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The Adventure of the Ring
- and other amazing stories


By Jan Hybertz Gøricke

Good narrators are summoned from all other the world when the story about the Titanic is to be told: The story about the Lindell ring is, however, unique.


The Testimony
Lenient lightning, careful mounting in a secure glass case, and a constant flow of visitors formed the setting for Gerda Lindell’s wedding ring at the exhibition "Letters from Titanic". The ring is a testimony of her presence as a passenger on the lost ship.

The headline "The Adventure of the Ring" reflects the story-teller’s enthusiasm for the obtaining of a relic of an amazing story. If the truth must be told, Gerda Lindell’s story is far from an adventure. She died in the tragic shipwreck. Only the way that the ring became an important story-teller is adventurous.

Found in the Atlantic
About a month after the loss of the Titanic, Whitestar Line vessel "Oceanic" found lifeboat A from the Titanic drifting about in the Atlantic. The boat was salvaged and brought to New York. A gold ring was found at the bottom of the boat and delivered to the shipping office.

The inscription identified the ring as Swedish and it was therefore handed over to the Swedish Consulate where they found that it must have belonged to Mrs. Gerda Lindell. The ring was then sent from the Consulate in New York to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Stockholm and advertisements were inserted in the Swedish newspapers. Gerda Lindell’s father replied to the advertisement and had the ring delivered by the police in Malmoe.

Since then the ring disappeared into the family to whom it belonged, but among collectors of items related to Titanic it had not been forgotten. In various archives there are narratives of the incredible story that the ring is telling.

The Story
Together with her husband Edward Gerda Lindell had jumped from the Titanic into the water and had managed to get to lifeboat A. However, only Edward managed to get on board the lifeboat whilst one of the survivors, a Swede named August Wennerström, had been holding Gerda Lindell’s hand for some time. In the end he could hold on to her hand no longer and had to see her go down. The ring probably slipped off her finger shortly before. Her husband died on board the lifeboat.

Found in Malmoe
The ring was returned to Gerda Lindell’s father in 1912 and until 1991 it carried its story in a quiet way. But accidently, it was brought to the ears of Titanic expert Claes-Göran Wetterholm that a relative in Malmoe was wearing the ring. Shortly afterwards, the ring was on display at an exhibition about the Titanic and since then it has been telling thousands of people the story of the emigrants Gerda and Edward Lindell and the loss of the Titanic; a story that would not have had nearly the same authenticity without the ring.

Footnote:
Gerda Lindell’s ring consisted of two rings joined together with the inscriptions "Edward 19-25/1-1904" and "Edward & Gerda 19-24/10-05" respectively.

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