Michel, his brother, and his father boarded RMS Titanic at Southampton, England on April 10, 1912, as second-class passengers. For the journey, the elder Navratil assumed the alias 'Louis M. Hoffman', and the boys were booked as 'Loto' and 'Louis'. On board the ship, Navratil led passengers to believe that he was a widower. He let his sons out of his sight only once, when he allowed a French-speaking woman, Bertha Lehmann, to watch them for a few hours while he played cards.
After Titanic’s collision with an iceberg, at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912, M. Navratil placed Michel and his brother in Collapsible D, the last lifeboat successfully launched from the ship. Michel, although not quite four years old at the time, later claimed to remember his father telling him: "My child, 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." The elder Navratil died during the sinking, and his body was recovered by the rescue ship, CS Mackay-Bennett. In his pocket was a revolver. Because of his assumed Jewish surname, Mr. Navratil was buried in Baron de Hirsch Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery, in Nova Scotia.
While in Collapsible D, Michel was fed biscuits by first-class passenger Hugh Woolner. When the rescue ship RMS Carpathia arrived at the scene, Michel and his brother were hoisted to its deck in burlap sacks. Since the two children were toddlers and spoke no English, they could not identify themselves and were soon referred to as the Titanic Orphans. French-speaking first-class passenger Margaret Hays cared for the boys at her home until their mother could be located, which occurred as a result of newspaper articles which included their pictures. Marcelle sailed to New York City, New York and was reunited with her sons on May 16, 1912. She took her children back to France aboard the RMS Oceanic.
Michel later recalled his memory of the Titanic:
| “ | A magnificent ship!...I remember looking down the length of the hull - the ship looked splendid. My brother and I played on the forward deck and were thrilled to be there. 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 total and utter well-being. | ” |
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—Michel Navratil, translated with errors by Encyclopedia Titanica |
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and later:
| “ | I don't recall being afraid, I remember the pleasure, really, of going plop! into the life-boat. We ended up next to the daughter of an American banker who managed to save her dog--no one objected. There were vast differences of people's wealth on the ship, and I realized later that if we hadn't been in second-class, we'd have died. The people who came out alive often cheated and were aggressive, the honest didn't stand a chance." | ” |
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—Michel Navratil, translated by Encyclopedia Titanica |
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Read more about this topic: Michel Marcel Navratil
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