Titanic Survivor

I came across a mention of Violet Jessop in a Wikipedia article right at the start of my research into Titanic and her sister ships.

She worked on all three ships – Olympic, Titanic, and Britannic, and survived not one but two shipwrecks. Even after those harrowing events she went back to work on Olympic until the ship was retired in the 1930s.

Her autobiography was published posthumously, and makes for fascinating reading. I ended up including her as a minor character in my novel, and she’ll feature in my forthcoming novel too!

Violet Jessop’s story is remarkable in that she survived not only the sinking of Titanic but, four years later, the sinking of Titanic’s identical twin, Britannic, which went to the bottom in 55 minutes, its watertight compartments proving to be no more watertight than the Titanic’s. But at least Britannic had an excuse – she had been requisitioned as a hospital ship and hit a mine ferrying wounded soldiers home from the war in Europe.

Violet had been a stewardess on board the Titanic and had volunteered for service as a nurse when war broke out. Understandably, she was somewhat… show more.