Died when the ship, in poor condition, sank, one day out of New York. He was heading to Argentina to race during the winter. Batten perished whilst trying to save a fellow passenger. His bravery had already been shown on track, when in 1927, his car caught fire on the main straight at the Indianapolis 500. Despite the car being completely ablaze, Batten steered it to the end of the pit-lane and safety to avoid an even worse tragedy.