Tannūs Mu’awwad was a passenger on the Titanic.
Background[]
Tannūs Mu’awwad was born in the Northern region of what is now Lebanon but still belonged to Syria back then. The Turkish muslims were in control of this part of the Middle East, as it was apprehended by The Ottoman Dynasties. He was the first son given to Ḥannā Ṭannūs Mu'awwad and his wife, whose last name is Dāhir. They were married just before the birth of Tannūs. He came into the world in 1895 or 1896 in the village of Tuhūm. As a young boy, Tannūs lived a few years with only his mother, as his father had traversed overseas to the USA where he set foot on 13 July 1897. He took residence in Ohio in the town of Columbus.
There was a familiar face in Columbus: Ḥannā’s cousin Najib Wihbah. One of his two brothers later appeared in Columbus as well. As an American citizen, Ḥannā Tannūs carried the name John Thomas from 1902 onwards. He started work as a clothes salesman and later worked for a prominent theater, selling them all kinds of special clothes, such as gowns, dresses and kimonos, making him a lot of money. A wrong investment in banks, which crumbled, cost him much of that money. He was listed as a boarder in 1910.
In February 1911, there was a passport available for Ḥannā, who wanted to get back to Tuhūm in a year’s time.
In 1912, Tannūs was a teenage scholar. John felt he had a future in America and thought the education on Ohio University would be perfect for him. So he visited his native country for the first time since he left it, as his passport said. It’s not sure if Hanna was present on the occasion, but somewhere between 1911 and 1912 a brother appeared: Yūsuf. Mrs. Dāhir was probably pregnant before her husband and eldest son left. They set about on their long journey in the Spring, leaving Mrs. Dāhir and her other son behind.
For the first part of this trip, they needed a donkey ride to Beirut, which would take some days. They were in the company of others from Tuhūm, all relatives: Tannūs' uncle Tannūs Dāhir, the brother from his mother's side, Gerios Youseff, Bannūrah Ayyūb-Dāhir and Sha'nīnah Abī Sa'b, who guided her. For some, like Sha’ninah and Gerios, they returned to home in the USA and for others, like Tannūs Dāhir and Bannūrah, it was the first time they migrated.
The five of them then moved on across the Mediterranean Sea to the port of Marseilles, in Southern France. Their were scrutinized by French officials first before they could go on. From there, they took a train which stopped in Paris befor reaching Cherbourg.
Titanic[]
On April 10, at the evening, Tannūs was in the harbor of Cherbourg, where the Titanic was ready to take on more customers. With his boarding ticket, he, John and the others acquired Third Class passage. Their relative Bannūrah was either close by or with them in their cabin. They had a cabin in the front part of the ship.
On April 14, late in the night, the Titanic had a steady speed of 22,5 knots when she made good time on her voyage. Titanic however got up close and personal with an iceberg against her will. The calm sea and moonless night prevented the lookouts from seeing the obstacle until it was too late. The ship sailed right at it and upon seeing it, the Officers on watch made the ship turn fast with her engines to full astern. This could not completely get Titanic out of harm’s way, as she scratched the iceberg with the starboard side of the hull underneath the waterline. This was fatal, as the ocean could now find a way in. The collision got John out of his bed to take a sprint and find information. He came back with good news of the stewards who said it was no big deal.
On April 15, at midnight, the captain and the Titanic’s designer had worked out how things stood with the stricken liner. She made an awful lot of water and with the calculations, Thomas Andrews had to admit with sadness that his creation could not survive this kind of damage. She would certainly sink. The captain then released the crew to get the lifeboats ready and prepare to evacuate as many passengers as they could.
Near the cabin of Tannūs, commotion had arisen. Tannūs seemingly had wandered off when his dad talked to other passengers as Bannūrah had kept on sleeping. The women were not in panic but knew something was amiss. Bannūrah later remembered water flowing into the hallways. To the account of Bannūrah, John had discovered his son was suddenly not in the cabin and he spent a lot of time looking for him. As Bannūrah came across both, she helped Tannūs by sending him back to where she just spotted John as they just missed eachother and were on a different staircase. Tannūs quickly dashed back down again into the direction Bannūrah pointed him.
This had ultimately the consequence that they lost time. It was very late and it’s not clear if they ever found eachother but they were away from the other relatives and only Sha'nīnah and Bannūrah were saved. First Class passengers had come to the aid of both ladies to get them to the highest decks and Gerios Yousseff then brought them to a boat.
Both Tannūs and his father became victims of the great maritime disaster as they and 1500 others couldn’t get on a lifeboat safely. Titanic went away from them at 2:20 A.M. Many died in the cold water by simply freezing.
Later, White Star Line had sent for vessels to pick up the corpses of the deceased Titanic passengers and crew, but the bodies of Tannūs or his father were not among the ones they recovered.