25. The Titanic was an official mail ship – and the staff of its Sea Post Office did their duty to the very end.
The Titanic was an official mail ship – in fact, it was almost certainly the most famous mail ship in history. Its full name was R.M.S. Titanic (that is, Royal Mail Ship) and, as such, it had its own Sea Post Office on board. The mail room was staffed by a team of five full-time clerks. It was their job to sort through the 3,423 sacks of mail that were loaded onto the Titanic in England so that it was all ready to be delivered when they got to America. According to witness testaments, all five clerks died still trying to keep the mail safe and dry.