Tag Archives: recovery of Titanic victims

White Star Line Hires Ships To Retrieve Bodies (16-17 April 1912)

Titanic lost: Belfast Telegraph front page on 16 April 1912
Source: Belfast Telegraph

As the world awaits news of who survived Titanic, the White Star Line decides to hire ships to go out and retrieve bodies. Reports of bodies floating in the Atlantic had been reported and White Star wanted to retrieve them as quickly as possible for a number of practical reasons. Ocean currents would eventually move them out of the area, so getting them retrieved as soon as possible would allow families to lay them to rest. Another reason for speed was that sea creatures and birds would start consuming the bodies making identification difficult as well. The cable ship Mackay Bennett was the first ship hired by White Star. Three other ships would be hired as well: Minia (a cable ship), Montmagny (lighthouse supply ship), and the sealing vessel Algerine.

CS Mackay Bennett (circa 1884)
Artist Unknown
Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons

Each ship would carry the necessary supplies to retrieve and embalm the bodies. The Mackay Bennett emptied itself of its normal stores in Halifax, Nova Scotia and brought aboard supplies for its new mission:

  • Embalming supplies and coffins (100)
  • Chief embalmer of John Snow & Co., John R. Snow Jr.
  • 100 tons of ice to store the bodies
  • Canon Kenneth Hind of All Saints Cathedral, Halifax

Mackay Bennett left Halifax at 12:28 pm on 17 April 1912. Due to heavy fog and rough seas, it would take four days to reach where Titanic sank. They began recovery at 0600 on 20 April. Bodies were manually recovered by skiffs and brought back to the ship. They recovered 51 bodies but realized they did not have enough embalming supplies on hand. Since the laws at the time required bodies to be embalmed before unloading from ships docking in a Canadian port, they followed a general procedure:

  • First class passengers were embalmed and placed in coffins.
  • Second class passengers embalmed but wrapped in canvas.
  • Third class, crew, and bodies that were too decomposed or disfigured were buried at sea.
  • Bodies that were brought back were either transported by relatives to their final resting place or interred in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Back in Halifax John Henry Barnstead, the Registrar of Vital Statistics, developed a system of identifying the bodies and protect personal possessions of the deceased. Since Halifax had direct rail and steamship connections, this made it easier for families of victims to travel to Halifax and identify the bodies. A large temporary morgue was set up using a local curling rink and undertakers from all over the area were asked to assist. Many families did decide to transport the bodies back to their hometowns in the United States or in Europe. Unclaimed or unidentified bodies would be interred in Halifax. 150 bodies would eventually be interred in Halifax cemeteries. The largest number are in the Fairview Lawn Cemetery followed by the nearby Mount Olivet and Baron de Hirsch cemeteries.

Titanic Grave markers at Fairview Cemetery Halifax N.S
William B. Grice (Wikimedia)

Bodies were still being reported in May. The Oceanic found three bodies in Titanic’s Collapsible A over two hundred miles from the sinking. When Carpathia had arrived, Fifth Officer Harold Lowe and other crewmembers removed the survivors but left three dead bodies aboard. Oceanic retrieved their bodies and then buried them at sea. On 22 May the Algerine found the body of steward James McGrady. His body was brought back to Halifax and buried in June at the Fairview Lawn Cemetery.

In the end only 333 bodies were recovered, a small number compared to the over 1,500 victims. Currents quickly moved bodies hundreds of miles making their recovery difficult. Life jackets will eventually disintegrate allowing bodies to sink or drift further away. Most who lost family, friends, and relatives had no body to bury since it was never recovered.

Sources

Books

Behe, George TITANIC: SAFETY, SPEED AND SACRIFICE, Transportation Trails, Polo, IL 1997

Eaton John P. & Haas Charles, TITANIC TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY, SECOND EDITION, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, New York, 1995 First American Edition

Lord, Walter, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1955. Multiple revisions and reprints, notably Illustrated editions (1976,1977,1978 etc)

Lord, Walter, THE NIGHT LIVES ON, Willian Morrow and Company, New York, New York, 1986 (First Edition)

Lynch, Don & Marshall Ken, TITANIC AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, Madison Press Books, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 1992

Internet

 Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/search?query=Titanic.

“Encyclopedia Titanica.” www.encyclopedia-titanica.org.

“The Titanic: Sinking and Facts | HISTORY.” HISTORY, 12 Mar. 2024, www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/titanic.

 

Titanic News: Rare Memento of Titanic’s Launch Auctioned Off;Titanic Band Leader Not Allowed A Holiday, and Titanic Nazi Propaganda

Sorry folks not posting for a while. I have been quite busy on several projects. So lets get down to it.

RMS Titanic ready for launch(1911) Public Domain (U.S. Library of Congress, digital id#cph.3a27541)
RMS Titanic ready for launch(1911)
Public Domain (U.S. Library of Congress, digital id#cph.3a27541)

1. Harland & Wolff never christened the ships they built but they did offer selected VIP’s the opportunity to watch the launch. Which is how Charlotte Irwin, a secretary for Harland & Wolff, got one to see Titanic’s launch. It was recently auctioned off by Henry Aldridge and Son (who ought to trademark the title “official auctioneer for Titanic memorabilia” considering how much they have auctioned off over the years)for £15,000 ($21,860). That figure exceeded the estimate of between £6,000-£10,000. A sextant owned by RMS Carpathia captain Arthur Rostron also was also auctioned off fetching £66,000 ($96,200).
Sources
NI Secretary’s Souvenir Of Titanic Launch Day Sells For £15k At Auction(26 April 2016,Belfast Telegraph)
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/ni-secretarys-souvenir-of-titanic-launch-day-sells-for-15k-at-auction-34655751.html
Sextant Used In Titanic Rescue Sells For £66,000 At Auction(24 April 2016,BBC News)
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-36062539

2. A new book by Robert P Thompson delves into the Nazi propaganda Titanic movie. The movie was an attempt to take the story and show how a corrupt and decadent British government allowed the tragedy too happen. It was of course meant to show the superiority of the Nazi ideology over that of the British. The movie cost was extravagant and the resources it tied up caused problems as well. Add to it a director who insulted a war hero, arrested, and then was hung in his prison cell. The movie was a disaster and not shown in Germany during the war (although it was shown in occupied countries).

Thompson, Robert P. The Nazi Titanic: The Incredible Untold Story of a Doomed Ship in World War II. Boston,MA:De Capo Press,2016

Memorial to Wallace Hartley, Colne Photo:Tim Greene (Flickr)
Memorial to Wallace Hartley, Colne
Photo:Tim Greene (Flickr)

3. Wallace Hartley and all the musicians aboard Titanic were not employees of White Star Line. Although they were required to submit to Captain Smith’s authority,the worked for CW & FN, a music agency. According to a recently unearthed letter, Hartley complained that he and his fellow musicians were not given time off between voyages. After disembarking the Mauretania on 8 April 1912, the agency ordered that he and his fellow musicians would go to Titanic. Hartley notes in the letter to his parents that the agency had “rather vindictive spirit.” The letter is set to be auctioned off for £25,000.
Source:Titanic Band Leader Kept On Ship By ‘Vindictive’ Bosses(22 April 2016,Herald.ie)
(Note: Due to National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI) policy to license hyperlinks outside of personal use, no hyperlink is provided.)

4. Recovery of Titanic victims was a grim affair by all accounts. Bodies were found were found weeks and even several months after the sinking. One such event was on 13 May 1912 when the RMS Oceanic found a collapsible boat containing three bodies. It was later identified as Collapsible Boat A, which was washed over the side as Titanic sank. 30 people climbed aboard though many passed away from the cold before being transferred to another lifeboat. Two of the bodies appeared to be fireman from the engine room. The third body was well dressed in a dinner jacket and identified as first class passenger Thomson Beattie. All three bodies were buried at sea and Beattie’s family was notified. At the family plot in Fergus, Ontario his name is engraved on a tombstone.
Source(s)
1. Gruesome Truth Behind The Tragic Victims Found On Titanic’s Last Lifeboat(19 April 2016,Daily Mirror)
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/gruesome-truth-behind-tragic-victims-7788475
2. Thomson Beattie Encyclopedia Titanica
http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/thomson-beattie.html