In Titanic Wreck

Theodoor de Mulder

Third-class passenger

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"I booked third class from Southampton for New York on the Titanic," said Mr. Demulder. It certainly was a huge boat – a floating city, with stores, theatres and about everything else a modern town possesses. The ship was 883 feet long. It carried 1,165 passengers on that ill-fated trip and a crew including two or three hundred carpenters, plumbers, painters, and other craftsmen engaged in adding the finishing touches to the huge craft, which was not entirely completed when it left England on its maiden trip. There were 1,517 lives lost.

"It was a wonderful ship and cut through the seas without pitching or rolling. It was as steady as a city pavement and not a single person on board felt the slightest touch of seasickness. And the weather was fine – warm spring nights, even though we were traveling the northern route.

"It was Sunday night. We were three days out. The boat was ablaze with light. The orchestras were playing. Dance floors were crowded and the saloons teemed with carefree men and women. There was joy and laughter everywhere, even through the hour was approaching midnight. The date was April 14 and the Titanic was rushing at full speed through the sea, intent upon clipping a day from the Atlantic crossing record.

Terrific Crash

"I retired to my berth about 11 o'clock and was asleep when I was awakened by the clanging of bells and the jolting motion of the vessel, which was caused by the engines being suddenly thrown into reverse.

"Before I was fully awake there came a terrific crash. I saw a cyclone wreck a house once, and this noise was similar to that of falling, splintering timbers, only a great deal louder. It was like a great thunderclap, followed by a deafening roar as a mountain of ice fell into the sea. She had rammed head on into an iceberg.

"The ship stopped instantly and I was hurled from the berth and into a corner. Then I heard men, women and children screaming and running about. Before I barely had time to slip on my trousers and shirt, the water was rushing into my compartment, which was in the forward part of the ship.

"I plunged through water waist-deep until I reached the deck, to view an indescribable scene of confusion. Screaming men, women and children were milling about and surging in great waves towards the lifeboats. Officers were shouting and attempting to restore order. Many persons were trampled to death in the mad panic.

"Already the lifeboats were being lowered. I saw one boat, loaded to its capacity with women and children, break from its davits and spill its human cargo into the ocean. I do not believe a single one was saved. Another lifeboat capsized upon reaching the water. I saw women clutching at its upturned bottom.

"I saw men insane with fright, fight their way to boats and hurl women and children aside in their frantic rush. Then the lights went out. Hundreds of colored stokers swarmed up from below and stormed down upon a partially loaded lifeboat. I saw an officer empty his revolver into them and a lifeless man topple over the rail.

"There were only a few lifeboats on that great ship to handle 3,500 people and two were already wrecked. But these boats were not for the men. It was women and children first. I witnessed deeds of heroism and sacrifice – men doomed to certain death, relinquishing their sole chance to life in favor of weeping women – wives refusing rescue, choosing to die by their husbands' sides.

Scores Fell Into Sea

"I saw acts of cowardice, which no one would believe possible in a human being. I saw a portion of the ship's rail break beneath the terrific strain of struggling, crowding people and scores fall screaming into the water. All about me, men and women prayed.

"And then I saw a huge mountain of ice, towering higher than the Penobscot Building, just off the bow. The forepart of the ship seemed entirely gone and the big vessel was settling fast by the head.

"When every boat had left the ship, there were nearly 1,700 of us left on board, trapped by the sea and without hope of escape. There were not enough lifebelts to go around. As the ship sank lower in the water, she rose gradually to an almost vertical position.

Jumped From Ship

"The people kept moving towards the rear. When the top deck was just a few feet from the water. I decided to stake my life on my ability to swim. It seemed like certain death to remain, for the suction of the boat as it plunged beneath the waves would and did draw hundreds of lives down with it.

"Others thought likewise, for the splash of leaping bodies was continual and the water was black with people bobbing up and down in lifebelts. The sky was ablaze with flaming rockets sent up from the top deck of the sinking ship and from the lifeboats which dotted the sea.

"I found the water icy cold and I was chilled to the bone but I managed to get away from the ship. The sea was rough and swimming was very difficult. The lifebelt I was wearing held me in an upright position which increased my difficulty. It was hardly sufficient to support the weight of a man and I was under the water every minute or so.

Dragged Into Boat

"So I ripped the belt from my body and stuck out without it. It was easier swimming then. I swam steadily away from the ship for about half an hour. I don't know how far I swam. I only know that I was numb with cold and realized that I could last but a few minutes longer. Then I saw a small boat a short distance off so I swam to it and was dragged on board.

"The moon had come up and in its light the Titanic was plainly visible, standing almost on end and slowly sinking into the sea. Every few minutes a flash of flame and resounding crash would break from the ship as boiler after boiler exploded. I could even see timbers and other pieces of the boat hurling through the air.

"The Titanic sank an hour and 45 minutes after it rammed into the iceberg. It kept sliding down slowly, then faster until it vanished with a great sighing sound. When daylight came, the surface of the sea was a mass of wreckage, floating furniture, a piano and hundreds of men, women and children in their lifebelts most of them dead from exposure.

Rescue Boat Comes

"In the boat which had rescued me, seven persons died during that terrible night. Shortly after dawn was breaking, we saw a string of lights and realized that a great ship was speeding towards us. It was the Carpathia. It was nearly noon, however, before she picked us up. The Carpathia came to a halt and lowered her boats.

"We could see these boats searching for wreckage for signs of life. They picked up scores of bodies, but very few persons were found alive. Strange, but the children survived the ordeal best. They were light and did not bob under the water, for the belts were sufficient to hold them up.

"Captain Smith refused to leave the bridge and sank with his ship. I can see him now, an old man, capless, his gray hair tousled by the wind, standing up there, utterly fearless and calmly waiting the inevitable end."

We would like to thank Wolfric Rogers for contributing this article to the Archive. If you would like to contribute a primary source to Titanic Archive, please contact us.