Estate of Hans Jensen vs. The White Star Line
Facts:
The White Star Line was owner of the Titanic, which was the largest and most luxurious ship in the world at the time. On April 10th, 1912, the Titanic left from Southampton, England with 2,227 passengers aboard bound for New York City. On April 14th, the ship struck an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland and sank about 2 ½ hours later. Passengers, mostly women and children, were loaded into lifeboats, however only 705 passengers survived as many lifeboats left partially full.
Hans Peder Jensen and his fiancé Carla Christine Jensen were passengers from Denmark on the Titanic. Hans Jensen was a carpenter and they had planned to settle in Portland, Oregon after arriving in the US. Hans Jensen did not survive and his body was never recovered. Carla Jensen was on lifeboat 16 and was rescued by Carpathia few hours after Titanic sank. Before Hans and Carla left, they have signed a will, which designated Carla as Hans’s sole heir and executor of his estate.
Carla Jensen filed a lawsuit on behalf of Hans Jensen Estate against White Star Lines for the death of his fiancé. Carla sued White Star Lines because the ship had struck the iceberg even though other ships had sent ice warning messages, which in turn caused death of her fiancé. Carla’s dream of settling in the US and start a new life with Hans was shattered.
The story of what actually happened to Hans Jensen the night that Titanic sank was mostly true, even though there are some conflicting accounts by the witnesses. According to Carla Jensen’s information provided to her attorney, Hans Jensen was helping loading passengers into lifeboats when she last saw him. Second Office Lightoller, who was in charge of evacuating the passengers, provided his recollection of what happened that night. Lightoller had talked to Hans while he was helping loading the passengers and saw him getting into the collapsible Lifeboat D. However, when