Over 100 years after the RMS Titanic met its demise on April 15, 1912, the story of the tragic wreck through Titanic survivor accounts continues to haunt and mesmerize people worldwide. Out of over 2,200 passengers, approximately only 700 people survived to share their stories. Many Titanic survivor stories have been lost to the passage of time. Some survivors were hesitant to share the harrowing details of this experience, never speaking publicly about the sinking of the Titanic. Others went on to share their Titanic sinking stories and rescue stories through interviews, memoirs, and speaking engagements.
These firsthand accounts talk about the chaos, the anxiety, the horror, the items that were lost, and the strange beauty of one of the most luxurious ocean liners that had ever been seen slowly sinking into the water. In the wreck and its aftermath, families were torn apart, great loves were lost, and a tremendous amount of life was sacrificed. These accounts bring us back to that terrible and fateful night, all those years ago.
The “Navratil Orphans” Share Their Father’s Last Words
Photo: Library of Congress / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Separated from his wife, Michel Navratil decided to run off with their two- and four-year-old sons and take them to America to start a new life. He bought second-class tickets for the Titanic and traveled under the alias Louis M. Hoffman.
After the ship struck the iceberg, Navratil regretted the terrible surprise that awaited their mother. One of his sons, Michael J., remembered his father’s final words:
My child, when your mother comes for you, as she surely will, tell her that I loved her dearly and still do. Tell her I expected her to follow us, so that we might all live happily together in the peace and freedom of the New World.
Because the young boys only spoke French and had traveled under an alias without their mother’s knowledge, it took her a month to find them. They waited unclaimed in New York until their mother recognized their picture in the newspaper and hurriedly sailed across the Atlantic to retrieve her sons.
A Third Class Passenger Recalls The Locked Passageways
Photo: Library of Congress / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Finnish newlyweds Elin and Pekko Hakkarainen boarded the Titanic to start a new life together in America. Elin spoke of the fun they had as third class passengers: “After a couple of days at sea we settled into a routine: attending church services after breakfast, strolling the decks, and during the evening playing games in the third-class general room.”
On the night of April 14, the couple heard a suspicious scraping sound. Pekko went to go see what happened, and Elin went back to sleep. When she awoke and tried to get out of bed, the cabin was tilted at an angle. Her husband was still gone.
At that point, other passengers were awake and milling around the hallways. Elin’s husband was up on the deck, but all of the third class passengers were locked below. She says, “After a few moments, I grabbed my purse and life jacket and ran out to the passageway. The door was locked! All of the doors were locked.”
Eventually she was allowed up top and made her way onto a lifeboat.
We rowed away quickly, watching our ship slide beneath the surface of the water. The screams of those in the water were horrible — I remember calling over and over, “Pekko, Pekko, I am here; come this way.” It was cold on the lifeboat, and I wasn’t wearing warm clothes. I didn’t know if I was falling asleep or freezing to death, but I drifted into unconsciousness.
Soon after, it was daylight, and we could see a ship in the distance — we would be rescued… and made warm. Once aboard the Carpathia, the passengers and crew did their best to console us. We were given clothes, food, and hot coffee. But with all we were given, I was still lacking. I slowly realized the last words I might ever hear from my husband were, “I’m going to see what has happened.” I remember standing at the railing for hours, looking out to the open sea and hoping upon hope that I would discover just one more lifeboat.
Pekko did not survive, and Elin never saw her husband again
A Survivor Remembers The Men Who Were Desperate To Get On The Lifeboats
Photo: New York Herald / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Annie McGowan, 15 at the time, was traveling with her aunt from Ireland to New York. She gave her first interview of the tragedy at age 86: “Women wouldn’t leave their husbands. They were screaming, and I could hear gunshots in the background. Apparently, some of the men had tried to dress like women in order to be rescued, and they were shot.”
She recalls men begging to get in her own lifeboat. They said: “Let me in or I’ll tip the whole lifeboat. Of course, we had to let him in.”
A Governess Describes The Chaos Of The Lifeboats
Photo: Unknown / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Elizabeth Shutes, 40 at the time, was traveling with a family who employed her as a governess. After the ship hit the iceberg, she was quickly ushered onto a lifeboat with other stunned passengers. She was eventually rescued. She later described the experience:
Our men knew nothing about the position of the stars, hardly how to pull together. Two oars were soon overboard. The men’s hands were too cold to hold on… Then across the water swept that awful wail, the cry of those drowning people. In my ears I heard: “She’s gone, lads; row like hell or we’ll get the devil of a swell.”
One Woman Remembers The Terrified Look On The Men’s Faces – And Their Heroism
Photo: Unknown / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Helen Churchill Candee was a feminist and single woman traveling on the Titanic alone. At age 53, she was “so attractive that at least a half dozen men in first class, including Colonel Archibald Gracie, seemed inclined to ‘protect’ her.” She later wrote with respect about the workers who dutifully gave their lives:
A group of stokers [steam engine workers] fleeing the water-filled decks below appeared. Each face reflected the sight he had seen, the sight of coming death. Each knew what the passengers did not know… All of a sudden, the junior officer who led them gave a short, “Halt!” The men did as they were told, turned around and went back down below – to their deaths. I looked with profound admiration at the descending column of men, who could courageously relinquish their life.”
A Secretary Reflects On The Moment She Saw The Ship That Would Save Them
Photo: Unknown / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Laura Mabel Francatelli, a 30-year-old secretary from London, described the arrival of the Carpathia, the ship that would save them:
Oh, at daybreak, when we saw the lights of that ship, about four miles away, we rowed like mad, and passed icebergs like mountains, at last at about 6:30 the dear Carpathia picked us up, our little boat was like a speck against that giant. Then came my weakest moment, they lowered a rope swing, which was awkward to sit on, with my life preserver ’round me. Then they hauled me up, by the side of the boat.
Can you imagine, swinging in the air over the sea, I just shut my eyes & clung tight saying ‘Am I safe?’ at last I felt a strong arm pulling me onto the boat…
Ruth Becker Recalls The Strange Beauty Of The Ship That Night
Video: YouTube
Ruth Becker was 12 years old when she rode on the Titanic in second class with her family. Many years later, she described the strange, but terrible beauty of the ship as it slipped beneath the water:
The night was dark, no moon. It was a very dark, black night, and that boat was just beautiful. All the lights in the boat were on. It was just a beautiful sight. It was going down quietly and the lights were going under the water as it went down. I remember that very plainly as it was a beautiful sight and a terrible sight as we could see the boat was going down.
Charlotte Collyer Describes The Panicked Search For Loved Ones
Photo: Library of Congress / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Passengers who were rescued by the Carpathia arrived in New York City a few days later and began their anxious search for loved ones. Charlotte Collyer, a second class passenger who was 31 years old, described the search for her husband:
There was scarcely anyone who had not been separated from husband, child or friend. Was the last one among the handful saved? I had a husband to search for, a husband whom in the greatness of my faith, I had believed would be found in one of the boats. He was not there.
One Woman Recalls Making Snowballs When The Ship Hit The Iceberg
Photo: Randy Bryan Bigham / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
Edith Russell was a 33-year-old fashion stylist and consultant traveling first class on the Titanic. She was one of the few survivors who has spoken about actually seeing the iceberg before anyone knew what was happening:
There was a very slight bump. Just a little jar, nothing at all. I went in my room. There was a second light jar, nothing of consequence, but you knew something had happened. One man said “that’s an iceberg and it’s a whopper!” Because you know, there’s 1/8 above the water and 7/8 below and this blooming thing is rising all the way over the top of the ship. We thought nothing of it. We picked up the bits of ice and most of us played snowballs!
Eva Hart Explains Moving On To Live Her Best Life
Photo: Esther Hart / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Eva Hart was a seven-year-old second class passenger traveling with her parents when the Titanic went down. She lost her father but carried on to live a full and vibrant life after she was rescued. She spoke frequently about her life after the Titanic:
People I meet always seem surprised that I do not hesitate to travel by train, car, airplane, or ship when necessary. It is almost as if they expect me to be permanently quivering in my shoes at the thought of a journey. If I acted like that I would have died of fright many years ago – life has to be lived irrespective of the possible dangers and tragedies lurking round the corner.
