Lifejackets

Beverly,the life jackets are quite a mystery. FWIW, I contacted the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Belfast, Ireland, and this is what they had to say...

"The lifejackets and indeed the lifebelts carried aboard Titanic were not peculiar to that ship, but were standard issue on British registered passenger ships."

This statement sort of reinforces what Mr. Standart had said above. Heck, I've been looking for the manufacture of the lifebelts for awhile now, but I can't track down who made them....

Best regards,

-Dean
 
Hi everyone!

I can't remember what book I saw this in, but there is a photo that was taken on board the Carpathia of a huge pile of lifejackets that the survivors had discarded. I believe a crew member is standing next to the pile to give it some scale--it is well over his head. The jackets appear to be pretty beat up--wet and soggy probably. I assume that this pile was thrown away when they docked in NY. I doubt that the jackets could have been reused.
Hope this helps you out.
Tracey M.
 
Good question Chris. I would imagine that the ones left behind on the carpathia were turned over to the White Star Line along with the lifeboats. I'm sure White Star didn't want to reuse them. A stained (salt water) used life preserver would not look good to a passenger after the Titanic now would it?

I know one or two ended up in Museums. I think most survivors were just in a hurry to get off the Carpathia and be reunited with family at the time and hadn't thought about suveiners.
 
Actually I was at the THS a couple weeks ago and Mr. KAmuda told me that Mrs. Astors recently got shipped somewhere else. If memory serves me correctly I think it was Orlando.
P.S. There is one up for auction in June? What are the details.
 
A life jacket is on a tour of Britain at the moment. The story, as far as I can recall, is a bit gruesome and goes something like this. One of the crew members of a recovery ship (the Minia?) kept the lifejacket off a recovered body and taught his daughter how to swim using it as a buoyancy device.

Cheers,

Boz
 
Hello everyone! This is my first post. I just happened to be reading the current issue of Smithsonian magazine and turned to page 38. There is a two page article regarding the life vest on display at the Smithsonian museum which had been donated to them in 1982. Just wanted to give you all an FYI if you have access to this magazine.

I've been visiting this site for over a year now and enjoy all the information.

Take care!
Kim
 

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