I understand that an estimated 72 members of the "Black Gang" (Firemen, Greasers, Trimmers) of the Titanic survived the disaster and yet comparatively few of them were called in to testify. A recent post about Trimmer Eustace Snow reminded me about that fact; I would have thought they could have supplied useful information about the early flooding pattern.
44 firemen out of 159 survived (6 of which were on duty at the time of the collision), 19 out of 73 trimmers survived (4 of which are known to have been on duty, it is however possible that one surviving trimmer who signed on last minute was on duty too), of the 33 greasers only 4 survived (only one of which was on duty at the time of the collision) and of the the 15 leading firemen only 4 survived (one of which was on duty at the time of the collison). Here is the list to which shift each surviving firemen, trimmer and greaser was attached to:
00:00 to 04:00/12:00 to 16:00 watch:
Leading fireman Thomas Threlfall (1867-1934)
Fireman William Clark (1869-19?)
Fireman Samuel John Collins (1874-1950)
Fireman Frederick Olive Doel (1889-1940)
Fireman Laurence Doyle (1885-1912)
Fireman Frank Dymond (1876-1947)
Fireman Edward Flaherty (1860-1940)
Fireman George Auguste Godley (1873-1940)
Fireman Walter Hurst (1888-1964)
Fireman Charles Edward Judd (1880-1960)
Fireman Fredrik Kasper (1872-19?)
Fireman William James Major (1880-1960)
Fireman Frank Archibald Robert Mason (1880-1953)
Fireman William John Murdoch (1874-1941)
Fireman Henry Noss (1881-1961)
Fireman Harry Oliver (1871-1944)
Fireman John Pearce (1878-1933)
Fireman Arthur John Priest (1887-1937)
Fireman George/James Taylor (1888-1931)
Fireman William Henry Taylor (1883-1914)
Fireman John William Thompson (1871-19?)
Fireman George Terrill Thresher (1886-1939)
Trimmer Ernest Frederick Allen (1888-1968)
Trimmer James Albert Avery (1891-1915)
Trimmer Percival Albert Blake (1889-1968)
Trimmer Walter Francis Fredericks (1891-1960)
Trimmer James McGann (1882-1918)
Trimmer George William McIntyre (1890-1965)
Trimmer George Pellham (1873-1939)
Trimmer Edgar Lionel Perry (1892-1940)
Trimmer Eustace Philip Snow (1890-1966)
Trimmer William George White (1888-1927)
32 men in total.
04:00 to 08:00/16:00 to 20:00 watch
Leading fireman Thomas Gibson Graham (1883-19?)
Leading fireman Charles Osker Hendrickson (1883-1956)
Fireman George Combes (1877-1916)
Fireman Robert Frederick William Couper (1882-1941)
Fireman John Joseph Diaper (1885-1955)
Fireman Christopher Arthur Shulver/John Dilley (1883-1922)
Fireman John Haggan (1877-1952)
Fireman William Charles Lindsay (1881-1960)
Fireman Thomas Jubilee Mayzes (1887-1928)
Fireman John William Moore (1883-1954)
Fireman William Nutbean (1881-1947)
Fireman Charles Alfred Othen (1876-1952)
Fireman Alfred John Alexander Podesta (1887-1968)
Fireman William Robert Holland Pusey (1890-1918)
Fireman Albert Charles Edward Self (1888-1954)
Fireman Harry Senior (1881-1937)
Fireman Alfred Charles Shiers (1886-1946)
Fireman Henry William Sparkman (1876-1947)
Fireman Robert Triggs (1871-1931)
Trimmer Walter William Binstead (1891-1959)
Trimmer Albert William Hebb (1889-1932)
Trimmer Sylvanus Alfred Hunt (1889-1949)
Trimmer Frederick Robert Sheath (1892-1934)
Greaser George Alexander Prangnell (1881-1953)
Greaser Thomas Ranger (1882-1964)
Greaser Alfred White (1880-1922)
26 men in total
08:00 to 12:00/20:00 to 00:00 watch
Leading fireman Frederick William Barrett (1883-1931)
Fireman George William Beauchamp (1888-1965)
Fireman James Crimmins (1891-1956)
Fireman Frederick Harris (1873-19?)
Fireman George Kemish (1889-1966)
Fireman Charles John Rice (1880-1949)
Fireman Thomas Albert Street (1887-1964)
Trimmer George Henry Carvel (1889-1966)
Trimmer Thomas Patrick Dillon (1879-1939)
Trimmer Albert James Dore (1889-1953)
Trimmer Albert Ernest Fryer (1882-1944)
Greaser Frederick William Scott (1884-1915)
12 men in total
Unassigned due to being a last minute sign on:
Trimmer John O’Connor (1882-1933)
This figure excludes Fireman messman/crew cook Thomas Knowles (1867-1951) and Engineers mess steward Cecil William Fitzpatrick (1890-1964).
While I personally believe every account has it's story to tell, there are plenty of pieces of the puzzle on the flooding in the early stages. From the water trickling down into the firemen's tunnel to the two feet above the stokehold plates in boiler room number 6. Would more accounts be interesting to see on the rates of the flooding, most certainly and we would welcome them with open arms. Since the majority of them don't have a known lifeboat (35 of them), I hope it can help us with solving that problem too.
