What happened to the bodies?

[sir john adams]

I know the stern sank . And she imploded. But the bow even that she sank "slowly" I Know at least a couple of people were taken down with her. I know at least the collapsible filled with passengers that went up against the crew quaters. Went down with the ship. And if the windows broke. They would have sucked in the people in the water. (This includes Lorrain Allison they only first class child lost) anyways. Now there are those people in the crew quaters. Plenty of third class passengers who didn't wake up. And a bunch if others. That are now traveling down to the bottom of the ocean in various locations throughout the flooded bow. But all that's down there is boots. And little articles of whatever survived to the bottom. But where are the bodies! I haven't seen a single hint of a skeleton anywhere. Where did they go. The Parisian catacombs have been down there for centuries. So where are the bodies of the Titanic?

 

[Robert T. Paige]

I have read some reports that the bodies were consumed by sea life and the bones simply corroded into dust.
Would the bodies have also been crushed or compressed by the tremendous pressure at that depth ?
I don't believe any traces of bodies were seen on those robot submersibles on those first explorations ?
Weren't there some reports or opinions that some persons went to the bottom while still in their cabins ?

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Your body is made up mostly of fluids and solids which cannot be significantly compressed. That's why marine life can exist at great depths. So the bodies would not be flattened by pressure, but those parts which contain significant amounts of air, like the lungs, ear and sinuses, would be ruptured as the air is compressed.

 

[robert warren]

Bodies,like food, are very organic,and those bodies that drifted to the bottom would have been consumed by bacteria and marine life within a short time frame.However I did read not too long ago that the deep bowels of the ship like the forward compartments and boiler rooms MAY have some remains.If one looks at the explorations,the further you go inside the ship, the more woodwork and other elements remain.The same may go for human remains as well.We will never know for sure.Of course some people think that all 1500 people were on the upper decks as the ship sank,but this isn't true.There were people trapped inside the ship (stern included) or stuck inside remaining air pockets as the Titanic went down.I shudder at the thought of this as it's a very horrible way to die.The other bodies more or less drifted with currents, sank and drifted some more as they made their way to the bottom.It is interesting to note that of all the people that perished,only 356 bodies were recovered by the recovery ships.

 

[sir john adams]

i know that means over 500 persons. just drifted in the ocean. for ever before the seemingly rotted away

 

[Robert T. Paige]

I think this is just one more of those mysteries which will never be explained.

 

[sir john adams]

i guess

I think this is just one more of those mysteries which will never be explained.

i guess. its a shame thought .....................

 

[jerry7171]

Does anyone remember the minor flap over the possibility of remains still around and inside Titanic? The lead photo from the New York Times was provocative. I'm still uncertain if that is an actual person or just a chance juxtaposition of a boot with a (possibly decayed) suitcase.

Experts Split on Possibility of Remains at Titanic Site

 

[Adam Went]

You would think that with all the expeditions that have been carried out in the past 30 years, if there were any major remains with the wreck, they would have been seen. A century is a long time for the elements and nature to take their toll.

Cheers,
Adam.

 

[PRR5406]

Flesh was consumed by any living creatures and bacteria, very rapidly. The calcium of bones would dissolve at the molecular level, wherever water flows over them. I would speculate if any humans were trapped inside the bow, small amounts of their remains might be retained. It do not think anyone was trapped inside the below deck regions of the bow. The timeline really doesn't support that kind of entrapment.

 

[AlexP]

I wonder if somebody had ever figured out why the bodies got separated from the lifeboats and the wreckage?

 

[PRR5406]

Graphic honesty here; any weight associated with a person's pockets would drag them down, although the buoyancy of fresh water and fat over salted sea water would be a factor. If bodies followed the sections as they fell into the depths, water pressure might squeeze out remaining air in the lungs and clothing, causing them to fall. Once gases built up in the bodies, which is pretty quick, the corpses would rise to the surface. As wave and wind action became more vigorous on the surface, bodies and life boats would be swept along at varying speed. Life belts or lack thereof, would be a factor. Fish and seabird interventions come into play as well. There are so many issues in the aftermath, one can only speculate, and each theory would probably "hold water" (sorry).

 

[AlexP]

I believe the vast majority of victims were wearing life jackets. So it probably did not matter what was in their pockets. They never went down to begin with. I believe Most of the victims died from hypothermia, not from the drowning. The lifeboats and some wreckage were found less than 2 hours after the Titanic went down and yet there were no bodies. Why?

 

[PRR5406]

Most of them died of hypothermia, that's correct. Some of them went into the water with just what they were wearing, but consider this, the face of the Atlantic is a large arena. The ocean became a bit more active in the daylight hours and searching for darkly clothed bodies, even those wearing lifebelts, would be difficult at best. Then there is the immediate trauma of the huge ship going down and witnessing the absolute terminal moment. By the time "Carpathia" arrived, scrambling for signs of life was the critical agenda, and many bodies were left on the surface intentionally. Between that time and the arrival of "MacKay-Bennett", these people weren't likely to stick around. At least one lifeboat was consolidated into another (there's a pity) and at least one overturned collapsible was relieved and abandoned.

"I ain't got nobody, and nobody ain't got me!"

 

[AlexP]

Well, the bodies were not there. Some survivors testified they could not see any bodies from Carpathia. when there was daylight. The Carpathia's Captain Rostron said he saw only one body. Californian specifically looked for bodies, but saw none.
Ocean became more active. There was some wind too. It appears that lifeboats together with some wreckage and the bodies were drifting somewhat differently, but why.