STAYED BY THEIR POST
Titanic had over 3,000 mail sacks on board when she hit an iceberg at around 11.40pm on 14th April, 1912.
When the postal workers on board realised the mail room was flooding they started to move the mail bags to the upper desks.
A steward later recalled: “I urged them to leave, but they shook their heads and continued to do their work. It might have been an inrush of water that cut off their escape, or it may have been the explosion. I saw them no more.”
Five postal workers perished on the Titanic. Early telegrams wrongly claimed all had been saved.
Jack Phillips, who was employed by Marconi, sent many of Titanic distress signals by telegraph. He also died in the tragedy.
- Information from the Postal Museum and volunteer Sandra Frost.
- Dates for your diary. In the Museum on Saturday 9th June and Wednesday 20th June, Dave Church, radio expert, historian and collector, talks about Marconi’s famous connection to the Titanic and their success in getting wireless accepted in shipping all over the world.