Titanic Survivor | Frank Prentice: "I thought I was going to die"
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 พ.ค. 2020
- Frank Winnold Prentice (February 17, 1889 - May 30, 1982) was a storekeeper on the RMS Titanic. He survived the sinking by swimming to Lifeboat 4 and being pulled in by its occupants.
Prentice remained active at sea, working on the Titanic's sister ship RMS Olympic, and also working on ships during World War 1.
In his later life Prentice gave many interviews for television (here in 1979), newspapers and magazines. In 1982 he appeared in a documentary called 'Titanic: A Question of Murder.'
He was the second-to-last member of the crew to pass away, being survived only by Sidney Edward Daniels.
Descendants and volunteers are working to save Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, the world's first memorial to the 1,496 victims. Join the conversation at:
/ savetitaniclighthouse
He actually jumped off the ship and still survived. This dude is a champion
his way of surviving the sinking he jumped off the stern when it was almost vertical totally... that drop would of been imo 200ft cause it was half in water and half out..Titanic was 882 feet long, so it would of been a hell of a ways down,. when the ships in port the boat deck to the water was what 60ft? so Imagine the stern rising high out of the water getting higher and higher above that usual height. frank said 100ft...I say higher, like way higher 200ft plus......I cannot imagine doing that...anyhow he's never said that it broke in half, he would of known by being where he was, so it's like why doesn't he say it broke? Eva hart watched it and said that it broke in half...Ruth Blanchard nee Becker said the same.... but when they found the wreck in 1985 it was in 2 pieces on the ocean floor. another topic, what don't make sense to me is that in James Cameron's Titanic he has the ship breaking in two between the 3rd and 4th funnel which is what I always thought and the world did, but recently in a quick run down of the sinking in an animation James has it breaking between the 2nd and 3rd funnels,. so it's like wtf?? if ur doing that then ur movie is wrong...but there's lots of errors in the 97 movie....
@@ArronP To be fair, the interview wasn’t very long. There wasn’t time to tell the whole story in detail here. He mentioned the band because the interviewer asked about it, and might’ve not mentioned it if he wasn’t asked. He wasn’t asked about the ship breaking apart. And he was at the stern, maybe he didn’t see the ship breaking from there. Maybe there was too much I. The way of his view from holding onto the stern, maybe he was more preoccupied by trying to hold on for as long as he could before making the jump down. We can’t possibly know. James Cameron is aware that many things must be inaccurate, but they tried their best back in 1997 with what was known and thought to be known. I just watched a documentary about the sinking with James Cameron in it, and he said that there are some things that are just impossible to know for sure. All we can do is do tests and come up with possibilities but there are so many variables. I think you’d need something like a modern podcast with Frank that would last for hours to get a more detailed account of his time on the Titanic. Back in the 70s there wasn’t enough time for them to do that on TV. Frank would’ve had to write a book. But maybe it was such a traumatic experience that he didn’t want to write a book about it. But there are books by survivors. I still haven’t read any. I really really should. Anyway, I’m glad Frank made it. He was so young too at the time, glad he lived a good long life afterwards
Big YOLO moment.
He jumped with two other fellows. The other two died.
@@lassesuurmunne8340 very well put
When I was in junior school a girl in my class had her grandad come in class and tell us his stories of the titanic. It was this man. I can still remember how everyone was mesmerised how he recalled that fateful night.
God rest his soul. 🙏🙏🙏
I think they were "mesmerised," but I get your point.
@@Beckford4000 thanks for the correction. Have edited now.
@@Beckford4000 you’re very smart… I’m sure no one would of understood what he meant if it wasn’t for you!
@@_Matthew_21 *Would've. There is no such grammatical construction as "would of".
@@Beckford4000 🤣 Thanks! I’m sure your mother is very proud of you!
Pity the interview wasn't longer... RIP Frank
@@ComteDeGracey he's gone now
@@white_star_line0760 good. thx. will delete my comment now
@@ComteDeGracey ok
Who is gone?
@adamshaw8214 frank died in 1982
He must have been one tough 18 year old to survive that. Respect 🙏
Very tough , and the fact just months later went onto work titanic’s sister ship Oceanic - and then world war 1 just 2 years later.
Very tough very tough indeed.
Toughest
frank was 18 on board Titanic, that puts his birth year as 1894! go watch Titanic a question of murder from 83 they say his age, and he's interviewed alot..shortly before he died I believe it was 1982 when he died, that's prob his last interview he gave
Titanic's sister ship wasn't oceanic. there was the first one, the Olympic and after Titanic the britannic...which was originally going to be named gigantic but after Titanic sank they changed it
@@SuperNano2020wow. What a badass
Everyone was tough then. No one today would survive.
"She didnt want to leave her husband, half the women didnt want to leave their husbands...". Reminds me of the old couple that dies in their bed together when the ship sinks : (
Yeah that particular old couple from the movie was real...the wife refused to leave her husband alone... It was Strauss and his wife (owner of Macy's)...we don't know if they were on the bed or deck
It's bittersweet
You can hear the rage he still has for the captain when he's talking about why they were even in the position to be hit by an iceberg
Well, he was right about that. Ismay may have been an idiot, but the captain didn't have to listen to him.
He sounded absolutely furious nearly half a century later
@@isaacurban1163nearly 70 years later actually.
Franks interviews hit me the hardest. He is so well spoken and tells the story with much grace but you can tell he is struggling to keep it together. I have so much respect for this man.
🤦🏻♂️
The whole thing is FAKE. Jesus tap dancing Christ.
Survived titanic, ww1 and ww2. Surely one of the bravest people to ever live. RIP Frank.
What an incredibly well-spoken man. What class...
This is a man from a different era, clearly.
A true gentleman
not like the soy boys we sadly have today or the trans :(
@@GrandMasterKai dude why do you care if people are trans. Doesn’t effect you
@@carterreid9869 same logic "dude why do care of people are pedophiles, it doesn't effect you" lol childish logic... They are mentally ill not amount of faith will make a man into a woman 😂😂😂.. Grow up
No ghettoness- eloquent, verbose, confident. We need more men like this in 2023.
He died three years before the wreckage was found... :'(
What a gentleman Frank continued working on the Olympic and served in WW1
It's sad when he said "tonight I'll think a lot about it" like that night haunted him forever.
Frank suffered nightmares about this for the rest of his life, absolutely terrible for him.
I'm sure all the survivors did, for the rest of their lives.
@@benfisher1376 Maybe not the one that was 8 weeks old, but yes everyone that was able to form permanent memories at that time probably suffered for the rest of their lives reliving it.
It's amazing that the watch stopped at the time it sank. Almost like a permanent tribute
Yes a reminder of the tragedy that happened 🤍
No he said it kept going for 20 mintues
@@grantmctaggart9942Yes and the Titanic sank at 2:20
@@grantmctaggart9942that’s what he always said, not knowing the ship sank at 2:20 and he dropped off right before the poop deck actually sank. Seems he never knew what time it sank.
its so cool that someone lived to talk about in color tv, he was 90 at the time, how strong he looked, RIP all titanic witnesses :(
He was 85 at the time of the interview-and 18 in 1912 when the ship sunk. Amazing though watching him in color Tv.
@@AhmedSaid-cc3xb no, he was 90 when this interview was taken (born in 1889, interview in 1979). He died 3 years later in 1982 at 93 years old.
,@@victorpopa8969 You're correct but in my calculation, the interviewer said to him "you were 18 at the time"-meaning in 1912. But in fact, he was 23 when the ship sunk.
@@AhmedSaid-cc3xb yes i think the interviewer was wrong lol
@@AhmedSaid-cc3xb I'm 23 right now and all I do is eat and watch interviews like this lol
He was 90 years old in this interview.. look at how lucid he is and how vigorously eloquently he speaks. What a world of contrast compared to seniors these days
in Titanic a question of murder they said he was 18 when Titanic sank.... he died in 1982. he was born in 1894 so he died at 88. in this interview he was 85. the interviewer said here he was 18 when it sank...
Everyone ages differently. There were seniors then who were demented, and there are seniors now who are lucid. Cut the "back in those days" crap.
That was before the government started putting shit in our food.
Are you seriously a younger person yelling at old people “seniors these day!” Gtfo
Everyone age diferently but he must have been physicaly strong to survive that event which is cool and he was still strong with 90 years old to be able to tell us his story. Some people are Lucky like that and have a strong health all their life. So Lucky!
Im impressed by the way he speak he speak so fluent. Most of the people from the 1800s speak so fluent.
One of the clearest, most interesting testimonies I have heard about the Titanic. I would have liked to hear him speak for longer.
When he says "It was sad and chaotic at the end", it gave me a perspective I've never had before. When we think of disasters, they're always in a fairly open space. People can run, escape, etc. The chaos spreads out. And while harrowing, people usually have a measure of hope to escape. Imagine the horror of so many people facing their deaths, KNOWING that it's about to end, but being crowded in a very finite space that's growing smaller by the second. It adds a whole new layer of horror for me...
"I dropped off the stern as she sank."
"I just missed the propellers on the way down."
"I blame the bridge."
This interview was truly shocking! Rest in peace Frank and everyone on the boat. 🙏
Good old British Stoicism, we now have a generation that cry when losing a cooking competition.
Right? And people today have PTSD from a cat scratch 😑
Titanic, then the Great War. then WW2. Good grief this man lived through a lot.
Well he ain't live through Covid
@@JuneGirl35he lived through the Spanish Flu
This man survived the Titanic, fought in World War 1 and lived through World War 2. Pure British steel.
How incredibly difficult to witness. Though it had been 70 years since this tragedy occurred, you could see and feel how tormented this gentleman to be.
Absolutely heartbreaking this could have been prevented.
90 years old in this interview. RIP Major Prentice.
my great great gran uncle john or jack foley he was called both. pulled this guy into the lifeboat he was in lifeboat 4. he was a storekeeper on the titanic
Hi James... fascinating story. Please DM us on Instagram if you'd like to share your family history.
Wow!
That's truly amazing, thank you for sharing that information.
Hi James... Please email us at hello@titaniclighthouse.org TY!
Rest in peace what an amazing man and story
What a life story. He’s lucky the jump didn’t take him given hitting water from 150-200 feet is like hitting cement.
im surprised it didnt suck him down
Frank jumped off the stern when the ship was near to breaking in half. When he landed his friend Cyril Ricks jumped, but unfortunately he hit the propeller and died on the way down. That scene is included in the james cameron titanic movie.
I’m pretty sure in another interview Frank said he was the last to jump. Ricks went first, followed by Michael Kieran, and then Frank jumped in after both of them. He only found Ricks half dead in the water, he never saw Kieran again.
When the guy falls and hits the propeller. I think everyone in the theatre screamed at that scene. So horrific
Wow to hear a survivor is a privlidge, poor people that died RIP .
Rip Frank, Brave Man & Survivor
What a great man. So brave and matter of fact..and Honest too. Bless him, and of course all those who perished so unnecessarily.
White Star Lines had survivors sign documents while they were still recovering in the hospital to settle out of court for $25.00, which is the equivalent of less than $700 today.
Good Grief! I've gone to find a grave and read some obituaries and historical literature. I know surviving family were paid out very little. Awful!!!
AND they stopped paying them the MOMENT the ship started sinking. (Found that out recently)
Wow…..
What an amazing man. God rest him.
Amen❤️✝️
Falling over 100 feet into freezing cold water is insane. How terrifying! I cannot believe he survived.
What an incredible man! A hero, like so many other people on that extremely sad night. Also a WW1 hero. Frank was a remarkably brave man. Rest in peace Major Prentice 🫡
Poor guy had PTSD all his life 😞
Frank prentice 1889-1982
Nearly 100 years
love this.... out of every other titanic video this has the least amount of views... this guy was paints the perfect picture this video should have at least 2 million view like the others!
I think it's bc it's a short video. I was thinking the same thing
Completely agree. His interviews are my best. Paints the best picture. Describes the horror with such grace. It’s a miracle he survived. Rip Frank
0:48 to 1:02 you can tell by his voice and facial expressions that experience he survived and witnessed must have been truly terrible and wrenching.. This man deserved more time to talk and i wish that they would have gave him a proper interview. RIP Frank
Such a heartbreaking event
What an absolute legend. Incredibly fascinating hearing his story of survival.
Bless his heart. They told them to put at least one ship's crew into each life boat.
What a remarkable man. A remarkable interview. Incredible.
Such a great interview!!
ive always been intrested in anything about the titanic. not once in my life did i ever think about looking into interviews from survivors. this is insane and i cant imagine the horror he lived thru in thoes hours.
I’m so mesmerized by this interview! I wish it were longer
What an absolutely beautiful man. Inside and out. Incredible courage ❤
Great interview 👍👍
Dude went into the cold dark water....
This has got to one of the best Titanic survivor stories I have ever seen! How terrifying that must have been for this young man...
WOW! What a guy! His story is so brave...He's absolutely right, all other ships were navigating around the ice field.
I feel like This mans story is the most accurate and precise story than any of the other witnesses
He'd be over 130 years old now wow
Wow. This tragedy could have been avoided. There were so many "red flags" that were overlooked.
rip Mr.Frank Prentice
It's amazing to get contact with one of the survivors of Titanic, when that share their experience with us, we should keep in mind and extract lessons of never doing such mistakes again of realizing that you had an iceberg right ahead of you. A lot of correction is to be considered on those observers.
This is an incredibly important interview
Imagine falling so far and looking up to see those giant propellers above you and dead all around. Quite a survival story. I would have asked him if he felt the ship break in two but that wasn't known then.
An absolute legend!!
This guy was amazing
So many things are to blame for the Demise of Titanic.Even though she was doomed the moment she set sail it still does not mean the collision could not been avoided.She was going too fast to avoid collision,iceberg warnings ignored prior, she originally had more lifeboats designed but final decision was reversed as well as lowered bulk heads
What an amazing man, and I believe everyword he said, ultimately the captain was to blame, because at sea, he is in control, not the chairman of the company.
Well, I don't think we can discount the testimony of various witnesses who said that J Bruce Ismay exerted pressure on the captain. Yes, Edward J Smith WAS captain but I don't think we can discard the influence of the Chairman of the White Star Line entirely. I get that the propaganda machine was at work to discredit Ismay but witnesses did testify to say he had urged Smith to speed. Another factor we cannot discount in the sinking is the conduct of Jack Phillips, who ignored a crucial warning at 22.50 hrs and then again from the Californian. He was specifically asked by the wireless operator in the former instance to report the message to the bridge and he didn't.
@@sayitlikeitis5026 hello, yes, and apparently he told the californian to 'shut up' too, the captain of the californian, Mr S.P.Lord, was very close to the titanic, saw the rockets, and ignored them, saying they maybe company rockets, in my opinion he should have been prosecuted, he sat by and watched it sink, even documenting the time the lights went out on titanic, I can imagine there is Alot more to this story, but it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and probably other people's too, regards, Simon.
@@MrSimplesimon007 Captain Lord's reaction was very strange in that he didn't ask his wireless operator to contact the Titanic and just continued to signal it by morse lamp. My gut tells me the crew aboard the Californian and Titanic were not at all equipped for this situation and did not appreciate the gravity of the situation until it was too late. Lord strikes me as being somewhat lazy on that night. That said, he was a relatively young sea captain and being just a cargo ship, I don't think the Californian would have been able to save many lives.
@@sayitlikeitis5026 I know captain Smith carried the can as at sea he is in command, but ismay yes had a terrible influence over him, must have been very difficult for the captain having the ceo whispering down his ear... Bruce ismay interfered with the design of the titanic too, Alot of cost cutting, she was made from low grade steel, low grade rivits, the watertight compartments were not watertight, had trouble turning, rudder issue, ismay also personally had the lifeboats reduced from 48 to 16, plus 4 of the collapsible type, in his own words, 'people want to look at the view of the ocean not lifeboats' in a way it was almost murder, plus ismay survived, he got into one of the collapsible lifeboats, even to this day people leave notes and black flowers on his grave.
I have never heard first hand accounts of this tragedy.
‘It was pretty sad at the end.’ That’s one way of putting it.
Imagine the horror when he must've jumped into the freezing water, 100 foot drop, and just float there looking at people dying all around him, in the dark, distant screams, and just waiting to die himself.
Very brave respect to him
rip Frank Prentice you were a warrior 🤍🌟
I worked in an office in Liverpool city centre for 5 years. And the floor above is used to be the head office for the white star lines. Bruce Ismay owned it. They had a large titanic ship replica in a massive tank it was amazing nostalgia to see every day.
Hes so cute with his watch ⌚️ ❤️
My respects 🙏🏻☹️
If you watch the movie their is a scene where it shows a man hit the propeller from falling off hitting the propellers. This guy is the definition of that scene but he lived that’s crazy.
3:06 totally a real story in a movie. But i felt terrible for those 1500 who didnt make it
Didn't let that watch sit there long.... he snagged that back super fast....
He was a record collector who remembered the jazz of 1925.
TOTAL RESPECT SIR !!!!!!, TOTAL RESPECT FOR SAYING YOUR THOUGHTS ON WHY THE TITANIC HIT THE ICEBERG , THERE DOING AND NO ONE ELSES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. To WHAT HAPPENED !!!!!!!!!!!!. RESPECT SIR !!!!!!! RESPECT.
No wind, no moon.
RIP
She sang this used to be my playground of the celebration tour
We are related and I am damn proud my nam
A história do titanic me desperta muito esses sobreviventes sao as maiores reliquias em vida
He jumped off right after the Titanic 2nd funnel fell then his buddy jumped right after him but hit the propellers
I play Miss Clark in the Musical, she was amazing.
Here after the classic Titanic movie
Bet that watch is worth a ton …. Rip Frank!
Very interesting and sad but its also very strange how emotionless this man is explaining such a catastrophe. Its like hes telling the events of his sunday walk in the park.
The difference between the youth of a time now past and today's youth. This man at 18 years of age jumped from a hight of 100+ feet into ice filled water and swam to a lifeboat, most likely 100+ yards away.
Didn't know a guy invented the bumpit.
I wish podcasts existed back then
This man is incredible. I honour his courage to speak about this night as you can tell he is still haunted by such a horrific tragedy to this day. Though he is no longer with us, I hope that he is resting in peace.
I’m very surprised Prentice never found out the truth, although knowledge surrounding the sinking is a lot easier to find today. His rage towards the bridge crew and Ismay concerning pushing for speed was apparent, but in truth Ismay didn’t pressure the captain into doing anything, it was a passing conversation about wanting to beat the Olympic’s personal time into New York, arriving Tuesday night instead of Wednesday morning. The passengers would’ve been permitted to stay aboard the night they arrived, had breakfast the next morning, and then disembark. Furthermore, truthfully, the speed at which they were travelling when the collision occurred was perfectly normal. Up until spotting the iceberg, no ice had been spotted whatsoever that night by Titanic’s crew, and it was custom to keep normal speed until ice was spotted. It’s unfortunate that the crew and Ismay to a larger extent have been vilified, even by those on the ship that night. The crew (this includes the officers, firemen, stokers, engineers, quartermasters, carpenters, stewards, absolutely all of them) did all they could to keep the passengers safe pre or post collision, they were heroes, nothing short of it.
Not to mention someone I can't remember who accidentally took the key home with him the key for the binoculars so the lookouts that night I don't think had binoculars
@matthewjordan6957 LOL, you're an expert on turn of the century seamanship too?
@matthewjordan6957 I don't disagree that we're being exposed to harmful things compared to the past. But again, I don't think there's anything to show that people are aging worse now than in the middle of the last century. How is a lower body temp bad? Maybe 100 years ago it was higher than the ideal. Remember that 100 years ago you had a very good chance of dying in your first few years of life because of fevers and diseases. If you're going to bring it up to bolster your point, follow through with your it and explain what the reason is for it and what impact it has on aging. You're dodging, buddy. Prove your point.
@matthewjordan6957 I'm referring to the western world as well. As far as body temperature, you started out talking about body temp at birth and now you've shifted to seniors on meds. You're being inconsistent. What is the reason for the supposed lowering of body temperature over the last hundred years? I don't think you're getting any of this from a medical journal, but pulling it out of your rear end. If I have a temperature of 103 would you say that I'm the healthiest and most energetic I've ever been, or that I'm suffering from a fever? Again, you're just throwing mud at the wall and seeing what sticks. I've also been to Amish country and stayed at their houses. I don't believe that they age differently than anyone else, not accross the board. Like I said, everyone ages differently. Some are lucid and coherent at 85 like the guy in this video, and some are presumably much younger than that yet sound like they're demented (i.e. YOU). Again, none of what you're saying makes any sense. It's anecdotal and contradictory.
@matthewjordan6957 Well, I did stay at an Amish bed and breakfast. It's a pretty common tourist thing to do. Not saying I went to the moon. What BS have I been saying, BTW? That one YT video doesn't prove that "people back then" didn't age as fast as now? The body temperature thing was what you brought up, and I agree it doesn't make any sense. LOL. I meant to address your southern border comment too. What does that have to do with what we're talking about? You think the border being porous is because BP agents don't have enough energy to intercept aliens? LOL. Hey, feel free to address the inconsistencies I pointed out in your drivel. If seniors' medications lower body temps, why does it affect newborns???
I wonder where that watch is now. It would be worth so much today
It's in the sea city museum in Southampton, loaned by his family.
Also we have to remember Frank's friend, Cyril Ricks, he also jumped but hit the propeller and died.
Wow so it was true, in the movie that man with the Mustache told the captain to rank up the ship to go faster so that it would be in the newspapers if he didn’t do that the ship wouldn’t have sync I thought it was just a story plot in the movie but I guess that’s what really happened that’s crazy one man cost that ship to go down
Bruce ismay survived by getting in a life boat. he was deemed a coward till the day he died
yep. Crazy isn't it... All those lives lost pointlessly. Even babies/children. Crazy.
Interesting how there was not much of an indication of impact, just a slight shudder.
I wonder if the water absorbed some of the impact. Acting as shocks?
@@josephdockemeyer6782 probably the cold shocked him so much.
To people who don’t know, the interviewer is the british uncle of Dwight Schrute
He was 23 at the time of titanic
Frank was like gimme my watch back lol I loved the first interview so much better than this one. Interviewer seems like he’s rushing
"half the women didn't want to leave their husband" damn, loyality & love back then just 🔥🔥
Probably the most famous person from my town Bournemouth 😂
That watch will be worth a fortune
It’s a shame he didn’t live long enough just 3 years later when the Liner was found
Wow! The will to live, will always outweigh the ability to die..