First Hand - Maude Slocombe

Maude Louise Slocombe

Stewardess (Turkish Bath)

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Interviewer:
I believe you were in charge of the Turkish Baths on the Titanic?

Maude Slocombe:
I was. 

Interviewer:
And where were you when the iceberg hit the ship?

Maude Slocombe:
I was in bed.

Interviewer:
When did you first realize things were wrong?

Maude Slocombe:
Well, naturally, the thud woke us up and everybody got to their feet. And I went into a little passage and I met the second steward, which was Mr. Dodd, 1 and he said, "For God's sake, get some clothes on, get up on deck." I says, "What's wrong?" He says, "I don't know." So, of course, everybody got – I had a coat on a nightdress, and we got up on deck, and everybody was most cheerful.

Interviewer:
When did you first realize how serious things were?

Maude Slocombe:
I didn't think it was serious, because I didn't think it was possible, that a big ship like that could sink. And everybody was busy and they was lowering the lifeboats, and the crew were marvelous. Everybody was cheerful.

Interviewer:
What did you take with you?

Maude Slocombe:
My clothes? –

Interviewer:
– of your personal things.

Maude Slocombe:
Nothing at all. I went back to get some personal things and I had some money and stuff, but the water was coming down the stairs, so I had to go back.

Interviewer:
You saw the water?

Maude Slocombe:
Oh yes. Coming down the gangways, you know, they call it. So I went back, so then everybody was up on deck then.

Interviewer:
How long were you on deck before you got in the lifeboat?

Maude Slocombe:
About an hour.

I met a steward and he says, "Here you are. Grab hold of this." And it was a baby. So I took the baby, and then when they lowered the last lifeboat, I didn't want to go. And they said – one of the other stewards, a Mr. Wheat, 2 he was helping lower them, and Mr. Murdoch, he was the chief steward, and he was shouting out, "Ladies, children and women first!" They was marvelous.

Interviewer:
And you took the baby.

Maude Slocombe:
I took the baby, and I didn't want to go, so they said, "Come on." And I went down in the last lifeboat and I think there was 72 in it and two of the stewards manned the boat.

Interviewer:
Did you see the ship sink?

Maude Slocombe:
I did. It sank fairly quickly.

Interviewer:
That must have been a most dramatic sight.

Maude Slocombe:
It was because you could just see the lights going down and down.

Interviewer:
Did you hear the music playing?

Maude Slocombe:
I did.

Interviewer:
Almost till the end?

Maude Slocombe:
Till the end. I heard them play, "Nearer My God to Thee."

Interviewer:
And then how long were you at sea before you were rescued?

Maude Slocombe:
It was about 2 o'clock, I think. It was near about 2 o'clock when we was picked up, then we floated around all night in the lifeboats. And then we was picked up by the Carpathia. You see, she couldn't come nearer to us, we had to go to them, you see, on account of wanting to see. And you could hear the ice crashing the sides of the boats.

Interviewer:
You saw ice all around you?

Maude Slocombe:
Oh yes, crashing the – and most of the ocean was as smooth as a pond.

Interviewer:
And you were in the boat until daylight?

Maude Slocombe:
Yes, quite at daylight.

Interviewer:
And you brought the baby safely back with you?

Maude Slocombe:
No, when we got on the ship, the Italian doctor called out for anybody can help. So they had big jars of [unintelligible]...

...but only that the stewards of the Carpathia were waiting there with brandy and hot blankets for the survivors. And then of course, there wasn't much space for us. We had to go where we could and the kindness of some of the people which was going the Mediterranean cruise, helped out with that, you know, sleep.

And then we was brought on to New York and the Lapland brought us back to Plymouth – the survivors which had to come back. So, then of course, we was kept there a little while and then brought on to Southampton. Of course, that was very sad because everybody thought you knew somebody who was lost, and I had so many friends on there and you couldn't tell them anything.

Interviewer:
And then you yourself went back to sea.

Maude Slocombe:
Yes.

Interviewer:
You went back with the White Star company.

Maude Slocombe:
Yes. I made what they called a Mediterranean cruise, and I was a little while, and then I gave it up and come out this country to live.

Curator's Note: There were pickups shot for this interview where Miss Slocombe repeats parts of her story. The more detailed version of her story is preserved here.