John Joseph Bannon was a Greaser on the Titanic.
Background[]
John Bannon came into view for the first time on December 19, 1877 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. His parents had him immersed in the water as part of the ritual cleansing, on the last day of the year, in the city’s Saint Sylvester Church. Right then and there, his middle name 'Joseph' was added. Liverpool was also the birth place of his father John Bannon. Father John was a blue-collar worker. The Bannon family were believers of the Roman Catholic faith. John senior’s other half, whom he had taken to the alter in Liverpoool’s Fields Church, in the Saint Martin region in 1864, was Sarah Hyland. She had an Irish background.
The couple put together a family of 8, by first bringing Joseph William Edward into existance in 1868, before John popped up in 1870. They bestowed life upon 3 girls as well: Amelia came into this world in 1873, while the two others were John’s younger sisters with Sarah being introduced in 1881 and Mary completed the family in 1886.
John senior was busy with his activities on the rippling salty stretches, so he was often not present in the household. They had still remained in Liverpool in 1901, but had moved between other streets in the previous decades. John junior had still a strong connection to the elderly home as by now he had become a stoker and had no official love partner yet.
Before the new century, Bannon would slog for White Star Line, with the Majestic carrying him in June 1897 as a coal trimmer. He would seem to have a preference for this ship as he did more voyages with her than any other vessel. In 1899 he became familiar with the Cymric. Cunard Line also had him on the payroll in later years, with her new two flagships and sisters: Lusitania and Mauretania, while he also received a stamp in his discharge book from the Canadian Pacific Steampship Company for the Empress of Britain.
John plighted his throth to Mary Johanna Edwards of Liverpool, which was her birth place according to herself, but she could've been a natural Irishwoman. He was not her first, as her original name was Mary Johanna McDonald, having been dowried to George Edwards since 1900. She had been given to him at a young age, with him also being at least 15 years her senior. Johnny was their only son since 1901. Southampton was the place that the vows of the fresh couple were being made and it also became their hometown. January 23, 1911 marked the day of an important happening. Their one only child was bestowed upon them and they named her Mary Elizabeth.
Titanic[]
Bannon continued his industry and in 1912, he said his goodbyes to the Philadelphia when he was back in Southampton in April 1912. He would say hello to Titanic, which was being provisioned for her joyous traverse for the first time. On April 6, he was entrusted with the positon of Greaser. He would have to look after the machinery by keeping the oil running in the upper caps. They would walk between the Reciprocating Engine Room and the Turbine Room, where they were at the the disposal of an Engineer if he requested back-up for one perticular task.
On April 10, after noon, it was time for Titanic to make her way out of Southampton and make a visit for France, after which Ireland was next and then the vast Atlantic Ocean awaited her. The aim was to reach New York within a week.
Days later, the ship received several messages from other vessels regarding growlers on their route. Her captain was aware of ice in the vicinity and therefore adjusted his course a bit more southward. He was still more confident to get the ship to go ever faster.
On the later evening of April 14, Titanic ran her highest speed, 22,5 knots. Two men had a watch shift in their crow’s nest, 27 feet above the Boat Deck. The stars were their only lead that night. Everything surrounding the ship had eased off.
A shape suddenly popped up in front of the two lookouts, who were told to sharply focus on ice but they missed this iceberg until it was at hand and its size from could break the horizon. Intuitively, Frederick Fleet, one of the men in the crow’s nest, interacted with the Sixth Officer on the bridge via a desperate phone call, after he had chimed the bell at the mast three times to draw attention to the impending danger. The Sixth Officer could hardly speak to the First Officer who was in command, as the latter had by now also seen what they were heading into and made the Quartermaster divert Titanic’s bow all the way to port, while asking the Engine Room to get the propellors in the opposite directon, with the order hard-to-starboard for the rudder. Titanic divagated only somewhat, just seconds before her starboard side grated the iceberg underneath the water line. The ice had opened up parts of the ship’s steel. What could be mistaken for minimal bruising, was in reality an instant coup de grâce.
The nature of the damage brought the water in through more than 6 openings. These were letting through so much, that the level of water inside the ship rose 6 feet in less than a few minutes.
Titanic was in a tight sport. Captain Smith had his dreams bursted when he had sensed an unpleasant motion through the ship. He hurried his way to the bridge. When First Officer Murdoch relayed what had occured, Captain Smith compelled some men to make their way down to where Titanic was penetrated. With more worrying information, he scanned the affected area himself.
Thomas Andrews, one of the designers of the vessel, was on board and helped to make the survey, at the end of which it became clear that the vital question was not if Titanic would stay afloat, but how long she could keep her buoyancy. The answer was 2 hours at best, as stated by Andrews. Smith mandated his men to see to it that the lifeboats were braced and provisioned.
The ship managed to last a bit longer than Andrews had predicted, but it was somehow not enough time to get all boats safely into the water. The last two were simply grabbed by upcoming seawater before they could be hauled down. The ocean moved ever further aft on the Boat Deck.
At 2.15 A.M. the vast bulk of the liner heaved itself out of the water, with the after portion standing starkly above the surface like a huge pillar. Minutes later, the lights, brightly burning, went out, flashed on for a moment and were then finally extinguished. With a tremendous roar as engines and other heavy standing gear moved through the ship while her stern broke loose from the larger forward part. The Titanic then calmly left the scene of the accident and slid beneath the calm and oily sea, with her stern making a turn.
The end of the ship also meant the end of 1503 of her souls onboard. The had no chance to keep themselves warm in these waters. Other had been trapped inside the ship. How John Bannon’s diegesis expired is covered by the sea, which took his body away.
There was a Trimmer however, who knew him. His name was Thomas Patrick, also dubbed ‘Paddy’ Dillon. If we should believe Dillon, he was alongside Bannon on the Poop Deck as Titanic’s demise was just minutes or perhaps even seconds away. Then, they ended up in the water and John was on a piece of framework. Paddy had taken quite a drink before the ship delivered them to the vast blue, so he couldn't have remembered a lot of it very clearly. By a miraculous stroke of luck, he made it through while John didn’t, but this should be the last uncomfirmed sighting of John Bannon.
After his death[]
Mary Bannon made a new promise to another man in 1917. He was Robert Thomson.
Mary Thompson’s life was over in 1951.