According to common information, one of the richest people of their time was first very lucky, and then catastrophically was unlucky. We checked if it was so.

The death of the largest transatlantic liners of their time: “Titanic” (1912) and “Luzitania” (1915) - with a difference of three years caused a shock in the Western world and still becomes a topic for numerous works of art. The role here was played not only by the number of victims (in both cases there are more than a thousand), but also by the representativeness of some of them. The cream of the society of their time: industrialists and politicians, actors and scientists - by the will of fate fell on one of the ill -fated flights. Some of them, fortunately, managed to escape. And others completely avoided the tests, at the last moment withdrawn from the flight. Among the latter, many sources call the American multimillionaire Alfred Gwinna Wanderbillet. If you believe the book of Milos Gubachek "Titanic", “The industrial and financial tycoon and his wife refused the trip before the departure. Their valet, maid and baggage remained on the ship and drowned four days later with the Titanic. " The fact that Vanderbilt returned the ticket at the last moment, writes and magazine Time. According to Internet portal The authoritative Smithsonian Institute, Alfred Vanderbilt canceled his return from Europe at the Titanic so late that the first newspapers after the news of the death of the vessel generally included him in the list of passengers of the airliner.

Let's start from the end. Alas, in the death of Alfred Vanderbilt on board Luzitania there is no doubt. The German submarine torpedoed the passenger liner on May 7, 1915, when he was already at the final stage of his path from New York to Liverpool. Vanderbilt, who, probably, due to his status, should not have problems with placement in a rescue boat, He behaved heroically. The American did not know how to swim in the 18 minutes that the ship went under water managed to help other passengers sit in the boats, and when they filled, he put on his life -saving vest with a young child. The feat of Wanderbilt made him the main character of the bestseller David Batler "Luzitania".

It is more difficult to deal with the first question: did Alfred Vanderbilt’s ticket book a Titanic ticket? In theory, the easiest clue could be the fate of a valet and a maid multimillionaire. IN official report The US Senate, published in the same 1912, among the passengers of the Titanic, you can see the name of a certain Edwin Wieler, who is indicated as the servant of Mr. Wanderbilt:

The history of the passengers of the liner is well studied. On the site EncyClopedia Titanica Almost all available information about them, including biographies, has been collected. There is a page about Edwin Wilere there. This is what she, in particular, says:

“In New York, Willer got a lackey to the famous businessman and collector of works of art George Washington Wanderbilt (1862–1914), the owner of the largest house in the United States-Biltmore House in Ashville, North Carolina.

Vanderbilts, along with their employee Wieler, went to Europe in early 1912 and planned to return to the USA with the first Titanic flight. On April 30, 1912, The New York Tribune reported that Mrs. Wanderbilt's mother, Mrs. Dresser, learning about their plans, insisted that they cancel their journey because it was dangerous to go the first flight. Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt fulfilled Mrs. Dresser's wishes and sat on Olympic, who came out earlier and arrived in New York on April 10. On the same day, Edwin sat on the Titanic in Southampton on the ticket of the second class No. 2159, which cost 12 pounds, 17 shillings, 16 pence. Its main goal was to accompany the baggage of the Vanderbilts through the Atlantic.

Edwin Willer died when the ship went under water. If his body was found, then they did not recognize. ”

The description of the older of the wanderbilt, obviously, contains a mistake, since Mrs. Wanderbilt's mother, Susan DresserI died in 1883. Nevertheless, it turns out that at the Titanic the valet not Alfred Gwinna Wanderbilt, but George Washington Wanderbilt, who, upon closer examination, turned out to be the uncle of our hero.

George Washington Vanderbilt and his Biltmore House.

There are in EncyClopedia Titanica and a list of people who canceled their tickets at the last moment. In it we find once again confirmation The fact that George Vanderbilt and his wife starred from the flight, but Alfred's mention is not there. The list is quite neat, some passengers even indicate the cabin number, so there is no doubt: if the nephew of George Wanderbilt booked a ticket (and this would surely be the first class), we would know about it.

How then did Alfred Vanderbilt end up in this whole story? He was really in Europe with his wife Margaret and, quite possibly, planned to return. At least, his worried father -in -law Eisek Emerson, shortly after the news from the Atlantic, received a telegram of the following content from his son -in -law: “Margaret is in order. Not at the Titanic. Alfred". This was reported by the newspaper Baltimore Sun, which also shared the next information:

“In all lists of Passengers of Titanic, telegraphed by the officials of White Star Line, the names of Mr. and Mrs. Wanderbilt were the names of Mr.. The only explanation that Vanderbilt's friends give is that they might intend to go sail at the Titanic and changed their minds at the last moment. Mrs. Emeli Emerson, Mrs. Wanderbilt's mother, said that she received a letter from her daughter last week, in which she wrote that she and Mr. Wanderbilt have plans until April 1 and they do not know what they will do next. ”

From all this, we can conclude that the confusion is caused by a combination of two circumstances: friends and relatives of Alfred Vanderbilt did not know about his whereabouts, and the names of Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt, who fell into the newspapers, belonged to the older pair of relatives. So, of the two catastrophic accidents, Alfred Vanderbilt could touch - and, alas, touched - one.