The dawn of the 20th century brought with it several advancements in technology. The RMS Olympic, Titanic, and Britannic were among the revolutionary water vessels that provided a much-needed solution for coast-to-coast transportation at the time. However, these ships would also be involved in some of the worst accidents at sea.
To this day, there are some historical events so miraculous that we question whether they actually happened. One of them is the story of Violet Jessop, who survived these major marine catastrophes multiple times. Let’s explore how she was aboard three sinking ships and lived to tell the tale.
The Olympic Crashed Into The Hawke
During its fifth voyage, the Olympic collided with a British warship, the HMS Hawke, in 1911 as the two ships were passing parallel to one another through the Solent. The Hawke's bow was designed to sink other vessels by ramming into them, so it devastated the Olympic.
The bow left two large holes in the Olympic, causing its decks to become flooded. Fortunately, the ship managed to get back to port so that there were no fatalities during the incident. Violet was among the people who walked away from the accident unharmed.
Surviving Her Second Sinking Ship
The Titanic had only 20 lifeboats with a total capacity of 1,278 for its estimated 2,224 passengers. Violet was among those in the lifeboats who watched for eight hours as the ocean liner plummeted to the freezing depths. The survivors were eventually rescued from the horrors of that evening by the RMS Carpathia.
An estimated 710 survivors were rescued from the lifeboats. Once aboard the Carpathia, they were transported to New York. Most of them immediately set out for their relatives’ homes, though 214 of the Titanic’s surviving crew members were accommodated on the SS Lapland in passenger cabins.
The Britannic Exploded
One November morning in 1916, the Britannic plunged into the Aegean Sea after an unexplained explosion. This was the vessel’s sixth voyage, bound for the Mediterranean Sea. It was unclear whether the ship had been hit by a naval mine or an enemy submarine had struck it with a torpedo.
Violet once again watched helplessly from a lifeboat as the Britannic sank. This time she nearly lost her life during the accident when the ship's propellers began sucking the lifeboats under the water. She jumped off the lifeboat but ended up with a serious head injury.
She Was Born In Argentina
In 1887, Violet was born in Argentina to parents who were Irish immigrants. She was the eldest of nine children. From 1830 to 1930, it wasn’t uncommon for Irish people to immigrate to Argentina in the hope of a better life under the nation’s political, economic, and social stability.
In the incident that became known as the Dresden Affair, 1,774 immigrants were sent to establish an Irish colony in Argentina, but most of them died on the journey or on arrival. The country subsequently ended mass Irish immigration, driving the immigrants either back to Ireland or to Australia, Canada, and the United States.
Her Childhood Was Plagued By Illness
Violet cheated death early in life when she was among six out of the family’s nine children to survive infancy. She was then plagued by tuberculosis, and the doctor predicted that the illness would claim her life. Against all odds, she recovered from the disease that killed one out of every seven people.
At the time, people who contracted tuberculosis sought treatment in sanatoriums, believing that a healthful climate was the cure to the illness. It wasn’t until Robert Koch discovered that the disease wasn’t genetic in 1882 that the public embraced good hygiene to curb its spread.
Following In Her Mother’s Footsteps
When Violet's father passed away, the family moved to England. Shortly afterward, her mother also fell ill. To provide for the family, Violet decided to drop out of covenant school and become a ship stewardess just like her mother. According to the 1911 census in England, women more typically worked in domestic service.
Most of these women were employed in what people referred to as sweat industries at the time, with roles such as nail making, shirt making, shoe stitching, and chain making. The working hours at these jobs were quite long, and the earnings were very low.
Her Job Didn’t Come Easy
Because middle-aged women typically worked on ships, Violet had trouble finding a job at first. Employers considered her age to be a disadvantage, so she had to downplay her youthful appearance by dressing like an older woman and forgoing makeup in order to get hired.
Despite her plain appearance, Violet had several suitors, receiving three marriage proposals during her time as a stewardess. She enjoyed the work and didn’t mind the low salary. It was only a matter of time before she landed an even better job on one of the coveted White Star Line vessels.
The Three Revolutionary Water Vessels
A little over a century ago, there weren't any buses, trams, and commercial airlines to transport people. Only the richest people could boast of owning an automobile, and they weren’t exactly the luxury cars we see nowadays. When it came to long-distance transportation, ships were the preferred choice.
The first of White Star Line's ocean liners was the Olympic. The Titanic followed, along with its sister ship the Britannic. They were considered to be the most luxurious ships of the time, and even third-class accommodations on these ships were said to be unmatched.
Landing A Job Aboard The Olympic
Violet first got a job as a stewardess on the Royal Mail Line and stuck with it for two years. When White Star Line came out with its first ocean liner, the Olympic, in 1910, she jumped at the opportunity to work aboard the ship.
The Olympic's maiden voyage was in 1911, and it would turn out to have a long career lasting all the way to 1935. During World War I, the ocean liner even served as a troopship to ferry soldiers, which was how it earned the nickname Old Reliable.
The Unsinkable Ship
After the Olympic almost sank, we would expect Violet to stay away from ships for the sake of her well-being, but a friend talked her into taking a job aboard the Titanic, the "unsinkable ship." Seven months had gone by since the incident on the Olympic.
On April 10, 1912, Violet boarded the Titanic on its maiden voyage. She was nervous but found solace in her faith as a staunch Catholic, always carrying a rosary with her and regularly reciting the prayer of protection that had been translated from the original Hebrew.
Life Aboard The Titanic
Violet recalled that the members of the Titanic’s crew were very satisfied with their quarters. The ocean liner didn’t have permanent crew members and only began recruiting on March 23, barely three weeks before its maiden voyage. During her rounds, she also met Thomas Andrews, the ship's architect.
Violet described Thomas as looking tired but carrying himself with an air of satisfaction. He would always stop for some small talk with the crew members, often telling them that his biggest concern was becoming homesick as they sailed further and further away from England.
How The Unsinkable Ship Sunk
Just five days after the Titanic set out on its maiden voyage, it hit an iceberg. The ocean liner had an estimated 885 crew members, about 23 of whom were women who served mainly as stewardesses. Awakened by the sound of the collision, Violet hurried to the top deck to help the anxiety-stricken passengers.
Violet stood with the other stewardesses at the bulkhead, watching as the passengers strolled around trying to make sense of what had just happened. The stewardesses were then ordered to get into lifeboat number 16 just to reassure the women that the vessel was safe.
She Rescued A Baby
The rule that women and children would be the first to board the lifeboats saved Violet's life. Soon enough, she and the other stewardesses found themselves in one of the lifeboats. While she was in the lifeboat, one of the officers handed her an infant, telling her to look after the child.
It was only moments before the lifeboat launched. Though the fate of the child has never been confirmed, accounts have it that the infant was eventually reunited with its mother. The passengers who boarded the lifeboats would end up spending the night in the vessels.
Picking Up The Pieces After The Titanic
Surviving the sinking of the Titanic would take a toll on anyone’s mental health, so most people would understand if its crew members chose to never work on ships again after such a tragic event. But that wasn’t the end of Violet's career as a ship stewardess.
At the beginning of World War I in 1916, the Britannic served as a floating hospital, and Violet found work for the Red Cross aboard the ship. During the war, most passenger liners were either used to transport troops or converted into medical centers complete with dazzle paint to identify them as such.
Working Aboard The Britannic
After the Titanic sank, the surviving Olympic-class ocean liners went through some design changes to improve the safety of their passengers. Among the changes was that the ships now carried 55 lifeboats with a total capacity of 3,600 people, exceeding the ships' maximum capacity.
The crew aboard the Britannic would begin cleaning at 6 a.m., followed by breakfast at 6:30 a.m. The captain would inspect the ship soon afterward, and at 12:30 p.m. lunch was served. Patients receiving treatment could go for a walk if they pleased. There were also medical classes available to train the nurses.
Hopping Onto Yet Another Ship
Violet suffered from headaches after her near-death experience during the Britannic disaster, and an examination at a treatment center revealed that she had a skull fracture. She was incredibly fortunate to have survived three catastrophes at sea: two ships that sank and one that nearly sank.
And yet Violet still didn't bid adieu to the sea and hopped on board another ship. In 1920, she went back to working for the White Star Line, then later joined the Red Star Line. Over the course of her long career at sea, she completed two cruises around the world.
Retreating To A Quiet Life
In 1950, Violet finally decided to go into retirement from her career at sea. She got married, but it was a short-lived union. Although she led a relatively quiet life after settling down in Suffolk, a couple of years later she received a puzzling phone call.
The caller claimed to be the child Violet had taken onto her lifeboat when the Titanic sank. She was incredulous, but the woman hung up before she could ask any questions. She had never told anyone about the child, though she later related the incident to John Maxtone-Graham, a biographer who was also her friend.
She Wrote A Memoir About The Sinking Of The Titanic
With the help of her good friend John, Violet wrote a memoir that has become an authoritative account of the sinking of the Titanic. Titled Titanic Survivor, it recounts one of the biggest disasters in history from the unique perspective of someone who worked below decks.
John also edited the memoir for Violet. Her book has been frequently alluded to in popular culture. Both of the movies based on the catastrophe, A Night To Remember and Titanic, include a scene in which a stewardess receives instructions from Thomas, the ship’s architect.
Miss Unsinkable
Obviously, Violet was one of a very few people who could claim to have slipped out of death's grasp not once but three times. Because she had such an amazing record of surviving disasters at sea, many people started referring to her as Miss Unsinkable.
Violet may not have been destined to die at sea, but she eventually passed away due to heart problems in 1971 at the ripe old age of 84. Hers is a powerful story in which she relentlessly pursued her passion even in the face of adversity.