Arthur Priest Escapes Titanic
Arthur John “Jack” Priest, a twenty-four-year-old fireman, serviced Titanic‘s massive boilers. He worked on the Olympic when it collided with the HMS Hawke in 1911. But it wasn’t his first brush with shipping accidents, he had been on the Asturias when the ship collided with another during its 1908 maiden voyage. He transferred from Olympic to Titanic for its maiden voyage. Firemen (another term for ‘stoker’) on Titanic kept the boilers firing, day and night. Priest wasn’t on duty when Titanic hit the iceberg, but in his quarters, low on the ship, still put him in peril. He had to navigate corridors and gangways to get to the upper decks. Most boats were gone by the time he and his colleagues reached the boat deck. Priest likely escaped on lifeboat 15, where crew ordered men into the boat when they couldn’t see any more women or children.