European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 28, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Recovery of the dead aftermath of the titanic tragedy Magazine is deep sea tomcat chars examine the wreckage of the titanic interest has Boon stirred again in the grisly fascinating Story of the sunken finer. Among the least known aspects of the tragedy is the recovery of the of cad. Tho following is from a report by Carole Hyde written recently for Ochamis Magazine of the Woods Hole oct Ino graphic institution in Massachusetts associated Pressa s the s a carpathia neared now York with the survivors of me wrecked luxury liner tila Ruc on Board another ship s Learned out of Halifax Nova Scotia toward the titanic s grave. Its Mission i to dead More than 1,500 people perished in the Waters of the North Atlantic when the titanic hurled itself at 22 knots onto an iceberg on the night of april 14.1912, bodies of its victims dolled the Ocean after the disaster and inc titanic s owners the White Star line chartered the Lille Cable Steamer Mackay Bennett to recover and return the remains to Halifax for reclamation or burial in the City s cemeteries. The search for the dead and their burial is a Little known aspect of the titanic Story. Some authors have indicated that Only one body or no bodies were recovered. Overshadowed by the disaster itself and by the stories of the titanic s survivors the search for the dead barely entered Public consciousness. But according to accounts of those aboard the Mackay Sennett. The Mission was an unforgettable conclusion to the Story. Two Day after the sinking. The Mackay Bennett stacked with coffins and packed with ice quietly embarked on its Mission fog and bad weather slowed the trip. The Mackay Bertneta arrived in the Vicinity of the disaster a week after the Vilanta hit the iceberg. The Ocean was strewn with wreckage. Small icebergs known As growlers hid dangerously in the swells. During the Middle watch the first bodies were sighted. Ii was agonizing. Many of them were crushed and disfigured beyond recognition. Some women were found with infants locked in their arms. Other bodies laces distorted with terror Clung to objects they had grasped in their anguish still others looked Calm As if asleep on sunday the first of the bodies was brought aboard the Mackay Bennett. There were 51 of them. They were numbered and identified where possible their property marked and stored. Some were embalmed and others were placed n ice filled holds. That evening the burial of the dead began. From the diary of Frederick Hamilton Engineer of the Mackay Bennett the toiling of the Bell summoned All hands to the forecastle where thirty bodies Are to be committed to the deep each carefully weighted and carefully sewed up in Canvas. It is a weird scene. This gathering. The Crescent Moon is shedding a faint Light on us As the ship lays wallowing in the great rollers for nearly an hour the words for As much As i i the Haareh Tor the dead and their burial la a Litto known aspect of too titanic Atory painting depicts liner shaking in 1912. It hath pleased. We therefore commit his body to the deep Are repeated arid at each interval comes splash As the weighted body plunges into lha sea there to sink to a depth of about two Miles. Splash splash  for those buried at night the dead who could not be identified interment in the sea was suitable and touching for Many of them were thought to be members of the titanic s Crew. For four More Days the Mackay Bennett drifted through Miles and Miles of the titanic s wreckage finding amidst the debris and ice sometimes solitary corpses at other times great clusters of them appearing strangely like seagulls As they bobbed peacefully in the swells. When fog made operations impossible bodies already on Board were searched tagged and slowed away. It was hard on the men of the Mackay Bennett. Hamilton wrote noon. Another burial service held and 77 bodies follow the others. The hoarse tone of the steam whistle reverberating through the Mist the dripping rigging and the ghostly sea the heaps of dead and the hard weather beaten faces of the Crew whose harsh voices join in the hymn tune fully rendered by Canon Hind All Combine to make a strange task stranger holds filling with the dead the Mackay Bennett called for help and was joined by the Cable ship Minia also locked with coffins and ice. The Mackay Sennett with As Many dead on Board As it could accommodate headed for Home. It carried 190 of the titanic s dead and left 116 buried in the sea. Not All bodies badly deteriorated or without identification were left behind in the North Atlantic it was later disclosed that All those though to have been first class passengers no Mailer what their condition were kept on Board. On april 30, the Mackay Bennett approached the dockyards of Halila. The City was prepared. Flags Hung at half staff and coffins and hearses lined the piers As undertakers reporters police and families of the victims crowded together in the chit Canadian morning. For hours the unloading and removal proceeded. Crowds of onlookers kept away irom the dockyards lined the hearses route and silently paid their respects As the procession passed on its Way to the Mayflower Curling rink at the Edge of town. There in the makeshift morgue friends and relatives of the victims had begun arriving to claim their dead. The first body claimed and removed from the rink was that of John Jacob Astor. The tiny Crimson death certificate barely adequate to the task described his tragedy name of deceased John Jacob Astor. Sex Mage 47. Date of death april 15,1912. Residence Street Etc. 840 fifth av., . Occupation gentleman. Married. Cause accidental drowning. S s. Titanic at sea. Length of illness suddenly. Name of physician in attendance likewise 1he body of Emil Brandeis. The Omaha department store magnate was claimed and taken away. Frank Newell Busy embalming bodies at the rink unexpectedly encountered the body of his Uncle and collapsed from the Shock. 01 the 209 bodies eventually brought to the rink Only 59 were claimed and shipped away Lor burial. For the fest of the bereaved the ordeal so reached into the Days Hal followed and desperation surrounded their visits to the rink As bodies found by the Minia were displayed in diminishing numbers. Many never found their Kin. Those unclaimed Lay in their caskets unknown yet lovingly adorned with Flowers. Following services beginning May 3, they were buried according to their presumed religion in the cemeteries of Halifax. For another week the Mayflower Curling rink blood open Lor the reclamation of the titanic s dead. The search at sea for the titanic s dead stretched into june and the burials in Halifax continued As ships crossing the North Atlantic reported wreckage and bodies floating in their paths. The body of titanic Saloon Steward James Mcgrady was taken to Nova Scotia for burial on june 12 and was the last of the titanic s victims inferred in the cemeteries of Halifax. The search was Over. It had encompassed six weeks involved Lour ships and yielded 328 dead 119 of them interred at sea. Monday july 28, 198b the stars and stripes Page 13