My second book about the RMS Titanic and her passengers and crew along with some movie talk. Same rules apply, no drama, trolls, and disrespecting the people on this ship
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February 13th, 1893 - March 14th, 1980
She is a Aquarius.
Carla Christine Andersen(Jensen) was born in Pederstrup, Eskildstrup, Odense, Fyns County, Denmark to Niels Peter Hansen (a bachelor) and Karen Sofia Andersen (June 30th, 1870; who is believed to not have been married when Carla was born. Karen had a child before Carla was born; Jens Peder Andersen (May 20th, 1889, his father was Claus Larsen). Karen later married Hans Christian Jensen (a butcher; born March 30th, 1870). Carla worked as a maid when Hans was a butcher.
Onboard Titanic/April 14th-15th, 1912: Carla got permission from her parents to go and settle in America and her uncle Niels Rasmus Jensen, a carpenter now settled in Portland, Oregon, agreed to lead the party that also included Carla's brother Svend Lauritz Jensen and her fiancée Hans Peder Jensen. They travelled via Esbjerg and London to Southampton. She is shown on the passenger list as Carla Andersen. They boarded the RMS Titanic as third class passengers on April 10th, 1912. Carla's cabin was in the stern, the others' (as single men) in the stem.
"I shared the cabin with three young girls, two English and a Swede and we had turned in early because the passengers in third class had instructions to be below deck before 22 hours. We felt a bump a half hour later, but after the first shock, we went back to sleep again. We had confidence in Titanic, the other 3 girls would never wake up again! At 12:30 I heard a knock and by uncle said: You better to put a coat on the deck....so I put a coat over my nightdress. We were now up on the deck and there were not much commotion, we had hit an iceberg, but everyone felt the ship would stay afloat. The ship was fully lit and there was music in the 1st class saloon. There were no panic even when the lifeboats were launched, no one seem to push to get into them and the women and children went into the boats first."
Carla was placed, as were most rescued 3rd class passengers, in one of the last, stern boats, probably lifeboat 16. She later recalled that while she entered a boat the men were making jokes with her saying that she might reach New York faster than the others that way. When the boat was lowered, the uncle said "now you can wait there until we come."
"When the lifeboat I got into rowed away from the Titanic the orchestra was still playing. One said later it the psalm "Nearer My God To Thee." That is possible. It was not the time to listen and I did not know the psalm, since it was English. The boat was towed by 6 crew members. The ocean was quiet and the surface like a mirror. We were surrounded by other lifeboats and we saw lots of icebergs around us. Then the catastrophe happened. Before anyone expected it. With fright we heard an incredible crash and it was as if a creep from 1,000 voices came from the lit giant ship, when it broke in two and both parts rose into the sky and sank. We sat like stone figures and saw it all happen. What was even worst then the screams were the deadly silence that came after....it was frightful."
Carla was later picked up by the RMS Carpathia.
"We could not handle anything when we were taken aboard the freighter. We were put in the hold or where there was room, we were well taken care of and got food and got warm drinks. However the hours on board were frightful, some women were just sitting apathetically and staring out into the air and others were wandering around screaming their men's names. Some were lying around just crying and others could not handle the event and several times we saw canvas-covered bodies being lowered over the side."
I New York Carla was quartered in a hospital and sewed to occupy herself. She received $200 from the Women's Relief Committee. From the hospital she sent a wire home that she had survived but the rest of her family did not, her father told her to come home immediately. White Star Line gave her a 2nd class ticket aboard the RMS Adriatic to Liverpool. She was back at Eskildstrup on May 13th, 1912 and never travelled out of Denmark again. On November 5th, 1912 at Sølinge, Svendborg, Odense County, Carla married Frederik Ferdinand Pedersen, a farmer (November 22nd, 1888 in Denmark). Their son Laurits was born on June 5th, 1915 and in 1916 they lived in Nørre Lyndalse, Odense County, Denmark.
In 1916, her family lived in Sølinge, Vindinge, Svenborg. Carla's stepfather was still a butcher and her older brother Jens Peder Andersen was a merchant. Her four younger (half-) brothers and sisters still lived with the family at the time. Carla and Frederik would go on to have 2 more children: Ellen (later Barkholt) and Bente. Some years after Frederik's death, Carla moved to an old people's home in Ferritslev, Fyn, Denmark. She died on March 14th, 1980 and was buried with Frederik in Sønder Nærå graveyard on the island of Fyn, Denmark. By her own request buried in the nightdress she wore on April 14th, 1912.
