12/05/2026
Violet Jessop The Woman the Sea Could Not Sink
Some people are not just lucky; they are heroes whom fate itself seems to challenge. This is Violet Jessop, better known as Miss Unsinkable. She was involved in three giant ship disasters and survived all three. Did the Olympic sink? No, but it collided. The Titanic and Britannic both sank, and Violet survived both. That is why she is considered perhaps the luckiest, yet unluckiest, woman in history.
RMS Olympic The RMS Olympic collided with the HMS Hawke. While both ships sustained heavy damage, neither sank. Violet was working as a stewardess on the Olympic at the time. There were no fatalities.
RMS Titanic – 1912 She was a first-class stewardess on the Titanic. After the ship struck an iceberg, she was placed in lifeboat 16. An officer handed her a bundled baby to look after. Upon boarding the rescue ship Carpathia, the baby’s mother rushed over, grabbed the child from her arms, and ran off without even saying thank you. Violet was one of only 705 survivors.
HMHS Britannic – 1916 During World War I, the Britannic was serving as a hospital ship when it struck a mine. Violet was working as a Red Cross nurse at the time. She managed to board a lifeboat, but the batan ship’s still-turning propellers began to shred the lifeboats. Forced to jump into the water, she was sucked under and struck her head against the ship's keel. She later said her thick hair cushioned the blow and saved her. Years later, an X-ray revealed that she had suffered a skull fracture. Despite surviving three massive ship disasters, Violet never abandoned the sea, continuing to work until 1950. She retired after 42 years of service. On May 5, 1971, she died of heart failure in her bed at the age of 83.