When the RMS Titanic slipped beneath the icy Atlantic on April 15, 1912, more than 1,500 people perished. But amid the tragedy, three small, furry passengers managed to escape—making them quite possibly the luckiest dogs in history.

The survivors were all lapdogs small enough to be smuggled aboard lifeboats: two Pomeranians and one Pekingese. Their size saved them. The Titanic's larger dogs—including a champion French Bulldog, a Great Dane, and several beloved family pets—were locked in the ship's kennel on F Deck and went down with the vessel.

The Fortunate Three

Margaret Hays of New York brought her Pomeranian, Lady, aboard in first class. When the evacuation began, she simply wrapped the tiny dog in a blanket and carried her onto Lifeboat 7. In the chaos, no one objected to—or perhaps even noticed—the small bundle.

Elizabeth Rothschild refused to board a lifeboat without her beloved Pomeranian. Her husband reportedly told the crew she wouldn't leave without the dog, and they relented. The couple and their pet survived together.

The Pekingese belonged to Henry and Myra Harper of the Harper & Brothers publishing family. Sun Yat-sen (yes, named after the Chinese revolutionary) was small enough that Myra tucked him under her arm as she climbed into Lifeboat 3.

Twelve Dogs Boarded, Nine Did Not Return

The Titanic carried at least twelve dogs, all belonging to first-class passengers. In 1912, wealthy travelers often brought their pets on transatlantic voyages, and the ship featured a state-of-the-art kennel with dedicated crew members to care for the animals.

Among the dogs who didn't survive:

Gamin de Pycombe, a champion French Bulldog insured for an astronomical $750 (roughly $24,000 today)
Kitty, an Airedale belonging to John Jacob Astor IV, the richest passenger aboard
A Great Dane so large it reportedly required its own cabin

First-class passenger Ann Isham allegedly refused to leave the ship without her Great Dane, which was too large for the lifeboats. Some accounts claim her body was later found in the water, arms wrapped around her dog.

Why Size Mattered

The three survivors shared one crucial trait: they were tiny enough to be mistaken for—or hidden as—personal belongings. The Pomeranians weighed perhaps five pounds each. The Pekingese wasn't much heavier. In the darkness and panic, crew members loading lifeboats either didn't notice or didn't care about small dogs wrapped in blankets.

Larger dogs had no such luck. Even if owners had wanted to bring them, the animals were physically too big to conceal, and lifeboat space was desperately limited for humans, let alone pets.

A Bittersweet Legacy

The story of the Titanic's dogs reflects the rigid class distinctions of the era. Only first-class passengers could afford to bring pets aboard. And ultimately, even among the wealthy, only those with the smallest, most portable companions could save them.

Today, Lady, the unnamed Rothschild Pomeranian, and Sun Yat-sen remain a curious footnote to one of history's greatest disasters—proof that sometimes survival comes down to simply being small enough to carry.

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