Cabin D-33 was a ‘typical’ 1st Class cabin aboard Titanic, and by ‘typical’ we refer to the fact that, unlike most cabins located on the Titanic’s upper decks, this cabin had bare riveted steel ceilings, and was furnished with a variety of furniture found in several different other staterooms. Despite these details, the 1st Class cabins on D-deck were comfortable and above standards for other competitive Atlantic liners.
D-33 was classified as a ‘Three-Berth’ cabin and was occupied by Mr. Henry Sleeper Harper and party. Mr. Harper, the director of the ‘Harper Publishing Company’ (Who most famously published ‘Harpers Weekly’), boarded the Titanic in Cherbourg, France, accompanied by his wife Myra, her dog ‘Sun Yat Sen’ (An award-winning Pekinese), and their Egyptian interpreter Hammad. Comically enough, it seems like all four of them were in D-33, including their dog, who had its own ‘contract ticket’ for the sum of £1 19s (7d).
Mr Harper is perhaps one of the most ‘eccentrically fascinating’ passengers aboard the Titanic. He had survived a prior shipboard encounter with an Iceberg about ten years before Titanic, so it is no wonder that when he received word to don lifejackets and head up to the deck that he did so, and yet.. he evidently led his party to the comparative warmth of the ships Gymnasium for awhile before leading his party over to the Starboard wide where they boarded Lifeboat #3. Boat #3 left the ship at 1am with all four of them safely. When dawn rose on the morning of the 15th, he was overheard remarking on how small the Carpathia was compared to Titanic, and then on the way to New York, he encountered a friend amongst the Carpathia’s passengers and seemed keener to speak about his friends ‘Youthful appearance’ as opposed to talking about the disaster he’d just survived.
Hidden deep within the heart of Titanic, it was on September 7th, 2001, that bots Jake & Elwood both captured the first images of Henry Sleeper Harper’s cabin since April 15th, 1912. The cabin, though largely destroyed, revealed an incredible discovery…
