In the early hours of April 15th, 1912, after colliding with an iceberg in the North Atlantic,
the famous British passenger liner RMS Titanic sank to the ocean depths, leaving just 706
survivors.
What ever became of them after this tragedy?
Well, some of them went on to live long and incredible lives!
“The Unsinkable Molly Brown” is one of the most popular and liked characters in the
1964 movie, and earlier Broadway musical, based on the great ship’s unlucky maiden
voyage.
But this woman wasn’t just thought up by some Hollywood screenwriter, she was a real
passenger!
Margaret Brown was known even before the Titanic for being one of the first women in the US
to run for office eight (!) years before women could even vote.
She was in Europe when she found out that her grandson was sick.
So, she headed to New York immediately.
Because this decision was so last-minute, very few people knew that she was on board
the Titanic.
Once the ship struck the iceberg, Mrs. Brown selflessly helped other passengers into the
lifeboats until she was eventually talked into getting into one herself.
After being rescued by the RMS Carpathia, she organized a committee with other first-class
survivors and Carpathia passengers.
The committee would raise money and provide counseling for the more destitute people that
lived through the tragedy.
Upon arriving in New York, she wouldn’t leave the rescue ship until she made sure
that every survivor received medical attention and found their families.
Mrs. Brown was given a medal for her goodwill in helping the Titanic’s survivors.
She was also later awarded the French Legion of Honor for her charitable work rebuilding
France and helping soldiers.
A truly extraordinary woman!
Speaking of incredible women, throughout her career working at sea, Miss Violet Constance
Jessop survived not one but three shipwrecks, the Titanic included.
She started out as a stewardess on board the Olympic, which crashed in 1911.
Just 7 months later she survived the Titanic and then went on to serve as a nurse for the
British Red Cross on the HMHS Britannic.
This ship sank from an explosion, but Violet yet again came out of it and kept on working
at sea!
This adventurous spirit finally settled down in Great Ashfield, England.
Just like Margaret Brown, Violet was often jokingly called “Miss Unsinkable.”
There’s definitely truth to that!
The actress Dorothy Gibson, most famous for her role in the 1912 movie “Saved from the
Titanic,” was actually one of the survivors of the catastrophe.
She and her mother were coming back to the US on board the Titanic after vacationing
in Europe.
The two had been playing bridge with some friends when the ship struck the iceberg.
They escaped together in the half-empty Lifeboat #7, but nearly sank again when one of the
other survivors noticed a hole in the boat!
Luckily, they were able to plug it up with some clothes.
Not long after Gibson arrived in New York aboard the Carpathia, her agent convinced
her to star in a movie about the Titanic’s sinking.
She wrote the script herself and wore the same clothes in the movie that she did on
the night of the disaster!
The film came out just a month after the tragedy.
Dorothy later gave up her acting career to work in the Metropolitan Opera.
She spent her last years in Paris.
What a life!
One of the most heartbreaking outcomes of the Titanic’s sinking was that it tore families
apart.
The Navratil brothers, Master Michel Marcel and Master Edmond Roger were just toddlers
when they boarded the Titanic with their father.
As the Titanic was sinking, he put his boys in the last lifeboat with the final words,
“My children, when your mother comes for you, as she surely will, tell her that I loved
her dearly and still do.
Tell her I expected her to follow us so that we might all live happily together in the
peace and freedom of the New World.”
Unfortunately, little Michel and Edmond didn't speak English at all, so it took quite some
time to find their relatives.
Their mother eventually saw them in the newspaper, and the family reunited a month after the
sinking.
The brothers grew up to have completely different lives.
Michel married his college sweetheart, became a professor of philosophy, and spent the rest
of his life in Montpellier.
Edmond also got married and worked as an architect and builder.
Eva Miriam Hart was only 7 years old when she boarded the Titanic with her parents.
According to Eva, her mother couldn't sleep at all the whole time she was on board because
she’d had a really bad premonition about the trip.
While the Titanic was sinking, Eva's father ran to their cabin, wrapped Eva in a blanket,
and placed his wife and daughter in Lifeboat #14.
The last thing he told Eva was, “Hold mummy's hand and be a good girl.”
Eva went on to do many things throughout her life.
She was a singer in Australia and a very outspoken activist when it came to the whole Titanic
ordeal.
She even wrote an autobiography called “Shadow of the Titanic – A Survivor's Story.”
One person Eva Hart probably had a bone to pick with was Joseph Bruce Ismay.
Well, she and plenty of others!
Ismay was Chairman of White Star Line, the company that operated the Titanic.
He was on the ship that night, survived the sinking, and was rescued in Collapsible Lifeboat
C. Upon arriving in the U.S., he got a ton of heat for leaving the Titanic while there
were still women and children on board.
After the Titanic, he tried to live a quiet life out of the spotlight . He continued dealing
in maritime affairs, although not so much with passenger liners and more with the British
Merchant Navy.
Professional tennis player Richard Norris Williams was on board the Titanic with his
father.
Given that the lifeboats, as many know, were reserved for women and children, these two
guys were left to fend for themselves on a sinking ship.
They did pretty well at first.
But once the ship had sunk deep enough to leave the remaining passengers floating in
the water, a huge smokestack suddenly collapsed and crashed down on the surface of the water!
Perhaps it was purely coincidental or maybe something more, but the resulting wave washed
Richard towards Collapsible Lifeboat A, so he climbed in.
Unfortunately, that lifeboat was full of freezing water that passengers had to stand in up to
their knees.
These survivors were later transferred to Lifeboat #14, but the damage of the cold water
had already been done.
Williams got frostbite on his legs, and once on board the Carpathia, the doctors recommended
amputating both his lower limbs.
But the tennis star would have none of it, so he exercised every day and his legs slowly
recovered.
He even continued his tennis career, became an Olympic gold medalist, and served in the
army.
He later became a successful investment banker and President of the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania.
So, now it’s your turn…
No, not to sink with the Titanic!
I mean which story moved you the most?
Let me know down below!
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