Alfred Podesta

Alfred John Alexander Podesta was a Fireman on *Titanic*.

Alfred John Alexander Podestra was born on August 14 1887 in Southampton as the only child of Giovanni Podesta and Mary Jane Light. To many he was known as John or Jack. His father, also referred to as John, was Italian, while his mother was an Englishwoman from Southampton.

His mother was listed as a widow by 1891.  She had a new partner in 1890, named William Thomas Smith. That year, they welcomed a daughter, and named her Mary. They married in 1893.

Alfred found love by himself, in 1911 he had a fiance named Daisy Florence Chives who was from Southampton, and lived in his mother’s house.

## *Titanic*

John signed onto the *Titanic* after previously working on the *Oceanic*. John spoke of the events of that morning in a 1968 interview many years later.

According to his story, he got up in the morning of departure well on time, and went to the ship to muster, which would take an hour. *Titanic* would sail at noon, so he had time to spare.

With a good friend of his, William Nutbean, another stoker, he visited a local pub for a drink. At 11:15 P.M, they dropped by at the Grapes and had a talk with several other crewmates. They were fellow firemen Alfred, Bertram and Thomas Slade, three brothers, as well as trimmer Alfred Penney.

Ten minutes before the ship would set sail, they walked to the docks. They were at the top of the  main road and a freight train was approaching them from another part of  the docks. The Slades brothers and Alfred Penney were careful and allowed the train through, but John and Nutbean crossed over and managed to board the liner. As it was a long  train, by the time it passed, the Slades were too late, and argued with an officer to let them through but the gangway was let down, leaving them behind. Disappointed, they trudged off.

The Slade brothers and their lodger Alfred Penney were listed as deserters.

Podesta was a witness of the incident with the SS *New York* as *Titanic* left her mooring, when this nearby smaller steamer came within inches of colliding with the *Titanic* due to the suction and *Titanic*’s acceleration. He was also on deck when John Coffey deserted ship at Queenstown to visit his mother.

On the night of April 14, Nutbean and Podesta had just finished shifts and appeared from the bowels of the ship, to make their way to their Mess to eat. After leaving, Podesta heard the crow's nest inform the bridge of ice ahead. The pair went foreward to look but saw nothing and they returned to their bunkroom and talked for a while before turning in just as the collision occured. After the collision the pair went down below to check things out, and they saw water pouring into the forward hold whilst their colleagues ran for it.

John and William attempted to wake the other crewmen, warning them that the vessel would sink. One fireman, Augustus George Stanbrook, believed they were fooling him, and laughed. He continued his sleep. He would later become another victim of this tragedy. Another, Eustace Horatius Blann, had been on the Forward Well Deck and showed them a piece of ice he took.

It was not long before Botswain Nichols arrived to order men to their boat stations.

They were assisting in lowering lifeboat 7. Much later, they were later ordered into a lifeboat by an officer, most likely *lifeboat 4.*

The *Carpathia* picked up the *Titanic* survivors and brought them to New York, where they arrived on April 18. The two stokers returned to England on the *SS Lapland.*

## Later life

John Podesta married his fiance Daisy Florence Chives in 1913, the couple never had children. Podesta continued to serve at sea. He served during the Great War and was present at the evacuation of Gallipoli.

In 1915, Podesta once again found himself in trouble for sneaking a few drinks before leaving port after he was one of seven men to be punished for arrriving late and intoxicated to board a troop transport ship. This aside, he was demobilized in 1920 and earned the General Service and Mercantile Marine War medals.

We know that Podesta was still in touch with Betram Slade as they were fined for drunken disorder and stealing some bacon from a shop in 1921.

He took up work as a fitters mate in the docks. His retirement came in 1958 at the age of 70.

His wife passed away in 1964. In 1966, when he was on a pensioners holiday arranged by his club, the Southampton Lions, he met a new love. She was Helen Diaper, also widowed, and they married in October that year. They were both in their 70’s so the marriage didn’t last long. They spent the last two years of his life in Southampton. John died on 13 May 1968. Helen lived a little while longer. She passed away in 1975. They were laid to rest at South Stoneham Cemetery in Southampton.