Washed up bodies or other wreckage

[David Goodwin]

I have read a fair amount about the recovery of bodies following the disaster, but there seems to be no mention of wreckage , bodies or lifejackets being washed ashore a few weeks after the sinking. I find that surprising, although I know nothing about the currents in the area. Might wreckage have been caught up in the Sargasso sea and stayed in the ocean. Were there reports and I just haven't seen them? Why might nothing have been found subsequently?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

The North Atlantic is pretty good at making things disappear, particularly organic remains. I'm not aware of any wreckage which made it to shore on the currents in any recognizable form, although it wouldn't surprise me if some did. That bodies didn't make it unless found and recovered is not surprising at all. Any hungry marine life on the prowl would have seen them as a source of raw protein and taken care of it.

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

I co-ran and worked at a Titanic Artifact Exhibition 22 years ago and one evening, a couple from Nova Scotia came in and claimed they had pieces of wreckage from the Titanic, which they brought with them. But unfortunately they spoke to someone who had no knowledge in that department or a trained eye. Instead they dismissed it by saying something to the effect of, it couldn't be from the Titanic. The couple then left without their contact details being taken, so there was no way to follow up on it.

As far as bodies go, I've never heard of any. As Michael says they would have been claimed by the fishes, long before they reached shore.

There is the story of Jeremiah Burke's bottle being washed ashore:

Jeremiah Burke : Titanic Third Class passenger (Victim)

Biography of Jeremiah Burke : Titanic Victim

www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

 

[JJAstorII]

I’ve read of several things washing up over the years. I’ve read of a pillow from the Reading & Writing room washing up in Nova Scotia as well as several wood fittings.