Commodore of Cunard Fleet and Captain of Berengaria 35 Years in Line's Service
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SAVED 706 FROM TITANIC
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Rescue by Carpathia Won for Him American Decoration and Plaudits of World
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Wireless to THE NEW YORK TIMES
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LONDON, Oct. 31----Captain Sir Arthur Rostron, Commodore of the Cunard fleet, has decided to leave the sea. He is taking the opportunity while his ship, the Berengaria, is withdrawn from
service for extensive overhauling, to retire, having passed the age of 61 last May.
Captain Rostron served his apprenticeship on sailing craft and entered the Cunard service in 1885 and became fourth officer of the old Umbria, once the holder of the Atlantic blue ribbon.
When the Titanic struck an iceberg, the Carpathia, of which he was then captain, picked up her S O S sixty miles away and raced to the aid of the sinking ship, taking aboard 706 survivors. For that Captain Rostron received from Congress a gold medal and its special thanks, and from President Taft a personal letter of thanks.
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The early retirement of Captain Rostron was predicted here earlier in the week, when the local office of the Cunard Line announced that, in accordance with a decision of the board of directors in Liverpool three weeks ago, the retirement age had been lowered from 63 to 60 years. At that time it was said that he would probably make a farewell trip here early next year in command of his old ship, the Mauretania.
The captain was born in Bolton, Lancashire, in September, 1869, and has followed the sea since he was 18 years old, at which age he went on the training ship Conway of the British Navy. Two years later he shipped before the mast as an apprentice on sailing vessels in the Liverpool trade and circled the globe several times in the next few years. He once said that the nearest he ever came to death was when the bark Red Gauntlet, on which he was a seaman, toppled over on her beam end in a storm off the south coast of New Zealand.
He graduated from sail to steam in 1895, when he went to the Concord as fourth officer. He served in the same capacity on other Cunard ships and as fourth officer of the Umbria made his first trip to New York. He had been promoted to first officer of the Lusitania when that vessel was about to go into service for the first time, but the day before she started on her maiden voyage, the Cunard Line put him in command of the Brescia in the Mediterranean trade.
He remained in that trade for several years, leaving it temporarily to serve in the British Navy during the Russo-Japanese War. His service as captain of the Carpathia in rescuing survivors of the Titanic made his name known throughout the world and brought him many decorations and other honors.
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SAVED 706 FROM TITANIC
---
Rescue by Carpathia Won for Him American Decoration and Plaudits of World
---
Wireless to THE NEW YORK TIMES
---
LONDON, Oct. 31----Captain Sir Arthur Rostron, Commodore of the Cunard fleet, has decided to leave the sea. He is taking the opportunity while his ship, the Berengaria, is withdrawn from
service for extensive overhauling, to retire, having passed the age of 61 last May.
Captain Rostron served his apprenticeship on sailing craft and entered the Cunard service in 1885 and became fourth officer of the old Umbria, once the holder of the Atlantic blue ribbon.
When the Titanic struck an iceberg, the Carpathia, of which he was then captain, picked up her S O S sixty miles away and raced to the aid of the sinking ship, taking aboard 706 survivors. For that Captain Rostron received from Congress a gold medal and its special thanks, and from President Taft a personal letter of thanks.
---
The early retirement of Captain Rostron was predicted here earlier in the week, when the local office of the Cunard Line announced that, in accordance with a decision of the board of directors in Liverpool three weeks ago, the retirement age had been lowered from 63 to 60 years. At that time it was said that he would probably make a farewell trip here early next year in command of his old ship, the Mauretania.
The captain was born in Bolton, Lancashire, in September, 1869, and has followed the sea since he was 18 years old, at which age he went on the training ship Conway of the British Navy. Two years later he shipped before the mast as an apprentice on sailing vessels in the Liverpool trade and circled the globe several times in the next few years. He once said that the nearest he ever came to death was when the bark Red Gauntlet, on which he was a seaman, toppled over on her beam end in a storm off the south coast of New Zealand.
He graduated from sail to steam in 1895, when he went to the Concord as fourth officer. He served in the same capacity on other Cunard ships and as fourth officer of the Umbria made his first trip to New York. He had been promoted to first officer of the Lusitania when that vessel was about to go into service for the first time, but the day before she started on her maiden voyage, the Cunard Line put him in command of the Brescia in the Mediterranean trade.
He remained in that trade for several years, leaving it temporarily to serve in the British Navy during the Russo-Japanese War. His service as captain of the Carpathia in rescuing survivors of the Titanic made his name known throughout the world and brought him many decorations and other honors.
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