Results: Violet Jessop, "Miss Unsinkable" (Part 2 of 3)
Published on 03/26/2023
Ship stewardess and nurse Violet Jessop was working on the ships Olympic, Titanic, and Britannic when disaster struck. Born to Irish parents in Argentina, Violet's family moved to London following her father's death. She was hired as a ship's stewardess at 21.
QUESTIONS
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Comments
1.
1.
At 23, Violet began working as a stewardess in first class cabins on the luxury ship, RMS Olympic, which was the largest civilian liner at the time. The White Star Line required her to work 17 hours a day making beds, cleaning bathrooms, bringing breakfast trays, etc. and she was always on call. Would you want a job with that work schedule?
No, that's excessive.
57%
1243 votes
Maybe
10%
217 votes
Only as a last resort
13%
287 votes
Yes, you have to work hard to get ahead.
3%
70 votes
N/A
17%
383 votes
2.
2.
September 20, 1911, Olympic unintentionally collided with British warship HMS Hawke (designed to sink ships by ramming them). Despite massive damage, there were no fatalities, and Olympic made it back to port without sinking. (The left photo shows Olympic, and the right is Hawke.) Considering that Olympic's hull was breached below the water line, are you surprised the liner made it back to port?
Yes
57%
1248 votes
Maybe
17%
365 votes
No
8%
186 votes
N/A
18%
401 votes
3.
3.
Seven months later, 4 days after 24-year-old Violet boarded the luxury liner RMS Titanic, the ship struck an iceberg. Initially the passengers and some of the crew thought abandoning ship was just a precaution. Violet was ordered to the deck to demonstrate the proper way to enter the lifeboats. But the emergency was very real, and on April 14, 1912, Titanic sank in just over 2 hours. There were not enough lifeboats on the ship promoted as "unsinkable", and of the approximately 2200 passengers and crew members, 1500 people perished. How do you feel about the inadequate number of lifeboats?
It's criminal.
42%
916 votes
It's unforgiveable.
26%
579 votes
It's understandable.
5%
107 votes
Everyone makes mistakes.
3%
71 votes
If you travel by sea, you must assume the risks.
5%
100 votes
N/A
19%
427 votes
4.
4.
As Violet's lifeboat was being lowered, one of the officers handed her a baby. She covered the infant in a blanket she had brought with her and looked after it during the long night before they were rescued by RMS Carpathia. Hours later as she stood on the deck, Violet was surprised when the baby's mother approached, grabbed the child, and ran off without saying a word. "I did wonder why . . . she had not expressed one word of gratitude for her baby's life." Why do you think the baby's mother said nothing?
She was overcome to see her baby alive.
15%
321 votes
She was in shock.
34%
748 votes
She was almost hysterical.
7%
161 votes
There was a language barrier.
4%
98 votes
She felt any decent person would look after an infant without needing to be thanked.
4%
83 votes
She was thoughtless.
8%
178 votes
She had no manners.
4%
86 votes
N/A
24%
525 votes
5.
5.
Violet later stated that the first thing she missed after Titanic sank was her toothbrush. Your thoughts?
That would be a priority for me, too.
5%
119 votes
Proper dental care is important.
8%
173 votes
Maybe she was in denial, focusing on something mundane to avoid confronting the horror of what happened.
31%
679 votes
A toothbrush would be low on my list. I'd rub soap on my teeth with my finger.
12%
266 votes
That's bizarre.
21%
459 votes
N/A
23%
504 votes
COMMENTS