Today
is National Pet Day, and Monday will be the 102nd Anniversary of the Titanic Disaster, which made me wonder: How many pets were on board
the Titanic when she sank on April 14, 1912 during her maiden voyage? The answer, unfortunately, were many …
|
Titanic |
|
The Breakup |
It
was a Sunday night, 11:40 P.M. when the largest and most luxurious ocean
liner in the world struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Less than 3 hours later the massive ship
disappeared under the icy waters. Just
over a third of the 2,200 passengers and crew were still alive and aboard the
half filled lifeboats, or trying to stay alive in the frigid waters. When the
Carpathia arrived the next morning to rescue survivors, only 700 remained
alive. So what happened to the pets?
|
Traveling with his dog |
At
the turn of the 20th century, it was in vogue to travel with a pet – or two, and those
well to do traveling on the Titanic were no exception. The fare price for a dog
was about half the cost of an adult ticket: about the same amount as for a child’s
ticket. Rosters indicated that there were several pets on board when the ship
set sail including 12 dogs, the ship’s cat, several roosters and hens, and a canary.
|
Cat and Kitten |
It
is interesting to note that the ship’s cat, Jenny had just had kittens on board
–but when the ship docked at Southampton before heading out into the Atlantic,
Jenny was seen carrying each kitten off the ship. She was then seen leading
them away into the city. The sight was enough to make one seaman refuse to set foot
on the Titanic, believing that the cat “knew something,” and that the ship was
doomed.
|
Pet's of the Titanic |
Those
pets known to have been on board and lost included John Jacob Astor’s Airedale,
a King Charles Spaniel, a French Bulldog, a Toy Poodle, a Fox Terrier, an
elderly Airedale, and a Chow.
|
Dogs on the Titanic |
Many
pets were not taken on deck when the alarm sounded that fateful night because passengers
thought it was a drill. Some of the pets were sleeping in their master’s quarters;
others were being cared for in the kennel area. Few passengers had the foresight to
retrieve their pets before the sinking. Unfortunately, most of the animals were left below
board to fend for themselves. It was said that as the ship began to sink,
someone went to the kennels and released all of the animals in an attempt to allow
them to save themselves.
|
Permit to Inter William Dulles |
Crossing
records indicated that attorney William Crothers Dulles was traveling with his
dog. Both went down with the ship.
|
Ann Isham |
There was also a rumor that Ann Isham was traveling with a large dog, possibly a
Great Dane. When she was told she could not get in the lifeboat with her dog
because he was too big, she refused to go. A German liner later reported seeing
the bodies of a woman and a large dog floating together after the disaster.
|
Sun-Yat Sen |
Three
dogs and the canary were said to have survived the sinking. One was a Pekingese
named Sun-Yat Sen owned by Henry Sleeper Harper of the Harper and Row Publishing Company.
Harper and Sun-Yat survived, along with his wife, Myra by getting into Lifeboat
3.
|
Lady |
|
Margaret B Hays |
Lady,
a Pomeranian pup survived along with her owner, Margaret Bechstein Hays in
Lifeboat 7. Hays had purchased Lady in Paris and was taking her home to New
York City. Lady was wrapped in a blanket and the crew allowed Hays to board the
lifeboat with her, thinking it was a baby. From then on, Hays
took Lady everywhere with her, even the opera. Lady died in 1920 and was
cremated.
|
Elizabeth B. Rothschild |
The
third dog to survive was another Pomeranian owned by Elizabeth Barrett Rothschild
who hid the dog in her coat when she boarded Lifeboat 6. When the captain of
the Carpathia refused to allow the dogs to board his ship, Mrs. Rothschild
refused to leave the lifeboat. The captain acquiesced and both were hauled on
board. Unfortunately the dog was
attacked and killed by a larger dog only a few weeks later.
|
Rigel ? |
And
there was the story of a Newfoundland named Rigel, supposedly the pet of First
Officer William Murdoch (who went down with the ship) that managed to survive
in the water and alerted the crew of the Carpathia where some of the lifeboats were by barking. Rigel was
taken aboard the rescuing ship and adopted by a crewman.
|
Newspaper Article About Rigel |
The
story was told by Carpathia crew member Jonas Briggs to a news reporter in
New York, but the problem was that there was no Jonas Briggs on the Carpathia’s
crew roster, and no survivors reported seeing or hearing the black New
Foundland that supposedly saved them. But readers took the story to heart, regardless
of the facts, because it provided a ray of hope that those surviving, and those
reading about it needed in the face of such a tragedy.
|
Remembering Those Lost at Sea |
|
Recovering Remains |
Recovery
ships found 340 bodies floating on the ocean, but only 209 remains could be delivered to
Halifax. The other 128 were too badly decomposed to be retrieved. They were
buried at sea. Of all the animals that had died, none were taken back to shore for
burial.
~
Joy
The cat leaving the sip was creepy, no wonder the crewman would not set foot on it. So sad all the lives were lost people and animals
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how sensitive cats are. I've heard other stories where they seem to "know" when something bad is about to happen.
DeleteThanks Joy, I've read a lot about the Titanic, and never considered their pets! Great article :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading, Louise!
Delete