William Henry Taylor
28 years old, Fireman, RMS Titanic
United States Senate Inquiry, Day 7
We would have been scrambling for our lives
If we’d known we were in real danger.
When the alarm bell for accidents shrilled, jolting me awake,
I rushed to the boat deck, but nothing appeared out of the ordinary.
Then we got word the ship had struck an iceberg.
Number 1 hatch was taking in water.
Still, none of us panicked.
She was Titanic. She would not succumb to her injuries.
Some even made jokes as we tied on our lifejackets.
I reported to my assigned area, Starboard Lifeboat 15.
Six of us were ordered into the craft and lowered to the promenade deck,
where we helped passengers into the lifeboats.
The majority men.
The officer’s final order was given. “Lower away!”
We had rowed a quarter-mile out from the grand ship
before she met her death, slipping beneath the North Atlantic.
After we were rescued, I returned to England,
I preferred working on land than to work at sea.
But in March of 1914, while dismantling a dockside holding pen for animals
I was crushed by a two-thousand pound post.
Ten days later, just like Titanic--
I succumbed to my injuries.
28 years old, Fireman, RMS Titanic
United States Senate Inquiry, Day 7
We would have been scrambling for our lives
If we’d known we were in real danger.
When the alarm bell for accidents shrilled, jolting me awake,
I rushed to the boat deck, but nothing appeared out of the ordinary.
Then we got word the ship had struck an iceberg.
Number 1 hatch was taking in water.
Still, none of us panicked.
She was Titanic. She would not succumb to her injuries.
Some even made jokes as we tied on our lifejackets.
I reported to my assigned area, Starboard Lifeboat 15.
Six of us were ordered into the craft and lowered to the promenade deck,
where we helped passengers into the lifeboats.
The majority men.
The officer’s final order was given. “Lower away!”
We had rowed a quarter-mile out from the grand ship
before she met her death, slipping beneath the North Atlantic.
After we were rescued, I returned to England,
I preferred working on land than to work at sea.
But in March of 1914, while dismantling a dockside holding pen for animals
I was crushed by a two-thousand pound post.
Ten days later, just like Titanic--
I succumbed to my injuries.
