The son of Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, Thomas Gainsborough Andrews was born in Comber, Ireland. His father was a member of the Shadow Council of Ireland. Andrews was a Presbyterian of Scottish descent and, like his brother, considered himself an Englishman. His brothers and sisters included John Miller Andrews, the future Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, and Sir James Andrews, the future Chief Justice of the region. Thomas Andrews lived with his family in Comber. In 1884, he began attending the Royal Belfast Academic Institution, studying there until 1889, when at the age of sixteen he began premium training at the Harland and Wolf shipbuilding company.
Childhood and early years
Andrews was born into a noble family. His brother John, as mentioned earlier, later became Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, and his uncle William James Pierre was the main owner of the shipbuilding company Belfast Harland and Wolff.
He was the second eldest son in the family and received home education until 11 years old when he entered the Royal Belfast Academic School, having studied there, in turn, until the age of 16. The Andrews family attended the unitary Anglican church in Comber, and there is an apocryphal story according to which kittens were sold near the church during a fundraising event, one of which was hidden in a large crack in the wall. It was young Thomas Andrews who lured a kitten out of such a dubious shelter, eventually becoming its owner.
From 1889 to 1894, Andrews worked as an apprentice at his uncle's firm. In order to earn his bread, he changed many professions - he was a laborer, a washerman at the shipyard of the company, a seller and a cleaner. But he soon became a full-fledged employee of the company and built a brilliant career as a shipbuilder.
Personal life
On June 24, 1908, the creator of the Titanic, Thomas Andrews, married Helen Riley Barbour, daughter of textile manufacturer John Doherty Barbour and sister of Sir John Milne Barbour, known as Milne.
Work on the Titanic
In 1907, Andrews took part in the construction of a new RMS Olympic super liner for White Star. The Olympic and its twin brothers, the Titanic, which began to be built in 1909, were designed by William Peary and general manager Alexander Carlisle together with Andrews. Andrews familiarized himself with every detail of both airliners to ensure optimal efficiency. Andrews' proposals that the ship have 46 lifeboats (instead of the 20 that were originally), as well as a double hull and watertight bulkheads that would rise to level B, were rejected.
Andrews led the group of employees of the company, which was supposed to go on the first voyages of two ships built by the company (guarantee group) in order to monitor operations on ships and identify any design flaws. The Titanic was no exception, so Andrews and the rest of his group traveled from Belfast to Southampton to start their first Titanic flight on April 10, 1912. During the voyage, Andrews took notes on the various improvements that, in his opinion, were necessary. First of all, cosmetic changes of various objects were meant. However, on April 14, Andrews said in a conversation with a friend that the Titanic was "almost perfect, just like a human mind."
Fatal collision
April 14 at 11:40 pm "Titanic" collided with an iceberg starboard. Andrews was in his cabin, planning the next change he wanted to make on the ship, and barely noticed a collision. Captain Edward J. Smith called Andrews to help determine the extent of the damage. Andrews and Captain Smith discussed ship damage shortly after midnight, after which Thomas Andrews walked around the affected part of the ship and received several reports of ship damage. Andrews decided that the first five watertight compartments of the ship would quickly flood. The engineer knew that if more than four overloaded compartments of the ship sank, he would inevitably drown. He passed this information on to Captain Smith, stating that it was “mathematical certainty, ” and added: in his opinion, the ship only had about an hour before it drowned. He also informed Smith of a serious shortage of lifeboats aboard the ship.
When the evacuation of people from the Titanic began, Thomas Andrews tirelessly went around the cabins, telling passengers that they should wear lifebuoys and go up to the deck. A few survivors testify that they met flickering Andrews several times. Fully aware that the ship would soon sink to the bottom, and most of the passengers and crew would not survive, he continued to urge frightened passengers to board lifeboats, hoping to fill as many people as possible.
Andrews was reportedly last seen by John Stuart (a ship steward) at about 2:10, ten minutes before the Titanic sank in the Atlantic. Andrews sat alone in a first-class smoking room, looking at the Plymouth Harbor painting hanging over the fireplace. His pristine life jacket lay on the next table. Although this story has become one of the most famous legends about the flooding of the Titanic, being published back in 1912 (in the book Thomas Thomas: Titanic constructor by Shan Bullock) and thereby entering history, it is known that John Stewart left the ship earlier than, as he said, he was noticed by Andrews.
The last minutes before death
However, other people saw Andrews. It seems that he really sat in the smoking room for some time, and then continued to assist in the evacuation. At about 2:00 he was seen on a boat. The crowd began to move, but the women still did not want to leave the ship. To be heard and draw attention to himself, Andrews waved his hand and loudly encouraged them to board the boats. Another message from the surviving passenger said that Andrews was desperately throwing sun loungers into the ocean so that drowning passengers could stay afloat. He then headed towards the bridge, possibly in search of Captain Smith. Andrews was last seen on a ship in the last minutes before flooding. His body was never found.
On April 19, 1912, his father received a telegram from his mother's cousin, who spoke with survivors in New York, clearly reporting that Thomas was not among the survivors.
Recognition and memory
In the disaster newspaper reports, Andrews was called a hero. Mary Sloan, a flight attendant on a ship that Andrews persuaded to board a lifeboat, later wrote in a note: “Mr. Andrews met his fate as a real hero, realizing the great danger and refusing to save his own life in order to save women and children, and they will remember about him all his life. " A brief biography of the shipbuilder was released during the year by Shan Bullock at the request of Sir Horace Plunkett, a member of parliament who believed that Andrews' life was worth remembering.
Interesting Facts
- At the time, there was only one book written by Thomas Andrews - "We are not the first."
- Today, the SS Nomadic is the only surviving ship designed by Andrews.
- Asteroid 245158 Thomasandrews was named after him in 2004.
- In the film, Thomas Andrews was played by Victor Garber, who received many accolades from his critics for his role. His candidacy was approved by the director at the last moment. Initially, Cameron was negotiating with Matt Dylan - it was he who was to play Thomas Andrews.
"Titanic" - the greatest creation of Andrews
The name "Titanic" was borrowed from Greek mythology and symbolized its gigantic size. Built in Belfast (Ireland), in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (as it was known then), the RMS Titanic was the second of three Olympic-class ocean liners - the first was the RMS Olympic, and the third was the HMHS British. They were the largest ships of the fleet of the British shipping company White Star Line, which at the time of 1912 consisted of 29 ships and tenders.
White Star is facing a growing threat from its main competitors, who recently launched the Lusitania and Mauritania ships - the fastest passenger ships in the service of the British Navy, as well as the German liner lines Hamburg America and Norddutscher Lloyd. The head of the company preferred to compete in size rather than speed, and proposed the introduction of a new class of liners that would be larger than all that had ever been built, and would also surpass all liners in comfort and luxury. The company sought to modernize its fleet in the first place in response to the emergence of giant ships such as Cunard.
Irish liners for the British Empire
The ships were built by shipbuilders Belfast Harland and Wolf, who had long and close ties with the company, dating back to 1867. Harland and Wolf were given great freedom in developing a ship line for White Star. Their usual approach was for one of the designers to outline a general concept, which the other would turn into reality by developing the design of the ship. Cost ratios were relatively low, and Harland and Wolf were authorized to spend as much as they wished on these ships. The cost of ships of the "Olympic" class is estimated at three million pounds ($ 250 million as of 2018). The approximate price of the first two ships was agreed in advance, in addition, the company paid shipbuilders some additional costs.
Team of creators
Harland and Wolf put their leading designers on the development of ships of the "Olympic" class. The development process was supervised by Lord Pierre, director of White Star Line. Engineer Thomas Andrews, the hero of this article, also worked with him. The team also included Edward Wilding, Andrews' deputy, and Alexander Carlisle, the shipyard’s main draftsman and general manager, who was responsible for the calculation of the ship’s design, its stability and finish. Carlisle's responsibilities included working on jewelry, equipment, and all common mechanisms, including the implementation of an effective lifeboat design.
