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April
18, 1912 Cohen letter quoted in On Board RMS
Titanic, page 166:
“I took my
chance and jumped but I missed the rope and as I was
falling I clutched hold of the rope. [illegible]
gloves on and that really saved me because if I
would not have those I would have cut my hands very
much. As it is the rope cut through the gloves and
cut my hands, and it made a cut about a inch in my
forehead. My troubles were not over because I fell
in the water and was kept up by my lifebelt. After
being five minutes in the water (it seemed hours) I
was dragged in the last lifeboat. There was nearly
all women and children and 3 men. I was given one of
the oars to pull the boat. We had to pull very hard
because the Titanic was sinking and the suction
would pull us all down.”
From a 1963 letter to Ed Kamuda
published in the Commutator, Vol. 1, Issue
#3, pages 7-9:
“The boat that rescued me had
many women and children but was not filled to
capacity – it could have taken a lot more! I
found out later that Mrs. Astor was in the same
boat.” Later he states “Our boat picked up
several men from the water. I believe one or
two died of exposure. Then the bung of our
lifeboat began to leak, so my job was to bale the
water out. ….. All the lifeboats kept together
by order of some officer who we later was informed
as 2nd mate Lightoller."
At the American Inquiry, pages 667-668, Lamp
trimmer Samuel Hemming had this to say about the only
man taken from the water that he was sure was a
passenger:
Mr. HEMMING. I know one was a
third-class passenger.
Senator SMITH. What was his
name?
Mr. HEMMING. I do not know,
sir.
Senator SMITH. Where was he
from?
Mr. HEMMING. That I could
not tell you, sir.
Senator SMITH. Was he an
Englishman or an American?
Mr. HEMMING. I spoke to
him, and I do not think he was an Englishman.
Senator SMITH. Do you think
he was an American?
Mr. HEMMING. He spoke very good
English, but I have an idea that he was a foreigner
of some sort.
So Hemming thought the man MIGHT be
a foreigner. Gus Cohen certainly didn't look foreign,
and at the time of his TV interview in the '50s he had
no trace of a foreign accent. But as a much younger
man back in 1912 he might have retained something of
the accent of his immigrant parents.
Cohen's letter to his wife, written
April 18, 1912, on board the Carpathia states
(reprinted
in the Commutator #250, 2025):
"The only thing I saw was an
iron beam sticking out of the side of the deck with
a rope hanging on to it. I climbed on the beam but
some stokers who wanted to save there [sic] own
lives threw me on deck again, but still I climbed
again. When I was ok that I saw that before reaching
the rope I had to jump 5 feet horizontally in
mid-air above water to reach the rope. I took
my chance and jumped but I missed it, and as I was
falling I clutched hold of the rope. At that time I
had my gloves on and that partly saved me because if
I would not have those I would have cut my hands
badly. As it is the rope cut through the gloves and
cut my hands slightly and at the same time &
made a gash in my forehead about an inch long. My
troubles were not over because I fell in the water
and was kept up by my lifebelt. After being
about 5 minutes in the water I was dragged in the
last lifeboat. In this was all women and children
and three men. I was given one of the oars to row
the boat with. We had to pull
very hard because we were afraid of being
sucked down by the Titanic. When we were a safe
distance from the ship the first explosion occurred
and then came the second explosion which broke the
ship in halves and then it sank. Then for a few
minutes all was quiet and then came cries of Help!
Help! As long as I live I will never forget the
cries. Our boat picked up 6 men, of whom 2
died."
If Cohen was in Mrs. Astor’s
lifeboat, he was picked up by #4, which we know picked
up several people who died from exposure. #4 was
one of the boats that were part of Lowe’s
Flotilla. We know #4 also picked up several
people (including Hemming) from the sea. But if
Cohen was in Lightoller’s boat, that was either
Collapsible B, or #12. Is it possible he got up
on B, and then transferred to #12? Or did he
just misidentify Lowe? Gus Cohen's story notably
differs from those of many who falsely claimed to have
been in the water in that he was clearly trying to get
into a boat, rather than heroically taking a dive in
support of the 'women and children first' policy.
His accounts read to us like he was
describing boat 4, though #12 is a small
possibility.
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