History
The 3 Dogs That Survived The Titanic Shipwreck
Written by: Bruno Rojas Lopez
The Titanic has been one of the most devastating shipwrecks in history with around a thousand five hundred lives being lost. Since then, the catastrophe has been produced into Hollywood movies, undergone several investigations, and has been made into documentaries for testimonials to speak about their fallen loved ones. Yet one story remains to be told, and this is the story about how three dogs managed to escape the tragedy that unfolded in the North Atlantic Ocean.
In total, there were twelve reported dogs on the Titanic and only three dogs managed to escape. Truthfully, they only managed to reach the lifeboats because of their size (Two Pomeranians and one Pekingese); they were also quickly carried to safety by their owners.
The first Pomeranian was named “Lady” and she had been recently bought in Paris by Margaret Bechstein Hays; the twenty-four-year-old woman had been on recent travels with her friends in Europe. Margaret wrapped “Lady” in a blanket and brought her along as she stepped on lifeboat 7. Officials initially thought she was a baby, so they gave her faster access to the boat.
The second dog was a Pekingese named “Sun-Yat-Sen”, which belonged to Myra and Henry S. Harper. Despite the “children and women only” rule, Myra and Henry both made it into lifeboat 3 along with “Sun-Yat-Sen”. According to J. Joseph Edgette, a historian and anthropologist at Widener University, the Harper couple said: “There seemed to be lots of room, and nobody made any objection.”
The last dog was an unnamed Pomeranian, which belonged to Martin and Elizabeth Jane Rothschild. Elizabeth boarded lifeboat 6 along with the Pomeranian, carrying the dog by her side. Eventually, they were rescued the next morning by the RMS Carpathia. Initially, they didn’t allow the dog to enter the lifeboat but Elizabeth was very persistent.
Other dogs that did not survive were: A French Bulldog named “Gamin de Pycombe”. Gamin was going to participate in a national talent competition in New York. A King Charles Spaniel and an Airdale’s lives were also lost, along with a Chow Chow and a Fox Terrier.
The other dogs had been kept in kennels in the lower levels until someone managed to open the kennels and allowed the dogs to run to the high deck. Despite this heroic action to save the animals’ lives, they faced the same fate as the fifteen-hundred people who remained on board.
However, instead of only paying attention to the architectural faults of the Titanic and the mistakes that could’ve been prevented; we must remember the lives of the fifteen-hundred people and their nine loyal companions that stayed behind and left space in the lifeboats for their fellow human friends.
