Anders Vilhelm Gustafsson
Anders Vilhelm Gustafsson was a passenger on Titanic.
Background[]
Anders Vilhelm Workman Anders Vilhelm Gustafsson was born in Ruotsinpyhtää, Finland on April 5, 1875. His parents were farmer’s son Karl Gustafsson and Maria Lovisa Gustafsson.
Anders had 2 younger brothers and 6 sisters. He was the third child, following two elder sisters, Emilia Sofia and Maria Mathilda, born in 1870 and 1871 respectively. Grief struck the family as Maria died the same year. In 1878, 3 years after Anders, another girl was born and also named Maria Mathilda. Before that, in 1872, Karl Viktor had come into this world.
More sorrow came as Edla Kristina, born in 1880, died at the age of 2 in 1883. That year, the family was blessed with another son, Johan Birger, born in June. Three more children followed: Elin Kristina in 1885, Fredrik Hjalmar in 1892 and Erna Elise in 1900.
Anders Gustafsson embarked for America for the first time in the Fall of 1906, but returned to Finland. In 1911 he was with his friend Karl Alfred Backström, who was also his brother-in-law as he had just married to Maria Mathilda and was going back to America and offered both Anders and his brother Johan a job at his new construction site in America that would appoint Karl as manager.
Anders, Johan, Karl and Matilda left Finland and departed in Hanko aboard SS Polaris on April 3, 1912. The Polaris was moored in Copenhagen before proceeding to Hull in England. The ship arrived in April 7. The four Finns made their way to Southampton from there.
Titanic[]
Anders and the others were on the Titanic as she left the harbor bound for New York City on April 10 after noon. Anders was 37 years old during the Maiden Voyage. The group had tickets for passage in Third Class.
On April 14, it was 20 minutes before midnight when Titanic touched with a large mass of ice, after the lookouts having sighted it too late to port around it. This iceberg created small gaps in the Titanic’s hull on starboard side as the ship grazed against it underneath the waterline. Titanic was now taking on water rapidly.
On April 15, inspection and analysis was done and it was inevitable: Titanic was doomed as the ship’s designer had worked out. At 5 past 12, Captain Smith, wanted to waste no more time and orded to evacuate the passengers and ready the lifeboats. Only Maria survived as Karl brought her to Collapsible D and made her go without him.
Anders, his brother and Karl Backström died when Titanic went down.
Only the body of Anders Vilhelm was recovered by the CS Mackay-Bennett and marked as nr # 98, after which they buried him at sea on April 24. His relatives were paid £75 in compensation.