Titanic's Famous 'Orphan Twins' Have A Darker Backstory Than History Let On

And it may have been a miracle that they survived. As one of the boys opened his eyes to the bright daylight of the morning, he stirred and looked around. First, he registered the rocking of the boat beneath him. Then the memories of the previous hours fluttered back. 

The next thing the boy knew, he and his little brother were being tossed into a burlap bag and carried onto another big ship. But this one didn’t look familiar. It wasn't the one he had been on with his dad.

There wasn't much time to linger on that, though. As the boy remembered once he'd grown up, “I thought it was extremely incorrect to be in a burlap bag!” Only a three-year-old would have such a reaction hours after surviving the sinking of the Titanic... But who were he and his brother?

No family members were awaiting the boys in New York. Because they spoke French, however, they were suspected to have relatives overseas. In the meantime, fellow French-speaking first-class passenger Margaret Hays volunteered to care for the two temporarily. 

And after newspapers published a photo of the boys, the response was overwhelming. For many families searching for answers, the pair were a final glimmer of hope that their loved ones had survived the Titanic.

Iowa resident Frank Lefebvre went all the way to New York in hopes that the “Titanic orphans” were two of his kids. Ultimately, he would only end up confirming the terrible truth: his wife and four children had died on the ship.

In fact, none of the people searching for their loved ones stateside knew the little boys. Then, finally, word reached a mother named Marcelle Caretto in France. She was frantic over her missing sons, and she boarded a ship to New York at once.

On May 16, 1912, Marcelle hugged her sons at long last. It was a tremendous relief to find them alive considering the circumstances of their departure. You see, the boys had vanished as a result of a kidnapping.

The pair's real names were Michel and Edmond Navratil. They lived in Nice, France, with their mother and had spent the weekends with their father, Michel Sr. In the lead-up to the Titanic voyage, the kids had also passed the Easter holiday with their dad.

But Michel Sr. took the extra time with his sons as an opportunity to wreak his revenge against his ex-wife. He'd purchased three second-class tickets on the Titanic and escaped with the boys to Monte Carlo, then on to England.

When the holiday ended and her children and ex-husband were nowhere to be found, Marcelle was devastated. In the meantime, Michel Sr., Michel Jr., and Edmond successfully boarded the Titanic under false names at Southampton.

There's some discrepancy over which fake identities Michel Sr. originally invented for his sons. Some photos are marked Louis and Lola, but there's also mention of a Momon, Loto, and the rather amusing Lump. All three used the fake surname Hoffman.

But little Michel was completely unaware of his father's ruse. He was preoccupied with the grand ship. “One morning, my father, my brother, and I were eating eggs in the second-class dining room. The sea was stunning. My feeling was one of a total and utter well-being,” he later recalled as an adult.

This sense of magic disappeared on the night of April 14, 1912. Michel later claimed that he had sensed the shift in the tone of the adults around him. He also said that he remembered his father gently waking him and his brother. Apparently, Michel Sr. and another passenger had tenderly bundled the boys in layers before taking them onto the deck.

“When I think of it now, I am very moved. They knew they were going to die,” Michel later recalled. Michel Sr. and his sons joined the rest of the panicked passengers on deck, where the father looked for an opportunity to save the boys.

In a desperate final act, Michel Sr. managed to secure his sons' seats together on the very last lifeboat, Collapsible D. And those final moments with his father deeply impacted Michel. In fact, he claimed to have never forgotten his dad's parting words.

Apparently, Michel Sr. had said to his son, “When your mother comes for you, as she surely will, tell her that I loved her dearly and still do. Tell her I expected her to follow us so that we might all live happily together in the peace and freedom of the New World.”

Through a toddler's lens, the historical tragedy sounds even more surreal. While Michel Sr.'s traumatizing final moments unfolded, his namesake son drifted away in the lifeboat, eating biscuits from a stranger. Michel also remembered sitting near a little girl and her dog.

But the boys didn't escape entirely unscathed. While Michel’s memories of the Titanic may have often been pleasant ones, there’s no doubt the disaster left a profound and serious impact on his and Edmond’s lives. 

The younger of the boys, Edmond, went on to serve in WWII but eventually passed away at just 43 years old. Michel, on the other hand, pursued a life in academia as a philosophy professor. He would also participate in several Titanic survivor reunions and memorial events. 

As for Michel Sr.? While his body was ultimately recovered, he was misidentified and assumed to be Jewish. That ultimately meant he was buried with the Jewish victims of the Titanic in the Baron de Hirsch Cemetery in Canada.

In the two hours and 40 minutes between striking the iceberg and sinking into the ocean, 3,300 people aboard the Titanic scrambled in panic, trying to figure out if anyone had a plan for how to escape with their lives.

One of the people forced to make impossible decisions on the ship that night was a young Irishman named Jeremiah Burke. The 19-year-old had purchased a ticket to America to visit his sisters in Boston, but fate had other ideas. 

The collective panic of that moment must have been nearly impossible to bear. Thankfully, Jeremiah was traveling with his 18-year-old cousin Nora Hegarty, so they at least they had each other. 

This trip was a big deal for Jeremiah, so his family gathered to give them a warm send-off. As a parting gift, his mother gave him a little bottle of holy water to keep him safe on his journey.

They paid the modern-day equivalent of $860 for their third-class tickets, and while the accommodations were far different from their first-class counterparts, they all ended up in the same position four days into the trip.

In their short time on the ship, Jeremiah Burke and Nora Hegarty became friendly with a fellow passenger named Eugene Daly. A skilled musician, Eugene was a piper who treated the crowd to songs.

Eugene Daly gave a survivor’s account to The Daily Sketch: “A crash woke me up. It nearly threw me from my bed. I got up and went to the door...I met a steward in the gangway. He said there was nothing serious…” 

After a few tense minutes of waiting, Daly decided to check out the commotion and found the deck in chaos. He managed to link up with his traveling companions, Maggie Daly and Bridget Mulvihill, and all three took to their knees in prayer.

The three of them joined the other passengers clamoring to the lifeboats where they hastily climbed aboard. True to what the film portrayed, though, women and children had first dibs. So, Eugene Daly didn’t escape that easily.

Denying Daly that seat wasn’t a wise move. It was one of many of the lifeboats that shoved off under-filled. Even if they’d jam-packed the lifeboats, only a fraction of the people aboard the Titanic could have possibly been saved.

The struggle over lifeboats turned violent. Guns were drawn in the chaos and several people were shot. In another accurately depicted moment from the film, the officer who wielded the gun turned on the spot and ended his own life.

After several near escapes, Eugene Daly dived into the freezing water in a last-ditch effort for survival. Miraculously, with a handful of other swimmers, he located and flipped over a collapsible raft. Finally able to catch his breath, he watched the Titanic sink into the ocean. 

Simultaneously, thousands of other people made impossibly quick decisions on the water that night, including Jeremiah Burke and his cousin Nora Hegarty. Sadly, they weren’t as lucky. Their final moments remain relatively unknown, other than what was gathered by one heartbreaking clue.

Jeremiah must have remembered his mother's parting gift — the bottle of holy water. It was a desperate act in an unparalleled situation: he wrote out a note on a scrap of paper, stuffed his words into the bottle, and cast it off into the Atlantic.

When the news of the Titanic’s sinking broke, families waited for any news of their loved one’s survival. For Jeremiah Burke’s loved ones, answers arrived in the form of a bottle found on a rocky beach in Dunkettle, Ireland.

In 1913, more than a year after the Titanic tragedy, a man walking his dog discovered and curiously uncorked the bottle. The note inside read “from Titanic, Goodbye all, Burke of Glanmire, Cork.” Somehow the waves had led Jeremiah's message back towards home.

Local police delivered Jeremiah Burke's message to his family, but it was too late to bring his mother closure. She died before it was recovered. His remaining relatives assured skeptics that it was indeed the same bottle she'd given to her son.

Jeremiah and Nora were just two of the 1,500 people that died in the Titanic disaster. The third class passengers suffered the greatest losses, as only 25% survived. Of the second class passengers, 42% made it out alive, and the first-class passengers fared best at 61%.

Another tragic story that cold April night was of the married couple, Ida and Isidor Straus. The wife of the Macy's co-owner refused to board a lifeboat without her husband, saying, "We have lived together for many years. Where you go, I go."

Of all the parallel accounts of loss and heartbreak on the Titanic, the perspective of one man stands out among the rest — the captains. Did he know how ill-prepared and underpromised the great "unsinkable" ship was?

Before the night of April 15, 1912, the Titanic was known for being the largest cruise ship on the water. As you may know, the ship’s creators boasted it as “unsinkable,” which is just asking for bad luck. Who do you hire to sail such a noteworthy vessel?

Captain Edward J. Smith had 40 years of sailing experience. Born in England in 1850 to a lower-middle-class family, he dropped out of school at age 12 to work, which was typical for Victorian children. After a short forging career, Smith was inspired by his brother to become a ship captain.

Smith’s mother had two children from her first marriage who were nearly 20 years older than Smith. One was Joseph Hancock, who captained his own ship by his 30’s. Hancock brought Smith onto his boat, Senator Weber, in 1867 when Smith was just 17 years old. From there, his road to captainhood was rocky.

Smith’s first attempt at passing the navigational exams failed. He tried again at age 38 and finally made the cut, going on to become one of the most beloved captains of his time. And yet, his record wasn’t exactly the greatest. How did he end up with a legendary status? Personality, baby.

Somehow, Smith ran three ships — the Republic, the Coptic, and the Adriatic — directly onto dry land, yet he was still taken on as captain for the White Star Line company. Name sound familiar? This organization famously owned and operated the Titanic! There, the captain ran into even more issues.

Smith was known for captaining ships that were on their maiden, or very first, voyage. Right before his fatal voyage, Smith captained the Titanic's twin, the Olympic. The White Star Line released the Olympic just one year prior to releasing the Titanic. What happened while Smith was in command? An accident, of course.

As the Olympic was pulling away from the port, Smith failed to notice a Royal Navy ship and they collided. How could he miss it? We're not sure. Nevertheless, the White Star Line invited him to be the captain of all their new ships, each vessel growing larger by the year.

Smith attested to the public that he was a safe and trustworthy sailor. "When anyone asks me how to describe my experience of nearly 40 years at sea, I merely say 'uneventful,’” touted Smith. And yet, he was accused of ignoring certain on-ship disasters that most captains would acknowledge out of sheer duty.

Captain Smith didn’t seem that concerned about his workers on the Republic, where a furnace blew in 1889, killing three of his men. In 1907, Smith was quoted saying, “I have never been in any accident of any sort worth speaking about.” Not yet, anyway.

Eventually, Smith was known as “The Millionaire's Captain.” The White Line Star put him on duty for all their large passenger ships, which were frequently taken by celebrities. A few travelers even insisted on having Smith as their captain. Some treated him like royalty.

“[Smith] was the ideal dinner guest and made himself available to passengers and crew,” said writer P.B. Lound. What was it about the captain that made him so pleasant to be around? Seasoned traveler Kate Douglas-Wiggin, who rode with the captain over 20 times, recounts his personality.

“I can remember certain voyages when great inventors and scientists, earls and countesses, authors and musicians and statesmen made a "Captain's table" as notable and distinguished as that of any London or New York dinner.“ When unfounded rumors spread that the Titanic could be Smith’s final journey, people came flocking.

“At such times Captain Smith was an admirable host; modest, dignified, appreciative; his own contributions to the conversation showing not only the quality of his information but the high quality of his mind.” Famous voyagers were among those who went down with the ship. How did the public think of Smith after the disaster?

One couple said, “We always felt so safe with him, for one knew how deeply he felt the responsibility of his ship and of all on board. He has been a deeply cherished friend on sea and land all these years.” The question remains: did Smith do enough to save his ship?

The White Star Line didn’t seem to think so. If the Titanic hadn’t sunk, Smith would be entitled to a no-collision bonus of £200 on top of his £1,250/month salary, equal to about £154,000 today. When he died, his widow didn't receive that £200 bonus. But was it really Smith’s fault that the ship sank?

To this day, no one knows exactly what Smith did in his final hours to ensure the safety of his crew and passengers, but there are some clues. After all, before the ship even took off, Smith was experiencing issues keeping control. Not exactly new for the captain, huh?

Just as the Titanic was pulling out of its post in Southampton, the enormous power of the propellors began sucking in a small ship called the SS New York. As the tiny ship battled furiously against the massive force, Smith needed to think quickly to prevent disaster. At least, this disaster.

The small ship was getting closer and closer to the Titanic. Smith ordered the crew to reverse the propellors and have the tugboat alongside the ship help prevent drifting. The SS New York managed to just scrape by within 4 feet of the transatlantic beast! A small victory before a giant disaster.

Perhaps the 62-year-old captain shouldn’t have been in charge of such a mission if he could barely get the ship out of the dock. Smith’s fans were so comforted by his experience and personality that they, along with the White Star Line, ignored his shortcomings. How could this happen? The short answer: money.

A popular captain who brings in rich guests has serious sway with his employers. Smith brought in the dough, after all, and while some viewed him as a disaster waiting to happen, the folks in charge of the White Star bankroll thought he was a saint. Now? It's up to history to decide.