The Titanic was the first ever ship of its kind that unfortunately sunk on its maiden voyage. A collision with a gigantic iceberg in its course caused it to sink to the bottom of the Atlantic. Many lost their family and loved ones as not everyone managed to escape onto the lifeboats on time, and other rescue ships were too far away to reach those stranded in the freezing waters on time. However, a Titanic survivor who was aboard the ship and miraculously lived through its sinking has now revealed how he managed to escape the tragedy.
On April 15, 1912, Frank W. Prentice was onboard the British passenger ship run by the White Star Line when it hit an iceberg in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. He worked in the Purser’s Office, which was where people in first class could buy tickets to certain attractions on the ship.
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The Titanic was on its first maiden voyage from Southampton, UK, to New York City, US, with 2,240 passengers and crew on board. Unfortunately, more than 1,500 people died when the ship was struck by an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
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In an interview with the BBC, Prentice, a Titanic survivor, talked about the traumatic event and how it continued haunting him for years. He said that as he lay in bed at night, “the whole thing came round again.”
When Prentice thought back to the moment the RMS Titanic hit the iceberg, he said there was “no impact as such,” but it felt like “jamming your car’s brakes.”
He said, “We had a porthole open, and I looked out, and the sky was clear, stars were shining, the sea was dead calm, and I couldn’t understand it. So, I came out of the cabin, and I thought I’d go forward.”
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Prentice went to the “well deck on the starboard side,” where he saw ice but “no sign of damage above the waterline.” However, he quickly realized that the ship had “slipped over the iceberg.”
He explained- “Although she was supposed to be unsinkable – with the double bottom – the iceberg had cut her from forward on the starboard side to the engine room right through her two bottoms.”
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While more than 1,500 people died, Prentice talked about how he was one of the lucky ones to make it out alive. When Prentice went up to the “poop deck,” he saw how quickly the Titanic was going down.
He recalls- “All of a sudden, she lifted up quickly, and you could hear everything crashing through her,” he said. “[...] I thought, now I’m going to leave. I was hanging onto a board; we had two boards, starboard, and port.”
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After going higher and higher in the air, Prentice was “dropped in” the sea while wearing his life jacket. He went on, saying, “I hit the water with a terrific crack. Luckily I didn’t hit anything when I dropped in. There were bodies all over the place. Then I looked up at the Titanic [...], and I could see the bottom, and then gradually she glided away, and that was that. That was the last of the Titanic.”
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But even though Prentice was off the ship, he wasn’t safe. He remembered thinking that he didn’t want to die, but at the moment, his chances of surviving out in the middle of the ocean were slim. He was getting ‘colder and colder’ due to the cold waters of the Atlantic, but by God’s grace, a lifeboat found and rescued him.
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Prentice said in the interview that he met Mr. and Mrs. Clark just before he was able to get off the ship. Prentice says that the wife was upset about leaving her husband behind, but he urged her to get on a boat and told her that her husband would follow soon.
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Once Prentice was rescued from the water and safely came aboard the lifeboat, he turned around and saw Mrs. Clark. She wrapped her cloak around him. Prentice says she probably saved his life as he may have saved hers, but he isn’t sure.
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When asked if it bothers him as a Titanic survivor to still talk about the sinking of the ship and what he saw, Prentice said, “Talking about it? I should probably dream about it tonight. Have another nightmare. You’d think I’m too old for that, but you’d be amazed.”