Posted on 05/30/2002 5:20:50 AM PDT by TomGuy
The last Titanic hero succumbs
May 29 2002 at 10:52AM
By Barbara Cole
The world's last surviving hero of the Titanic disaster, Herbert "Pops" Johnston, has died in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal.
As a 15-year-old apprentice on the Carpathia passenger vessel in 1912, he helped rescue dozens of passengers who had been aboard the Titanic. And having reached the grand age of 104, Johnston was something of a survivor himself.
On Tuesday, a day after going into a coma at the Mbango Frail Care Home in Port Shepstone, the great-great-grandfather died peacefully in his sleep.
The old salt recalled the words of his captain On his 100th birthday in 1997, British-born Johnston received congratulatory telegrams from Queen Elizabeth and former president Nelson Mandela.
He was a crewman on the Carpathia when the ship answered a distress call from the Titanic, which had hit an iceberg on her maiden voyage from England to New York.
When the Daily News took him to watch the award-winning film Titanic, 87 years after the tragedy that cost 1 490 lives, the old salt recalled the words of his captain: "Action stations! Action stations!"
The Carpathia crew could not believe the scene which met them when their ship, after receiving a distress call, turned around and went to the rescue.
The Titanic had sunk and the rescuers could see passengers on liferafts in the dim light of early morning.
Johnston and the rest of the Carpathia rescuers helped save 711 people.
Johnston recalled a nine-week-old baby being lifted into his arms - and, 11 years ago, that "baby", then an 84-year-old Englishwoman, sent him a "thank you" note.
Johnston, who "jumped ship" when the Carpathia arrived in South Africa, served in both world wars. He lived on the South Coast for 40 years. He joined the Memorable Order of Tin Hats in 1946, and until Tuesday was the Moths' ldest member.
He was a life member of the Combined Operations Shellhole in Margate.
A memorial service will be held at the Margate Methodist Church next Wednesday.
Johnston is survived by three children, six grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.
The captain and crew of the Carpathia sped roughly 58 miles in response to the Titanic's distress calls.
Meanwhile, the crew of the passenger ship Californian, within visual sight of the distressed ship, demonstrated a titanic case of Kitty Genovese syndrome.
My wife doesn't like it when I tell her that's my favorite scene in the movie...
I believe it is out of print but any bookhound should be able to find it.
Many Freepers belong to this organization as well.
I'm surprised Daschle hasn't demanded to know why President Bush kept the Californian from assisting the Titanic.
With a ship name like that, he's afraid it'll turn out to be Grey Davis's fault.
This past summer, while in Gibraltar, I saw a beautifully restored trawler that had participated in the evacuation of British forces at Dunkirk in June 1940. A special plaque designating the vessel as participating in the evacuation was mounted on a bulkhead. The boat was owned by a wealthy individual who resided in Monaco. A professional crew of five,who kept the boat in immaculate condition, moved the boat around the Med allowing the owner to fly in periodically to spend time on the yacht at a new port-of-call.
I'm curious to know more about that story.
Agreed- an excellent read about a fascinating life. He never really lived the Titanic down.
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