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All stories At sea · 1911–1916

Violet Jessop

Miss Unsinkable

Violet Jessop was aboard the Olympic when it collided with a warship, survived the Titanic, and four years later survived the sinking of the Britannic too.

Violet Jessop in Voluntary Aid Detachment Uniform

Violet Jessop worked as a stewardess on the great ocean liners. On September 20, 1911, she was aboard RMS Olympic when it collided with the British warship HMS Hawke. No one died.

On April 10, 1912, she boarded the Titanic. She escaped in lifeboat 16, and as it was lowered, Sixth Officer James Moody handed her a baby to look after.

During the First World War she served as a nurse, and in 1916 she was aboard the hospital ship Britannic when it hit a German mine. She jumped from her lifeboat as the ship’s propellers tore apart nearby boats, and she survived a serious head injury.

They called her “Miss Unsinkable.” She died in 1971, aged 83.

Watch this storySources and photo credits are below.

Fact check

The facts and where they come from

  1. She was an ocean liner stewardess, and a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse during the First World War. 1
  2. She was aboard RMS Olympic on September 20, 1911, when it collided with the British warship HMS Hawke; there were no deaths. 1
  3. She boarded the Titanic as a stewardess on April 10, 1912. In lifeboat 16, as it was lowered, Sixth Officer James Moody gave her a baby to look after. 1
  4. She was a nurse on HMHS Britannic, which sank in 1916 after hitting a German naval mine. She jumped from her lifeboat as the ship’s propellers shredded nearby lifeboats, and survived a traumatic head injury. 1
  5. She was known as “Miss Unsinkable,” and died in 1971 at the age of 83. 1

Sources

  1. Violet Jessop Wikipedia

Photo credits

The archive photos in this story

All the photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, music, captions and graphics in the Short are our own.

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