Arrival of Carpathia in New York
On 18 April, the Carpathia docked at Pier 54 at Little West 12th Street in New York with the survivors. It arrived at night and was greeted by thousands of people. The Titanic had been headed for 20th Street. The Carpathia dropped off the empty Titanic lifeboats at Pier 59, as property of the White Star Line, before unloading the survivors at Pier 54. Both piers were part of the Chelsea Piers built to handle luxury liners of the day. As news of the disaster spread, many people were shocked that the Titanic could sink with such great loss of life despite all of her technological advances. Newspapers were filled with stories and descriptions of the disaster and were eager to get the latest information. Many charities were set up to help the victims and their families, many of whom lost their sole breadwinner, or, in the case of third-class survivors, lost everything they owned.[37] The people of Southampton were deeply affected by the sinking. According to the Hampshire Chronicle on 20 April 1912, almost 1,000 local families were directly affected. Almost every street in the Chapel district of the town lost more than one resident and over 500 households lost a member.[38]
Survivors, victims and statistics
| Category | Number aboard | Number of survivors | Percentage survived | Number lost | Percentage lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First class | 329 | 199 | 60.5 % | 130 | 39.5 % |
| Second class | 285 | 119 | 41.7 % | 166 | 58.3 % |
| Third class | 710 | 174 | 24.5 % | 536 | 75.5 % |
| Crew | 899 | 214 | 23.8 % | 685 | 76.2 % |
| Total | 2,223 | 706 | 31.8 % | 1,517 | 68.2 % |
Of a total of 2,223 people aboard the Titanic only 706 survived the disaster and 1,517 perished.[39] The majority of deaths were caused by hypothermia in the 28 °F (−2 °C) water. Men and members of the lower classes were less likely to survive. Of male passengers in second class, 92 percent perished. Third-class passengers fared very badly.
Six of the seven children in first class and all of the children in second class were saved, whereas only 34 percent were saved in third class. Nearly every first-class woman survived, compared with 86 percent of those in second class and less than half of those in third class. Overall, only 20 percent of the men survived, compared to nearly 75 percent of the women. First-class men were four times as likely to survive as second-class men, and twice as likely to survive as third-class men.[40]
Another disparity is that a greater percentage of British passengers died than American passengers; some sources claim this could be because many Britons of the time were too polite and queued, rather than to force and elbow their way onto the lifeboats as some Americans did. The captain, Edward John Smith, shouted out: "Be British, boys, be British!" as the cruise liner went down, according to witnesses. [41][42]
- In one case in the third class, a Swedish family lost the mother, Alma Pålsson, and her four children, all aged under 10. The father was waiting for them to arrive at the destination. "Paulson's grief was the most acute of any who visited the offices of the White Star, but his loss was the greatest. His whole family had been wiped out."[43]
- The sailors aboard the ship CS Mackay-Bennett which recovered bodies from Titanic, who were very upset by the discovery of the unknown boy's body, paid for a monument and he was buried on 4 May 1912 with a copper pendant placed in his coffin by the sailors that read "Our Babe". The unknown child was later positively identified as Sidney Goodwin.
- One survivor, stewardess Violet Jessop, who had been on board the RMS Olympic when she collided with HMS Hawke in 1911, went on to survive the sinking of HMHS Britannic in 1916.
- There are no living survivors of the Titanic disaster. The last living survivor was Millvina Dean, who was only nine weeks old at the time of the sinking. She died on 31 May 2009, the 98th anniversary of the launching of the ship's hull. She lived in Southampton, England.[44]
- There are many stories relating to dogs on the Titanic. Apparently, a passenger released the dogs just before the ship went down; they were seen running up and down the decks. At least two dogs survived.[45]
Retrieval and burial of the dead
Once the massive loss of life became clear, White Star Line chartered the cable ship CS Mackay-Bennett from Halifax, Nova Scotia to retrieve bodies. Three other ships followed in the search, the cable ship Minia, the lighthouse supply ship Montmagny and the sealing vessel Algerine. Each ship left with embalming supplies, undertakers, and clergy. Of the 333 victims that were eventually recovered, 328 were retrieved by the Canadian ships and five more by passing North Atlantic steamships. For some unknown reason, numbers 324 and 325 were unused, and the six passengers buried at sea by the Carpathia also went unnumbered.[46] In mid-May 1912, over 200 miles (320 km) from the site of the sinking, the Oceanic recovered three bodies, numbers 331, 332 and 333, who were occupants of Collapsible A, which was swamped in the last moments of the sinking. Several people managed to reach this lifeboat, although some died during the night. When Fifth Officer Harold Lowe rescued the survivors of Collapsible A, he left the three dead bodies in the boat: Thomas Beattie, a first-class passenger, and two crew members, a fireman and a seaman. The bodies were buried at sea from Oceanic.[47]
The first body recovery ship to reach the site of the sinking, the cable ship CS Mackay-Bennett found so many bodies that the embalming supplies aboard were quickly exhausted. Health regulations only permitted that embalmed bodies could be returned to port.[48] Captain Larnder of the Mackay-Bennett and undertakers aboard decided to preserve all bodies of First Class passengers, justifying their decision by the need to visually identify wealthy men to resolve any disputes over large estates. As a result the burials at sea were Third Class passengers and crew. Larnder himself claimed that as a mariner, he would expect to be buried at sea.[49] However complaints about the burials at sea were made by families and undertakers. Later ships such as Minia found fewer bodies, requiring fewer embalming supplies, and were able to limit burials at sea to bodies which were too damaged to preserve.
Bodies recovered were preserved to be taken to Halifax, the closest city to the sinking with direct rail and steamship connections. The Halifax coroner, John Henry Barnstead, developed a detailed system to identify bodies and safeguard personal possessions. His identification system would later be used to identify victims of the Halifax Explosion in 1917. Relatives from across North America came to identify and claim bodies. A large temporary morgue was set up in a curling rink and undertakers were called in from all across Eastern Canada to assist.[47] Some bodies were shipped to be buried in their hometowns across North America and Europe. About two thirds of the bodies were identified. Unidentified victims were buried with simple numbers based on the order in which their bodies were discovered. The majority of recovered victims, 150 bodies, were buried in three Halifax cemeteries, the largest being Fairview Lawn Cemetery followed by the nearby Mount Olivet and Baron de Hirsch cemeteries.[50] Much floating wreckage was also recovered with the bodies, many pieces of which can be seen today in the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax.
Memorials
In many locations there are memorials to the dead of the Titanic. In Southampton, England a memorial to the engineers of the Titanic may be found in Andrews Park on Above Bar Street. Opposite the main memorial is a memorial to Wallace Hartley and the other musicians who played on the Titanic. A memorial to the liner is also located on the grounds of City Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
In the United States there are memorials to the Titanic disaster as well. The Titanic Memorial in Washington, D.C. and a memorial to Ida Straus at Straus Park in Manhattan, New York are two examples.
On 15 April 2012, the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic is planned to be commemorated around the world. By that date, the Titanic Quarter in Belfast is planned to have been completed. The area will be regenerated and a signature memorial project unveiled to celebrate Titanic and her links with Belfast, the city that had built the ship.[51]
The Balmoral, operated by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines has been chartered by Miles Morgan Travel to follow the original route of the Titanic, intending to stop over the point on the sea bed where she rests on 15 April 2012.[52]
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