Dogs That Survived the Sinking of the Titanic

At least twelve dogs were on board the Titanic — some of them made it home

Sandi Parsons
6 min readApr 8, 2021

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Image by Arnold van den Heever from Pixabay

TTitanic’s maiden journey ended, not with a bang but with a slide and scrape, as the ship brushed too close to an iceberg. After inspecting the damage, Captain Smith issued an order for a distress call. “Come at once. We have struck a berg. It’s a CQD, old man.”

Next, Captain Smith gave the order for the lifeboats, “Women and children first, crewmen to row the boats.” In the first-class cabins, passengers made hard decisions. Husbands said goodbye to their wives and children. Some passengers said goodbye to their beloved pets. While other first-class passengers prepared their dogs for a journey on a lifeboat.

From the 2,435 passengers and a crew of around 900 people, Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Carpathia rescued 705 people from the Titanic’s lifeboats. In those lifeboats, along with the human survivors, were three little dogs.

Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Carpathia rescued 705 people from the Titanic’s lifeboats. In those lifeboats, along with the human survivors, were three little dogs.

Titanic historian, Dr. J. Joseph Edgette from Widener University, has studied the disaster for decades. Edgette curated an exhibition that included man’s best friend for…

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Sandi Parsons

Sandi Parsons lives & breathes stories as a reader, writer, and storyteller📚 Kidlit specialist, dipping her toes in the big kid’s pool.