The dramatic first-hand account of Jack Thayer, a 17-year-old survivor of the sinking of the Titanic, is to be published next month after lying almost forgotten for decades.
It was the desperate cries for help that haunted John "Jack" Thayer after he witnessed the death throes of the Titanic as it reared, roared and plunged into the North Atlantic.
The shouts from those thrown into the icy water swelled into "one long continuous wailing chant", noted the teenage son of an American railway baron.
"It sounded like locusts on a midsummer night in the woods. This terrible cry lasted for twenty or thirty minutes, gradually dying away, as one after another could no longer withstand the cold and exposure."
Lost for several decades, his searing first-hand account will be published next month to mark the centennial of the catastrophe in April 1912. Amid the slew of books, documentaries, films, auctions, exhibitions and cruises commemorating the 100th anniversary of the disaster, A Survivor's Tale stands out for its power, intensity - and indisputable authenticity.
From his vantage point clinging to an upturned lifeboat, Jack watched the unthinkable befall what was supposed to be the unsinkable. All the more poignant was that his father, also called John Thayer, was among the 1,514 who perished in the seas in the early hours of April 15, 1912.
more
Vivid account of how the Titanic sank by survivor Jack Thayer, 17, resurfaces in time for centenary - Telegraph
It was the desperate cries for help that haunted John "Jack" Thayer after he witnessed the death throes of the Titanic as it reared, roared and plunged into the North Atlantic.
The shouts from those thrown into the icy water swelled into "one long continuous wailing chant", noted the teenage son of an American railway baron.
"It sounded like locusts on a midsummer night in the woods. This terrible cry lasted for twenty or thirty minutes, gradually dying away, as one after another could no longer withstand the cold and exposure."
Lost for several decades, his searing first-hand account will be published next month to mark the centennial of the catastrophe in April 1912. Amid the slew of books, documentaries, films, auctions, exhibitions and cruises commemorating the 100th anniversary of the disaster, A Survivor's Tale stands out for its power, intensity - and indisputable authenticity.
From his vantage point clinging to an upturned lifeboat, Jack watched the unthinkable befall what was supposed to be the unsinkable. All the more poignant was that his father, also called John Thayer, was among the 1,514 who perished in the seas in the early hours of April 15, 1912.
more
Vivid account of how the Titanic sank by survivor Jack Thayer, 17, resurfaces in time for centenary - Telegraph
