Klas Albin Klasén was a passenger on Titanic.
Early life[]
Klas Albin Klasén was a native of Grimshult, Fliiseryd, Småland in Sweden. He was born in 1893 on the 17th of July. His parents were Klas Victor Carlsson and Johanna Matilda Jonsson. He had one elder brother and one elder sister: Karl Oskar, born in 1883 and Alice Ester Amanda, born in 1890.
Klas spent his youth on a farm and was still working there, probably still living at his parents house in 1912. He had a niece, Gertruda Emilia Klasén who was just an infant, 1 and a half years old. Both received their moving certificates for emigration on 12 March 1912. Why he left, and especially why he took her with him, is unknown. A possibility was that his sister Alice was Gertruda's mother and had migrated to California before and Klas was assigned to reunite the girl with her mother.
Titanic[]
There is some confusion regarding his travel company. Gertrud Emilia travels on the same ticket (no. 350405, £12 3s 8d) as Hulda Klasén, but they do not appear to be related. Hulda Klasén and her niece Hulda Veström, had Los Angeles as their destination and this was also officially listed by the White Star Line as the destation of Klas Albin and Gertrud Emilia. Either there has been a mix-up or all four of them were somehow acquainted and were all going there. They have tickets 350404 (Klas Albin), 350405 (Gertrud Emilia and Hulda ) and 350406 (Hulda Veström), so it means that they traveled together.
On April 10, Klas and his party boarded the new liner in Southampton. He and the others traveled in Third Class. Klas was 18 years old at the time.
On April 14, the famous ship came to a standstill after colliding with an iceberg. The glancing blow on the starboard side caused damage under the waterline and caused her to sink. On April 15, after midnight, it was confirmed by the masters and the shipbuilder that she couldn’t stay afloat and an evacuation began.
Tragically, Klas and Gertruda were lost in the disaster that followed when the ship foundered from underneath him at 2:20 A.M. Their bodies were never recovered.
After his death[]
A charity paid SEK 1,787:52 (£98) to the parents, and compensation of SEK 1,822 (£100) was paid to the father on 2/6/1914. The sums suggest that the payments also include compensation for the loss of their granddaughter, Gertrud Emilia.