Sister in a Titan’s Shadow
RMS Britannic
Another White Star Line Sinking
This week has seen an extraordinary amount of film at home and in the theatre with the launch of James Cameron’s 3-D version of Titanic. Ceremonies have recognized the 100th anniversary of the loss of this titan on its maiden voyage, such as in Halifax, (the City of Sorrow) Nova Scotia where three cemeteries include the graves of this great ship’s victims. Museums and archives have clamored to assemble their presentations in this another great opportunity to study the impact of this mighty vessel’s loss. In effect there is a steady stream of Titanica, set upon the tide for us to investigate. In keeping with these offerings I provide a similar course but diverge slightly by taking us to one of Titanic’s, not often mentioned, kin RMS Britannic.
Like RMS Titanic, the Britannic was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast and was launched February 26, 1914. During the Great War Britannic, which was larger than Titanic, became a hospital ship and renamed HMHS (His Majesty’s Hospital Ship) Britannic. Under the command of Captain Charles Alfred Bartlett CB, CBE, RD, of the Royal Naval Reserve, Bartlett first served with the White Star Line in 1894, and developed an uncanny reputation for “smelling ice” in the shipping lanes and was given the nickname “Iceberg Charlie”.
On November 21, 1916 at 8:12 AM Britannic struck a mine and sunk at 9:07 AM off the Greek island off Kea in the Kea Channel. It is amazing that nurse Violet Jessop was on board, not only did she survive the sinking of Britannic and the 1911 collision of Olympic with HMS Hawke, she was also a Titanic survivor.
Of the 1,134 individuals on board, thirty lives were lost. Britannic sank in about an hour, and it is thought that most of the fatalities did not occur due to the explosion of the mine but when some of the lifeboats were caught up in the vortex of the Britannic going down. Captain Bartlett who survived the Britannic’s sinking was, however, stuck by another vessel’s loss. On May 13, 1915 his only son, Charles Sydney Ellis Bartlett, was lost as a 15 year old Midshipman when HMS Goliath was hit and sunk by Turkish torpedoes in the Dardanelles. Midshipman Bartlett is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent, England.
Of the 30 individuals lost in the Britannic’s sinking the following 15 souls have been confirmed as fatalities:
Piraeus Naval and Consular Cemetery, Greece
Fireman Joseph Brown, Southampton
Seaman G. Honeycott
Charles James David Phillips, Hants
Tower Hill Memorial, London, England
Fireman Frank Joseph Earley, Southampton
Steward Charles Claude Seymour Garland, Southampton
Scullion Leonard George, Southampton
Second Electrician Pownall Gillespie, Liscard, Cheshire
Fireman George William Godwin, Southampton
Assistant Cook Thomas McDonald, Liverpool
Fireman John George McFeat, Southampton
Steward Thomas Francis Tully, Bootle, Lancashire
Greaser George Sherin, Southampton
Trimmer Arthur Dennis, Southampton
Steward Henry James Toogood, Southampton
Fireman George Bradbury Philps, Southampton
Not Confirmed
Piraeus Naval and Consular Cemetery, Greece
Private Arthur Binks, M.M., Royal Army Medical Corps
Mikra Memorial, Greece
Private George James Bostock, Royal Army Medical Corps
Private Henry Freebury, Royal Army Medical Corps
Private Thomas Jones, Royal Army Medical Corps
Private Leonard Smith, Royal Army Medical Corps
Captain John Cropper, Royal Army Medical Corps
Sergeant William Sharpe, Royal Army Medical Corps (buried Syria New British Cemetery)
Private George William King, Royal Army Medical Corps
Private William Stone, Royal Army Medical Corps
Unknown
Six individuals not identified
Did you know?
Famed French explorer, filmmaker and diver Jacques Cousteau discovered the wreck in 1975 at rest 400’ below the water’s surface. Robert Ballard the discoverer of Titanic also visited the Britannic wreck site in 1995.
Captain Charles Bartlett’s honours include the CB (Companion of the Order of the Bath), the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) and the RD (Royal Naval Reserve Decoration).
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