1979: Frank Prentice on how he SURVIVED the TITANIC | The Great Liners | BBC Archive

there was no impact as such it was just like jamming your brakes on a car and that was that she stopped we had a porthole open and I looked out and the sky was clear stars were shining there was sea was Dead Calm I thought I don't know I couldn't understand it so I came out of my cabin and I thought well I go forward and I went forward to the well deck on the starboard side and I could see ice in the well deck the no sign of Iceberg then because he'd passed us and the lights were shining on the water from the portholes the no sign of damage above water line and of course what had happened we'd slipped over the iceberg and although she was supposed to be Unthinkable with the double bottom the iceberg had cut her from forward I'm a starboard side to the engine room almost a midships right through her two bottoms how we had orders to get the lifeboats out and got the order the same old order women and children and we swung the lifeboats out and gradually filled them up first boots were around the port side the first boats away didn't have many passengers on board they were afraid to go down there was 70-foot drop to the water and they didn't think she was going to sink and a few of the first boats on the port side got away with half filled don't forget we had 16 lifeboats and they each carriage 50. and if they've been filled we could have saved 800. whereas we only save 500. so you can imagine there were many seats in the first lifeboats vacant um then I had orders to go down the storeroom with a gang and then and get all the biscuits we could find when we got back up onto the boat deck we couldn't get nail alive folks some people were scrambling to get in and being pushed back by that time she was listing very badly to port and we couldn't get the starboard boots down but before I got my life well done I met her a young couple and uh let me tell you her name it was Mrs Clark they'd spent their honeymoon in France and we'd pick them up at cherberg and she she was having trouble with her life belt so I fixed that on to her and I said I think you better get into a Lifeboat and there was one in the port on the port side so she said no she I don't want to go there I don't relieve my husband so I said well it's just precautionary measure you get in your husband will follow later on and I got her away and that was that and then I picked up my own life build and put it on well things went then and uh then the third class passengers were coming up there were 700 of them and they swarmed the decks and filled up the decks and I thought well I'd done all I possibly could I'd help them all I could and I thought well now I'll uh go up and get out of all this scrumming and go on the poop deck and she was sinking past then and all of a sudden she lifted up quickly and you could hear everything crashing through her everything that was movable was going through and then she went down and seemed to come up again so I thought well now I'm going to leave and uh I was hanging on to a bird we had two boards stabbed and Port which said keep clear for Bella blades and I was hanging on to one of these and I was getting higher and higher in there and I thought well now I'll go and I dropped in I had a light built on and I hit the water with a terrific crack and luckily I didn't hit anything when I dropped in there were bodies all over the place and then I looked up at the Titanic the propellers were right out of water the rudder was right out and I could see the bottom and then gratitude glided away and that was that that was the last the Titanic I didn't want to die I mean I didn't see much chance of living but I was gradually getting Frozen up and uh by the grace of God I came across a Lifeboat and they pulled me in and there was a fireman dead in the bottom there was about a foot of water in this boat there were there was another man who tried who was trying to he seemed to be trying to get away from it again I don't know what was the matter with him and they were tied in tying him down and the rest were women and children and I I sat on a seat and uh who should be I sat next to Mrs Clark the girl I'd put into a Lifeboat and she said the first thing she said where's my have I seen my have you seen my husband so I said no I haven't I expect he'd be all right anyway I was pretty in a pretty bad way then as you can imagine frozen solid almost and she wrapped me around with a cloak she had some sort of blanket or a coat on anyway I think she probably saved my life I don't know but uh I saved hers at least I think I might have done I think I did and she saved mine I believe you've even got a watch that you were wearing at the time when you went into the water yes yes old gun metal watch but I couldn't afford anything better in those early days here it is this one doesn't show us that says 20 past two what time was it when you went into the water I think about two o'clock I think lasted it was frozen that black eye was I think it lasted for about 20 minutes in the water does talking about this incident bother you like you have been today talking about it I should probably dream of that tonight have another nightmare you think I'm too old for that but you'd be amazed you'd lie in bed at night the whole thing comes around again [Music]

Channel: BBC Archive

Views: 758,405

Keywords: bbc, archive bbc, classic tv, british tv nostalgia, bbc archive, archive, the bbc archive, nostalgia, legendary television, retro tv, vintage, Titanic, Ships, frank prentice, frank prentice interview, frank prentice titanic bbc, titanic survivors, titanic survivor interview, surviving titanic crew, titanic documentary, personal testimony, titanic eyewitness accounts, the great liners, the great liners bbc, titanic purser interview, major events in history, 1970s bbc documentary

Id: m8v0wYniV8Q

Length: 7min 2sec (422 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 07 2023

Reddit Comments

[u/Sir_Bantersaurus]

Amazing story. There cannot be many 2-hour periods that we're still captivated by and want to hear more stories from. IIRC Very few people made it that weren't initially in lifeboats already so this is an especially rare account.

[u/Mustard_The_Colonel]

Most important step: tell her to move a bit so you can both get on the massive door.

[u/limeflavoured]

I've seen this a few times, but it's really amazing.