RMS Titanic - letter to Sidney Daniels, steward

RMS Titanic, Sidney Daniels Archive. A unique letter written to Third Class Steward Sidney Daniels on 2 April 1912, postmarked Portsmouth, later Belfast 4 April 1912. Addressed Daniels, Stewards Department, SS Titanic, Belfast, written over three sides, faded and water stained, due to being immersed in the North Atlantic whilst on Sidney Daniels's person as he escaped the Titanic. Later newspaper accounts by Mr Daniels offer the explanation in his own words: I held onto a boat davit ready to jump overboard and I jumped into the darkness and swimming away as far as I could for how long I don't know but I found a life buoy with a man clinging to it. I held on to that for a while and as I turned back to look I could see the stern of the Titanic standing almost straight up in the air. I knew the suction could drag us down and I suggested to the other man that we moved away. He did not answer and away I went. Eventually I saw a capsized lifeboat with several men clinging to it. Standing on this I pulled myself up on the keel and sat there just out of the water'. This letter is one of the few examples to have survived being carried by a surviving crew member. Provenance by direct descent

Accounts Addressed Answer Buoy Capsized Clinging Daniels Davit Descent Direct Documented Drag Escaped Eventually Examples Explanation Faded Immersed Jumped Keel Knew Lifeboat Moved Myself Offer Onto Overboard Portsmouth Postmarked Provenance Pulled Staining Stern Steward Stewards Suction Suggested Survived Surviving Whilst

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