The Cable Ship (CS) MacKay-Bennett, launched in 1884, was named for two founders of the Commercial Cable Company, John W. MacKay and James G. Bennett. The vessel arrived in Halifax in March 1885, based here to facilitate the at-sea repairs of underwater telegraph cables in the North Atlantic.
The vessel is most famous for its part in the RMS Titanic disaster, when it was hired by the White Star Line to recover bodies from the mishap. Departing Halifax on 17 April 1912, the MacKay-Bennett returned on 30 April, having recovered 306 bodies, of which 116 were buried at sea and the other 190 brought into port. The vessel continued at Halifax until 1922, when it was retired to Plymouth, England and used as a cable-storage hulk. Bombed and sunk during World War II, it was refloated and used again as a hulk until 1961, when it was finally scrapped.
The listing below, constructed electronically from the 'Disposition of Bodies ex Titanic' list, provides information on the 306 bodies recovered by the MacKay-Bennett.
Nova Scotia Archives — https://archives.novascotia.ca/titanic/ships/
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