magnificenttitanic:What happened to Andrews?The fate of Thomas Andrews, one of Titanic’s designers,

magnificenttitanic:What happened to Andrews?The fate of Thomas Andrews, one of Titanic’s designers, has long been a staple in the legends surrounding Titanic’s sinking. In films, books, and various other depictions of Titanic’s story, the fate of Andrews would seem to be an open and shut case. Ask anybody online as well, in endless passing mentions and factoids they will tell you the same story, a story I myself fell into repeating earlier on when I knew a little less than I do now.It’s the account of Thomas Andrews, standing alone in front of the elegant marble fireplace in the First Class Smoke Room, staring thoughtfully (or perhaps catatonically) at the painting “Plymouth Harbor” by Norman Wilkinson, a lifebelt draped uselessly over a chair to Andrews’ side. In this story, Andrews stands resolutely as his ship sinks from under him, accepting his fate and waiting for the end to come.It’s certainly a moving tale, which is probably largely why it’s so popular. It paints a picture almost as beautiful as the painting Andrews was staring at, albeit a sad one. In terms of going down with one’s ship, it’s an ideal end. This account of Thomas Andrews’ final moments, however, may be immensely flawed.To go into why, I must quote directly and indirectly from the text of “On a Sea of Glass: The Life and Loss of the RMS Titanic”, so all credit to the authors of that book - Tad Fitch, J. Kent Layton, and Bill Wormstedt - for their research efforts.The account placing Andrews in the Smoke Room came from first class Verandah Cafe steward John Stewart. This account was later quoted in “Thomas Andrews: Shipbuilder”, a 1912 book by Shan Bullock. However, Bullock “did not claim this was the last time Andrews was seen.” The timing of the account may also be off, as it may be “the result of simply drawing a line between the report of Andrews in that location, and Bullock’s statement that the sighting was after an event which he had placed at 2:05 a.m.”Stewart himself never gave a time for the sighting of Andrews, and it was most likely a guess on Bullock’s part. There’s no argument as to Andrews being in the Smoke Room, staring at the painting at one point. The question is when, which is decided by and leads to other things. There was some question of whether John Stewart left the ship in Boat 15, or pulled from the water by boat 14. However, the authors of On a Sea of Glass concluded that, based on the evidence and accounts by one who had a better chance of knowing Stewart and Stewart’s own daughter, John Stewart had indeed left Titanic in Boat 15. (You can read more on that in the book.)If Stewart did leave on 15, this places the sighting of Andrews considerably before 2:05 a.m. Boat 15 was lowered around 1:40 a.m., so a sighting of Andrews by anybody in that boat had to have taken place some time before 1:40 a.m. To quote On a Sea of Glass:…author Shan Bullock never suggested… …that this was the final known location of Andrews. Indeed, he wrote just the opposite. After discussing Stewart’s sighting, Bullock wrote:“But whatever he saw, in that quiet lonely minute, it did not hold or unman him. Work - work - he must work to the bitter end.”Then Bullock discussed several other very late sightings of Andrews.A couple of the other late accounts place Andrews on the Boat Deck, throwing deck chairs into the water, and then making his way to the bridge while carrying a lifebelt, possibly the same lifebelt Andrews had draped over a chair in the Smoke Room.That Andrews as heading to the bridge in the final moments is corroborated by the account of Mess Steward Cecil William N. Fitzpatrick, which stated that Fitzpatrick had seen Andrews on the bridge with Captain Smith, with Smith telling Andrews “We cannot stay any longer; she is going!” This fits many other accounts that placed Smith on or near the bridge in the final moments of the sinking. Other details of Fitzpatrick’s account also place his sighting of Andrews with Smith on the bridge late in the sinking, around 2:15 a.m., just as the ship began making its final plunge.These accounts are also supported and further detailed in a letter to Lord Pirrie from David Galloway, a friend of Andrews’. Galloway had spoken with some of Titanic’s crew, and so would have known details of their accounts.Galloway “said that an officer, unfortunately unnamed, claimed Andrews was last seen throwing deck chairs and other objects into the water, and that ‘his chief concern seemed to be the safety of others rather than his own’.” Galloway had also said “a ‘young mess-boy’ saw Andrews and Captain Smith on the Bridge. Both men put on lifebelts, and then the witness heard Smith say: ‘It’s no use waiting any longer.’ When water reached the Bridge, both men entered the sea together.” This also raises questions regarding Smith’s legendary final moments, but it’s not something I’ll talk about here.To quote the conclusion reached in On a Sea of Glass, the tale of Andrews final moments in the Smoke Room “…seems to be nothing more than an oft-repeated, if erroneous conclusion based on some very scanty evidence. While there is no way to know for certain, it appears that Thomas Andrews took some time in the Smoking Room to gather his thoughts, probably just before 1:40 a.m. Then he continued doing what he had done for much of the evacuation: assisting the crew, and  attempting to save the lives of others. It appears that he kept his work up till the very end, with little regard for his own safety, and only left the ship at the last moment along with Captain Smith.”(You can find more about the details and accounts of Andrews’ final moments, as well as the debate about Captain Smith’s fate, in ‘On a Sea of Glass’.)Personally, I, too, believe that Andrews’ last moments did not take place in the Smoke Room, especially if he was seen there at least a half hour before the final plunge. Andrews was concerned for the lives of others, he had work to do, so why would he stand around looking at a painting for an entire half hour as the ship sank and people were dying around him? Even at 2:05 a.m., that still means Andrews would have to be standing around for the last 15 minutes of the sinking. That just doesn’t seem like Andrews. I believe he would have been working to help others and see to his ship until the water overtook him and the ship, and he could do no more. It also seems likely that, like anybody else on deck at that time, he would have went into the water as the ship took its final plunge. And just because his body was never recovered, that doesn’t mean he was inside the ship. Many who went into the water with or without lifebelts were never recovered.At the end of the day, the idea that Andrews spent his last moments staring into a painting as the fireplace crackled in front of him and the ship creaked and groaned beneath him, his lifebelt over a chair at his side, is merely a romanticized, idealized tale woven from an erroneously-placed account that ignores other lines of evidence.Both endings may have been fitting for Thomas Andrews, but the one of Andrews working to the very end seems most likely to me. -- source link

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