interesting voyage, but suddenly he heard a voice in his head that did not advise him to go sailing on a supposedly unsinkable ship. Alex heard the death warning clearly in his ear. As a result, he listened to the persistent voice and returned home to Glasgow to his taken aback parents.

Keep me my talisman

Fashion designer, women's magazine correspondent Edith Rosenbaum Russell was returning to New York from Paris, where she was reporting at the races. In a letter to a friend, Edith complained of a premonition of trouble.

When the Titanic hit an iceberg, she, a first-class passenger, asked the steward to bring her a pig-shaped music box, which she treasured. Shocked, Edith refused to leave the sinking ship until someone snatched her favorite toy wrapped in a blanket from her hands, thinking it was a baby. Following the box sent to the rescue boat, the journalist also jumped. It can be said that the talisman saved her life.


Together until the end

Well-known businessman of German origin Isidor Strauss and his wife Ida have been married for 40 years and have never been separated. During the incident on the Titanic, the head of the family refused to board the lifeboat, leaving it for women and children, while his wife stayed with him. Instead of themselves, the couple saved their maid. They were last seen on deck, huddled together. Subsequently, the body of Strauss was identified by a conspicuous wedding ring, the body of his faithful wife was never found.

Lost Children

During the evacuation, women and children were the first to be rescued, so one of the fathers had to put his sons in the boat, and stay on the Titanic himself.

The kids still spoke French and did not have any documents with them. For a while, newspapers wrote about "two sea waifs" and published their photographs in order to find their own boys. Finally, the information reached Nice, from where a woman responded, desperate to find her children, abducted by her father. On the liner, he hid under the name of Mr. Hoffman and tried to escape with his sons - 4-year-old Michel and 2-year-old Edmond Navrati - to New York.

Honeymoon

Newlyweds Edward and Ethel Bini set off on the Titanic for their honeymoon. The beginning of the disaster did not frighten second-class passengers at all. They believed that the Titanic could not sink. The husband put his wife in the boat, and he himself had to jump into the icy water. Fortunately, he swam to the boat, which had seats, and thus escaped. The young spouses quickly found each other and were no longer separated until their death.


Letter from beyond

19-year-old Jeremiah Burke from Ireland, before he died, managed to write a farewell message to his loved ones, put it in a bottle and throw it into the ocean. Surprisingly, a year later she was washed ashore just a few miles from the young man's home.


The family carefully kept it for almost a hundred years: “From the Titanic, goodbye everyone. Burke of Glanmire, Cork.