i'm guessing they were limited for obvious reasons, but does anyone know just an approximate died from the hypothermia, drowning, electrocution, or injuries from the falls. ty in advance 😃
"I have never seen a vision, nor learned a secret, that would damn or save my soul"!
Death certificates were issued quite soon after the disaster and the cause of death was given as "drowning" even though a large number, possibly a majority, died from hypothermia, which was not well understood at the time (nor well understood by the public even now). Those who jumped overboard wearing their life vests, unless they knew to cross their arms across their chests would likely have had their necks broken by the impact with the water, due to the design of those vests, so how many of those victims died of broken necks, possibly leading to drowning, is unknown, nor is it known how many remained inside the ship and were entombed within it as it sank.
The bodies recovered in Halifax were not autopsied. All efforts went into trying to identify them, in cataloguing their possessions and taking photographs in order to facilitate their identification. Despite all these efforts, many bodies there remained unidentified despite what appear (to a stranger) to be fairly clear photographs.
There was an interesting documentary about the recovery of bodies and the pioneering forensic work by Dr. John Barnstead, the Halifax coroner. I have it saved and will see if I can find the title.
EDITED to add: The title of the documentary was Titanic: The Aftermath and it's a Discovery Channel production. Like other DC "documentaries" about Titanic,notably Curiosity: What Sank Titanic? it is peppered with fiction, great liberties taken with facts, and rather sloppy research, BUT it gives a good feel for the procedures and practices of the time and is worth a watch for that reason.
It may be available from the public library. I have not seen it online anywhere.
Death certificates were issued quite soon after the disaster and the cause of death was given as "drowning" even though a large number, possibly a majority, died from hypothermia, which was not well understood at the time (nor well understood by the public even now). Those who jumped overboard wearing their life vests, unless they knew to cross their arms across their chests would likely have had their necks broken by the impact with the water, due to the design of those vests, so how many of those victims died of broken necks, possibly leading to drowning, is unknown, nor is it known how many remained inside the ship and were entombed within it as it sank.
The bodies recovered in Halifax were not autopsied. All efforts went into trying to identify them, in cataloguing their possessions and taking photographs in order to facilitate their identification. Despite all these efforts, many bodies there remained unidentified despite what appear (to a stranger) to be fairly clear photographs.
There was an interesting documentary about the recovery of bodies and the pioneering forensic work by Dr. John Barnstead, the Halifax coroner. I have it saved and will see if I can find the title.
EDITED to add: The title of the documentary was Titanic: The Aftermath and it's a Discovery Channel production. Like other DC "documentaries" about Titanic,notably Curiosity: What Sank Titanic? it is peppered with fiction, great liberties taken with facts, and rather sloppy research, BUT it gives a good feel for the procedures and practices of the time and is worth a watch for that reason.
It may be available from the public library. I have not seen it online anywhere.
Those who jumped overboard wearing their life vests, unless they knew to cross their arms across their chests would likely have had their necks
broken by the impact with the water, due to the design of those vests,
The lifejackets were built in a way that is (for obvious reasons) no longer legal. They were filled with Cork which float very well, but a little too well. The cork was distributed all along the vest - those little rectangle shapes you can see on them. When someone jumped over the side of the ship, all that cork would float upwards violently and crack bones and snap necks. They weren't intended to help someone jump, they were intended to help someone float (either off a deck or a small boat).
Nowadays they're designed to have the pressure near the chests/necks to prevent such a thing. If you put one on you can notice how tight they area in that area.
A lot of people actually died this way and were found bloody. Most of the life vests have blood on them, such as: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/06/26/article-0-01BE16F400000578-493_468x669.jpg.
A night to remember- thank you for the info.. it is interesting. sorry i'm a lil late.
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"I have never seen a vision, nor learned a secret, that would damn or save my soul"!
Ty as well infracaninophile
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I always wanted to know, how I would go. Tell me friend... how I meet my end.