York Descendent Shocked by Titanic Disaster
A previous post noted that a native Yorker, Richard M. Watt, was an expert witness in court concerning why the “unsinkable” Titanic sank. Click here to read that post.
No one was more surprised that April day than the vice-president of the White Star Line, Philip A. S. Franklin, whose parents were both natives of York.
A clipping from a York newspaper, dated April 16, 1912, reads:
“Philip A. S. Franklin, vice president of the White Star Steamship company, whose giant liner, “Titanic” sank off the New Foundland coast yesterday, carrying with it hundreds of passengers, is well known in York and has visited in this city often. He is a son of the late Colonel Walter Franklin, who is buried in Prospect Hill cemetery, and is a grandson and namesake of the later Philip A. Small, Sr., founder of the firm of P.A.& S. Small.
…Vice President Franklin, of the White Star line, is the man upon whom the relatives and friends of those persons who were passengers on the “Titanic” are relying for information of the disaster. He is in charge of the White Star line offices in New York City and is personally superintending the work of getting rescuers to the scene of the accident. All statements concerning the state of affairs at Cape Race, where the “Titanic” sank, are given out by him.”
When the news started to arrive that the Titanic had sunk, Franklin didn’t believe it. He is said to have been horrified when he finally realized that it was true. He has been widely quoted as saying that he thought she was unsinkable, and that he had based his opionion on expert advice.
Click here for an earlier voyage with York County connections.
