110 years on: Bournemouth's Titanic survivor Frank Prentice

The luxury cruise liner had struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage and was rapidly sinking in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Frank was left clinging to the ship railings, staring down at massive propellor blades that had been exposed by the Titanic’s 30-degree listing.

He plunged 100 feet into the icy waters, watched his friend perish and remained frozen for four long hours waiting to die.

However, Frank would miraculously survive that fateful night and often recounted his tale from his home in Bournemouth. He would speak to the Echo several times in his later life.

Frank Winnold Prentice signed-on to the Titanic as an assistant storekeeper on April 4 1912, just six days before the ship set sail.

Titanic crewmember Frank Prentice

Frank – who moved to the Bournemouth area seven years after the disaster and lived for many years in New Road, Ferndown and later in Southbourne Overcliff Drive – was 23 years old at the time.

At the time of the collision, Frank was in his cabin but didn't notice anything strange other than the ship stopping. He went up to survey the scene and saw the forward deck covered in ice.

Shortly after midnight, Frank began helping launch the lifeboats where he reluctantly parted women from their husbands to get them into lifeboats before Titanic sunk.

When all lifeboats had been launched, Frank felt he could do no more and travelled towards the poop deck where he came across two friends, Cyril Ricks and Michael Kieran. The men discussed their situation and agreed they had no option but to leave the ship before she sank.

Sinking of the Titanic by Willy Stöwer

Frank told the Echo back in 1980 that he worked his way to the stern. “I was hanging on to a board on the ship rails. I was one of two warning people to keep clear of the propellers,” he said.

When the area became too crowded, the men decided to jump. Kieran went first and was never seen again. He was followed by Ricks and then by Frank, who would have been one of the last crewmen on board.

“I was lucky when I hit the water that I did not hit anything,” he recalled.

“I searched for my friend (Ricks) and he had not been so lucky. He had hit something and was hurt. I stayed with him until he died and then I paddled off. I was bumping into bodies all the time.

“The band were playing when the ship began to go down. I can remember the hymn but as she finally went under there was no-one singing.

The watch of Frank Prentice, which stopped when Titanic sank at 2.20am on April 15, 1912

“When I dropped down into the water it was among 200 or 300 live or dead bodies. I didn’t want to die but I didn’t see much chance of living.”

Gradually all those around Frank died and he was left on his own. He managed to survive for four hours in the freezing water, which he put down to being fit and a good swimmer.

“I was half-frozen and had given up hope,” he said. But he kept swimming and eventually came across a lifeboat and was pulled on board.

Frank was rescued and transferred to the RMS Carpathia where he was taken straight to the ship’s hospital.

Despite his near-death experience, Frank soon returned to the sea and served in the First World War. After serving at sea he later enlisted with the Royal Tank Regiment and became a major, winning a Military Cross.

Frank Prentice during a 1979 BBC interview

After the war, Frank moved to Bournemouth where he regularly played golf at Ferndown and for Dorset. Throughout the rest of his life, however, Frank never forgot the events of April 15, 1912.

He kept the watch he was wearing on that night which had stopped at 2.20am, around the time Titanic disappeared from view and into the realms of history.

Frank Prentice died in Bournemouth on May 19, 1982, aged 93. He was the second to last surviving Titanic crew member.