Carl Jansson's New York Times Account

Water Crept Into Steerage

Carl Johnson, a steerage passenger, was asleep in his berth when the collision with the iceberg took place.

"There was no crash," he explained. "There was only a slight jar and a creaking, which partially awakened me. There was no excitement in the steerage, and I paid no attention to the occurrence. I was asleep again when two of the ship's officers passed through the steerage, awakening the passengers. They told us to dress and come on deck – that there had been an accident, but that there was no danger.

"When I started to dress I noticed that there was water creeping up about my feet. At first it came very slowly, but after a time it was around my ankles. In the compartment where I was sleeping the water was at an even depth everywhere, and the boat did not seem to have the slightest pitch to starboard or port, indicating that she was settling slowly and steadily and that the bottom had been ripped out. The upper air compartments kept the water from coming in very fast at first and no one seemed to think that she was going to sink.

"When I got on deck I saw the first sign of panic among the passengers. Women were screaming with terror and men were rushing this way and that. Then I noticed that the boat had begun to settle in the bow, where I was standing. All the lights of the vessel were still going, however, and were still lighted when they began to lower the first lifeboats. As the second boat swung from the davits the water reached the dynamos in the engine room, and we were suddenly plunged into darkness, save for the cold, clear light of the heavens, for it was a starlit night.

Heard Several Shots

"I could not accustom myself to the change for several minutes. I think I was in a sort of daze and have no clear recollection of what happened afterward, or how long a time had elapsed. Suddenly I heard shrieks and cries amidship, and the sharp reports of several shots. People began to run by me toward the stern of the ship, and as I started to run I realized that the boat was beginning to go down very rapidly, and there was quite a decline noticeable in the deck, showing that her nose was being buried. A wave struck me and I went overboard.

"As I rose to the surface I saw a board floating on the top of the water and I seized it. A wave threw me away from the ship, and I began to swim, clutching on to the board to keep me afloat. The shock seemed to restore my senses and I began to see objects in the water quite clearly. The air was rent with screams and curses, and there were a lot of men and women in the water trying to get away from the ship to escape the awful suction when she went down.

"There was an overturned lifeboat riding a big wave near me. I was swept toward it, and managed to catch hold of the edge. There were seven or eight of its original passengers clinging to its sides. By this time we were almost half a mile from the ship and we could still see it clearly. It was quite low in the bow and was settling rapidly. Suddenly it seemed to give a great lurch forward. The stern seemed to rise from the water, and the ship plunged head first beneath the waves.

"For fully a minute as she was going down there was an awful silence everywhere. Not a sound was heard from the lifeboats, which we could now see clustered in a semi-circle a few hundred yards ahead of us, nor was there any sound from the waters behind us, where even then we could see hundreds of dark forms struggling in the water with bits of wreckage and debris.

"At the second that the ship took her final dive there was an awful shriek carried to us from the waters behind, as though all of the poor, drowning wretches had joined in a final death cry of agony. It was taken up in the lifeboats ahead and by those who were clinging to the overturned boat with me.

"My companions and I drifted about for two hours before the overturned boat was sighted from another one a quarter of a mile to leeward. The boatswain directed his men to come to our rescue, and we were picked up, although the rescuing boat was already crowded with forty women and ten men. When we were taken in there was hardly standing room, and the sailors had to stop rowing because they did not have room to move their arms. We drifted about until daylight, when we were sighted and picked up by the Carpathia.

"When all the survivors had been crowded on board the Carpathia there was a great deal of suffering, especially in the steerage, although every one did their best for us. The first day several died and were buried at sea. I did not witness all of the funerals, being sick and weak from exposure, but I was told about them.