The phenomenal luck of the unlucky Violet Jessop, who survived three shipwrecks - on the Olympic, Titanic and Britannic. Invulnerable Violet Jessop The Girl and the Sea Giants

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Violet Jessop in her Volunteer Relief Corps uniform when she was assigned to the Britannic
Violet Jessop
Violet Jessop

Birth name:	Violet Constance Jessop
Occupation:	flight attendant, nurse
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:	Bahia Blanca, Argentina
Citizenship:	Argentina Ireland
Date of death:
A place of death:	Great Ashfield, Suffolk, East Anglia
Father:	William Jessop
Mother:	Katherine Jessop (Kelly)

Violet Constance Jessop(English) Violet Constance Jessop) (October 2, 1887 - May 5, 1971) - flight attendant ocean liners passenger company White Star Line" Violet Jessop served on all Olympic-class airliners and, accordingly, was an eyewitness to incidents with them. Violet Jessop was aboard the Olympic that collided with the cruiser Hawk; on board the Titanic, which collided with an iceberg; and, during the First World War, she served as a nurse aboard the hospital ship Britannic, which sank after being struck by a mine. Her presence on board all three Olympic class ships during their catastrophic incidents made Violet Jessop's life story popular among Titanic disaster researchers.

Early life

Violet Jessop was born to Irish immigrants William Jessop and Catherine Kelly, who lived near Bahia Blanca in Argentina. William Jessop emigrated from Dublin in the mid-1880s to try his hand at sheep farming in Argentina. Katherine followed him in 1886. Violet was the first of nine children, three of whom died in childhood. Violet herself contracted tuberculosis as a child, but, despite the doctor’s predictions, she survived. After her father died, Violet and her family moved to Britain, where she attended school convent. After her mother fell ill, she left school to work as a flight attendant on wealthy airliners.

Olympic

Violet was 23 years old when, on June 14, 1911, she boarded the transatlantic liner Olympic as a stewardess. Initially, however, she did not want to work for the company of this ship." White Star Line”, since she was engaged in transatlantic flights, and Violet did not like the weather conditions of the Atlantic Ocean. The ship was commanded by Captain Edward John Smith. On September 20, 1911, the Olympic collided with the cruiser Hawk due to unsuccessful maneuvering. Fortunately, the disaster was completely without casualties and both ships, despite the damage, remained afloat.

Titanic

On April 10, 1912, Violet Jessop, along with other crew members, boarded the Olympic's twin, the Titanic, which she initially did not want to board, but succumbed to the persuasion of friends who assured her that working on the Titanic would be a good recommendation. Its captain was the same Edward John Smith, and even the captain's assistants were the same Murdoch and Lightoller who were on the Olympic on that voyage. Violet boarded the boat with a handwritten translation of a certain Jewish prayer that an old Irish woman had given her, and which, as Violet later claimed, was supposed to protect her from fire and water. Since Violet was a devout Catholic, she forced her cabinmate to recite this prayer as well. When the Titanic hit an iceberg on April 14, Violet was almost asleep by that time. Having received an order to go to the upper deck, Violet, along with other flight attendants, found herself in boat No. 16. In her memoirs, she recalls that when she boarded the boat, one of the officers handed her a small child for safekeeping. When Vilett found herself on the Carpathia, a woman jumped up to her, snatched the child and, without saying a word, ran away. Violet thought it was the child's mother, but, as she recalled, being very cold, she did not then think about what this woman could tell her " Thank you", but didn't do it.

Britannic

During the First World War, Violet served as a nurse for the British Red Cross. In 1916 she boarded the Britannic. On November 21, 1916, the ship was hit by a mine laid by a German submarine. After an explosion in the starboard bow with four forward compartments flooded, Britannic was still able to remain afloat. Since the ship was still moving, the crew refused to lower the boats until the ship stopped. But despite this precaution, an accident occurred. The two boats were launched and pulled in by the still spinning propeller. 21 people died under the propeller. Violet Jessop was in one of these boats, which was pulled under the propeller of a sinking ship, but she managed to jump out of it and survived. True, underwater, the current carried her under the bottom, and she hit her head on the keel, but was not injured thanks, as she later explained, to the thick head of her brown hair (however, a few years later, Violet was forced to see a doctor due to frequent headaches, and he discovered a crack in her skull). She also noted that, while escaping from the ship, she managed to grab her toothbrush, since she did not have time to do this on the sinking Titanic, and it was this item that she missed most after the ship sank.

Later life

After the war, Violet continued to work for " White Star Line", but then went into " Red Star Line", and then - in " Royal Mail Line" While working at Red Star, Violet cruised twice around the world on the Belgenland liner. In the late 30s, Violet married for a while (presumably to a merchant seaman, no children were recorded), and in 1950 she moved to Great Ashfield in Suffolk. A year after her retirement, Violet was awakened in the middle of the night by a phone call. On the other end was a woman who, without introducing herself, asked Violet if she had saved the child that night when the Titanic sank. Violet replied " Yes" Then the stranger said: “ Well I was that kid", laughed and hung up. Her friend and biographer John Macstone-Graham suggested that it was the village children who decided to play a trick on her, but Violet replied that he was the first person she told about the rescued child. To this day, the identity of the baby, whom she then kept with her in the boat, remains unknown. According to the surviving data, the only child in lifeboat No. 16 was 5-month-old Essad Alexander Thomas from Lebanon, who was handed over by his uncle Charles (he died) to one of the passengers there, but she was presumably 27-year-old Edwina Celia Trott from the 2nd class (Essad was later found by his mother Famina Thomas aboard the Carpathia).

Jessop is one of the surviving passengers who testified that she heard the melody of the hymn "Nearer My God to Thee."

Violet Jessop died of heart failure in 1971.

Partially used materials from the site http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/

On November 21, 1916, the liner Britannic, the “sibling” of the Titanic, sank after being hit by a German mine.

The Girl and the Sea Giants

The tragic fate of the famous ocean liner Titanic, which sank during its maiden voyage, is known to everyone. Less is known about the fact that the Titanic had two “twin brothers,” as well as the fact that their fate was also not very happy.

And even fewer people know that all three giants were connected by a lady, whose story can serve as the most striking illustration of the old maritime superstition “a woman on a ship is bad luck.” Violet Constance Jessop can rightfully be called the “black widow” of world navigation, and at the same time the luckiest lady in the history of sea travel.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the British shipping company White Star Line decided to acquire several huge transoceanic liners, which were supposed to amaze the imagination with their size, luxury and speed.

The design bureau of the Harland and Wolfe shipyard in Belfast began work on the project in 1907.

The first of three liners, named Olympic, was put into service on June 14, 1911. The second, Titanic, in April 1912. The third and last, "Britannic" - in December 1915.

A stewardess named Violet

October 2, 1887 in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, in a family of Irish emigrants William Jessop And Katherine Kelly, a girl was born who was named Violet. As a child, she fell ill with tuberculosis, and doctors considered her almost hopeless, but Violet survived. After her father died, Violet and her family moved to Britain, where she attended convent school.

Violet was the eldest child in the family, and when her mother fell ill, taking care of everyone fell on her shoulders. The girl managed to get a job as a flight attendant at a shipping company, where she served wealthy ship passengers.

23-year-old Violet Jessop was among those flight attendants who were transferred to work on the newly built Olympic in June 1911. The girl was not happy about this - the liner was intended for sailing across the Atlantic, and Violet categorically did not like the weather conditions on this line.

But her position forced her to accept the employer’s conditions, and Violet resigned herself.

On September 20, 1911, the Olympic collided with the cruiser Hawk due to unsuccessful maneuvering. The ships were damaged, but remained afloat. No one was killed in the incident, including flight attendant Jessop. By the way, the Olympic was commanded at that moment by Edward John Smith, the captain of the Titanic on its first and last voyage.

The Olympic outlived both of its "brothers", survived the First World War, returned to transatlantic service, making a total of 257 flights to and from New York, and was taken out of service and scrapped in 1935. Perhaps Olympic was just lucky to get rid of Violet Jessop in time.

View of the stern of the Titanic from the America, April 11, 1912. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Survivor

In April 1912, the stewardess was transferred to the Titanic, which she strongly opposed. She was persuaded, however, by saying that working on the much-publicized Titanic would be an excellent reference in the future.

On the evening of April 14, Violet, having completed her shift, went to her cabin and was almost falling asleep when she felt a jolt. The Titanic collided with an iceberg.

Like the other flight attendants, she was ordered to go to the upper deck. There were only 23 women on the Titanic's crew, and they could not provide any help in this situation. At 1:20 a.m., the flight attendants were put on boat number 16. As Violet was boarding the boat, she was handed a child, whom she safely delivered to the Carpathia. A woman took him there. The girl later admitted that she never found out whether it was the child’s mother - at that moment she, frozen and scared, had no time to ask questions.

Only 710 people out of 2,224 on board survived the Titanic disaster. After this, it would seem that Violet Jessop had to go ashore completely.

Folding boat D approaches the Carpathia Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Nurse from Britannica

Fate, however, was willing to bring her together with her third “brother” - “Britannic”. Work on the ship was completed at the end of 1915, when the First World War was in full swing. The British Admiralty requisitioned the ship, intending to use it as a hospital ship. In 1916, Violet boarded a hospital ship as a British Red Cross nurse. There could not have been a more bad sign for the ship, despite the fact that the Britannic, taking into account the Titanic disaster, was significantly rebuilt to increase its unsinkability.

On October 28, 1916, the German submarine U73, under the command of Gustav Siss, laid mines in the Kea Channel - between the island of Kea and mainland Greece. On November 21, 1916, the Britannic, traveling at a speed of 20 knots, was blown up by a German mine.

At first the seriousness of the situation was not appreciated. It happened in the morning, and the nurses were ordered not to interrupt breakfast. However, it soon turned out that the Britannic was sinking. The ship was flooding through portholes open on the starboard side for ventilation, and water from the flooded compartments continued to flow further due to a jammed door in the bulkhead between the boiler rooms.

An evacuation was announced, during which 1,036 people were saved, including Violet Jessop. For reasons still unclear, the Britannic sank in just 55 minutes, while the Titanic remained afloat for three hours. Captain Charles Bartlett did not completely lose hope of throwing the ship aground, but this only led to casualties. The ship's propeller continued to operate while the boats were being lowered, and two of them were pulled into the blades. 21 people died.

Violet Jessop was in one of these boats. She managed to jump into the water, was skidded under the keel and hit her head hard on the hull. The injury turned out to be quite serious, but the girl realized this only a few years later, when a doctor who saw her for headaches discovered a crack in her skull.

Retired witness

A survivor of this disaster, Violet was the only survivor of the accident on all three ships of the Olympic project.

After the end of the First World War, Violet Jessop continued to work as a flight attendant, completing two round the world travel. Her total work experience was 42 years. Having settled in England after her retirement, she became a real find for all researchers of the Titanic and Britannic disasters. The payoff for being lucky in crashes was being unlucky personal life- in her declining years, Violet was a lonely, childless old woman, whose main entertainment was talking about the Titanic.

Violet Jessop died on May 5, 1971, aged 83, from heart failure.

Perhaps the name of this woman would not have been preserved in history if not for her phenomenal ability to survive the most terrible disasters.

Misfortunes haunted her since childhood, but by some miracle she managed to find a way out of the most difficult situations.

Violet Constance Jessop had the opportunity to work on three of the most famous ocean liners - Olympic, Titanic and Britannic. Each of them crashed, but Violet survived.

Violet Constance Jessop worked on passenger airliners

Doctors predicted Violet's death in early childhood. Then she fell ill with tuberculosis, from which a large number of people died at that time.

But the girl not only survived, but also completely recovered from the terrible disease. She was unable to finish school because, due to the death of her father and her mother’s illness, she was forced to look for work.

She chose the same profession as her mother - she got a job as a flight attendant on ships of the White Star Line, which operated transatlantic flights.

*Olympic* for the first time in New York on June 22, 1911

*Olympic* and *Hawk* after the collision

The 14-meter hole was above the waterline, and the ship remained afloat. Fortunately, there were no casualties in the collision, but the liner suffered serious damage.

*Titanic* leaves Southampton on her first and last voyage, April 10, 1912.

*Titanic*

Wreck of *Titanic*

On the night of April 14-15, 1912, the liner collided with an iceberg. The whole world soon learned about the consequences of this disaster - out of 2,224 people, only 711 managed to escape. Among them was Violet, who got a place in boat No. 16.

As she was boarding the boat, a man asked her to take care of his child. Two hours later, with the baby in her arms, the girl boarded the Carpathia, the first to arrive at the shipwreck site.

Violet Constance Jessop

During the First World War, Violet worked as a British Red Cross nurse. In this capacity, she embarked on a voyage aboard the hospital ship Britannic, the last and largest of the three ocean liners.

In November 1916, the ship was blown up by a mine; during the evacuation, two boats were pulled under the working propellers of the sinking ship. In one of them was Violet, who again miraculously managed to survive.

*Titanic* underwater

Violet lived a long life and died of heart failure at the age of 83. She worked on passenger liners for 42 years, made 2 trips around the world and survived many of those who died during the sinkings of the Titanic and Britannic.

Perhaps the name of this woman would not have been preserved in history if not for her phenomenal ability to survive the most terrible disasters. Misfortunes haunted her since childhood, but by some miracle she managed to find a way out of the most difficult situations. had the opportunity to work on three of the most famous ocean liners - Olympic, Titanic and Britannica. Each of them crashed, but Violet survived.

Doctors predicted Violet's death in early childhood. Then she fell ill with tuberculosis, from which a large number of people died at that time. But the girl not only survived, but also completely recovered from the terrible disease. She was unable to finish school because, due to the death of her father and her mother’s illness, she was forced to look for work. She chose the same profession as her mother - she got a job as a flight attendant on ships of the White Star Line, which operated transatlantic flights.

In 1910, 23-year-old Violet found herself on the huge liner Olympic, the first of three ships of this class in the White Star Line campaign. A year later, the bulky Olympic, as a result of unsuccessful maneuvering, collided with the cruiser Hawk. The 14-meter hole was above the waterline, and the ship remained afloat. Fortunately, there were no casualties in the collision, but the liner suffered serious damage.

Violet continued to work on the Olympic after the ship was repaired, but then a new liner was built, and she was offered to switch to it. So Violet set off on the first and last voyage on the Titanic. On the night of April 14-15, 1912, the liner collided with an iceberg. The whole world soon learned about the consequences of this disaster - out of 2,224 people, only 711 managed to escape. Among them was Violet, who got a place in boat No. 16. As she was boarding the boat, a man asked her to take care of his child. Two hours later, with the baby in her arms, the girl boarded the Carpathia, the first to arrive at the shipwreck site.

During the First World War, Violet worked as a British Red Cross nurse. In this capacity, she embarked on a voyage aboard the hospital ship Britannic, the last and largest of the three ocean liners. In November 1916, the ship was blown up by a mine; during the evacuation, two boats were pulled under the working propellers of the sinking ship. In one of them was Violet, who again miraculously managed to survive.

If you survived a shipwreck, then you can safely count yourself among the lucky ones, and you will definitely never set foot on board a ship again. The same cannot be said about Violet Constance Jessop, the unsinkable lady and the luckiest loser in history. She not only survived the sinking of three large transatlantic twin liners - Olympic, Titanic and Britannic - but also worked on passenger ships until her retirement.

Violet Jessop I have had incredible “luck” since early childhood. She was born on October 2, 1887 in Argentina and became the 9th child in a family of Irish immigrants. At an early age, Violet contracted tuberculosis, and doctors gave her only a few months to live. But, miraculously, she managed to overcome the disease and live a long and healthy life.

When Violet's father died, her mother, Catherine Kelly, moved with her family to Britain, where she got a job as a stewardess on a passenger airliner. While her mother worked, Violet attended a convent school. But Katherine soon died of illness and Violet was left with the responsibility of providing for the entire family. Then the girl decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps and get a job as a flight attendant on a passenger ship.

But finding a ship that would be willing to accept her was not so easy. At that time, Vilett was only 21 years old, and at the beginning of the twentieth century, flight attendants were mostly middle-aged women. Employers believed that her youth and good looks would be a disadvantage in her job, "causing problems" with crew and passengers (over the course of her career, she received at least three marriage proposals while working on various ships, and one of they came from an incredibly wealthy first class passenger).

Violet did not accept an offer from a wealthy first class passenger. She was married once for only 6 months and never had children. She met her true love aboard the Orionto, but her boyfriend promised his mother that he would not marry until she gave him permission. As the years passed, Violet eventually decided to end their relationship.

And yet she managed to find a place. Using old clothes and no makeup, Violet was able to make herself look as unattractive as possible, and then successfully passed the interview. After briefly working aboard the Royal Mail Line's Orionto, Violet Jessop was hired by the White Star Line in 1908, the company that would make her famous.

Three twin liners: Olympic, Titanic and Britannic

Her first ship on these lines was the Magestic, but already in 1910 she transferred to the Olympic, the first of three Olympic-class transatlantic liners (the other two would be the Titanic and Britannic). Despite the long hours and minimum wage (£2.10 a month - about £200 today) Violet enjoyed working on board the huge ship. True, initially she had some concerns about bad weather conditions while traveling through Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, she really liked that the Americans treated her more humanely while she served them.

But just a year later, tragedy struck. On September 20, 1911, the Olympic, due to unsuccessful maneuvering, collided with the cruiser Hawk (a ship designed to ram ships in order to sink them). Both ships suffered enormous damage. "Olympic" received a 14-meter hole above the waterline, but miraculously managed to stay afloat. Fortunately, no one was injured in this disaster and Violet Jessop returned to the port alive and unharmed.

"Olympic" and "Hawk" after the collision

And so, a few years later, the White Star Line company began to assemble a crew for a new VIP-class ship - the unsinkable Titanic. After a bad experience, Violet was hesitant to accept the offer, but after much persuasion from friends and family, she decided to accept the offer. As everyone knows, the Titanic collided with an iceberg and sank, taking with it the lives of more than 1,500 people.

Violet Jessop managed to escape on boat No. 16. She later said:

“I was called on deck. Passengers walked calmly. I stood at the bulkhead with the other flight attendants, watching the women hug their husbands before boarding the boat with their children. After some time, the navigator ordered us to board the boat first to show the other women that it was safe.”

As Violet boarded the boat, one of the men gave her his child and asked her to take care of him. On the ship "Carpathia", which rescued the survivors, the child's mother (at least that's how Jessop introduced herself) found her and took her son away (according to Violet's recollections, she simply snatched the child from her arms and ran away with him).

No one still knows the name of the child who was given to Violet on the sinking Titanic. There were 128 children on board the ship, half of whom survived. Even the gender is not known. And in all these years, no one has ever admitted that they were that child. Although she herself Violet Jessop claimed that one day a stranger called her and said that he was that child. Although before this, Violet had never told this story to anyone. According to documents, only one child was with Violet in boat No. 16 - 5-month-old Assad Alexander Thomas. But his uncle gave it to Edwina Celia Trott when the ship sank.

And again Violet survived to set sail again. Despite everything we've experienced, later Violet Jessop admitted that the first thing she regretted was this toothbrush forgotten on board the Titanic. One can easily assume that after two disasters a person will definitely not want to board, or at least sail on, Olympic-class ships. But not Violet Jessop. During World War I, Violet got a job on the Titanic's sister ship, the Britannic, as a Red Cross nurse. Given her track record, it's not hard to guess what happened next.

On November 21, 1916, the Britannic hit a German mine in the Aegean Sea. The ship received significant damage and quickly began to sink. Unfortunately, this time Violet was unable to get on the rescue boat, as the ship sank very quickly. Instead, in her own words, she jumped overboard.

“I jumped into the water, but the keel of the ship began to suck me in, which hit me on the head. Still, I miraculously managed to escape. But years later, when I went to the doctor because of severe headaches, he informed me that somehow I had suffered a skull fracture!”

Violet Jessop She even joked that she was saved only thanks to her huge head of hair, which softened the blow. And she noted that this time she did not forget her toothbrush on board, as was the case with the Titanic.

But this last misfortune did not deter Vilett from further sailing. After the war, ships became an increasingly popular mode of transport. And over time, they began to appear cruise ships. She left her job with the White Star Line and went to the Red Star Line, where she worked on cruises for several years.

Fortunately for Violet Jessop and other passengers, no significant damage was caused to any of the liners on which she subsequently served. After the Second World War, she did clerical work for some time, but then returned to work on ships for the Royal Mail company. She worked there until her retirement at the age of 61. For the rest of her life, Violet raised chickens and gardened. She died on May 5, 1971 from heart failure at the ripe old age of 84.