William Ali was passenger on the Titanic.
Background[]
William Ali is believed to have been born in 1887 in a part of the Lebanon or Syria which was under Ottoman rule in those times. He was perceived to have been doing something in the farming business. He lived in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina in 1912. It is expected that he wanted to return after either staying in his native country or in England, perhaps somewhere else in Europe.
Titanic[]
The Titanic would provide the perfect way of transport for himself and some of his fellow Argentines, who also had a Syrian background. They were Ahmed Ali, Adola Assim and Ali Assam. Unlike many other Syrian-born passengers, these men were taking the Maiden Voyage of the Titanic from Southampton instead of Cherbourg. Titanic’s first ever crossing would start from here. It was after noon, April 10 when she lef the Southampton harbor behind her to set about her trip that should get her to New York within a week.
On April 14, something halted her progress. Titanic was doing fine until fate struck her in the shape of an iceberg at late night, which seemingly was nowhere to be seen until it was too late. Her lookouts rang the bells, but before she could turn and slow down enough, an impact shook and shocked the ship a little and the worst case scenario unfolded. As Titanic’s hull was damaged on a large part beneath the water line on starboard, water came in at a steady pace.
The water had risen considerably in the first 20 minutes and after inspection, the captain had only one conclusion: His ship was doomed. It was just after midnight on April 15 when he told his men to get the lifeboats ready so at least some passengers could be put to safety and lowered away from the wounded steamer.
What William Ali and his crew experienced is left for imagination but it doesn’t look like they found a lifeboat to get off in time. He died in the shipwreck along with his 3 mates. He was the only one of the 4 of whom there was a body picked up later by the CS Mackay-Bennett. William Ali was body number #79.
They gave him a grave in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia.