Man believed to be only sailor to survive both Titanic and Lusitania disasters

This man is thought to be the only sailor to survive not one but two infamous maritime disasters - making it off the Titanic before escaping the sinking Lusitania just a few years later.

The family of George Beauchamp revealed the remarkable story to SWNS, claiming he said after the narrow escapes: "I have had enough of large ships. I'm going to work on smaller boats."

【ギャラリー】The Titanic16

The first disaster occurred when he was working as a fire stoker below deck on the Titanic in 1912.

When the ship struck an iceberg and began to sink, he said he wasn't allowed to leave the engine room until the water had climbed up to his waist.

Beauchamp helped passengers onto lifeboat 13 and was able to get on it himself, making it out alive.

"I saw the ship go down bow first and I could still see the stern and then that went too," transcripts of his testimony from a British enquiry read.

He added: "It was a roar like thunder as it went down and I heard cries as the ship sank."

Beauchamp's family told SWNS he was also thought to have been aboard the RMS Lusitania three years later, when it was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-Boat during World War One.

He later remarried and passed away in 1944 at age 72.

His great-granddaughter, Susan Norton, says she's "proud" of him and the "part he played in saving the lives of some passengers."

Find out more about his story in the video above.