Personal effects in Collapsible A

[George Pastarmatzis]

"The one boat not brought back by Carpathia was Collapsible "A", which had been swamped and was deemed unsalvageable and cut adrift by Officer Lowe when he transferred survivors out of it into a more stable craft. It was found a month later by the liner Oceanic, two hundred miles from the collision site but still afloat with three bodies and an assortment of jewelry and personal belongings in the bottom of it."
Any details about this? What are those jewelry and personal belongings about? George ...

 

[Ben Holme]

Hi George,

The most interesting personal item found in the boat was a wedding ring belonging to 3rd class passenger Elin Gerda Lindell. She and her husband had swam to the boat with a few Swedish acquaintances. While it is known that Edward Lindell managed to secure a place in the swamped boat, his wife could not climb over the sides, despite August Wennerstrom's best efforts to assist. Edward succumbed a shortly afterwards and his body lowered over the side to make room for the living.

The ring may have come off in Wennerstrom's hands as he tried to pull Mrs. Lindell in, or else her husband had kept in for safe keeping. In any case, the ring was later found in the bottom of the boat by the Oceanic's crew along with a fur coat belonging to Richard Norris Williams, who had also survived on collapsible A. If any other personal belongings were found, they presumably belonged to Beattie and the other two bodies.

Just out of interest, where did you find the information that "A" was the *only* boat returned by the Carpathia? The evidence I've found would indicate that several were cast adrift by the Carpathia; to my recollection boats 1,4,14 and 15.

Regards,
Ben

 

[George Pastarmatzis]

Ben,
Thank you for the useful piece of information. As far as the quotation is concerned, I happened to locate it in a site that I cannot recollect that dealt exclusively with Titanic's lifeboats and I only posted it in order to find out whether it is true or not. Evidently, some parts of it are absolutely true! George ...

 

[Drew Adamick]

Also, collapsible "B" was not picked up by the Carpathia. But this was to be expected since "B" was upside down. I also read somewhere that "B" was also found by the Mackey-Bennett when she was sent to recover the bodies, and was probably sunk in order to make sure it doesn't crash into another ship.

 

[Andrew J. Evano]

I believe as well that a fur coat was found on this boat. It was dried out and returned to its owner. A young passenger, whose name escapes me at the moment, claims he took it off before going after the boat in the water and somehow the coat was caught up on it anyway. I am in my office now and without any resources. I will verify this later on today.

Andrew

 

[George Pastarmatzis]

Thanks Andrew! Keep up the good work!

 

[Tim Brandsoy]

That would be Mr. Williams coat found on Collapsible A.

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/bio/p/1st/williams_rn.shtml

 

[George Pastarmatzis]

Thank you Tim! You are most helpful!

 

[Andrew J. Evano]

Thanks Tim......There is also a story regarding a cane that supposeld belonged to Mr. Williams father. However, that was found to be false and was reported due to a simple spelling error.

 

[George Pastarmatzis]

Hi again! Can anyone tell what the boats carried after the evacuation apart from the things the passengers carried with them? I mean food, some kind of a light, supplies etc. I have the impression that they were mostly empty and that some female passengers angrily protested about it! Any more details on the matter would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!