The sole survivor who was actually on the RMS Titanic when it sank was Rhoda
Mary Abbott. She was a 30-year-old third class passenger traveling back home
to America. When the ship hit the iceberg on April 14, 1912, Abbott was awake
and made it to the lifeboats, surviving the night in Lifeboat A.
1,503 people died in the sinking of the Titanic, while 705 survived. Rhoda
Abbot was the only Titanic passenger who did not board a rescue ship and
made it to New York aboard the RMS Carpathia with the other survivors.
Some key facts about Rhoda Abbott:
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She was originally from England but was returning from visiting her
three sons in England back to her home in Providence, Rhode Island.
She was traveling in third class with her two young sons who
unfortunately did not survive the sinking.
After being rescued by the Carpathia, she suffered a breakdown from
the trauma and was hospitalized for a short time before continuing on
to Rhode Island.
She never talked publicly about her experiences on the Titanic before
passing away in 1946 at age 70.
So while over 700 people did survive the sinking overall, Rhoda Abbott was
the sole Titanic passenger who survived the entire ordeal from start to rescue.
Her survival was largely due to making it into a lifeboat as a third class
passenger when most of those who perished were from first and second class.