The unbelievable Titanic story: How grabbing a drink at the pub saved lives of three brothers

The tragic story of the Titanic has fascinated people for over a hundred years. The ship dubbed ‘unsinkable’ rests at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean after striking an iceberg during its maiden voyage in 1912.

Of the 2,208 people that were aboard the vessel, 1,496 lost their lives as there were not enough lifeboats to save everyone. However, not among the victims were three brothers who had been hired as fireman to sail on that fateful voyage but missed the boat.

The drink that saved three brothers’ lives

The Slade Brothers, Alfred, Bertram, and Thomas, who were respectively 25, 26, and 27 years old when the Titanic disembarked on its journey across the Atlantic, were all seasoned sailors.

Alfred had just finished a tour on the Highland Glen, a passenger & cargo ship, when he signed on to be part of the Titanic crew. His brothers had transferred over from the Titanic’s sister ship the Olympic.

They showed up for work and reported for muster at 8:00 am on the morning of 10 April. The ship wasn’t scheduled to set sail until 12 pm, so like many other crew members they went to have a pre-voyage drink at The Grapes, one of the nearby pubs.

As the story goes, they were joined at 11:15 am by fellow crew mates John Podesta and William Nutbean who had been drinking at the Newcastle Hotel and figured they had enough time for one last tipple. Thirty-five minutes later, they all began making their way to the Titanic, however, a train crossed their path.

While Podesta and Nutbean made a run for it, Podesta later recalled that he heard one of the brothers say: “Oh let the train go by.” The train happened to be a very long one, and they had to make a mad dash in the end to the White Star dock.

By the time they got there at 11:59, the gangplank was being drawn up and the officer in charge refused to lower it despite their pleas. The brothers were informed that when they were no shows, substitutes had taken their places.

Nutbean and Podesta were lucky and survived, but of the 724 ordinary Titanic crew, 549 died including the men that replaced the Slade brothers.

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