Frederick boarded Lusitania as 3rd class with his parents and older brother Francis (7) and baby sister Winifred to return to England. On May 7th the family was having tea and preparing their luggage in their cabin when a blast from a torpedo was heard. Frederick asked "What are those?" The parents seemed to know it was Germans. After the second blast, Joseph Frankum (father) managed to get his wife and children up on deck and get them to a lifeboat. He told them that he would fetch them life jackets. After he left, Annie Frankum (mother) stepped back refusing to leave her husband. Joseph somehow survived on an upturned lifeboat then found out his oldest son Francis had survived also. He was unable to find his wife and other children. It appeared his wife and two younger children were lost in the sinking. No trace of them was found.