The daring stowaways of Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic

Mischief on the ocean liners Pt. 2

When it comes to ocean liners in popular culture, we are most accustomed to hearing about the ill fated Titanic. Did you know that there were two other ships built along with the Titanic by her parent shipping company, the White Star Line? The Olympic was constructed before the Titanic and the Britannic was constructed after. The Britannic had a doomed fate similar to the Titanic, never being used as a passenger ship as was intended and instead serving as a hospital ship during World War I. It sunk in 1916 when she hit a German naval mine.

Titanic’s sister ship the Olympic, sometimes deemed “Old Reliable” had a better fate than the other two of its trio and was in use from 1911 until her last voyage in 1935. Today’s story is a tale of mischief on Titanic’s better fated sister ship, the Olympic. 

White Star Line, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Lost at Sea

Third Class Dining Room on the Olympic, Bedford Lemere & Co, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In August 1911 the Olympic travelled from Queenstown, Ireland, to New York, New York. Two days into the voyage, two men, going by the name of William McSweeney and Joseph Hysler had been present in the third class dining room and were unable to produce proof of their ticket purchase. As a result, they were deemed stowaways, and they were taken to a nearby cabin in third class and locked in for what was to be the remainder of the voyage. It was decided that McSweeney, who was deemed a British passenger, would be sent back to England and Hysler, an American citizen, would be sent to authorities in the United States once the ship reached New York. 

During their confinement to the third class stateroom, the two men were able to break through a door panel of the cabin and escape into the busy streets of the Olympic, which was noted to be as long as four city blocks and as high as the average tenement house. A hunt of the gigantic ship was completed but its massive size made it impossible to pinpoint the men’s location.

Contemporary Drawing of Titanic and Olympic 3rd Class Smoke Room, White Star Line, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

It was alleged that they may have been mingling with third class passengers who helped them escape the crew’s notice. At the time of their escape, the laws in place said that the White Star Line would be fined if they were unable to locate the missing passengers. 

They had been under the watch of the master-at-arms aboard the ship. He described the pair as looking desperate and guessed that they may have taken a swim from a porthole to shore when the ship reached New York. At some point during disembarkation, the men were located and taken to Ellis Island. It was determined that they were both actually American citizens. 

Did the Titanic have stowaways?

After reading this story, I thought it would be interesting to reach out to my forum of Titanic enthusiasts in the club I am involved in, The Titanic Book Club. I asked if anyone was aware if it was ever determined or looked into if there were any stowaways aboard the Titanic on her doomed maiden voyage. Though nobody was able to identify any specific knowledge of a stowaway aboard the Titanic, someone did share an interesting story of a man named John Coffey.

Coffey, a man from Cobh, Ireland, who had just completed a voyage of service on the Olympic, signed up for the maiden voyage of the Titanic as a boiler room fireman. He embarked with the Titanic at Southampton, England. It is alleged that he wanted to visit family in Cobh, so instead of proceeding on with the maiden voyage to New York, he hid in a mail sack and was sent to shore during a stop in Queenstown, Ireland, aboard one of the mail tender ships. In his case, this was a fortunate decision to partake in mayhem!

I hope you enjoyed this story, more stories of mayhem on the ocean liners to come. 

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Sources:

“Paradise for Stowaways”, The Sun, New York, New York, August 17, 1911. 

“Lost at Sea”, The Evening World, New York, New York, August 16, 1911.

“Steamship’s Size Aids Stowaways”, The Gazette, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. August 19, 1911. 

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-biography/john-coffey.html

https://www.independent.ie/life/the-lucky-man-who-jumped-ship-at-queenstown/26737941.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMHS_Britannic