ANNA_SJOBLOM CELINEY_YASBECK CHARLES_LIGHTOLLER CHARLOTTE_COLLYER EUGENE_DALY FRED_BARRET HAROLD_BRIDE HERBERT_STONE JACK_THAYER JOSEPH_BOXHALL LUCY MARJORIE_COLLYER THOMAS_DILLON VIOLET_JESSOP ANNA SJOBLOM The things I saw made impressions. I can never forget. I can�t describe it. I can�t say how it was. It was just terrible. I dream of being trapped on the ship with no means of escape but I always wake up before the boat sinks. HAROLD BRIDE They told me that apparently we�d struck something. LOOK OUT CREW Iceberg dead ahead. ANNA SJOBLOM I didn�t become alarmed. EUGENE DALY There was no danger, they said. JOSEPH BOXHALL I told them to come at once, we were sinking. CHARLOTTE COLLYER Then came the terrible cry, Women and children, women and children! MARJORIE COLLYER Two men lifted me up and put me in a boat. JACK THAYER It really was every man for himself. VIOLET JESSOP My heart stood still. THOMAS DILLON If we�re gonna die, best to die gripping something. HAROLD BRIDE It was a terrible sight, men swimming and sinking. ANNA SJOBLOM I�d been brought up to believe in a hell after death. But now I think I went through a hell that night. CHARLES LIGHTOLLER I nipped along to have a look down the emergency staircase to gage the speed the water was rising. That cold green water crawling in its ghostly way. The electric lights shone under the surface with weird effect. CHARLES LIGHTOLLER Women and children only. CHARLOTTE COLLYER Mr Lowe rushed among the passengers and ordered the women into the boats. Many of them followed him in a dazed kind of way, and others stayed with their men. A sailor caught Marjorie in his arms, tore her away from me and threw her into the boat. MARJORIE COLLYER I was crying for my doll then two men lifted me up and put me in a boat. CHARLOTTE COLLYER She was not even given a chance to tell her father goodbye. You two a man yelled, You�re a woman, take a seat in that boat or it will be too late.� I heard my husband say, Go Lottie, for god�s sake, be brave and go.� Once I saw my husband�s back as he walked steadily down the deck and disappeared among the men. If they�d not wrenched Marjorie away from me,I wish I had gone with him. ANNA SJOBLOM I�d been seasick the whole trip. All I wanted was to be left alone so I could lie down. ANNA SJOBLOM When the boat struck, the 14th of April, which was my birthday, I was eighteen. I didn�t become alarmed, I just couldn�t believe that this wonderful ship could possibly be in trouble. EUGENE DALY A crash woke me up, nearly jolted me from my bed. I put on my trousers and shoes and got up. EUGENE DALY The stewards came through and told the passengers that they shouldn�t b frightened, there was no danger, they said. Everything was alright and that I might go back. VIOLET JESSOP I stood at the bulkhead with the other stewardesses. A ship�s officer ordered us into the boat. VIOLET JESSOP Looking along the length of the ship I noticed the forward part of her was lower now. Much lower. My heart stood still. VIOLET JESSOP The boat was full now. As the boat was being lowered the ship�s officer called, Here, Miss Jessop, look after this baby. Someone had dumped it on the deck beside his feet. ANNA SJOBLOM I could hear the commotion overhead increasing. I decided to go up even though I still felt very ill. I was fully clothed and I had a lifebelt, my railroad ticket to Tacoma and a small amount of money were sewed in a little bag and hung around my neck so I couldn�t lose it. EUGENE DALY I went down into the room where Maggie Daly and Bertha Mulvihill were. EUGENE DALY Come with me, the ship is sinking. CHARLES LIGHTOLLER It�s difficult to convey the size of a ship like The Titanic. It took me fourteen days before I could find my way from one part of that ship to another via the shortest route. CHARLES LIGHTOLLER It was about this time that the Chief Officer came over from the starboard side and asked did I know where the firearms were. I told the Chief Officer, Yes, come along and I�ll get them for you. CHARLES LIGHTOLLER Into the First Officer�s cabin we went, the Chief, Murdoch, the Captain and myself. I hauled them out, still in all their pristine newness and grease. I was going out when the Chief Officer shoved one of the revolvers into my hands with a handful of ammunition and said, Here you are, you may need it. ANNA SJOBLOM There was a lot of confusion with people running around crying, swearing and praying. Since I couldn�t speak English I hardly knew what was happening. I had to push people apart to find a place to walk. EUGENE DALY I went up on deck. People were running around. EUGENE DALY All this time we knew that the water was coming up, and up rapidly. NADIFA MOHAMED To know that safety is on the other side of that locked gate it must make them despair. CHARLOTTE COLLYER The boat was practically full and there were no other women anywhere near it when Fifth Officer Lowe jumped in and ordered it lowered. A young lad, hardly more than a schoolboy was standing close to the rail. Now, realising he was to be left behind he leapt down into the boat and crawled under a seat but the officer dragged him to his feet and ordered him back onto the ship. We begged for his life. Please, give him a chance.� The officer drew his revolver and thrust it into his face. I give you ten seconds to get back onto that ship before I blow your brains out.� Please, please. The lad only begged harder. MARJORIE COLLYER My mother said I called out, Don�t shoot. CHARLOTTE COLLYER The officer suddenly changed his tone. He lowered his revolver and looked the boy squarely in the eyes. For god�s sake be a man, we have got women and children. The little lad turned round and climbed back without a word. He was not saved. HAROLD LOWE Lower the boats. To avoid another occurrence of that sort I fired my revolver as I was going down each deck because the boat wouldn�t stand the sudden jerk. She was loaded already with people and would not stand anymore. HAROLD BRIDE Phillips told me the wireless was growing weaker. EUGENE DALY We had quite a number of hot-headed Italians and other people who got crazy and made for the stairs. These men tried to rush the stairway, pushing and crowding and pulling the women down. DANIEL BUCKLEY The first class deck was higher up than the steerage deck and there was some steps leading up to it and a gate at the top of the steps. They tried to keep us down at first on our steerage deck at the back of the ship. DANIEL BUCKLEY I can�t say who they were, I think they were sailors. They didn�t want us going up to the first class place at all. ANNA SJOBLOM There was no help of any kind to reach safety. ANNA SJOBLOM I got talking to a young Swedish girl returning to the United States. She knew about an emergency stairway to where the lifeboats were. ANNA SJOBLOM We climb a ladder up to the first class deck and then an officer saw me and dragged me up to the next deck. We passed a window and we looked into a beautiful room. The tables were so beautifully set. The silver and all the furniture. The other girl, she wanted to kick the window out and walk in and help ourselves. I told her that they might make us pay for the broken window so we didn�t. DANIEL BUCKLEY They couldn�t keep them down. The gate was broke, all the steerage passengers went up onto the first class deck. ANNA SJOBLOM I rushed to the lifeboats. There seemed hundreds of people around me. ANNA SJOBLOM Everywhere everybody was confused. I saw a lot of people, Catholics make the sign of the cross. I had to step on many of these people to reach the side of the deck. ANNA SJOBLOM I tried to get into a life boat and I was pushed back. It seemed as though I would go down with the ship. BRUCE ISMAY As time got on I did. BRUCE ISMAY I did. I held it for nearly two hours, as far as I can judge, at the starboard boats, helping women and children into the boats and lowering them over the side. ANNA SJOBLOM The ship was listing heavily in the bow. Somebody gave me a push towards a boat and I got in. That girl and I went together. The lifeboat was so crowded. FRED BARRETT When I got to the deck a lifeboat was having from the davit, number 13 boat. It was pretty well filled when I got there. The boatswainer knew me as I�d sailed with him on all the ships before, said to me, You get on this boat and pull an oar. FRED BARRETT So, I took his orders and I got on as she swung from the davits. We had women, men and two little babies. One two months old and the other ten months old. FRED BARRETT About three more people got in after I did, and then the orders were given let no more on that boat or the falls will break. EUGENE DALY The boat was being filled with women. Maggie and Bertha got in, and I got in. The officer called me to go back but I got in. Life was sweet to me and I wanted to save myself. EUGENE DALY They told me to get out but I didn�t stir. Then they got a hold of me and pulled me out. EUGENE DALY Well, if I didn�t save myself at least I saved the two girls. JOSEPH BOXHALL The captain came and said, Mr Boxhall, you go away in that boat, pointing to boat number 2. I tumbled into this lifeboat and started to lower her, and the captain looked over and told me, Go round to the starboard side, to the gangway doors.Which was practically on the opposite side to where I was lowered. JOSEPH BOXHALL I had great difficulty in getting that boat around there. There was suction. I was using the stroke haul standing up and there was this lady helping, she was steering around the ship�s stern. When I passed around the boat to get to the gangway door on the starboard side her propellers were out of water. But when I did eventually reach there I found that there was such a mob standing at the gangway doors. If they jumped they�d swamp the boat. I daren�t go alongside. She was only a small boat. JOSEPH BOXHALL I pulled off and laid off until I pulled away about a quarter of a mile, I suppose. CHARLOTTE COLLYER We had gone perhaps half a mile when the officer ordered the men to cease rowing. No other boat was in sight. We didn�t even have a lantern to signal with. We lay there in the silence and darkness of that calm sea. No sound reached us except the music from the band which I was aware of for the first time. Those brave musicians. They were playing lively tunes, ragtime. I will never forget the terrible beauty of The Titanic at that moment. VIOLET JESSOP I started to count the rows of lights � one, two, three, four, five. I stopped.Surely I had miscounted. I went over them again more carefully and I had made no mistake. There were only five decks now. As if all could read my mind the women in the boat started to weep, some silently, some unrestrainedly. CHARLES LIGHTOLLER Just before launching the last lifeboats I�d made my final hurried visit to the emergency stairway to guage how quickly she was going down. It was then conclusively evident that not only was she going but she was going very soon. Even in pants and sweater over pajamas alone I was in a bath of perspiration. If we were to avoid the disgrace of going down with lifeboats still hanging to the davits there wasn�t one moment to lose. HAROLD BRIDE The forward royal deck was under water. I saw Phillips still sending away. HAROLD BRIDE Again, Phillips called SQD and SOS for nearly five minutes and got no reply. We now realised the awful state of affairs, the ship listing heavily to port and forward. I thought it was about time to look about and see if there was anything that would float. I remembered that every member of the crew had a lifebelt and then I thought how cold the water was. And I remembered I had some boots and I put those on, and an extra jacket. We picked up the Olympic and told them we were sinking by the head and were about all down. HAROLD BRIDE As Phillips was sending the message I strapped the lifebelt to his back, having already put on his overcoat I wondered if I could get him into his boots. Just at that moment the captain came into the cabin and said, Men, you have done your full duty, you can do no more. Abandon your cabin, now it�s every man for himself. I release you. JACK THAYER There was some disturbance loading the last two forward boats. A large crowd of men were pressing to get into them. Though there were many crew and men lined up with apparently not a thought at attempting to board the boats without orders. I saw Bruce Ismay who had been assisting in loading the last boat push his way into it. It really was every man for himself. BRUCE ISMAY Yes, in conjunction with the shipbuilders. BRUCE ISMAY I did. BRUCE ISMAY Yes. BRUCE ISMAY Yes, I did. BRUCE ISMAY It has not. I have searched my mind with the deepest care. I�m sure I did nothing that I shouldn�t have done. My conscience is clear. I took a chance of escape when it came to me, I did not seek it. It is true I am president of the company but I didn�t consider myself any different from the rest of the passengers. I took no other man�s place. EUGENE DALY There was a terrible crowd standing about. The officer in charge pointed a revolver, waved his hand and said that if any man tried to get in he�d shoot him on the spot. Two men tried to break through and he shot them both. I saw him shoot them. I saw them lying. One seemed to be dead, the other was trying to pull himself up at the side of the deck but he couldn�t. I tried to get to the boat myself but was afraid I would be shot, and stayed back. ANNA SJOBLOM When we rode away from The Titanic my face was towards the sinking steamer.The things I saw I will never forget. I saw an officer shoot himself through the temple with a revolver. EUGENE DALY I saw the officer himself lying on the deck. They told me he shot himself. HAROLD BRIDE Phillips clung on for about ten minutes after the captain had released him. I learned to love him that night. I suddenly felt for him a great reverence to see him standing there sticking to his work while everybody else was raging about. I will never forget the work of Phillips for those last awful minutes. He was a brave man. CHARLOTTE COLLYER Titanic broke in two before my eyes. CHARLES LIGHTOLLER Striking water was like a thousand knives being driven into one�s body.