Miss Unsinkable - a True Story
This is a true story of a woman who survived three sinking ships including the famous in maritime history passenger shipwreck of “ RMS Titanic “ . That is why she is often called “ Miss Unsinkable” and “ Queen of Sinking Ships . “
The heroine of this story is none other but Violet Constance Jessop nicknamed the ‘ Miss Unsinkable . She was a British ocean liner . Violet was born in a rather poor family and the eldest of the six siblings .
Marine Life
RMS Olympic ( RMS = Royal Mail Steamer )
Violet joined as a stewardess on the ship “ RMS Orinoco “ in 1908 . Her mother was also a ship stewardess . When she fell ill and was unable to work then Violet joined the ship .
Violet joined the then famous White Star Liner’s luxury ship “ RMS Olympic . “ That was the largest passenger ship of that time . Violet was on board this ship on 20th September 1911 . That day the misfortune was waiting for “ RMS Olympic “ . It collided with a British Navy ship “ HMS Hawke “ HMS = His / Her Majesty’s Ship ) . Fortunately there were no casualties even though it was damaged the ship managed to sail back to the port . Violet sustained injuries but could recover in time . She continued to be on the “ RMS Olympic “ after her repair . But she was transferred to the ship “ RMS Titanic “ in April 1912 .
RMS Titanic - Most people might have heard about Titanic’s tragedy or seen the movie “ Titanic “ , The most famous shipwreck of all time .
At the age of 24 Violet Constance Jessop joined as stewardess on 10th April 1912 on the then biggest ocean liner “ RMS Titanic “ . Titanic , also owned by the White Star Liner , was on its maiden voyage and supposed to be unsinkable by the builders . It left the port of Southampton , England for New York , the U.S.A. on 10th April 1912 . On Board were some of the then richest persons in the world . Everything was fine till after four days of sailing, she hit a huge iceberg , measuring several square Kms in area , in the north Atlantic ocean . Usually ships don’t expect such icebergs in mid April in the Atlantic. It was the late night of 14th April 1912. After nearly 2 hrs 40 min. of collision the ship was sinking ( 15 th April 1912 at 0220 hrs ). in the meantime life saving arrangements were in full swing. Violet has written in her memoirs that she was ordered to be on deck and help the passengers . There were many nonEnglish speaking passengers and she was asked to pay special attention to them .
Titanic had 16 lifeboat davits , each could carry 3 lifeboats meaning thereby the ship could have 48 lifeboats . But ‘ Titanic ‘ was carrying only 20 lifeboats . Out of which only 16 lifeboats were practically available which could have carried less than half of all the people ( 2224 passengers and crew ) onboard . It is said that the lifeboat system of the Titanic was designed to ferry the passengers to nearby rescue areas and not designed for ferrying all the people simultaneously onboard.
The crew were lowering lifeboats and people were rushing to safety. Violet was ordered to get into the last no.16 lifeboat. Unfortunately nearly 1500 people lost their lives in this accident. The next morning on 15th April , the survivors were rescued by British ship “ RMS Carpathia “ and taken to New York on 18th April 1912 .
Violet Jessop recalls While on “ RMS Carpathia “ , she was carrying a baby in her arms . The baby was crying and a woman , possibly her mother , rushed towards her and grabbed the baby . The woman ran away soon without saying any word to Violet .
But Violet continued to work on ships till she retired in 1950 . After her retirement one morning she received a phone call from a lady “ Do you remember saving a baby on the lifeboat after the “ Titanic “ sank . Violet remembered that there was only one baby on the lifeboat no. 16 . She said “ Yes “ .
The woman said “ I am the baby you saved “ . she laughed and hung up .
HMHS Britannic - ( HMHS = His / Her Majesty’s Hospital Ship )
The above two accidents didn’t deter Violet and she continued to work on ship . After surviving “ RMS Titanic “ she joined “ HMHS Britannic “ as a stewardess . This was a British RedCross ship in World War I . Britannic was a ship rebuilt after an accident to serve as a hospital .
On November 12th 1916 , the Britannic departed from Southampton , England for Lemons , Greece . At around 8.15 in the morning of 21st November 1916 the ship was shaken badly due to an explosion near a Greek Island . It is believed that either she hit a landmine or she was hit by a torpedo . There were 1066 people on board . The ship sank after some time . Fortunately 1036 people survived including Violet .
But Violet was lucky to survive as her lifeboat was hit by the propeller of the sinking ship and was almost shredded . She jumped out of the life boat and sustained serious head injuries . Incidentally two more “ Titanic “ survivors Arthur John Priest and Archie Jewell were also onboard “ Britannica “ and they survived this time also .
The three serious ship accidents didn’t scare her and she worked till 1950 . Violet Jessop retired from maritime work in 1950 and subsequently died in 1971 at the age of 83.
TRIVIA - 1. The most Expensive thing found on the Titanic was a violin . As the Titanic sank the bandmaster on the ship Hartley played the violin . It was found on Hartley's body a few weeks after the ship sank . It also holds the world record for the highest price ever paid for the artifact at 1.7 million Dollars .
2 . The most expensive thing Lost in the Titanic - According to claims filed afterwards , Merry Joseph Blondel’s oil painting “ La Circassienne au Bain “ was the costliest item lost with the ship . The painting depicted a lifesize painting of a young Circassienne woman bathing in an idealized setting . Blondel filed for $ 100,000 ( Now valued $ 2.5 million ) for the lost painting
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