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Titanic Facts “A medical officer greeted the third-class passengers. He wanted to be sure that none of the immigrants had any health problems that would prevent them from entering the United States .” “There were only two bathtubs for the more than 700 third-class passengers aboard the Ship.” “Sixty chefs and chefs' assistants worked in Titanic's five kitchens. They ranged from soup cooks and roast cooks to pastry cooks and vegetable cooks. There was a kosher cook, too, to prepare the meals for the Jewish passengers.” “Some experts predict that if the Ship's bow had crashed straight into the iceberg, Titanic and most of its passengers would have survived.” “At first most of the passengers did not believe Titanic was really sinking, hence the low number of 19 aboard the first lifeboat, even though it could carry 65.” “Even if all 20 lifeboats had been filled to capacity, there would only have been room in them for 1,178 people. Titanic held about 2,200 passengers and crew” “Although several passengers and crew members on the lifeboats wanted to return to the Ship, the majority protested out of fear that the hundreds in the water would swamp the boats.” “Initial headlines of the Titanic disaster claimed all passengers survived and the Ship was being towed to land.” “Edward John Smith left his home in Henley, England , journeyed to Liverpool , and went to sea at the age of 13. He joined the White Star Line as a Fourth Officer at the age of 35 and, seven years later, he was given command of his own ship. At the age of 62, Smith was the Captain of the Titanic. He had the reputation of being the best in the business and was a favorite of first class passengers.” “Annie Martin, first class stewardess, was born in Guernsey and lived in Portsmouth. She was 33 years old in 1912, and had served on a number of other ships, including the Adriatic, Cedric and Olympic, from which she was transferred to the Titanic. When first informed of the collision, she and her bunkmate were convinced it was a practical joke and remained in bed until personally roused by Thomas Andrews, the ship's designer. After the sinking, she returned to England on the Lapland and gave several interviews, subsequent to which her trail has been lost.” “Miss Violet Constance Jessop was born in Argentina in 1887, the first child of Irish emigrants William and Katherine Jessop. After a difficult childhood riddled with illness (tuberculosis) and death (her father and several siblings), Miss Jessop, her mother and four remaining brothers and sisters moved to England where she cared for her siblings and went to convent school while her mother began work as a stewardess. When her mother's health declined in 1908, Miss Jessop gave up school to become a stewardess herself, first with the Royal Mail Line, and then with the White Star Line. At age 24 (one of the younger members of the victualling department) and single, Miss Jessop boarded the Titanic in Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912, to fulfill her duties as a first class stewardess.” “First-class bedroom steward William McMurray is a husband and father of three from Liverpool who died rescuing passengers from the ill-fated Titanic two days before his anniversary, when his wife got word of his fate. McMurray had previously been awarded a medal of gallantry in helping rescue 1,700 souls from the sinking ship Republic in 1909, and a letter from one of his daughters (that never reached him before Titanic set sail) can be seen at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool ” “Titanic's chief purser, was so popular with some first class passengers that they would only travel on liners on which he was purser. He was Captain Smith's closest friend. The chief purser oversaw all the crew that serviced the passengers” “Not much is known of verandah steward Athol Broome. Most of the information available about his life can be found in the employment records of the White Star Line. According to these, he was married, signed on to the Titanic on April 4, 1912, and was born in the "third quarter of 1881," making him 30 during the Ship's maiden voyage. These records also show that before joining the Titanic's crew, he worked aboard the Oceanic, a ship that suffered its own troubles. In the space of ten years, she hit another ship and sank it; was struck by lightning, sending her wireless mast crashing calamitously to the deck; and was the only White Star ship to undergo a mutiny. Two years after Titanic's sinking, the Oceanic ran aground and had to be scrapped.” “Evelyn Marsden, 28 years old and engaged to be married, served on the Titanic as a First Class Stewardess and Nurse to the First Class passengers. Born and raised in Stockyard Creek, a small town 80km north of Adelaide, Australia , Miss Marsden spent family vacations of her youth with friends in Murray Bridge. There she learned to row a boat against the tide and Murray River currents. Evelyn was rescued from lifeboat #16, which she helped row due to being launched with an inadequate number of men to properly maneuver the boat. Miss Marsden retired from the sea after the Titanic sinking, and returned to the family in Murray Bridge to thank them for teaching her in her youth how to handle a boat. Thereafter she ultimately settled with her husband, Dr. William Abel James, in Bondi, Australia, where she died at the age of 55.” “Born in London, third class steward John Hart was a three year veteran of the Boer War in the Transvaal region of South Africa. Some years after his return, Hart eventually found employment on the City of New York, a steamer owned by White Star Line rivals Cunard, Guion and Inman Lines. After becoming employed aboard the Titanic, it wouldn't be long before Hart would see the New York again, courtesy of a near-miss while leaving port in Southampton. Hart survived the sinking of the Titanic and was involved in the rescue of 58 third class passengers.” “Harold Bride was born near London in 1890. As a child, Harold exhibited a fascination with technology, and with telegraphy in particular. As a boy, he built his own amateur radio antenna in his family's garden and began saving up money working in the family business so he could go to school for telegraphy. By the time he was hired to be Titanic's junior wireless operator at age 22, he had already served on many ships, including the Lusitania. He survived the Titanic disaster and went on to serve aboard other ships during World War I, until he moved to Scotland with his family and became a salesman. He died there in 1956, at age 66.” “Mr. Ernest Frederick Allen, 24, was born in London on March 10, 1888. He signed-on to the Titanic on April 6, 1912. He normally worked as a fireman but on the Titanic he was employed as a trimmer. He had previously served on the Olympic.”

“He nearly drowned trying to save his brother Fred Allen, who died in the sinking. Allen survived by standing, along with a number of others, on the overturned bottom of Collapsible Lifeboat B. Initially Ernest Allen was also reported lost. He died in December 1968.”