Encyclopedia Titanica

Julius Sap

Third Class Passenger

Julies Sap

Mr Julius "Jules" Sap, 25, was born in Rek, near Zwevezele, Belgium. He worked farm hand. Like his compatriots Theodore De Mulder and Jean Scheerlinckx, he was heading to assist in the sugar beet campaign near Detroit, Michigan.

He boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a third class passenger (ticket number 345768, £9 10s).

Jules recalled that he was immediately awakened by the impact with the iceberg. He put on his trousers and headed to the deck above. He quickly learned that the Titanic had struck an iceberg and was sinking. Sap stated that he difficulty in finding a lifebelt. Fear gripping him, he freely admitted that he had to threaten someone at knifepoint in order to be given one. Sap stated that there was very little order in the third class area. People were crowding, shoving and trying to understand what to do.

He was probably rescued in lifeboat 11 but the boat number is not known with any certainty.

After his rescue, Sap and his friends were swindled out of earnings from a travelling show in which they gave accounts of their rescue (see Scheerlinckx).

He stayed in the United States and journeyed to Canada to work as a farm hand near Toronto. In 1914, he returned to Belgium to join the army and served in WW1 as a soldier. He married in 1918 and returned with his wife to America in 1924. He worked on a tobacco plantation in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but living conditions were poor and at his wife's insistence, they returned to Belgium for good the following year. He resumed work as a farm hand, joining the annual sugar beet campaigns in northern France until he retired. Occasionally, he would perform again, telling the Titanic story in cinemas and receiving a commission on admittance fees.

When Sap died on 15th December, 1966, he was the last surviving Belgian passenger who had sailed on the Titanic.

Notes

Frequently listed as "Jules Sop".

References and Sources

Contract Ticket List, White Star Line 1912 (National Archives, New York; NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55[279])
Herman De Wulf and Michael A. Findlay (1998) The Belgians and the Titanic. Voyage. #27
Michael Findlay Revised Passenger List in Judith Geller Titanic: Women and Children First. Haynes. ISBN 1 85260 594 4

Credits

Herman DeWulf, Belgium
Peter Engberg-Klarström, Sweden
Michael A. Findlay, USA
Georges Picavet, Belgium
Kassandra Picavet, Belgium

Comment and discuss

  1. Daisy Parmentier

    Daisy Parmentier

    jules sap from belgium, zwevezele, was a cousin from mother raymonde sap and she is still alive en well at 84 years. i am de daughter of raymonde sap and i live near ypres, belgium.
  2. Daisy Parmentier

    Daisy Parmentier

    jules sap from zwevezele in belgium was a cousin from my mother raymonde sap she is still alive and well at 84 years i am the daughter and i live near ieper in belgium
  3. Leenknegt65

    Leenknegt65

    I read in the book "De Vlamingen op de Titanic" by Dirk Musschoot that Juius Sap was married with Adele Leenknegt. I wounder if it is family of mine, because my family name is also Leenknegt. I lived in Belgium in Antwerp till 1988, then moved to the netherlands, Zutphen
  4. Leenknegt65

    Leenknegt65

    Hoi Daisy, Ik ben al jaren heel erg geïnteresseerd in alles wat met Titanic te maken heeft. Speciaal dit jaar begint het hele Titanic verhaal een gezicht te krijgen, omdat ik steeds meer namen van passagiers tegenkom, met name allemaal mensen uit mijn geboortestreek. Ik ben het boek aan het lezen "De Vlamingen op de Titanic"en las dat Julius Sap gehuwd is geweest met Adele Leenknegt. Nu is mijn achternaam ook Leenknegt, en het is heel toevallig dat het op dezelfde manier geschreven wordt, vaak is het "Leenknecht". Ik wil hier graag onderzoek naar doen. Misschien kan u me verder helpen. Mocht u informatie hebben zou ik het heel erg aardig vinden als u contact met me zoekt. Ik hoop van u te horen. Met vriendelijke groeten Gery Leenknegt
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Titanic Passenger Summary

Name: Mr Julius Sap
Age: 21 years 6 months and 25 days (Male)
Nationality: Belgian
Marital Status: Single
Last Residence: in Zwevezele, Belgium
Embarked: Southampton on Wednesday 10th April 1912
Ticket No. 345768, £9 10s
Rescued  
Disembarked Carpathia: New York City on Thursday 18th April 1912
Died: Thursday 15th December 1966 aged 76 years

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