Background Part 2 Maritime Incidents w/ Violet Jessop

Background Part 2 Maritime Incidents w/ Violet Jessop

While the spotlight in this blog is on the Titanic, the personal, human interest spotlight is on our star witness Violet.  It will be helpful I think to have a list, a chronology, of the maritime incidents involving Violet that have a bearing on the unfolding of the Titanic drama.  This will give perspective on the timeline and tie together the Titanic story as well as the other disasters considered in my other blogs.  Violet spent some forty years at sea so there well have been other incidents in her long career that I am unaware of.  The following are the ones I know about and which have a bearing on my blogs.  First I should state that her maritime career began near the end of October in 1908 when, at age 21 she became a stewardess on the Royal Mail liner Orinoco.  A year later she  began employment with the White Star line on board the Olympic.

Incident 1 September 20, 1911  12:45 pm  (Olympic and Hawke)

Violet was now a stewardess on the almost brand new White Star liner Olympic that had been launched in 1910 and had its maiden voyage in May of 1911.  Leaving the port of Southampton in a tricky channel a string of bad luck for the White Star line began to unravel.  There was a collision between the Olympic, under the command of the port pilot, and the British warship HMS Hawke.  A cruiser, considerably smaller than the Olympic, Hawke had a reinforced bow designed for ramming and sinking enemy vessels.  Damage to the Hawke was extensive, but the Olympic barely quivered.  Violet never mentions the collision in her memoir probably because she was busy getting her passenger responsibilities taken care of and was not an eye witness.  There can be no doubt she later became aware because the voyage was canceled and Olympic had to return to South Hampton. Consequently Violet was transferred to the Titanic but not without losing several months’ pay.  While not in command during the collision, Captain Smith was on the bridge of the Olympic; he too was transferred to the Titanic.

The gash in the Olympic’s hull was large; not much different than from a torpedo of that era.  This damage will be considered relative to other shipwreck damage in section 2.3.

Besides the gash, the Hawke was turned like a toy after her bow pieced the Olympic’s hull and Hawke's hull then collided with Olympic’s starboard propeller damaging both it and the driveshaft.  The replacement driveshaft was taken from the Titanic during it’s construction, delaying Titanic’s launch by a month, thereby setting the stage for its disastrous sinking.  After Olympic repairs were completed, Violet made a number of “sailings” on the Olympic with Captain Smith to New York and back and then, with construction completed, they both had the honor of being selected for the Maiden Voyage

Incident 2  April 10, 1912  12:01 pm  (Titanic and New York)

Leaving the dock area in Southampton, the Titanic passes several ships moored semi- permanently because of a coal strike.  One, the New York, is pulled to the Titanic by the Titanic’s propeller suction and snaps its restraining hawsers.  The two ships nearly collide but quick thinking by Captain Smith (perhaps as a consequence of the Hawke collision) averts it.  No damage is done but the incident is given bad press by the superstitious.   Apparently Violet is not one of these because no mention of the incident is found in her memoir.  As was in the prior case, Violet would not have been an eye witness but it is very doubtful that she would not have heard about it.
   

Incident 3  April 14, 1912  11:45+  (Titanic and iceberg)

We know all about this one.  Violet was put into lifeboat 16 (furthest aft on the port side) to induce other reluctant women to climb aboard. One of the last to be launched, it was lowered about an hour and a half after the collision .

Incident 4     October 27, 1914   “early morning”    (Olympic and Audacious)

The HMS Audacious was a brand new battleship for the Royal Navy when during gunnery practice it struck a German mine which did more harm to the ship then it should have.  By chance, the Olympic with Violet onboard, was in the vicinity and was able to rescue most of the crew with her lifeboats (other nearby vessels also helped in the rescue).   Understandably, Violet must have thought that it could have just as well have been the Olympic hitting the mine instead of the Audacious.  With the Titanic sinking still a fresh memory, Violet decided to become a Red Cross nurse on land.

[Although she was not on board the Lusitania when it sank on May 7, 1915, the sinking may have influenced her employment decision.  On this part of her life I find John’s book a little confusing and it may be a consequence of wartime secrecy.  According to her memoir, incident 5 concluded her sailing on Olympic until after incident 6.  There is a gap in John’s listings from 4/25/14 to 11/12/16.  From 4/25/14 until 10/27/14 she sailed on both Olympic and Clyde.  Her memoir definitely states her being on board the Olympic in August of 1914.  It is unclear when she took up Red Cross nursing.]

Incident 5     November 21, 1916  8:12 am       (Britannic and underwater mine)

Violet’s star seems to be as cursed as that of the White Star.  She finds herself assigned to a hospital ship as a Red Cross nurse (refer to Introduction).  If she felt any apprehension about possible ship disasters her memoir doesn’t reveal it; instead she is looking forward to reuniting with her brother serving in the military.  Besides the ship reminds her of the Olympic—huge and safe looking; it’s the sister ship to the Olympic after all—it’s the Britannic.  Not to be so lucky!  The Britannic hits a mine, sinks out of sight in fifty five minutes and this time Violet is nearly killed.  Now she has had enough of sea dangers and human suffering so at this point in her life she takes a desk job on land.

 The details of the Britannic disaster are considered in my blog:

                                               “britannicconclusions.blogspot.com”.