Philip Francis Vigott was an Able Seaman on Titanic.
Background[]
Philip Francis Vigott was a native of St Mary's, Jersey in the Channel Islands, born on October 6, 1879. He was put on this world by his father Philippe François Vigott, who he was named after. Phillippe had farmland where he worked on and was married to Eliza Jane Buesnel. Both had French heritage and were brought up in the island of Jersey, England. Eliza’s parents where from Grouville, where the Vigott pair wed on October 11, 1873, the same they that they welcomed their first child, also named Eliza Jane. Laura Phillipa was the next girl in 1878. But she was not gifted with a long life as she had died in 1880 already.
Philip was the their third child. On October 16, 1879, they lustrated him. He had 6 younger siblings, of which Sidney Philip was his first brother from 1881 onwards. In 1882 they were blessed with Mabel Elsie. Bertie Wilford was added to the family in 1887 while they conceived Cyril Clifford in 1888. In 1889, Susie Delicia was the last to expand the family. The family were situated in Saint Lawrence in Jersey during those years. Somewhere between 1889 and 1992, mother Eliza was gone to the afterlife, when she and Phillipe François had a home in Saint Brelade, Jersey, in 1891. It got even worse for Phillippe and his family as, next to his wife and Laura, he lost another child in 1891, Bertie.
Father Phillipe then had a new wife to who he pledged his loyalty to on September 8, 1892. She was a sister of the late Eliza, Amelia Julia Buesnel. She gave young Philip two half-sisters in 1893 and 1894. They were Gladys Eliza Julia and Ruby May.
To make a living, the grown up Philip helped out at the local bakery. Years later, Philip junior pursued a naval career as was common for the island men. He is believed to have gone to sea at about the age of 20. He wasn’t at home in 1901. His old man had reached the age of just 51 around Christmas Day in 1904, when he left earth.
Titanic[]
Prior to 1912, Phillip was sailing with the Kinfauns Castle, a ship of the Union-Castle Line. In 1912, he was contracted by the White Star Line. They had just built a fascinating, large new liner, the second of the Olympic-class. They had named her RMS Titanic. April 6 was the day that Vigott officialy joined her in Southampton. He had stayed in Southampton for the past few days. The day of the sailing was April 10. He was one of 29 Able Seamen on this new ship when she was pushed away from the docks. He was 32 years old when he got onboard.
On the late night of April 14, Titanic got herself in jeopardy by the set of circumstances, as the sea was calm, the night was clear and thee was hardly any wind or waves, which made her watch crew overlook an iceberg until it was clear and close enough to be on a collision course with the mighty steamer. The Look Out Men shouted to the bridge that they saw some ice in front of the bow and Officer William McMaster Murdoch gave command to turn to port completely whilst ordering the Engine Room to slow Titanic down. These corrections could not lead her past the iceberg without brushing it with her broad starboard side. Lots of water got through the various snicks that the solid ice had caused under the water line. Subsequently, her cargo holds and most forward boiler rooms started to flood.
At the bridge at midnight, April 15, the man who built Titanic, Thomas Andrews, gave an explanation to the captain, why Titanic could not stay upright and above the surface, based on their findings when the two men had observed the issues down below. Her forecastle would slant forward from the weight of the incoming waters and she would vanish in 2 hours time. Captain Smith had heard enough, he gave the command to arrange the provisions for the lifeboats and transfer the passengers into those boats. It was clear-cut that Vigott was also laided with this task given his function.
No apprehention was felt for her safety of the Titanic by her sailors for most of the time, but the crew lowered all boats until the last ones were washed off. Vigott had been placed in lifeboat 13, one of the three last boats to be launched on the aft part of the Boat Deck. As part of the crew manning the lifeboat, he became a survivor of the Titanic. More than a half hour later, the sea had overcome all of Titanic’s defesenses. Her pumps had slowed down her sinking rate, but she lay so deep in the water by 2:15 A.M, that she no longer could keep. The stern was moving out of the water with her bows and bridge becoming submerged. Within minutes, the stern was high up in the air. The pressure had built and the ship got a fracture in her upper structure, causing it too fail and the ship being devided in two, with the forward part filling up completely with water. The Titanic had her stern perpendicular to the water and at 2:20 A.M, it eased under the surface.
After the sinking[]
During her last hours, Titanic’s radio operators had been busy sending distress signals to the nearest ships. One of them, RMS Carpathia, ahd picked up on Titanic’s dire situation and promised to come and help. They had steamed towards her position as fast as they could and by 4:00 A.M, they had covered the 58 miles to the northwest were Titanic was taken by the sea. The lifeboats that stayed afloat wer all assembled with the passengers and crew taken aboard.It is estimated that the Carpathia rescued 706 survivors and they were taken to New York, arriving on Thursday, 18 April.
Not long after his stay in New York, Vigott crossed the Atlantic back to England on the Lapland. Philip would not appear as a witness at the inquiry that was proceeding in London and hadn’t been asked to testify in the US either. He continued life in Southampton and briefly visited his sister.
Later life[]
Philip did not appear to lose any of his love for the sea, despite the ordeal of such a disaster. Seemingly without a partner, he spent much of his life at sea, performed his duties during the Great War and was awarded medals for his service. His brother Cyril was also involved in the fighting and perished on the battlefield. In the 1920s, with the war being over, Philip was a often crewmember, again for the Union-Castle Line on at least 4 of their vessels. He spent most of his life as a seaman. He also affiliated with the brotherhood of the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity.
On July the 2nd, 1941, Philip Vigott had lived his last day. Hel was still a citizen of the Bitterne Park area in Southampton at the time of his death.