You are watching 13 Amazing Items Recovered from the Titanic, and I’m your host Paul
DuVall.
Did you know that after the Titanic sank, its exact location remained unknown for 73
years?
It was finally rediscovered in 1985, sparking a frenzy of expeditions and the recovery of
over 5,500 artifacts from the wreckage.
Now let’s dive into this list and get started with Titanic item number 13.
We’re gonna start off with this pocket watch that belonged to Edmund Stone, a 33-year-old
Englishman and first-class steward on the Titanic.
The pocket watch was recovered from his body along with other items including a set of
keys for Titanic’s E deck, a pencil, steward’s receipt, and a pocket knife.
After the Titanic struck the iceberg, Edmund’s training kicked in and he prepared the first-class
passengers under his charge with warm clothes and lifejackets.
What is so eerie about Edmund’s pocket watch is that it stopped ticking at 2:16, just moments
before the titanic plunged beneath the water.
Edmund most likely jumped off the titanic in those final moments, and the frigid 28-degree
water immediately froze both him and his pocket watch.
His body was buried at sea, and his possessions were sent to his widow, Elizabeth.
At number 12: Just look at this piece of the Titanic’s steel hull that was found resting
on the seabed and was recovered during the 1998 RMS Titanic, Incorporated expedition.
It is the largest artifact ever to be recovered from the wreck of the Titanic.
It took the recovery team a mere 40 minutes to raise this colossal 15-ton section of the
Titanic.
Upon testing samples of the steel recovered from Titanic’s hull, scientists determined
that it was around ten times more brittle than the steel used in modern ships.
Below freezing water temperatures caused the steel of Titanic’s hull to become dangerously
brittle.
This would explain the horrifying cracking sounds that passengers heard when the Titanic
struck the iceberg.
Known as “The Big Piece,” this impressive section of the Titanic’s steel hull can
be found in Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, a museum in Las Vegas.
Next up at number 11: this is the bell from the crows nest of the Titanic.
It was recovered from the debris field around the Titanic wreck
in 1987 by RMS Titanic Incorporated.
Just moments before the Titanic collided with the iceberg, Frederick Fleet, one of the crow’s
nest lookouts, rang this bell three times and immediately called the bridge.
Sixth Officer James Moody answered the phone and Fleet anxiously exclaimed, “Is anyone
there?”
Moody responded, “What do you see?”
To which Fleet replied with those fateful words: “Iceberg, right ahead.”
Moody said, “Thank you,” and hung up the phone.
But it was too late.
Moments later, the Titanic struck the iceberg.
This famous bell is now on display in Titanic, the Artifact Exhibition, an impressive collection
of Titanic artifacts that can be viewed in several North American cities.
And at number 10, we have this key that was recovered from the body of
Sidney Sedunary, a 25 year old Englishman and third class steward
on the Titanic.
When more life jackets were needed Sidney heroically ventured deep into
Titanic's F deck, which was already flooded with brutally frigid water,
and used this exact key to unlock a locker where many of the life jackets were stored.
Without a doubt, this selfless act of retrieving the life jackets ensured
more lives would be saved.
Sidney's body was recovered from the wreckage and was buried at sea,
while his pocket watch and key were sent to his grieving wife Madge, who was
pregnant at the time.
Next over at number 9, we have this wedding ring that belonged to Swedish third-class
passenger Elin Gerda Lindell, who was immigrating to the United States with her husband Edvard.
As the Titanic sank, both Elin and Edvard tried desperately to get into a partially
submerged lifeboat, but Elin fell into the water, and Edvard didn’t have the strength
to pull her into the lifeboat.
As Elin slipped from Edvard’s grasp, Edvard managed to grab her wedding ring, and then
watched in horror as Elin drifted away and drowned.
Edvard soon died from the freezing temperature, and his body was recovered later at the bottom
of the lifeboat, with his hand still clutching his wife’s wedding ring.
At number 8, this Titanic artifact is one I found particularly interesting.
These vials were filled with essential oils that never made it to their destination.
Adolphe Saalfeld, a German chairman of a chemists and distillers’ company, was
transporting these vials of essential oils to New York, in hopes of marketing them there
and expanding his business to the United States.
While Adolphe was able to escape the Titanic on a lifeboat, his essential oils weren’t
so lucky.
These vials were found and retrieved during a Titanic expedition in 2000.
David Pybus, a perfume historian, successfully recreated some of the oils using their original
chemical composition.
One of the vials had violet-scented oil, and another had ROSE-scented oil.
Did you get that?
“Rose” scented?
Hmmm...
Now at number 7 we have this chef hat that belonged to third baker William Edward Hine,
a 36-year-old Englishman who had previously worked in the kitchen aboard the Olympic,
Titanic’s sister ship.
William along with his brother-in-law, Frederick Charles Godwin, died with the Titanic, and
their bodies were never found.
Because William was unmarried, his sister Emily and father Henry were notified of his
death.
Years later, William Hine’s chef hat was recovered from the Titanic wreck, and because
his full name was embroidered on the brim, it was easy to identify whose hat it was.
Next up at number 6 we have this rare Kodak Brownie camera that belonged to Bernice Palmer.
Bernice, a 17-year-old Canadian girl aboard the Carpathia, the ship that rescued Titanic’s
survivors, snapped a photo of what is believed to be the iceberg that sank the Titanic.
She also took pictures of the Titanic survivors aboard the Carpathia and described the moment
they were lifted onto the ship stating: “Their faces looked frozen and terrified.”
She also noted that many of the women were wearing the over-sized coats of the men who
died on the Titanic.
An unnamed newsman saw Bernice taking the photos and offered her a measly 10 dollars
for the rights to the photos she had taken.
This is the contract that Bernice hastily signed, not realizing the exceptional value
of her photos.
Bernice later donated her camera and photographs to the Smithsonian in 1986.
And at number 5, this is the lifejacket worn by Madeleine Astor, who was John Jacob Astor
IV’s wife.
Madeleine was 18 years old and five months pregnant when the Titanic sank, and John was
47.
Because Madeleine was a first-class passenger and wife to the richest man on the Titanic,
she of course would have had preferential treatment.
However, she boarded one of the last lifeboats that left the Titanic.
Once the Carpathia recovered her lifeboat, Madeleine’s lifejacket was removed and placed
in the office of Gottlieb Rencher, who was the senior attendant-in-charge to the Carpathia’s
surgeon.
Rencher kept the lifejacket and displayed it in his office in New York for many years.
Madeleine gave birth to a healthy baby boy on August 14, 1912 and named him John Jacob
Astor VI.
Next over at number 4 we have Wallace Hartley’s violin.
Wallace, a 33-year-old Englishman, was the violinist and bandleader of the Titanic band.
His violin, made from ROSE wood, was a gift to Wallace in 1910 from his fiancée, Maria
Robinson and is engraved with the following: “For Wallace on the occasion of our engagement
from Maria.”
As the Titanic was sinking, lighthearted tunes arose from this violin as well as the other
instruments in the Titanic’s band.
Wallace’s body was recovered 10 days after the sinking, and his violin was in a leather
case strapped around him.
The violin was quite possibly stolen by one of the men recovering bodies and remained
hidden from the public until 2006, when it was discovered in an attic in England.
Forensic scientists conducted a thorough analysis of the violin and confirmed that it was in
fact the very same violin that Wallace Hartley played.
The violin sold at auction for $1.7 million in 2013.
And at number 3, this is the last known letter written by a Titanic passenger.
It was penned by New York businessman Alexander Oskar Holverson on April 13, 1912, only one
day before the Titanic struck the iceberg.
Holverson had written the letter to his mother to tell her about his experiences on the ship.
He describes the music, food, and fellow passenger John Jacob Astor IV, who was the richest man
in the world at that time.
“He looks like any other human being even tho he has millions of money.
They sit out on deck with the rest of us.”
The letter ends with this foreboding sentence: “If all goes well, we will arrive in New
York Wednesday A.M.”
Unfortunately, Holverson was not among the survivors, and this letter was later recovered
along with his body.
Now coming down to number 2, we have the iconic bronze Cherub from one of the upper levels
of the Titanic’s grand staircase.
Now this grand staircase was a truly stunning sight.
Topped with an iron and glass dome, it elegantly cascaded down six of Titanic’s decks and
was graced with inlaid wood and gilded ornaments like this bronze cherub.
And the grand staircase was more than just a set of stairs for passengers to ascend and
descend to upper and lower decks.
It also served as a gathering place for first-class passengers to attend exclusive after dinner
meet ups and to hobnob with other upper-class passengers before visiting the Turkish baths.
It is believed that the cherub lost its left foot when the salvage crew ripped it from
its post in the 1987 RMS Titanic, Incorporated expedition.
And finally, at number 1.
This is the final first-class lunch menu from the Titanic.
Notice the date: April 14, 1912, the same day the Titanic hit the iceberg.
Abraham Lincoln Salomon, an American first-class passenger, took the menu with him when he
boarded Lifeboat number 1.
As you can see, the menu includes quite the array of appetizers and entrees, many of which
I won’t even try to pronounce.
If you had been on the Titanic and were eating your final meal, what would you want it to
be?
Dive down to the comment section and share your final meal aboard the Titanic.
Now I know you are hungry for more fascinating stories of real people on the Titanic, and
that video on the screen right now is your ticket.
You will meet people like Ann who wouldn’t leave the Titanic without her dog.
Go ahead and click that video so we can dive into those amazing Titanic stories together,
and I will see you there in the next video!