Meet Violet Jessop: 'Miss Unsinkable' who survived RMS Titanic and two more shipwrecks

The sea is a friend to none, they say. The harshest of waves and moodiest of tides can make a journey a matter of life and death that most lose themselves to. Through the existence of sea travel, numerous people have lost their lives underwater. However, some have miraculously lived to tell the tale.

One such anomaly is Violet Jessop, a ship stewardess who survived not one, but three major shipwrecks during the early 20th century, earning the nickname "Miss Unsinkable."

Who was Violet Jessop?

On October 2nd 1887, Violet Jessop was born in Bahia Blanca, Argentina. The daughter of Irish immigrant parents, William and Katherine Jessop, she eventually moved to Britain at 16, following the death of her father. After initially enrolling in a convent school, she left to provide money for her family when her mother became ill. She began working as a stewardess aboard luxury ocean liners such as RMS Orinoco, travelling between England and the Caribbean. At a time when transatlantic sea travel was booming, the job offered rare independence and income for women, which not many were able to enjoy. However, along with a peculiar journey, it was also a risky one.

RMS Olympic

The first disaster came in 1911 when Jessop joined White Star Line and was working aboard the brand new flagship ocean liner, RMS Olympic. Olympic was the first of three ‘Olympic-class’ transatlantic ocean liners built in Belfast to be the new gold standard in luxury transatlantic travel. Her sister ships were the Titanic and the Britannic.

The ship collided with the British warship HMS Hawke near the Isle of Wight. While Olympic was heavily damaged, it managed to avoid sinking and returned safely to port. Jessop also managed to survive without serious injuries.

RMS Titanic

One of the most popular and famed shipwrecks was the Titanic. Despite the collision with HMS, she had been working on the Olympic and was reluctant to leave for the new opportunity on RMS Titanic. However, a friend persuaded her that it would be a fantastic opportunity, so she took the job.

On April 10, 1912, Jessop boarded the Titanic as part of the ship's crew during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. Four days later, at 11:40 pm, she was preparing to go to bed when she heard a loud bang followed by a screeching noise. Dressing quickly, she went to investigate the source and found that the liner struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic and began sinking.

Jessop was ordered onto the deck to help calm passengers who could not speak English. Eventually, she was placed into Lifeboat 16 as the chaos unfolded and a baby was thrust into her arms by one of the ship's officers. More than 15,000 people died in the disaster, but Jessop survived.

HMHS Britannic

During World War I, Jessop enrolled with the British Red Cross and worked as a nurse aboard the HMHS Britannic, Titanic's sister ship. The youngest of the 'Olympic-class' liners, Britannic was requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1915 to act as a hospital ship carrying troops wounded in the Gallipoli campaign from Greece to England.

On November 16, 1916, Britannic hit a mine in the Aegean Sea, causing the ship to flood and it's one side began sinking rapidly. Even there, Jessop escaped in a lifeboat, though she later said she had to jump into the water to avoid being pulled into the ship's propellers. In the incident, she suffered a head injury but survived once again.

Despite surviving three of the major shipwrecks in history, Jessop continued working at the sea for decades afterward. She went back to work for White Star along with having stints at Red Star Line and Royal Mail Line.

Later, she retired to a little cottage in Suffolk and wrote a memoir about her experiences and retired to the English countryside. Jessop passed away in 1971 at the age of 83. However, her story continues to remain one of the most entertaining and enigmatic tales of survival in history.