He died 60 years after the Titanic”
Tennis club lost honorary member — On April 15, 1912, he experienced the most terrible night of his life
Alfred Nourney celebrated his 80th birthday in February of this year, and now he has died. Many people in Honnef mourn him, especially the tennis club "Rot-Weiß" Bad Honnef, which made him an honorary member almost three years ago. Born in Cologne but living in Bad Honnef for decades, Nourney survived one of the greatest disasters of this century: the sinking of the Yayag steamer "Titanic" on April 15, 1912. Alfred Nourney, who was considered an old-school car expert due to his special technical training, was a car salesman for Daimler-Benz AG. In the years 1920 to 1930 he had successfully driven car races and, as a globetrotter, had repeatedly travelled the world, gaining a lot of experience and knowledge in this way. His particular passion until the end was flying, which was always his hobby. He was also an enthusiastic fan of the beautiful sport of tennis.
Alfred Nourney, who is buried in Cologne, never forgot that April 15, 1912. Several films were made of that catastrophe, countless newspaper columns were filled with it, and millions of people relived it in novels that went around the world. But how it really happened, that catastrophe of 1912, was what Alfred/Nourney told the HVZ on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Now he has died, but his report of the sinking of the "Titanic", the largest steamship in the world at the time, is alive and has long since become history. Therefore, on the occasion of his death, we are repeating this report by Alfred Nourney "about the most terrible night of his life".
Alfred Noumel was 20 years old when he travelled to Paris with his mother in the spring of 1912. In all the newspapers at the time he read the effusive descriptions of the new luxury steamer of the "White Star Line", which with its 46,000 gross register tons had cost 32 million dollars. Alfred begged his mother to buy him a ticket for the maiden voyage of the "Titanic" from Southampton to New York - she would not have done it if she had known what was in store for the proud ship.
The French passengers were in good spirits. They were taken from Paris to Cherbourg in two special trains and then taken to their floating luxury hotel by a special feeder steamer, and then they were on the high seas. There was every comfort, especially as Alfred lived in a first class cabin. It cost 800 marks, a small fortune in 1912. But in return, every "first" passenger had his own steward, a bathroom where he could bathe in sea or fresh water as he wished, and a whole control panel on the wall, where every button on which, at the touch of a finger, brought a new surprise, a new convenience.
The "Titanic" has been ploughing the Atlantic for several days now, heading slightly northwest. Captain Smith is on the bridge. He is very proud. He has every reason to believe that he will be honoured as the commander of the fastest ship in the world when he arrives in New York. He has no doubt that the "Titanic" will receive the "Blue Riband."
It's getting close to midnight...
Sunday evening. Alfred has put on his first tailcoat and dined in the dining room. Afterwards he goes to the smoking room for a while; he meets friends and plays bridge with them. Then, just before midnight, a groaning movement suddenly goes through the ship, barely noticeable. The gentlemen in the smoking room carry on playing calmly, but Alfred is not at peace with the slight jolt. He gets his coat and hurries on deck. Everything is eerily quiet, only the sound of the ship's engines penetrates the night. The sea is black and smooth like a mirror,
Ship's engines stop
Suddenly it is completely quiet. The engines are silent. 50,000 horsepower are paralyzed. What has happened? Alfred rushes to a small iron staircase that he discovered a few days earlier while wandering through the ship and climbs down to the tennis courts. Captain Smith and two officers of the crew are also down there. And what do they see? The tennis courts are under water, blue-green shimmering sea water. A few white balls are floating around lost. Alfred hurries back to the smoking room. But the cheerful people do not take his warnings seriously.
"It's nothing, probably some pipe burst," says an American to whom he told what he had seen. Next door, "the music does not stop. People continue dancing.
The side of the ship is torn open
Alfred rushes to the small spiral staircase and runs up to the upper deck. There, sailors are already busy getting the lifeboats ready. "This chunk of ice has torn open the whole side of the ship. We're drowning," says one of them. The 20-year-old, still wearing his tailcoat under his coat, rushes to the kitchen and gets something to eat. Meanwhile, the passengers have woken up and are told what has happened. The doors leading to the upper deck with the lifeboats are still closed. But a short time later, the crowd can no longer be held back. Screaming and half mad with fear, they rush to the far too few lifeboats. Who would have thought that the "Titanic," the "unsinkable," would ever need lifeboats in an emergency?
Fear of death, panic
The command "Women and children first!" is lost in the chaos. Some officers pull out their revolvers and shoot. With the strength of desperation, Alfred is able to cling to the third boat, he is pushed and lies inside. This boat is the first to enter the water. The occupants row desperately to get out of the suction danger zone around the dying giant ship. They succeed, and soon the brightly lit "Titanic" is hundreds of meters away. The bow is already under water, the stern juts out steeply.
Suddenly the lights go out, flames erupt from the hull, a dull rolling mixes with the death cries of more than a thousand people. The "Titanic" sinks away.
The ice-cold sea water crashes foaming over the ship's palace. 1,600 people have had to pay with their lives in the fight for the ‘Blue Ribbon’ [sic].
700 survivors
Hours later, the seven hundred survivors — including Alfred — were taken on board the “Carpathia”; on April 18, they arrived in New York.
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