Encyclopedia Titanica

SAYS ISMAY TOOK FIRST BOAT

New York Times

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Titanic Fireman Declares He Got in "with Millionaires"

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Harry Senior, a fireman on the Titanic, said last night:

"I was in my bunk when I felt a bump. One man said. 'Hello, she has been struck.' I went on deck and saw a great pile of ice on the well deck below the forecastle, but we all thought the ship would last some time, and we went back to our bunks. Then one of the firemen came running down and yelled, 'All muster for the lifeboats!' I ran on deck, and the Captain said:

" 'All firemen keep down on the well deck. If a man comes up I'll shoot him.'

"Then I saw the first boat lowered. Thirteen people were on board, eleven men and two women. Three were millionaires and one was Ismay.

"Then I ran up on the hurricane deck and helped to throw one of the collapsible boats on to the lower deck. I saw an Italian woman holding two babies. I took one of them and made the woman jump overboard with
the baby, while I did the same with the other. When I came to the surface the baby in my arms was dead. I saw the woman strike out in good style, but a boiler burst on the Titanic and started a big wave. When the woman saw that wave she gave up. Then, as the child was dead, I let it sink, too.

"I swam around for about half an hour, and was swimming on my back when the Titanic went down. I tried to get aboard a boat, but some chap hit me over the head with an oar. There were too many in her. I got around to the other side of the boat and climbed in. There were thirty-five of us.on board, including the second officer, and no women. I saw any amount of drowning and dead around us. We picked one man off an overturned boat and he died just as he was pulled over the side.

"Later the second officer signaled to some other boats and some of us were transferred to them. We sighted the Carpathia at daybreak, after being in the boat about five hours. As soon as I got on board I was put in the hospital and taken good care of."

Related Ships

Carpathia

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Mark Baber, USA

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Encyclopedia Titanica (2006) SAYS ISMAY TOOK FIRST BOAT (New York Times, Friday 19th April 1912, ref: #4980, published 7 January 2006, generated 19th May 2024 01:08:31 AM); URL : https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/ismay-first-boat.html