Tribute to the ship and Croatian crew that saved Titanic survivors

The Carpathia (Photo: Public domain)

ZAGREB,  29 Aug (Hina) – The exhibition “Carpathia – Pride of the City of Rijeka” was staged in the city’s main street Korzo on Tuesday in tribute to the vessel that was engaged in rescuing passengers who survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic on 15 April 1912.

The crew of the RMS Carpathia included 84 Croatian seafarers. 

The vessel was on its route from the Port of New York heading for Rijeka with 700 passengers, when in the night of 15 April 1912, it received SOS signals sent by Titanic.

Distress signals were sent by wireless, rockets, and lamp, but none of the ships that responded were near enough to reach the Titanic before it sank.

RMS Titanic (Photo credit: Francis Godolphin Osbourne Stuart/Public Domain)

A radio operator on board the SS Birma, for instance, estimated that it would be 6 am before the liner could arrive at the scene. 

Around 4 am, the RMS Carpathia arrived at the scene in response to the Titanic’s distress calls.

A total of 705 people survived the disaster and were conveyed by the Carpathia to New York, Titanic’s original destination, while 1,517 people died.

Titanic survivors on board the Carpathia (Photo: Library of Congress / Public domain license)

The exhibition was organised by an association of sea captains of the northern Adriatic region.

The Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral in Rijeka has a a life vest used by a Titanic survivor. The item was brought to Rijeka by sailor Josip Car, who was a member of the Carpathia crew.

The Carpathia sinking (Photo: Public domain)

The RMS Carpathia was used to transport military equipment in WWI and on 17 July 1918, it was hit by three torpedoes from a German submarine. It sank off the Irish coast.