The Story of the Titanic

Maude Sincock

Second-class passenger

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My name was Maudie Sincock when I left England. I was on the second class survivor list.

I left St. Ives, Cornwall, England, in April, 1912 with a lot of friends. I was going to Hancock, Michigan. My dad was there and my mother's folks. It was a day's trip to Southampton. When we got there we had to stay all night and get on board ship the next day at noon. We were not booked for the Titanic, but there was a coal strike in England at the time so the other liners were tied up at the dock. They put all the coal on that ship. They also wanted to have a full passenger list, and they sure did. It was a lovely ship.

We got aboard at noon and everyone was so excited. We were eating lunch when we left the dock. It was a lovely day. That was Wednesday. Everyone was so friendly on the trip. We had nice weather all the way. On Sunday night, just before twelve o'clock when most people were in bed, there came the crash. It didn't seem so bad to me, but very soon after a steward came long banging on every door calling, "Everyone on deck with lifebelts!"

Then I did get up quick and put on a rain coat over my nightie. When I opened my cabin door everyone was out asking the steward, "Is the boat going to sink?" He said it was just a precaution, so I got out to the elevator but the boy was gone so we all had to climb the stairs. It was five or six decks up before we got to the main deck. I was surprised to see so many people on deck. There were a lot of people trying to get their friends but it was useless to try and get through the crowd.

I just went to the side of the ship and they were filling lifeboats, so I waited my turn. But the sailor said, "This boat is full enough," so I went along the rail and got into that one. When I looked around and saw all the firemen on deck in their working clothes I knew it was bad. The band was playing, but not "Nearer My God to Thee." Maybe they did later.

When we got down on the sea it was calm for the middle of the ocean, but so cold. There was a sailor in each boat to row, and he said to me, "She's going fast." As each deck went under, the lights went out. They sent up all kinds of flares but that didn't help. When those boilers exploded, it was an awful noise.

No one could live long in that water. We were in the icebergs. We were lucky we didn't hit one, it was so dark. Were were in the row boats all night, but when morning came one of the sailors saw a speck far away and he said, "That's a ship." We were all so thankful to see it.

When we got there it was the Carpathia. They had a rope swing. Each one got in it and helped themselves up the side with their feet and hung onto the rope. There were two men lowering it up and down. That was a big job for 750 people but we were all so thankful to be saved.

The Carpathia had a lot of passengers aboard but they were wonderful. They did all they could for us. The weather was still good. We got into New York about 11:00 p.m. I saw a lot of people in my life but not like that night. There were all kinds of folks that wanted to take us into their homes. I went with my friends to a home. They were so very nice to us.

We had to wait for the White Star Line to send us money to get to our destination. Was I ever happy to see my dad and my other relatives when I got to Hancock.