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Jack Philips, the senior wireless operator of the Titanic…he came from very near where I grew up. I used to hang out at his memorial, interesting how he helped save but also partly caused the disaster by ignoring the ice warnings.
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“When anyone asks me how I can best describe my experience in nearly forty years at sea, I merely say, uneventful. Of course there have been winter gales, and storms and fog and the like. But in all my experience, I have never been in any accident… or any sort worth speaking about. I have seen but one vessel in distress in all my years at sea. I never saw a wreck and never have been wrecked nor was I ever in any predicament that threatened to end in disaster of any sort.” – Edward John Smith, Captain of the RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic
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What iceberg?
Captain Edward John Smith, of a little known ship called the Titanic.
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Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, c1907, sporstman and philanthropist. He died on the RMS Lusitania, a hero:
“Vanderbilt and his valet, Ronald Denyer, helped others into lifeboats, and then Vanderbilt gave his lifejacket to save a female passenger. Vanderbilt had promised the young mother of a small baby that he would locate an extra lifevest for her. Failing to do so, he offered her his own life vest, which he proceeded to even tie on to her himself since she was holding her infant child in her arms at the time. Many consider his actions to be very brave and gallant since he could not swim, he knew that there were no other lifevests or lifeboats available, and yet he still gave away his only chance to survive to the young mother and child….Vanderbilt’s fate was ironic as three years earlier he had made a last minute decision not to return to the U.S. on RMS Titanic [rival competitor to the Lusitania]
