Tennis & the Titanic
Explore the story of the two International Tennis Hall of Famers that survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
Two American Champions
Richard Norris Williams II (right) and Karl Behr (left) survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and later resumed their tennis careers.
Richard Norris Williams, 2nd
Williams, born in 1891 in Geneva, Switzerland, of a prominent Philadelphia family, was a direct descendant of Benjamin Franklin. Williams was taught the game of tennis at age 12 by his father Charles Duane Williams, one of the founders of the International Tennis Federation.
Karl Howell Behr
Behr, born in 1885 in New York City, attended the Lawrenceville School and then Yale University (graduating in 1906).
Father and son
In the early morning of April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Williams was traveling with his father on his way to attend Harvard University. The elder Williams died when a funnel collapsed on him.
Saving his legs
Williams spent hours in the freezing ocean, leaving him with no feeling in his legs. Rather than submit to amputation, Williams walked the decks of the rescue boat, the RMS Carpathia, until sensation returned.
Following the woman he loved
Behr was on board the RMS Titanic accompanying Helen Newsom, the love of his life, and her parents back to the United States. Both were traveling as first class passengers. Behr was asked to join the second lifeboat in order to row it to safety.
“Men were assigned to each boat after the women had been seated, and we were lowered at a precarious angle into the dark depths below. Our boats waited in deadly silence until, at 2:30 a.m., the Titanic settled at the bow and took her final plunge. The sight was too horrible for description as the men on board rushed toward the stern only to be engulfed and sucked down by the suction.” – Karl Behr to the Yale Daily News, April 18, 1912
On board the RMS Carpathia
Behr became a member of the seven-person Survivor Committee aboard the RMS Carpathia.
Meeting again in Newport
Only months after surviving the disaster, Williams and Behr met in the quarterfinals of the 1912 U.S. National Championships in Newport, where Williams won in straight sets.
Photograph of the RMS Titanic and the RMS Carpathia courtesy of AP Images.
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