I was browsing Titanic books at a local bookstore and gleaned these three interesting facts:

While in port, the wake from the Titanic was so powerful that it caused the mooring lines of a ship called the New York to snap like thread, and the two ships almost collided. A stoker snuck off the ship hidden under mail bags because he had a bad feeling about the ship!

As the angle of the deck became steep, witnesses say there was a terrible groaning noise as all the contents of the ship slid toward the bow that could be heard for miles. Do any of you remember hearing much noise as the ship sank in the movie?

There was a stewardess on the Titanic that escaped in a lifeboat named Violet Jessup. The amazing thing about her is that she was a nurse on the Britannic when it sunk! She almost died because two life boats tried launching even though the Britannic was still moving and they got sucked into the propellors. I suppose she gave up ocean travel all together after that!

-- Laura (lrc@usit.net), February 08, 1998

Answers

I thought that Violet Jessup was on a 3rd famous ship as well. Believe she wrote an autobiography. I did hear that loud noise of all the material in the ship moving.

-- Bob G. (rgregori@pacbell.net), February 08, 1998.

Laura:

The story of the New York's near-collision with Titanic in Southampton's river Test is well-established. In fact, Francis Browne made several photographs of the New York as it was pulled clear (see Lynch and Marschall, "Titanic: An Illustrated History," pages 34-35 and page 43). The same hydrodynamic forces which pulled the New York away from its mooring were responsible for the collision of Titanic's sister ship Olympic with the British cruiser Hawke earlier in 1912.

I'm not familiar with a stoker sneaking off the ship. There is an established story of several stokers who tarried too long at a local pub and literally 'missed the boat.' They arrived just as the ship was pulling away from the dock, and the officer at the gangway refused to allow them on board.

As to the noise, the survivor accounts tell of a horrendous noise from the ship as movable items slid down the slanting decks. There were theories that these items included the ship's boilers, which supposedly rumbled through the ship and crashed through the bow. Naval architects generally scoffed at this idea, and it was finally laid to rest with the discovery and exploration of the wreck site in 1985-86, when the only boilers found in the debris field were from the section where the ship broke apart. The film did depict a lot of noise prior to the break-up, but I think it was toned down so that the dialog could be more easily understood.

And finally, Violet Jessop **was** a stewardess on Titanic **and** a nurse on Brittanic when both ships met their untimely ends. She also worked on Titanic's sister ship Olympic, and was on board when that vessel was rammed by the cruiser Hawke. She worked on ships for 42 years before retiring (check Philip Hind's Encyclopedia Titanica website, http://www.rmplc.co.uk/eduweb/sites/phind/ for more information on Ms. Jessop.

Cheers!

-- Kip Henry (kip-henry@ouhsc.edu), February 09, 1998.

It's interesting how the mishaps with the Olympic during her first year and the Titanic-New York incident didn't tell people such as Smith and Ismay anything. You would think it would have been a hint that they didn't yet know enough about how these huge vessels handled and how they affected other things in the area. A bit of caution would have seemed to be in order on the ship's maiden voyage

If I remember correctly, Titanic's sea trials lasted a mere half day and did not include any difficult or emergency maneuvers. This for a ship 50% larger than any other in the world (except its twin).

The most unfortunate aspect of all of this, for the ships themselves, was that they were such *good* ships overall, yet were handled so cavalierly. The three Olympic-class ships would have been a great trio, providing reliable, fast, very comfortable service across the Atlantic on a weekly basis. By all accounts, the Olympic was very smooth, quiet, steady, and reliable until her scrapping in 1934. What little we know of Titanic and Brittanic indicate the same qualities. Andrews and his people knew what they were doing for the most part, especially when you compare the Olympic trio to the trio of German superliners built at the same time. The German ships, in particular the Imperator, were never as steady and smooth, and often rolled horribly in rough weather.

-- Thomas Shoebotham (cathytom@ix.netcom.com), February 09, 1998.

Well, all I have to say on that is: That's the corperate mind for you! Regards , Peter

-- Peter Nivling (pcnivling@capecod.net), February 09, 1998.

Kip: If memory serves me (and that's questionable), I believe the stoker story was mentioned in WL's A Night to Remember. Weather it is true or not is another thing. I know that much of the coal for Titanic was diverted from other ships because of the coal strike at that time but the stokers I will have to investigate the story but I do remember reading it somewhere.

Regards, Peter

-- Peter Nivling (pcnivling@capecod.net), February 09, 1998.

Violet was indeed on the Olympia also. It smashed into a smaller vessel in 1916 killing several men. It was then sold for scrap after the owners decided it was unprofitable. Violet had always had 3 fears. Drowning, Earthquakes and being stabbed by a knife. She escaped two of these completely, but she almost drowned twice. In a conversation with her friend Lilly Wadsworth, she commented that she hated blue velvet ever since the Titanic. Her personal room was decorated with blue velvet.Some other odd facts that I have picked up is that she loved chocolate and coffee and was in love with a man she called St.German by 1932 ( when she was 29)He was a pianist and composer and dissappeared in 1945 under mysterious circumstances.

-- Jeremy Goldring (kurk001@earthlink.com), January 31, 2003.

I have heard about the St. German fellow, but I heard his name was Beaumont St.Germain and that Violet never talked about his disappearing. He is mentioned as a prolific composer and mathematical wiz who was a "youthful and handsome 40 years of age".Violet said she was the love of her soul.She talked about him shortly before her death on March 17th 1971. Memoirs of Ethan Fitch England through the Wars 1996

-- Lindy Mason (Lmason@pacbell.net), January 31, 2003.

Another interesting story about Violet. She had one more weird brush with one of the three sisters late in life. This tale is recounted in "Titanic Survivors." During her escape from the Titanic she claims to have rescued a child and it is this that comes back to haunt her. It seems she had retired to the country and one night during a thunderstorm received a strange call. The caller simply asked if she was Violet Jessup and if she had rescued a baby from the Titanic. When Violet said yes, the caller replied "I was that baby," and hung up the phone. The eerie part of this story is that the author of "Titanic Survivors" is the first person Violet recounted the child's rescue to. The public knew nothing of the story, so it is unlikely it was a practical joke.

-- Holliann Cooper (musicalcoopers@juno.com), February 03, 2003.

I understand your theory, but i think it is completly wrong!!!! It is wrong because it is cocococococo!

-- Catherine (i_love_frogs02@hotmail.com), April 07, 2004.

I just wanted to say that I found this site very useful whilst doing some research and I wanted to congratulate you, Laura, on your good work. It's not easy maintaining an excellent website, trust me, I know! Congrats and thanks heaps! Cheers! Sincerely, Therese

-- Therese (bubz_83@hotmail.com), April 13, 2004.