Only one French Bulldog sailed with its master on the historic first voyage of the Titanic. Read on to discover its fate along with the other passengers.
What is the Titanic?
On April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic, a British passenger liner operated by the White Star Line, sank in the North Atlantic Ocean during its first voyage from Southampton, England to New York City, United States after hitting an iceberg. The ship had an estimated 2,224 passengers and crew on board, and sadly, over 1,500 people lost their lives in the accident. This made it the most fatal sinking of a single ship at that time and it remains the most fatal sinking of any ocean liner or cruise ship during peacetime.
Were there many dogs on the Titanic?
When we think of Titanic we tend to concentrate on people but to our surprise on the ship, there were also a lot of animals! A less well-known statistic is that of the twelve dogs known to have been on board, only 3 survived. Sadly, the one French Bulldog passenger went down with the ship.
Who did the dogs belong to?
Most of the dogs belonged to wealthy Americans traveling in first class, since the fare for a dog was the equivalent of a person traveling. One of those owners was Robert Daniel, a 27-year-old banker, who was bringing back with him a brindle French bulldog named Gamin de Pycombe.
Mr.Daniel had bought the dog in England for a very high price of £150 (about £11,000 or $17,000 in today’s prices).
Where was the Frenchie staying?
Stories told later by survivors indicated that Mr. Daniel’s Frenchie was staying in his cabin, rather than in the well-appointed kennel on board. When the ship was going
down, it was reported that someone released the kennelled dogs, though this was of little help to them except for the three small dogs who were secretly taken aboard lifeboats by their owners.
Another passenger, Edith Russell, later said that Gamin de Pycombe was in his master’s cabin, which was near hers. She recalled hearing him whimpering as she walked along the hall on her way to the upper deck after the ship had hit the iceberg. She said she went in to calm him and put him to bed. In an interview in 1966, she said: “The dog was scared so I petted him and laid him down in his bed. He was very obedient and sat there and looked at me sweetly as I closed the door. I did not know then that we were in any great danger or else I would have taken him with me.”
What happened to the Frenchie from the Titanic?
A surviving passenger reported having seen a French Bulldog swimming in the ocean, so apparently someone did let Gamin de Pycombe out of his owner’s cabin.
We can take it from the report of the Frenchie swimming in the cold ocean that the poor little pup didn’t make it.
My French Bulldog 