John Borland `` Jack '' Thayer III ( December 24 , 1894 -- September 20 , 1945 ) was a first-class passenger on the RMS `` Titanic '' who provided several first-hand accounts of the disaster .
John Borland `` Jack '' Thayer III ( December 24 , 1894 -- September 20 , 1945 ) was an American writer and historian . He was a first-class passenger on the RMS `` Titanic '' .