Plymouth Hoe, 3

One of the most interesting of survivors, a leading stoker, or "captain stoker", who was on duty in the very bowels of the ship at the time she struck the iceberg, said: "I was on the eight to twelve o'clock watch … there would be 83 men on that watch. Eight of us out of the 83 are here. The rest of the 83 were drowned. We were working away, and thinking our watch was nearly up, when all of a sudden the starboard side of the ship came in on us.

"It burst in like big guns going off, and the water came pouring in. It swilled [around] our legs, and we made a dash into the next section and slammed the watertight door to quick. There was no time to waste. Then all of a sudden the water came with a rush into where we were. How it came in I don't know, and Harvey, the engineer, said to me 'Get up on deck.' I was nearly swilled off my feet, but I managed to get out. I knew then that ship must sink."

From our special correspondent