Was Bruce Ismay The Coward of the Titanic, Or Was He a Hero

Bruce Ismay was the managing director of the White Star Line when its flagship, the Titanic, sank. He is portrayed in the Titanic film as a coward who jumped into a lifeboat ahead of women to save his own skin.

He has been portrayed multiple times as an arrogant, selfish businessman in various adaptations.

This was the narrative he lived with until the end of his life. However, evidence has come forward that he was a hero on the night helping dozens of women to escape the sinking ship.

Witness reports

Ismay was showered with praise by many of the first-class passengers. When the call came to evacuate the Titanic, he worked tirelessly for two hours, helping women get into lifeboats.

Witnesses report he ordered men to stand aside to allow the women and children to reach the boats. He persuaded women to leave their husbands for their safety. At one moment, he demanded a steward let a woman through who was crew to board a boat.

He helped fill and lower eight boats. He was also responsible for reducing the number of lifeboats from forty-eight to sixteen.

Despite this, he would have been hailed a hero if he had not boarded the last lowered boat. However, even this conception may be false.

Claims have been made by a new book that Ismay was helping women into the vessel when it was lowered. Another claim states that he was pushed into the boat by a man who wanted to rescue him.

Media Frenzy

As Ismay sailed into New York on the Carpathia, the U.S. newspapers labelled him the 'coward of the Titanic.' Less well-known is that most of the criticism came from a paper owned by William Randolph Hearst.

Hearst was Ismay's rival and gleefully encouraged his papers to blacken his name. Other claims came from papers that Ismay encouraged the Titanic to sail at dangerous speeds to beat the Atlantic crossing record.

This came from a statement made by an American passenger who claimed she overheard Captain Smith and Ismay talking about beating the record. Later, the passenger stated she could not positively identify Smith or Ismay. This did not stop the media assassination.

Bruce Ismay

Whatever the truth of how Ismay came to be in the lifeboat, it is a decision which haunted him for the rest of his life. His hair was said to have turned from black to snow-white days after the disaster.

The weight of the tragedy began to take its toll on board the Carpathia as he confined himself to his cabin. Survivors stated that he was inconsolable and heavily medicated with prescribed opiates.

Jack Thayer, a first-class survivor, went to Ismay's cabin to console him. He recalls, "I have never seen a man so completely wrecked."

Many people believe, though, that after this, Ismay retreated into a life of solitude and depression. This is not true; although the event haunted him, he did not hide. He donated large sums to the pension fund for the widows of the disaster.

He did not step down as chairman; instead, he helped pay out the large insurance claims from the victim's families, which amounted to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

He died of a stroke in 1936.

Hero and Villain

Ismay may have saved many women by helping them into the lifeboats, but there is no escaping from the fact that there would have been more boats had he not reduced the number.

Many first-class women had left the Titanic as the last boat was lowered. It is plausible that he called out for other women before boarding the boat when none answered. However, this does not escape the fact that hundreds of women died from third class.

Was he a man haunted by all these decisions? Yes, he was, and he helped many affected financially. None of this, though, was enough to repair his public image. At the time, his actions went against all values of chivalry.

Things have changed, though, since those days, and there is evidence in Ismay's favour. Does it go far enough to clear his name?

I throw the question open to you. Bruce Ismay, hero or villain?