Bernt Joahnnesen
Bernt Johannes Johannesen-Bratthammar was one of the Norwegian passengers who travelled on the RMS Titanic on its Maiden Voyage. He was the son of Johannes Sakariasen and Berta Johanna Arnesdatter and came from Avaldsnes in Rogaland. He was born there on October 23th, 1882.
At the age of 15 he started working at a bakery in Haugesund. In 1902 he went to Iceland to look for new work. He remained there until 1904. He enlisted in the army in 1905 because of a conflict between Sweden and Norway. War was threatening and he was willing to fight for the motherland. Luckily the issue was resolved before any real battle could arise. Later he went to America where he worked on various ships out at sea. He returned to Norway in 1910.
On 28 January 1911 he pled his vows in the Førdesfjorden church to his love, who was also from from Avaldsnes. Her name was Ahna Karoline Hansdatter.
Titanic[]
After sustaining injuries in his job as a stoneworker, he decided to listen to his phsyician and return to the United States to find yet another, probably lighter job. Initially he had planned to take passage on the DFD Line's Hellig Olav, however that didn't work out. Therefore, he booked Third Class tickets for the RMS Titanic and boarded her in Southampton. On board he also shared a cabin with Daniel Danielsen Grønnestad, Ingvald Olai Olsen Hagland and Konrad Mathias Reiersen Hagland, all from the Haugesund area. Bernt was 29 years old at the time.
On the night of April 14, he felt a vibration in his cabin. After putting clothes on and trying to find out what happened, he learnt from a friend that an iceberg had been hit. Precautionairy messures were taken and boats swung out. He wanted to get his coat and tried to take the stairs back, but a crewmember stopped him and said he couldn't go further down, the place where his cabin was situated was already taking on a lot of water.
Johannesen survived the sinking of the Titanic by boarding lifeboat 13. He noticed there were plenty of girls from Sweden in that boat. Meanwhile, his roommates perished when the ship foundered.
Later life[]
Bernt Johannessen at later life, reading Walter Lord's book about Titanic.
After spending three months in America, most of his time at St. Vincent's Hospital, he decided to return to Norway. He settled in Haugesund with his wife Alma Karoline and they had eight children. Alma had become so nervous after the Titanic incident, that she made her man promise never to work on ships ever again, and he became a stonemason instead.
Between 1913 and 1929 they had six boys and two girls: Any, Alfred, Sven, Kristian, Johanna, Bernhard, Tordis and Johannes. They had bought a farm inbetween in the town of Bratthammar, Førdesfjorden near Haugesund. Bratthammar was added to the family name.
At home in Norway he found work as a postman in 1920 and bricklayer. For all of his duties he was honored by the locals. He officially retired from the mail work in 1952 at the age of 70, but continued for another 10 years, towards the end of his life as a church servant in Førdesfjorden church, keeping the church and graveyard tidy. In 1960 he lost his wife. One day in 1962 a journalist came to him to ask him about his life story and most of all his days of having been a Titanic passenger. He gave a very vivid and detailed account.
He died on December 1st, 1962, reaching the age of 80.