Canada – Nova Scotia – Halifax – Titanic

2019 MAY 20 —–

It was raining so hard when I left Lunenburg that the car was hydroplaning. When I arrived in Halifax it was still early morning and not yet time for any museums to open. The rain died down a bit by the time I got to Halifax, so I decided to go to the Fairview Cemetery – the Titanic Grave Site. It is a nice big cemetery with a lane wide enough for 2 cars to pass, albeit carefully. The grave site was well marked and I pulled over to stop behind another vehicle. The other vehicle’s occupant and I somberly explored the site together.

One hundred and twenty-one Titanic victims are buried here. The simple block of black granite tombstones (paid for by the White Star Line) are positioned to look like the bow of a ship – ironically with the point of the bow higher than the rest, like it is sinking.

42 are unnamed, saying only “DIED APRIL 15, 1912” and a number. Some had a name, death date, but no birth date. Some families paid for bigger and more elaborate markers with a story etched into the granite.

There is a big tombstone for the “Unknown Child”. The sailors aboard the Mackay-Bennett were so shaken by the recovery of this tiny body that they paid for the monument. DNA testing in 2007 proved his identity to be Sidney Leslie Goodwin, aged 19 months, from Wiltshire England.

There were, of course, non-Titanic graves here as well. Some tombstones were tall pillars, almost as tall as me, that had different names and dates etched around the entire column. I can only guess that it is a mausoleum for family ashes.

Later that week I went to the Maritime Museum where I learned a lot more about the Titanic. Everyone had heard the sinking of the HMS Titanic on 14 April 1912, but not much about the days afterwards.

Even before the survivors reached New York, the White Star Line had already chartered Britain’s Mackay-Bennett cable ship, that was already in Halifax, to retrieve the bodies of the victims.

It took 2 days to ready the Mackay-Bennett with 100 coffins, embalming fluid for 70 bodies, 100 tons of ice to store the bodies, 12 tons of grate iron weight to bury bodies at sea ( 12.7 kg or 28 lbs each) and a crew that had no idea of the sickening sights they would see. She left harbour on 17 April 1912. It took 4 days to travel the 800 nautical miles (1500 km or 920 miles) to the scene of the disaster. She recovered a total of 306 bodies, 116 were buried at sea due to the body’s severe damage or lack of embalming fluid. 56 of those buried at sea were identified.

The Mackay-Bennett found so many bodies in the first few days that it ran out of embalming fluid. (Health laws required that bodies be preserved in order to return to port.) The difficult decision was made to preserve only the bodies of 1st Class passengers, reasoning that the wealthy would have critical estate disputes. Bodies of the crew, 2nd, and 3rd Class passengers were buried at sea after being documented. Once additional supplies reached the MacKay-Bennett, the burials at sea stopped and the bodies were preserved.

First-class passenger’s bodies were embalmed and placed into coffins then stored in a rear cable locker. 2^nd and 3^rd class victims were embalmed then wrapped in canvas and stored in the forward cable locker. Crew members were simply placed into the ice filled hold.

Recovery was hard, grim work amidst large waves and dangerous ice floes. Crews were paid double and given extra rum rations. There was no need for a sermon from the chaplain on Sunday. The entire week had been one long sermon, seeing things that resonated more deeply than words could ever speak.

When it became clear that the Mackay-Bennett could not handle the grim job alone, a second cable ship, Canada’s CS Minia was dispatched. She left Halifax 22 April 1912. She carried 150 coffins, 20 tons of ice, and 10 tons of weight. She spent a week looking for bodies but only found 17 (numbers 307 to 323). She buried 2 at sea. She returned to Halifax on 6 May 1912.

Upon her return, she transferred the empty coffins and spare embalming fluid onto the CGS Montmagmy. She left harbour on 6 May 1912 and recovered only 4 bodies. One was buried at sea.

On 16 May 1912, the SS Algerine left Halifax and searched for 3 weeks for more bodies, but only found one.

Nine other bodies were found by 4 other ships. All were buried at sea.

On 30 April 1912 the Mackay-Bennett returned to Halifax to the sound of church and fire bells ringing. Funerary carriages awaited. At times there were 30-40 bodies in a heap on the deck as they were taken from the ice-filled hold. The Mayflower Curling Rink was used as the morgue. Any evidence found on the body was numbered to coincide with the victim and used to aid identification. This same numbering process was used again after the Halifax Explosion.

Only 23% of the total dead were recovered, 334 bodies. All had life preservers on. 150 bodies are buried in Halifax in three different cemeteries – 121 at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, 19 at Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery, and 10 at the Baron de Hirsch Jewish Cemetery. 59 bodies were claimed and taken elsewhere for burial. 42 of the bodies buried in Halifax remain unidentified, out of a total of 118 unidentified (some were buried at sea). 125 bodies were buried at sea, due to their severe damage or lack of embalming fluid. 1200 bodies would never be found.

In the Maritime Museum were artifacts from the Titanic. It was not unusual, in those days, for sailors to collect the floating items and bring them home. All these items were later donated to the museum by the sailor’s family. The largest item was a deck chair, with a star emblazoned on the headrest. Only the woven seat had to be replaced, but was done to match what was known to be the original weave.

There was a bit of intricately carved wood that was once part of an archway leading into a lounge. Another artifact was a newel post from the grand staircase. These pictures are from the Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic, as no photos are available of the Titanic’s interior.

There were menu cards for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd class passengers. Each menu was on display in a diorama of the stateroom they would have had. The 1^st class passenger’s staterooms were beautiful suites with crystal chandeliers, fancy linens, and fine furniture. The 3^rd class, not so much.

Also on display was a poster advertising the return trip to England. The trip that never happened.

Titanic tickets prices:
First Class: Family – $1197, Single – $138
Second Class: Family – $190, Single – $63
Third Class: Family – $104, Single – $36