The RMS Ausonia and RMS Lexia

The Ausonia and Lexia 1 - The Sinking

Please note, this story is fictional. These ships were not real!

In 1936, there were two great ships that belong to the White Star Line. They were triple-screw, five funneled ocean liners. They were sisters ships and sailed together across the Atlantic Ocean. Their names were RMS Ausonia and RMS Lexia. They were two of the finest ships at the time. But they not only did voyages together, but they sank together, salvaged together, and finally scrapped together. This story is about their sinking...

May 14th, 1936 - 12:28 p.m.
It was a beautiful day! The two great sister ships, RMS Ausonia and RMS Lexia, were sailing 25 yards from each other, in the same direction. You could see the other ship quite closely. They actually sailed quite close to each other, but not enough so they would collide. If there was an emergency with one ship, the sister ship could help. Many people were taking a stroll on deck or just relaxing. Some were having lunch. Suddenly, the Ausonia was shaken by an explosion on her starboard side. People started screaming. Two unfortunate people that were leaning on the railing on deck fell off the side of the ship and got sucked into a propeller and killed. Water was pouring into boiler rooms 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. The Ausonia had reached her flooding limit. She could only stay afloat with five of her watertight compartments flooded. The watertight doors were ordered closed but for an unknown reason, the watertight door between boiler rooms 6 and 7 failed to close completely. Water was flowing into boiler room seven. With more than five compartments flooded, the Ausonia could not stay afloat. The Ausonia also gained a list to starboard. The Lexia immediately started to come to Ausonia's assistance after it picked up a signal that said it was sinking. But along the way, the Lexia was shaken by another explosion near the bow. The explosion was more powerful than the one with the Ausonia. The explosion had knocked out the Lexia's power so there was no way of closing her watertight doors! The first six compartments flood. Both the Ausonia and Lexia were doomed. Both ships had stopped their engines because they were making the ship's sink faster. 43 minutes after the the explosion, the Ausonia and Lexia were starting to lower their lifeboats. Several ships responded to the Ausonia and Lexia's distress calls but none of them were close enough. The HMS Maritime and SS Lestic confirmed they are coming. The Ausonia was gaining a severe list to starboard while the Lexia was sinking by the bow.
Some lifeboats overturned or broke from the davits while lowering. An unknown explosion occurred inside the Ausonia's second smokestack causing it to collapse on the decks. After a couple minutes, it rolled off the ship and smacked against the water, killing a couple people. On the Lexia, there was no automatic lifeboat lowering due to the power outage on the ship. The crew had to launch them manually. Several people jumped off the ships and into the water. The water was actually quite warm, due to the two ships weren't in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and volcanic activity in the waters below. Meanwhile, the SS Lestic was delayed for a while, due to an engine stalling. Strangely, some eyewitnesses believe they saw a plane crashing into the ocean and capsizing.
Time Skip: 1:23 p.m. (1 hour and 35 minutes after explosion)
After 1 hour and 35 minutes of severe listing, the Ausonia fell on her starboard side, crushing several lifeboats and people. Her smokestacks fell off. The Ausonia lied, motionless, on her starboard side for a couple minutes. Meanwhile, the Lexia's bridge was underwater. Soon, the first smokestack collapses. The Ausonia finally sank on her starboard side after a frightening 1 hour and 39 minutes. She begins her journey to the seafloor. The Lexia's bow was submerged while the stern was high up in the air. Many people hung onto the end of the stern. The second smokestack collapses. Suddenly, the ship broke in half between the 3rd and 4th smokestacks. The stern started falling to the surface of the water. It smacked on the water, crushing some lifeboats and people. The bow plunges down, then separates. The fourth and fifth smokestacks fall off. Many people are still on the stern. It leans to one side and falls onto her port side and plummets, spilling passengers in the sea. The Ausonia and Lexia are now gone. All that's left are debris, lifeboats, and passengers in the water. Rescue comes 25 minutes later, the HMS Maritime arrives at the scene. Soon, the SS Lestic comes. They pick up the lifeboats and passengers. In the end, out of 4,569 people total on both ships, 875 died, leaving 3,694 survivors. The Maritime and Lestic sail a sad journey home.

Whew! This was a long story! I hope you enjoyed it! There will be a few more books on this too! I might create more ship stories in the future.