Titanic, 100 Years Ago Today

Titanic, "Ship of Dreams"

The brand-new Titanic was the pride of the White Star fleet at the time she set out on her maiden voyage in April 1912. She was truly a ship of dreams until the nightmare of her sinking a century ago today. Most people pretty much know her story through numerous books and movies—the tale has been told and retold many times. Today we bow our heads to remember the souls who lost their lives that fateful night.

Little known, though, is the story of the ship that rushed to the site to rescue passengers fortunate enough to find a spot in Titanic's lifeboats. That would be Cunard Line's unsung Carpathia and her heroic captain and crew. In his story on the We Are Cunard blog, Guided by a greater hand…, Peter Shanks, president of Cunard Line relates,

"At Cunard we have chosen not to take part in any of the major events surrounding the 100th Anniversary. On 15 April on each of our ships, we will have a remembrance service and a remembrance dinner, with a specially prepared menu that will tell the story of the little Carpathia. The Carpathia was the first ship to arrive at the site of the sinking of the Titanic and rescued more than 700 survivors, taking them safely back to New York.

The story of the Carpathia is a fascinating one and one for Cunard Line to be proud of."

I found this story particularly compelling and admit to being a bit tearful after reading it. Follow the link above and have a tissue handy.