Saved When Titanic Sank in Lifeboat Numbered 13

Toronto Woman Recalls Night When Almost 1,000 Drowned

JUST 22 YEARS AGO

Twenty-two years ago tomorrow the Titanic sank with 1,635 souls aboard – the greatest single marine disaster of all time.

Only 705 escaped death in the icy waters of the Atlantic. One of these was Mrs. D.D. Mann of 185 Glenmount Park Ave., then a girl of 13 years. The events of that night of tragedy are etched indelibly on her memory.

"Until the day of my death, I shall never forget a single moment of that night," Mrs. Mann told The Star today. "I was crossing the ocean with my mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Mellinger. We intended visiting friends in New York.

"I first remember the steward knocking on our door, ordering us up on deck. We were travelling second class and were away down on E deck, in the lower part of the ship. I had a pair of new shoes and, failing to get them on in the panic of the moment, I carried them up all those flights of stairs in my hand. The elevators weren't running.

"Once up on deck, we realized that the Titanic was sinking. A man we knew as 'Mr. Hoffman' of Monte Carlo helped me put on my shoes. Later we learned that he was a Frenchman whose right name was [Navratil]. He had kidnapped his two little boys, Monon and Lolo, from the custody of their mother at Nice and was spiriting them away to the United States under an assumed name. They were saved and their mother got them back. He was drowned.

In Boat No. 13

"I was dressed only in a woollen shirt, my shoes, and my overcoat. Hand in hand with my mother, we stood there in the sombre blackness of the night. Sparks were flying from the funnels as the water drowned the fires below. Rockets were shooting up in a fiery trail. Women were screaming and half-clothed men were rushing up and down the decks.

"Mother and I were near a lifeboat as it was swung away over the side. It was Number 13 – a lucky number for us. I thought of what that number meant for us several times on Friday, April 13. An officer in our boat shot at a man who tried to leap in our boat. I don't know if he hit him our not. We were lowered down to the water. It seemed to take ages.

"This was about 2 o'clock in the morning. We rowed around all night after the Titanic went down. Press reports of that day said that the people still aboard sang as the band played 'Nearer, My God, to Thee.' Some stokers, who were in our boat, said they heard people singing. There was so much noise you couldn't tell whether they were singing or screaming.

"Mother and I were soaked to the knees for hours. We were sitting in the well of the first boat for hours and it was a foot deep in water. We picked up Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller, who later played a prominent part in the United States Senate investigation. My mother pulled him out of the water and chafed his chilled limbs until the effect of exposure was worn off.

"We later picked up survivors clinging to a life raft. I can still remember the men throwing the bodies of those who had succumbed from exposure back into the water.

"It was well after daylight when we were picked up by the liner Carpathia. My mother was unconscious by that time. It was days before she was up and around again."

Willing hands brought them blankets and warm food, Mrs. Mann recalled. For the first day she slept beside Mrs. John Jacob Astor, youthful bride of the wealthy New Yorker. Four months later, Mrs. Astor, widowed by the sinking of the Titanic, became the mother of a boy, Mrs. Astor later married William A. Dick. Only a few months ago she wed for the third time, marrying an Italian boxing instructor.

"I never read about anyone connected with the sinking of the Titanic but what it brings back every second of that night," Mrs. Mann admitted. "I always feel that I want to scream when I even hear any mention of that ship's name."

Curator's note: Despite the title of the article, Violet and her mother were more than likely saved in Boat 14, judging from her experience of an officer in boat firing shots to keep the men from leaping in, which matches other accounts from her mentioning she was in the boat with Fifth Officer Lowe.

We would like to thank Wolfric Rogers for contributing this article. If you would like to contribute a primary source to Titanic Archive, please contact us.