I went to a Lunch and Learn at the Orange County Regional History Center. The them of the presentation was the Titanic. Some folks seated in front of me were sharing conspiracy theories about the Pandemic. They didn’t die so the pandemic to them was a nothing-burger.
The Titanic sailed into infamy when it struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912. It has been 114 years since the sinking and we are still talking about it. Author Emily Coughton decided to find out what happened to the survivors after the media frenzy died down. Emily also found connections to Central Florida among the survivors.
At 20 minutes to midnight on April 14, a lookout reported an iceberg straight ahead. The order was issued for hard to starboard. At 11:40pm the ship hits the iceberg. At 11:46pm the ships engines are put to stop. Water rushed into hold 1. At12:12am the first life boats were swung out and passengers are told to put life jackets on. Many believe the request is a hoax since the Titanic was believed to be unsinkable. At 12:40am the first lifeboat was launched on the starboard side forward.
1500 passengers of the Titanic died from the freezing waters that night. About 491 passengers survived.
Gerturde Mabelle Thorne was a first class passenger who survived. She was born with the last name of McMinn in San Francisco in 1875. In 1899 Gertrude married Harry Thorne. When she boarded the Titanic, she was the mistress of George Rosenshine. To hide the affair they boarded under the assumed names of George and Gertrude Thorne. George perished in the tragedy. Gertrude escaped in the last life boat. She sent a message from the Carpathia after being rescued, “Am safe – pray God George was rescued by another boat with the rest of the men.”
In 1913 Mabelle returned to the site of the sinking with two other widows. They threw Baskets of flowers into the water. A Chaplin conducted a short service.
In 1913, Gertrude married Richard Yanke in Stanford Connecticut. In the 1920 census they were listed as living together with a maid in Manhattan. Richard and Gertrude traveled extensively. Later in life they settled in Paris. Mabelle died inn 1947 in Nice France. She would have lived 72 years having survived the sinking of the Titanic and WWII in France.