The fate of the 9 surviving passengers of the Titanic

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

More than a hundred years have passed since the sinking of the legendary ship "Titanic", and the story of this tragic event still does not subside, causing a flurry of emotions and indignation. More than two thousand people on board the liner soon faced the inevitable. The tragedy that happened on the night of April 14, 1912 claimed hundreds of lives. And those who managed to survive, to this day remember what happened with horror …

1. Elizabeth Shoots

Elizabeth Shoots worked as a governess aboard the Titanic, and at the time she was forty years old. She was among the very passengers who were ordered to leave their cabins as quickly as possible and go on deck after the ship collided with an iceberg. She later described the chaotic scene on the lifeboat, shortly before they were picked up by the passenger steamer Carpathia:

“It is difficult to describe in words what happened on the lifeboat. The people who found themselves in it were not united. Panic, vanity and fear knocked out the remnants of common sense, forcing them to act at random. The men tried their best to row, but the water was so cold that their hands simply refused and they dropped the oars. There was noise and din all around, the screams of drowning people who were overboard were heard. The situation was like a bad dream, which is about to end if you open your eyes. But, unfortunately, the nightmare was in reality. All I could think of at that moment was unnecessary luxury on board the Titanic, which was prioritized over lifeboats and other safety features."

2. Laura Francatelli

Laura Mabel Francatelli, a thirty-year-old maid from London who accompanied Lady Duff-Gordon and her husband, later reflected on the dramatic arrival of the Carpathia: between icebergs. Finally, at about half past six in the morning, we managed to reach the steamer, whose crew helped us to evacuate and board. I will never forget the moment when, trying with all my might to stay on the rope swinging in the air, tirelessly, as if deliriously whispered, "Am I really saved and safe …?" No relief came even when a strong hand pulled me aboard."

3. Charlotte Collier

The passengers, who were lucky enough to be picked up by the crew of the steamer Carpathia, arrived in New York a few days later and began a frantic search for their loved ones, desperately hoping that they too were saved. Charlotte Collier, a thirty-one-year-old second-class passenger, later described not only her panicky search for her husband, but also what happened aboard the Titanic that ill-fated night.

A week later, being safe in New York with her little daughter, Charlotte was still trying to find her husband, and after that, she had no choice but to report the tragic news to her mother-in-law: “My dear mother, I don’t know how to write to you and what to tell. Sometimes it seems to me that I will go crazy, but, dear, no matter how my heart hurts, it hurts for you too, because he is your son and the best of all who ever lived …"

Two years later, Charlotte died of tuberculosis.

4. Lawrence Beasley

Lawrence Beasley, a young widower and professor of natural sciences in London, left his young son at home to board the Titanic, hoping to visit his brother in Toronto.

Just nine weeks after the tragedy, Beasley published his famous memoir, The Death of the Titanic. The book contained strict guidelines on how to avoid further tragedies.

From that day on, he had good reason to be skeptical about some superstitions:

5. Bruce Ismay

White Star Chairman Bruce Ismay boarded a lifeboat, thereby ensuring himself complete safety, for which he was severely criticized by the public, an angry crowd and no less "venomous" press, putting hundreds of accusations against the English businessman. Reproaches, curses and accusations rained down on Bruce from all sides. He was instructed that he, allegedly adhering to the rule "women and children first," he himself violated it in an attempt to save his own skin, leaving hundreds of helpless women and children on board the sinking ship. But he denied this in every possible way, trying to convince the media that at that time there were no women or children nearby.

After the tragic incident, Ismay retired and began to lead a more reclusive lifestyle, moving with his wife to a house on the outskirts of Ireland. Soon he was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, due to which part of his leg was amputated. After that, he returned to England, settling on the peninsula. He died at the age of seventy-four due to thrombosis.

6. Eva Hart

Eve Hart was seven years old at the time of the Titanic disaster. As a second class passenger with her parents, Eva lost her father in this tragedy. Despite this, she continued to live a vibrant life, calmly speaking about what had happened: “The people I met were always amazed that I would not hesitate to travel by train, car, plane or ship when necessary. One gets the impression that people around me think that I will shake my whole life because of the tragedy that happened to the Titanic, and that travel will become a taboo for me. But if I really behaved like this, I would have died of my own fear long ago. Life must be lived regardless of the possible dangers and tragedies that lie around the corner."

7. Molly Brown

An American socialite whose husband got rich from mining, Molly Brown was known for her flamboyant hats and charming personality. Enjoying her wealth, she devoted her entire life to it, championing the rights of women and children and the importance of education.

Although the closest people knew her as Maggie, after her death the world will know her as "unsinkable Molly Brown" for her bravery during the Titanic disaster. According to various stories, Brown helped load survivors into lifeboats during the evacuation, and later helped navigate her own (lifeboat # 6). Also, it is said that Molly's boat returned several times in order to pick up the surviving people. But how true this information is - no one knows.

8. Cosmo and Lucy Duff-Gordon

Like Ismay, the British high society couple Sir Cosmo and Lucy Lady Duff-Gordon became famous for surviving the Titanic. A first class married couple was one of the first to board the # 1 lifeboat. Lady Duff-Gordon, who was a renowned British fashion designer, described her memories of the experience:

Cosmo was attacked by the American press for not adhering to a "women and children first" policy, but a wealthy landowner argued that women and children were not visible when the boat was launched. He was also slandered for giving money to the crew of his lifeboat. Some reports claimed that he was trying to bribe them so that they would not rescue people from the water for fear they would overturn the boat (there were only twelve people on their boat when it was forty).

9. Millwina Dean

At two months old, Millwina Dean was the youngest survivor. Her older brother and parents boarded the doomed ship as third-class passengers. The British family planned to emigrate to Wichita, Kansas, where Dean's father was going to become a co-owner of a tobacco shop with his relatives.

However, when the iceberg collided with the Titanic, their plans for life changed. Although Dean, her mother, and her brother were among the first third-class passengers to board the lifeboats, Millwin's father died and his body was never found.

Instead of following the original plan, Millwyn's frightened mother returned to England with her two young children, and Dean became the subject of press attention for a while.

Later in her life, Dean actively participated in perpetuating the memory of the victims of the Titanic disaster. She died in 2009 at the age of ninety-seven, becoming the last survivor of one of the world's most tragic and famous commercial maritime disasters.

Read also about how the tugboat chef managed to survive the shipwreckafter spending three days on the seabed.