Tag Archives: Titanic survivors

Titanic

Titanic Survivor Family Objects To Billionaire Diving to Titanic

Colorised photo of Ned Parfett, best known as the “Titanic paperboy”, holding a large newspaper about the sinking, standing outside the White Star Line offices at Oceanic House on Cockspur Street near Trafalgar Square in London SW1, April 16, 1912.
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

As noted on 30 May, an Ohio billionaire named Larry Connor wants to dive to Titanic to show that submersibles are safe. This has prompted Shelley Binder, the descendant of Titanic survivors Leah and Phillip Aks to come forward an object to his plan. According to the interview, she believes the resting place of those who died should remain undisturbed.

“Fundamentally, I think one could say these people have more dollars than sense,” Binder told the outlet. “And the idea of tourism to a wreck where 1,496 people lost their lives in a truly horrific disaster of epic proportions is offensive. What happened aboard that ship was extremely traumatic and harrowing for my great-grandmother and great-uncle. This was a devastating and landmark moment in their lives, and it had long-lasting repercussions for my entire family.”

While diving to the wreck to retrieve artifacts requires court approval, merely diving down to see the wreck is legal. When the idea of Titanic dive tourism began, RMS Titanic Inc. sought to stop people from diving claiming it had sole access to the wreck. However a federal appeals court ultimately ruled against them agreeing with the argument that merely viewing cannot violate their salvage claim. After all, one may have exclusive photos of the Empire State Building in New York but you cannot stop people from going to it and taking their own pictures.

Whether or not Larry Connor will go through with it is another story.  However it is more likely to occur than a certain Australian mogul’s desire to build a modern day Titanic. Despite lots of fanfare, it remains unbuilt to this day.

Source:
Pollina, Richard. “Titanic Survivor’s Family Rips ‘offensive’ Ohio Billionaire Larry Connor for Planning to Take Sub to Site After OceanGate Tragedy.” New York Post, 5 June 2024, nypost.com/2024/06/05/us-news/titanic-survivors-family-rips-offensive-ohio-billionaire-larry-connor-for-planning-to-take-sub-to-site-after-oceangate-tragedy.

Suggested Reading

Behe, George. Fate Deals a Hand: The Slippery Fortunes of Titanic’s Professional Gamblers. History Press, 2023.

Fitch, Tad, et al. On a Sea of Glass: The Life and Loss of the RMS Titanic. 2015.

Lynch, Donald. Titanic: An Illustrated History. Hyperion, 1995.

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History, Titanic

Carpathia Arrives In New York (18 April 1912)

Titanic survivors aboard Carpathia.
U.S. Library of Congress, digital id: cph 3b04287
Public Domain

Since the sinking of the Titanic, lingering questions as to who survived and who died were the subject of much speculation. Captain Arthur Rostron of the Carpathia had kept a media blackout refusing to answer any messages. J. Bruce Ismay was sequestered in a cabin and stayed there for the entire voyage back to New York. He sent a message to the New York office of the White Star Line informing of the sinking. Except for survivors sending their own messages out, no one really knew who had lived or died when Carpathia finally arrived on a rainy Thursday evening on 18 April 1912.

News reporters had gathered in boats with megaphones yelling to people aboard they would pay for their survivor accounts. One enterprising reporter did manage to get aboard and get some quick interviews. He tossed the notes inside a cigar box lined with champagne corks to a Hearst editor in a tugboat. It would be rushed back to the New York World for a special evening edition. Meanwhile in the pier sheds there were some 1,000 people-mainly friends and relatives-gathered there. J.P. Morgan Jr. was there along with members of the Widener and Thayer families who had been on the special trains that had been heading north to Halifax to greet the survivors there. There was some crying heard. As Carpathia slowly made her way down the battery, it was estimated close to 10,000 people were watching, mostly in silence, as she passed. Some numbers are higher at 40,000.

Crowd Awaiting Survivors of Titanic, 18 April 1912
U.S. Library of Congress,Bain Collection, Control #ggb2004010347
Public Domain

Carpathia would make a slight detour to the White Star dock to drop off her lifeboats. It was a stunning moment when you realize that those lifeboats, along with the flotsam and jetsam, were all that remained of the once proud RMS Titanic. Although arriving in New York at 8:30 pm, the delay to unload the lifeboats along with the rain and darkness meant Carpathia did not dock at Pier 54 until after 9 pm. The gangway went down at 9:25 pm. There were a large detachment of doctors, nurses, nuns, and priests ready to board along with stretchers. According to one report, three women did not want to wait for the gangway to come down and climbed down ladders from the ship. The Salvation Army was also there to render assistance as well.

Many men removed their hats in respect when the gangway went down. Many survivors had little clothing, just what they had on when they left Titanic, and wore a hodge-podge of whatever they could get on Carpathia. Two women were apparently hysterical (one report said violent and deranged). Those who had relatives waiting were greeted by them. Relief for those who had no one was done by the Women’s Relief Committee, the Travelers Aid Society of New York, the Council of Jewish women and many more. Transportation was provided to shelters provided by these groups. Those who had relatives in New York quickly left while those who had relatives within the U.S. stayed for a few days to arrange transportation. The Pennsylvania Railroad provided a special free train to take survivors to Philadelphia. The surviving crew members would be taken to the Red Star Line steamer SS Lapland and housed there temporarily in passenger cabins.

Meanwhile other interesting parties boarded the Carpathia that night. They were U.S. Senators William Alden Smith, Francis G. Newlands, and others armed with subpoenas to serve on J. Bruce Ismay, as well as the surviving officers and crew of Titanic. An inquiry was about to begin, and they wanted to make sure they would be all be there for it the following day at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.

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

History, Titanic

Carpathia Arrives In New York (18 April 1912)

Crowd Awaiting Survivors of Titanic, 18 April 1912
U.S. Library of Congress,Bain Collection, Control #ggb2004010347
Public Domain

It had been a long three days since Titanic sank when Carpathia arrived bearing Titanic’s survivors. What had been first optimistic news turned grim after the miscommunication had been sorted out. Titanic had sunk and 1500 had perished out in the cold North Atlantic. News as to who exactly had survived was not fully known as Carpathia had kept a media blackout during its journey to New York. There was a reporter on board but had to keep his notes secret in a cigar box lined with champagne corks. He would toss it towards a Hearst editor in a tugboat in New York harbor where it would be raced for a special evening edition of New York World. 50 tugboats full of reporters yelled at the ship through megaphones offering money for eyewitness accounts. Carpathia first stopped at Pier 59, the White Star Line pier and offloaded Titanic‘s lifeboats. They were all that were left of the ship aside from the flotsam and jetsam that would be found later in the Atlantic. Then Carpathia proceeded to Pier 54 and the Titanic survivors disembarked. It was only then it was truly known who did survive and who did not.

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

Britannica.com
Cobh Heritage Center
Encyclopedia Titanica
History.com

,,,

Titanic

Daily Mail: New Book On Titanic Focuses on Survivor Accounts

Collapsible lifeboat D photographed by passenger on Carpathia on the morning of 15 April 1912.
Public Domain(Wikipedia)

The Daily Mail has an article about a new book by author James Bancroft. This new book, titled ‘Iceberg Ahead,’ contains various survivor accounts to make the tragedy more personal. Some of the accounts are related in the news story. I think what makes this interesting is that it tries to get a good cross section of survivors who each have an interesting story to tell.

Source:

Tales of terror from the Titanic: From picture framer awoken by ship hitting iceberg to perfume salesmen hearing ‘pitiful cries’ as his lifeboat sailed away… the horrific 1912 tragedy from the eyes of 10 survivors (Daily Mail, 4 Mar 2021)


Titanic

Titanic News: Black Passenger on Titanic,Titanic in Iowa, and Titan submarine

 

Joseph Laroche (seated right), with his family; wife, Juliette (centre), elder daughter, Simonne (left) and younger daughter, Louise (centre, seated).1911
Source:Wikipedia

Titanic’s only black passenger: Noble Maritime Collection hosts virtual seminar on the ‘untold stories’ (silive.com, 25 Feb 2021

The wreck killed more than 1,500 people, and the last survivor who was aboard the Titanic passed away in 2009. While there were many victims taken by the Titanic sinking, history has unveiled that there was just one black passenger aboard the ship. That man was Joseph Laroche. The Noble Maritime Collection, located on the grounds of Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden in Livingston, will virtually present the story of Laroche through a lecture titled “Untold Stories of the Titanic: The Only Black Passenger,” by Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson Saturday, March 6.

The history of the Titanic connected to southeast Iowa (KTVO, 25 Feb 2021)

Research has found that Iowa has ties to the most famous shipwreck in history. Some of the people who were on the Titanic on that fatal day had connections with Iowa. Many of the passengers were immigrants who were coming to the Midwest for opportunity. Some passengers were directly tied to farming while others were looking for job opportunities.Although Iowa story teller Darcy Maulsby knew of a few Iowa families who were on the Titanic, she was surprised to discover that there were even more involved.

Triton’s Titanic Explorer will reach new depths for luxury bubble-subs (newatlas.com, 24 Feb 2021)

The Triton 13000/2 Titanic Explorer will be the deepest diving acrylic bubble sub ever built, by a long way. It’ll be capable of diving to 4,000 m (13,123 ft), making it the only transparent sphere that can take you and a buddy down to the wreck of the Titanic, some 3,800 m (12,500 ft) under the surface. Triton’s dropped in on Jack and Rose’s love nest once before, mind you, back in 2019. But to do so, it needed to use its monstrous 36000/2 sub, which has a titanium sphere hull capable of taking two people to the bottom of the Marianas trench. Indeed, it was the first manned mission to the Titanic wreck in some 14 years, so rather a special achievement.