Mr George Henry Cavell
Mr George Henry Cavell, of Lower East Road, Sholing, Southampton, had been at sea for 18 months, all with the White Star Line. He had previously served on the Adriatic, the Oceanic, and the Olympic, before joining the Titanic.
The evening of April 14th, Cavell was on the 8 to 12 watch, and was alone in the coal bunker in Boiler Room No.4. When the iceberg hit the ship, Cavell felt a shock, and the coal collapsed in on him. He dug his way out of the bunker, and came into the stokehold. As he did, the lights went out in No. 4, and he then climbed up to the port alleyway (Scotland Road) on E Deck, where the lights were still on. He saw third class passengers moving aft in the alleyway, and was at this time told the ship had struck an iceberg. After finding some lamps, Cavell headed back to the stokehold, and found the lights had already come back on. He then helped the firemen draw the fires from the boilers, until water started coming up over the floor plates. When the water got about 1 foot deep, Cavell went back up the escape ladder to E Deck again, only to find no one around. He went back to No. 4 Boiler Room one last time, and upon finding it deserted, went all the way up to the Boat Deck. Coming up on the starboard side, Cavell saw only two lifeboats still on the ship, and was ordered into Lifeboat 15 by an officer. He helped to load the lifeboat with passengers from both A Deck and B Deck, then pulled off from the ship.
Cavell testified at the British Inquiry on May 9, 1912.
Inquiry Testimony
(Courtesy of the Titanic
Inquiry Project)
Board of Trade Inquiry, 9th May 1912, Testimony
References
United States Senate, Washington 1912. n° 806, Crew List
Wreck Commissioners' Court, Proceedings before the Right Hon. Lord Mersey on a
Formal Investigation Ordered by the Board of Trade into the Loss of the S.S. Titanic
Daniel Allen Butler (1998) Unsinkable: The Full Story of the RMS Titanic
Colonel Archibald Gracie (1913) The Truth about the Titanic. New York,
Mitchell Kennerley
Donald Hyslop, Alastair Forsyth and Sheila Jemima (1997) Titanic Voices: Memories
from the Fateful Voyage, Sutton Publishing, Southampton City Council. ISBN
0 7509 1436 X
Walter Lord (1976) A Night to Remember. London, Penguin. ISBN 0 14 004757
3
Paul Quinn (1997) Titanic at 2:00 AM
Contributors
Bill Wormstedt, USA
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