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Local’s leap of faith averted Titanic death

Boston seaman was one of few in steerage to survive

By Brian MacQuarrie

 |  Globe Staff  

  April 15, 2012

One-hundred years ago this morning, William H. Turnquist’s watch stopped the moment the Dorchester man hit the frigid water after leaping from the RMS Titanic. The time was 2:17 a.m., three minutes before the massive liner plunged two miles to the bottom of the North Atlantic. More than 1,500 passengers and crew lost their lives that night after the ship struck an iceberg and sank in less than three hours. A century later, the harrowing tale of those deaths still enthralls and horrifies.

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