Key facts about Sidney Edward Daniels
- Daniels was born in Portsmouth on November 19, 1893 and was only 18 during Titanic’s maiden voyage.
- He had worked aboard Olympic and remembered being selected for Titanic from experienced White Star crew.
- His assigned boat was Lifeboat 13, but he said crew gave up places while loading women and children.
- He helped with a final collapsible, entered the water and survived the night on overturned Collapsible B.
- Daniels returned to sea, served through both world-war eras and became Titanic’s last surviving crew member.
A Portsmouth teenager selected from Olympic for Titanic
Sidney Edward Daniels was born in Portsmouth on November 19, 1893. His mother died in 1911, and by that year he was living with his widowed father and siblings in Southsea. He soon went to sea with White Star Line.
Daniels served aboard Olympic and was on the liner when it collided with HMS Hawke in 1911. When he joined Titanic in April 1912, he signed on as a third class steward at monthly wages of £3 15s. His later oral-history interview remembered the transfer with some pride, saying experienced Olympic crew were selected for the new ship.
He woke thinking the emergency might be a drill
In an interview recorded on November 17, 1982, Daniels remembered being asleep in his bunk when a night watchman ordered the men to get dressed, put on lifebelts and go on deck. At first, he said, they thought it was an emergency boat drill.
His assigned station was Lifeboat 13. Daniels remembered standing by while the crew brought women and children to the boats, then giving up the crew place as passengers were loaded. His account is a reminder that an assigned boat station did not necessarily mean a crewman actually left Titanic in that boat.
The final collapsible became his route out of the sinking
Daniels stayed aboard until nearly all the regular lifeboats had gone. He recalled working around one of the final collapsibles near the wireless-room area, passing up his pocketknife so men could cut the lashings. Water then overtook the Boat Deck.
He entered the sea and reached overturned Collapsible B. Men balanced on the upturned hull through the freezing night. Daniels remembered the group saying the Lord’s Prayer and another survivor warning him not to fall asleep because the cold could kill him. Near dawn, other lifeboats took the remaining men from the collapsible to Carpathia.
After a difficult recovery, he went back to Olympic
Daniels returned to Britain aboard Lapland. He later remembered becoming seriously ill for a time after reaching home. Once recovered, he went back to Olympic and said he completed roughly 200 crossings on the liner.
During the First World War he served with the Royal Army Service Corps. In 1916 he married Gertrude Jessie Edbrooke, the sister of Titanic steward Francis Edbrooke, who had died in the sinking. Gertrude died in 1918. Daniels remarried in 1920 and raised a large family with his second wife, Alfreda.
His voice survived into the modern Titanic era
Daniels continued maritime work and later served in the merchant navy during the Second World War. His long life made him an important bridge between the working crew of 1912 and the era of recorded oral history.
He died in Portsmouth on May 25, 1983, aged 89. By then he was the last surviving member of Titanic’s crew. The interview recorded only months before his death preserves his own phrasing, humor and memories rather than forcing his experience into a later dramatic script.
Sources used for this biography
Daniels left a late recorded interview, so his own voice can be compared with specialist crew records and later biographical research.
- Titanic Archive: Sidney Daniels oral history interview Daniels’s 1982 recollections of Olympic, his assigned Lifeboat 13 station, the collapsible, the cold night and rescue.
- Encyclopedia Titanica: Sidney Edward Daniels Birth, family, crew employment, later marriages, maritime work and death.
Related pages to read next
Frequently asked questions
How old was Sidney Daniels on Titanic?
He was 18 years old.
What job did Sidney Daniels have on Titanic?
He was a third class steward in the victualling department.
Which lifeboat was Sidney Daniels assigned to?
He remembered Lifeboat 13 as his assigned station, but he did not leave Titanic in that boat.
How did Sidney Daniels survive?
He survived on overturned Collapsible B after entering the water during Titanic’s final plunge.
Was Sidney Daniels the last surviving Titanic crew member?
Yes. When he died in 1983, he was the last surviving member of Titanic’s crew.