Violet Jessop – The Luckiest Unlucky Person or the Unluckiest Lucky Person?

If you ever saw Violet Jessop (the lady pictured above) as a passenger on a ship with you, you’d probably want to disembark and get your money back.  Ms. Jessop was on board three ships that suffered major accidents (two which sank and resulted in many fatalities).

In 1911, Ms. Jessop was working as a stewardess on the RMS Olympic which was the longest ship in the world.  On September 20th the Olympic collided with the HMS Hawke.  Despite major damage and the flooding of two compartments the Olympic made it back to port.

In 1912, Ms. Jessop was again working as a stewardess, this time on the RMS Titantic‘s initial and ill-fated voyage. As the Titanic was sinking after hitting an iceberg,  Ms. Jessop was ordered into a life boat and given a small child to hold. Both Ms. Jessop and the child survived when the lifeboat occupants were picked up by the RMS Carpathia.  The child was claimed by a woman who also survived.

In 1916, Ms. Jessop was working as a stewardess for the British Red Cross on the ship Britannic.  On November 21st, the Britannic either struck a sea mine or was torpedoed by a German sub.  There are conflicting theories but no one disputes that the Britannic quickly sank with the loss of thirty souls.  Ms. Jessop survived by jumping from a lifeboat that was being sucked into the ship’s propellers.

Violet Jessop – was she the luckiest unlucky person or the unluckiest lucky person?