Thomas Andrews....I've always thought of him a heroic figure. I believe it's when he left the generator room telling the men of the ships fate. Chief Engineer Bell told him that they'd stay down there as long as they could. When he left, how could he leave the ship knowing these men would remain down at their posts with little change of even seeing the top deck? He made that decision to also be brave like his men and stay on. I also found it heroic he went through the lower decks scurrying passengers to the top deck, closing port holes to give her longer to live. In the end, he went into the first class smoke room...as many said he was in a daze. Probably in shock he'd never see his wife and daughter and the fact the largest and "unsinkable" ship of it's time was foundering on her first voyage with 1,500 souls on board.

I guess after the tragedy, anyone who did anything was applauded as being a hero. Like Lightholler, or Bell or many other of the ships crew, he did his job until Capt. Smith gave the everyman for himself order, and the set ran out of power. I'm interested about the marconi men but I wouldn't say he was more of a hero than anyone else. He did his job, plain and simple. Thomas Andrews who could have got into a boat and proved to be an invaluable source of information at the inquest, did nothing to get himself off the ship, he helped otherswith no regard to himself, or Ida and Isador Strauss who would not leave her husbands side.
If you think he's a hero that's fine, I guess it's really a personal thing but for me, I look at the dignity and selflessness that was shown that night for my determination.

Actually, I'm not making a case for him being a hero (or one for him not being a hero). Until this discussion, I never really thought too much about it.

He is lauded for remaining at his post until minutes before the sinking sending CQD and SOS signals. He died in the sinking. That is all that I have ever heard about him. Presumably, he had as much (or as little) opportunity as other crew members to get to a life boat, but stayed at his post, which is, I suppose, why some people say that he is a hero.

Whether or not that qualifies as 'heroic' is open to interpretation.

Daniel

Keep going...I'd like to hear why you consider him a hero? What did he do out of the ordinary?

A hero is determined by their behaviour in a crisis. Jack Phillips did his job as he was supposed to up until the collision, just like everyone else did.

It was his actions in the events after the collision which he is lauded for, and it is those actions by which he should be judged.

Daniel

Hey thanks. BTW I think Jack Phillips was a hero. He is my hero. Andrews is also my hero. I love hearing things from the Wireless room. Any one have any info on Jack's postcards.

Lord Mersey is dumb as far as I'm concerned. I think they really need to clear his name. Notice how Sen. Smith says "I am not pleased to mention the shortcoming of others." And Lord Mersey with his "The Californian could have pushed through the ice without any risk and saved most, if not all lives."

What both fail to mention. Is that if the Titanic had enough lifeboats, ALL could have been saved. It was mainly the fault of the Board of Trade regulations. That and the White Star Line. And that was the main problem with Titanic, if you have enough boats. The problem is solved. Regardless of who gets there in whatever time. The crew on the Californian weren't Gods. They did the best they could have given the situation.

I notice no one in the Board of Trade or White Star Line, other than Ismay were forced to resign.

I believe that the Californian saw Titanic that night but you must also take into account that the Californian only had a passenger capacity of 46, if they had come to Titanics rescue, Her top speed was 13 1/2 knots and manouvoring through the ice, she may have got there just as the Titanic went down. At that point all they could really do would be to pick up people out of the water, and unfortunatly that still probably would not have saved many more lives. Stanley Lord was used as a scapegoat.
Like the lusitania's captain who was labelled a scoundrel after her sinking, the Germans who had torpedoed her were made less of a factor for her loss of lives.

Plus, they made Lord resign in August of that year. I guess you just have to feel bad for him. I give Leslie Reade credit for trying to clear his name. But mixing up information isn't going to help him. Honesty will. MGY--Check out this page if you are interested in the "Mystery Ship" of Titanic - http://home.earthlink.net/~dnitzer/Frameset.html

The man who runs it does an excellent job and is very knowledgeable .

Yes, Lordite methods are dumb. If you also look at the inquiry results. Stone and Boxhall were exactly describing what the opposite was doing. No doubt in my mind that The Californian was looking at the Titanic. Of course, at that point in time there was no 24-hour law that required wireless radio. They kept getting no response from the Morse lamp. And thought the ship was moving away, due to the current. Also, at that time white rockets didn't just mean distress. But they "could have" if throwing white stars. Notice, Stone never suggests or mentions anything of throwing stars until the inquiry. That's why Lord kept asking "Are they company signals?" I do think the crew(Stone and Lord mainly) didn't do enough investigating on the matter. But no doubt in my mind if they actually knew what was happening 12 miles, they wouldn't have just stayed put. I do think that's how people tried to label these men. Notice, once they found out, they were underway and assisted the Carpathia however they could. It's not like they found out and just left. But certainly not having distinctive meanings for things such as distress creates a problem. That's why rules and regulations were changed drastically afterwards. Which was a good thing. Also, at this point, the people in charge were just a bunch of dull big headed figures who didn't understand what makes what. For ex. as ship sizes get larger. Add more lifeboats. According to law, Titanic had enough boats. Just things of that nature.