Titanic survivor kept low profile in Bluffs

http://www.southwestiowanews.com/council_bluffs/news/article_51338ebe-8660-11e1-b6ef-0019bb2963f4.html

Posted: Sunday, April 15, 2012 12:00 am | Updated: 3:35 pm, Sat Apr 14, 2012.

By Mike Brownlee
mbrownlee@nonpareilonline.com | 0 comments

As the great Titanic sank to its watery grave, Helen Delaney was thrown overboard.

Someone caught the 4-year-old, according to archive reports, and she survived the night, a fate her parents unfortunately didn’t enjoy. The youngster ended up in Council Bluffs by way of an “orphan train” and lived here in anonymity until her death.

Delaney’s story begins on April 14, 1912.


Staff photo/Erin Duerr

The headstone of Helen Marie Delaney, a survivor of the RMS Titanic, rests in St. Joseph's Cemetery in Council Bluffs.


Shortly before midnight the “unsinkable” Titanic struck an iceberg while traveling at near maximum speed in the frigid North Atlantic Ocean.

The frozen mass opened five of sixteen watertight compartments on the starboard (right) side – the ship was designed to stay afloat with four or less flooded compartments – which began the Titanic’s descent.

FULL story at link.