Titanic
While traveling, Madeleine Force Astor became pregnant. Wanting the child born in the U.S., the Astors boarded Titanic on her maiden voyage to New York. They embarked in Cherbourg, France via the SS Nomadic, in first class and were the wealthiest passengers aboard. Accompanying the Astors were Astor's valet, Victor Robbins; Mrs. Astor's maid, Rosalie Bidois; and her nurse, Caroline Louise Endres. They also took their pet dog, an Airedale Terrier named Kitty. The Astors were deeply fond of their dog and had come close to losing her on a previous trip when she went missing in Egypt. Kitty did not survive the sinking.[21][22] They had met up with Margaret "Molly" Brown traveling through Egypt. According to Edith Rosenbaum, Astor pointed out some vital statistics of the ship, and said, "She's unsinkable, a modern shipbuilding miracle."
On April 14, when Captain Edward J. Smith attended a large dinner party in B Deck restaurant, Salon Steward Thomas Whiteley stated that Smith "talked and joked with Mr Astor. Shortly after Titanic hit the iceberg, Isaac Frauenthal saw Astor approach Captain Smith and tell him, "Captain, my wife is not in good health. She has gone to bed, and I don't want to get her up unless it is absolutely necessary. What is the situation?" Smith advised Astor to awaken his wife, as they might have to take to the boats. Astor "never changed expression...thanked the Captain courteously and walked rapidly, but composedly away". Astor informed his wife of the collision but told her the damage did not appear to be serious. He and his wife and other passengers talked about the collision with the iceberg. Some time later, as the ship's lifeboats were being manned, Astor remained unperturbed; he and his wife played with the mechanical horses in the gymnasium. At some point Astor is thought to have sliced open the lining of an extra lifebelt with a pen knife to show his wife its contents, either to prove they were not of use or to reassure her that they were. He even declared: "We are safer here than in that little boat."[23]
At boat No. 7, Astor and his wife were about to board when Astor drew back and pulled his wife back with him. Someone said something to Astor, but it is unknown what was said. On A Deck, Lily May Peel saw Astor smoking a cigarette with Jacques Futrelle. When Second Officer Charles Lightoller later arrived on A Deck to finish loading Lifeboat 4, Astor helped his wife, with her maid and nurse, into it. He then asked if he might join his wife because she was in "a delicate condition;" however, Lightoller told him men were not to be allowed to board until all the women and children had been loaded. Astor did not protest, and simply kissed his wife, telling her that he would follow in another boat. According to Titanic passenger Archibald Gracie IV, who also helped Astor's wife into the boat:
"She was lifted up through the window, and her husband helped her on the other side, and when she got in, her husband was on one side of this window and I was on the other side, at the next window. I heard Mr Astor ask the second officer whether he would not be allowed to go aboard this boat to protect his wife. He said, 'No, sir, no man is allowed on this boat or any of the boats until the ladies are off.' Mr. Astor then said (something to the effect of) 'Well, tell me the number of this boat so I may find her afterwards' and was told 'Number 4.'[24]"
A news article posted in the Chicago Record Herald tells of Astor placing his wife into the final lifeboat then ordering Ida Sophia Hippach and her 17-year-old daughter Jean Gertrude to take the final two places before the boat was lowered away.[25] 11-year old Master Elias Nicola-Yarred and his 14-year-old sister Jamilia also made it to the boat, stating that Astor turned to help other passengers into the boat, including Yarred and his sister. After Lifeboat 4 was lowered at 1:55 am, Astor is said to have stood with John B. Thayer, Harry Elkins Widener and Arthur Ryerson, waving. Titanic sank at 2:20 a.m, on April 15. Madeleine Force Astor, her nurse, and her maid survived. Colonel John Jacob Astor, his valet, Victor Robbins, Kitty and Futrelle perished.
In the aftermath, ships were sent out to retrieve the bodies from the site of the sinking; of the 1,517 passengers and crew who perished in the sinking, only 333 bodies were ever recovered. Astor's body was recovered on April 22 by the cable ship CS Mackay-Bennett.[26] Astor was identified by the initials sewn on the label of his jacket. Among the items found on him was a gold pocket watch, which his son Vincent claimed and wore the rest of his life.[27][28] It was later reported that "in 1935, Vincent gave the watch as a christening gift to the infant son of William Dobbyn IV, John Jacob Astor's executive secretary". The pocket watch was sold for £1.175 million at auction on April 27, 2024.[29]
"NO. 124 – MALE – ESTIMATED AGE 50 – LIGHT HAIR & MOUSTACHE.
CLOTHING – Blue serge suit; blue handkerchief with 'A.V.'; belt with gold buckle; brown boots with red rubber soles; brown flannel shirt; 'J.J.A.' on back of collar.
EFFECTS – Gold watch; cuff links, gold with diamond; diamond ring with three stones; £225 in English notes; $2440 in notes; £5 in gold; 7s. in silver; 5 ten franc pieces; gold pencil; pocketbook.
FIRST CLASS. NAME- J.J. ASTOR IV[26]"
In his memoir, Gracie claimed that he heard Astor's body was in a crushed condition; this led to popular belief that Astor may have been one of the swimmers killed by the first funnel falling from the ship.[30] This is disputed by John Snow, an undertaker aboard the ship, who said that the body was in an 'excellent state of preservation', and Captain Richard Roberts, the commander of Astor's yacht, who said that apart from some slight discolouration by water, Astor's features were unharmed. Gerald Ross, an electrician on the Mackay-Bennett, reported that Astor's "face was swollen, one jaw was injured."[31] Author Tim Maltin writes that Astor's jaw injury was relatively slight and could have been caused by his lifebelt, if he jumped from the Titanic, or by other drowning passengers or debris as the ship sank.[32] Among the more dubious accounts, Dr. Washington Dodge says he saw Astor standing with Archibald Butt near the bridge as the ship went down.[33] Dodge's account is highly unlikely, as his lifeboat was more than 0.5 mi away from the ship at the time it sank.[34] Survivor Philip Mock was quoted as claiming to have seen Astor in the water clinging to a raft with W. T. Stead. "Their feet became frozen," said Mock, "and they were forced to release their hold. Both were drowned."
Astor was buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in Manhattan, New York City. Four months after Titanic sank, Madeleine Astor gave birth to his second son, John Jacob "Jakey" Astor VI.[26][36]
