Daniel Buckley

Daniel Buckley Jr. was born on September 28, 1890 to Daniel Buckley Sr. and Abigail Sullivan in County Cork, Ireland. He boarded the Titanic at Queenstown on April 11, 1912, but before he left, he had a party with his friends. At the party, he is said to have sung "When the Fields Are White with Daisies, I'll Return." These 3 friends were traveling with him on the Titanic. On April 14, 1912, he was in his 3rd class bunk when the Titanic struck an iceberg. The Titanic was designed to withstand only 1-4 compartments flooded. The iceberg opened up 6. This doomed the Titanic. Daniel Buckley was in the bow when the iceberg struck and made as Daniel later said, "a grating noise."  Daniel got right out of bed with water just barely in the cabin.  He tried to wake up his fellow bunk mates who did not listen to him at first. But, they got up too realizing the situation and all 4 got dressed.  Presently, stewards came by, shouting "All up on deck!  Unless you want to get drowned."  He left the cabin, shutting the door behind him. He made his way upwards through the maze of passages and hallways.   He had to face some obstacles however. When he got up to one of the stairs, he found it blocked with other 3rd class passengers. The way was blocked by a steward. One man tried to get past the steward, who angrily shoved him back and locked the gate.  One of the men broke the lock saying that if he got a hold of the man that locked them down below, he'd throw him into the ocean, and all of them made their way up including Daniel Buckley, leaving the floor at the bottom of the stairway leading to the gate just slightly beginning to flood. Daniel somehow found his way up to the Boat Deck.  He realized that other people had lifebelts on.  He felt sorry, and went back to his cabin to get a lifebelt.  He made his way down, passing boys and girls.  The some of the girls were excited, but others were crying with boys consoling the girls and assuring them that nothing was wrong.  All were trying to get up to the Boat Deck as fast as possible.  Daniel was stopped from going any further, at a flooded stairway.  Realizing that he couldn't get back to his cabin and that he especially couldn't get neither his possessions nor his lifebelt, he made his way back up again. He and several other men jumped into Boat 13, but the officer threw them out.  He was crying, when a woman suddenly threw her shawl (he claimed it was Madeline Astor, but it was more than likely Mrs. Appleton) over him, and he snuck into the lifeboat. It was lowered, but they had difficulty cutting the falls. Descending right above them, was Boat No. 15. they cried out to those on deck, and they stopped the descent. They finally cut the falls and were able to get away.  Daniel Buckley survived, after seeing the Titanic's stern rise up, and the lights go out.  Then, he said that he heard a thundering loud noise (which we now know was the ship breaking up).  He awoke on the decks of a ship, which a fireman told him was the Carpathia.  The fireman also told him he though that the Titanic sank by a boiler explosion instead of an iceberg (we are certain that it was an iceberg).  Daniel Buckley later wrote an account of the disaster in a letter. Several movies use Daniel Buckley's account, and show stewards fighting panicking, angry, and mobbing 3rd class passengers. According to Daniel's account compared to other 3rd class accounts, this only happened in at least one or two places. Many stewards actually unlocked many gates to allow 3rd class passengers up to the Boat Deck. However, the hallways were complete mazes and many unfortunately got lost and either never made it up at all, or were too late when they got up to the Boat Deck to get into a lifeboat like the Goodwins. It is possible that several gates were missed, and I do believe Daniel's account that there was a steward that tried to keep the passengers down for some reason or another. He also gave an account before the U.S. Senate Inquiry (see 3rd link below).  Daniel Buckley went on to join the US Army (he was an Infantyman). He fought in WWI and was killed. He was buried in Cork, Ireland.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=sh&GRid=17885462

http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-biography/daniel-buckley.html

http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq13Buckley01.php

Know Your Stuff! 5

Q. Who survived the Titanic and 4 other predicaments before dying of Renal Failure?

A. R. Norris Williams

B. Joseph Bruce Ismay

C. Gus Cohen

D. Helen Bishop


Q. What school teacher wrote a famous account of his experiences on the Titanic?

A. Annie Funk

B. William T. Stead

C. Charles Lightoller

D. Lawrence Beesely


Q. What was the first recognizable thing seen that identified the last resting place of the Titanic?

A. Boiler

B. China

C. Bell

D. Railing


Q. What man that died on the Titanic was supposed to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery?

A. John Jacob Astor

B. Archibald Butt

C. Benjamin Guggenheim

D. Isador Strauss


Q. What type of car was on the Titanic?

A. Ford Model T

B. French Renault

C. Hupp-Yeats

D. Mercer

(The answer is in the post, "Titanic Automobile")


Q. Who was the only man that was colored (black) on board the Titanic?

A. Shine

B. Fredrick Douglas

C. Joseph Laroche

D. Martin King


Q. Who wrote the electrifying account of the Titanic in a book called "A Night To Remember"?

A. Archibald Gracie

B. Lawrence Beesely

C. Walter Lord

D. Stanley Lord

(Answer these questions by clicking on the links provided)

When Weather Changed History

Video

This movie talks about the sinking of the Titanic, as told through accounts. It also goes through the iceberg, and how they're preventing another Titanic disaster.

TITANIC Ice for Thought

Note: If these might sound like them, they're NOT jokes.

Q. Why was A Night to Remember (in most opinions) a little more accurate than Titanic from 1997?

A. Because A Night to Remember was made while most of the survivors were still alive, so they were able to track 98 of them down and interview them.


Q. Why did Wallace Hartley lead the band in playing "Nearer My God to Thee" as the TITANIC was sinking?

A. Because he actually had chosen the hymn to played at his own funeral.


Q. When Colonel Astor's body was found, it was covered by soot and crushed. What happened?

A. He was crushed by the 1st funnel when it collapsed and killed instantly.


Q. When one boy was saying what he saw, he said "I saw a man put something against his head. There was fire coming out and he fell into the water. What does this mean?

A. It was a suicide (either Capt. Smith, Chief officer Wilde, 1st officer Murdoch, or 4th officer Moody).

Q. Lawrence Beesely threw his pajamas into the boat that were over his shoulder the whole time he was walking around the ship. When he got into the boat, they were gone. What happened to them?

A. A passenger took them and used them to keep warm.

R.M.S. TITANIC vs. Titanic Movie

Here are just a few differences between the movie Titanic of 1997 and the real TITANIC:


1. The Grand Staircase:
The movie made the Grand Staircase almost perfectly except for the lower banister which was made bigger. In the real TITANIC, two people could barely go up it side by side. The movie made the dome above it collapse when all of my calculations say that the water met the dome inside at the same time the water met it outside. Plus, I don't think that the windows imploded until the ship reached the bottom.

2. The Dining Room:
The movie made the set smaller than the actual ship. The real TITANIC could support up to 554 passengers in the Dining Room. No glass was broken because when researchers went into the Dining Room, the windows were there in almost perfect condition.

3. Rose/Straus Suite:
In the movie, they added an extra room which contained a safe. In the real TITANIC, the Straus Suite had two bedrooms (like in the movie), a private bathroom, a sitting room (like in the movie), and a privately enclosed 50 foot long promenade deck. Instead of a Pablo Picasso painting, there was a mirror (Pablo was not as popular back then and his work was not widely distributed).

4. Jack Dawson and Rose Bukater
There is a J. Dawson but he was actually named James Dawson and he was a lamp trimmer and stoker. There was no Rose Bukater on the TITANIC.

5. The Heart of the Ocean
There is and was no Heart of the Ocean. There is however a Hope Diamond which looks very similar. It now rests in the Smithsonian and is said to be cursed.

6. The 1st class Smoking Room:
The Smoking Room was almost perfect in the movie except for the fact that the painting in the movie was of the entrance to New York instead of the entrance into Plymouth Harbor.

7. Passengers and Crew's Deaths:
There were many inaccurate deaths in the movie like John Jacob Asto8 of which is seen in the movie as being in the Grand Staircase when it sank but the real Astor was crushed by the forward funnel. The Strauses were depicted comforting each-other in bed as water swirled into their cabin but they actually sat in two deck chairs (Mr. Straus's body was later recovered). 1st officer Murdoch was shown in the movie shooting himself but all who knew him said he didn't and they have only two accounts and they could be of another officer (Murdoch's body was never recovered). It is unknown what happened to Captain Smith. The movie shows him in the bridge until the end and there are some accounts of him going into the bridge. However, some say that they saw Captain Smith in the water with a lifejacket on. It is unknown what also happened to Chief Officer Wilde of whom was depicted in the movie as the one in the water blowing a whistle.

The Forward Funnel Collapse

For a long time, it's been thought that the forward funnel fell forward like in the movie. However, if it did, the whole wheelhouse would collapse and there would be nothing left. But there is a bottom outline plus a telemotor which would have been destroyed if the funnel fell on top of it. Plus, if the funnel fell forward, there would be damage on the Cargo Deck and/or Forcastle Deck. There is damage on both sides of the hull but the starboard side has damage on the top decks where you can see the trail of damage almost distinctly clear as you observe the collapsed roofs and decks. When the forward funnel fell, it killed many already in the water like John Jacob Astor (the richest man on boarded), R. Norris Williams' father, the Natravil children's father, and many other men.

Greater Love

There is a bible verse from John 15:13 that says "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." This was displayed everywhere. Military Aid Archibald Butt put others in the lifeboats and then stepped back not saving himself but the lives of others. Isador Strauss was given the opportunity to get into a lifeboat but refused saying "I am old and will not go before the younger men." John Jacob Astor the richest man on board was in a lifeboat and when it became full, he saw a 3rd class washerwoman and her child and he and his wife gave them their seats. 25 year old Edith Evans and her cousin Caroline Brown were told only one of them could board a lifeboat. Edith said she would stay telling her that she has a husband and children waiting at home and then walked off as the boat was being lowered.
There are so many tales of heroism and some have never been told. But you men must be willing to do such things as the Lord Jesus Christ did.

Gentlemen of Today

Most the men on the TITANIC were gentlemen not just because they were forced to act like they did, but because they were natural gentlemen. During the Edwardian Age, boys were trained intensely to act that way by their parents. They were trained to let women go first, protected women traveling alone, acted with the most sincere kindness, never spoke nor acted rudely towards women nor children, tried to make life better for others, and stayed away from those whom did not act this way. On the TITANIC, most men let women live and died in their place. Mr. Astor the richest man in the world gave up his seat and hope of survival to a washerwoman and her child which was one of the lowest possible people in that age. Today, this form of manners is almost gone and we are mostly Ismays and get into the lifeboat leaving other women and children to die and most of us are "every man for himself." I admit that I have sometimes acted that way but in order to preserve this form of manners, we must train ourselves and then train our children. You can start by opening doors for people behind you more often and pulling out chairs for women at the dinner table. Today, some people say comment after comment about you children when you say "excuse me" or open the door for others. For more on living like this, there are speakers like Doug Phillips of Vision Forum or Voddie Bochumm. They can help you get started. Another thing is that what you teach your children may be passed down for generations. Think about it like this, what would normal people of the world do if they were on the TITANIC today ?

The Mackay Bennett

The Mackay Bennett was a normal cable steamship sailing around the coast of Nova Scotia when it was suddenly thrust into fame. It was asked by the White Star Line to search for the bodies of those who died in the disaster of the R.M.S. TITANIC. When the TITANIC went down, it left people in the water and instead of drowning, they froze to death and most of the people had life jackets on so they were still floating. The Bennett picked up the first bodies on April 21 when the TITANIC sank on April 14-15, 1912. The bodies that were too disoriented, they tried to identify them and then buried them at sea. The ones not as disoriented were embalmed and taken to the shore to be buried either by the White Star Line or claimed by family and buried in their own way. In all, the Mackay Bennett recovered 306 bodies including John Jacob Astor, Isador Strauss, and other important men and women. 116 bodies were buried at sea. The Mackay Bennett was later scrapped.

"1st class all the way"

Click HERE to explore the Strauss suite.

1st class, as many of you know was the fanciest part of the ship. There were 2 parlor suites and each one had a private 50 foot long deck with 2 staterooms, and 1 sitting room. They were 870 pounds (triple that to see what you would pay today). The berths were 30 pounds and had 2 bedrooms. Another luxury of the TITANIC was that each cabin had it's own bathroom which was not common on most ships of that day. Most passengers of 1st class were either returning from a honeymoon, a vacation, or business. In all, there were 175 men, 144 women, and 6 children. Most of 1st class got on at Southampton, England where the trains could carry their luggage. One passenger had 14 trunks, 6 suitcases, and 3 crates! During the sinking, most of 1st class was able to escape and all were reportedly on deck. 57 men, 140 women, and 5 children survived which makes 202.

The Richest Man On Board

John Jacob Astor was born in 1864 and was the 4th heir to a huge estate with 3 vacation homes, a fortune from a locomotive manufacturer and gold mining company, and other things. He
wrote a scientific novel called, Journey in Other Worlds and in 1898, he was developing Bicycle Brakes, Turbine Engines, and
Rivets. He soon was married to Ava whom bore him one boy and one daughter. Their happiness was suddenly drawn apart when John fell in love with Madeline Force. After an ugly divorce, he married Madeline who was younger than his own son,
Vincent (she was 19 and Vincent was 22). On their honeymoon, they visited Egypt and Paris. Along with them were V. Robbins (Manservant), R. Bidias (Maidservant), and a nurse. During the honeymoon, Madeline got pregnant. She was 7 months into the pregnancy when they boarded the R.M.S. Titanic on April 10th, 1912, and were the center of attention. John might have taken $87 million dollars in cash with him.

While the TITANIC was sinking, John found a few lifejackets and dissected them to show his wife what was inside them. He and his wife got on a lifeboat and the boat was full so, he and his wife got out for a 3rd class washer woman and her child. He put his wife on one of the last lifeboats and when he asked to accompany her, he was turned down by Lightoller so he gave his wife a pair of gloves. As the ship went down, Astor was last seen walking Kitty, their Airendale. His body was found with 750 British pounds in his pocket and covered in soot which meant that he had been crushed by the forward funnel. Madeline inherited the fortune and named her son after his father.