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Jack Phillips
Jack Phillips
Biological Information
Full name

John George Phillips

Gender

Male

Born

April 11, 1887

Death

April 15, 1912

Cause

Perished on the Titanic

Background Information
Family
  • George Alfred Phillips (father)
  • Anne Sanders (mother)
  • Elsie Phillips (older sister)
  • Ethel Phillips (older sister)
Romances

None

Hometown

Farncombe, Surrey, England

Religion

Christianity

Titanic Statistics
Boarded

Belfast, UK

Destination

New York, U.S.A.

Occupation

Wireless Operator

Class

Titanic Crew

Fate

Fell to his death after the stern rises or died of hypothermia

Production
Classification

Historical character

Portrayal

Gregory Cooke

John George "Jack" Phillips was a British wireless telegraphist who served as senior wireless operator onboard the RMS Titanic.

The ship collided with an iceberg on her maiden voyage and began to sink. As the Titanic was sinking, Phillips worked tirelessly to send wireless messages to other ships to enlist their assistance with the rescue of the Titanic's passengers and crew. He perished in the sinking and his body was never recovered.

While Phillips has borne criticism for having told the radio operator of the SS Californian, "Shut up! I am busy working Cape Race!" when interrupted on-air by his counterpart telling him that his ship was surrounded by ice, similar warning messages earlier that day had been delivered to the captain and a lookout had been posted.

Character history[]

After 11:00 pm, Phillips was again interrupted by another ship, this time the Californian. The Californian's only wireless operator, Cyril Evans, was reporting that they were stopped and surrounded by ice. The Californian was very close and the signal was strong and loud in Phillips' ears. Phillips quickly sent back, "Shut up, shut up, I am busy working Cape Race!" and continued communicating with Cape Race while Evans listened a while longer before going to bed for the night. This communication had important consequences. Firstly, Evans gave a warning of ice, which if heeded could have prevented Titanic's sinking. Secondly, Californian was the closest ship to Titanic. As the radio had been switched off by Evans, Phillips had no way of communicating with Californian should Titanic require immediate assistance, which it very soon did.

Titanic struck an iceberg at 11:40 pm that night and began sinking. Bride had woken up and began getting ready to relieve Phillips when Captain Edward Smith came into the wireless room and told Phillips to prepare to send out a distress signal. Shortly after midnight, Captain Smith came in again and told them to send out the call for assistance and gave them Titanic's estimated position. Phillips began sending out the distress signal, code CQD, while Bride took messages to Captain Smith about which ships were coming to Titanic's assistance. At one point, Bride jokingly reminded Phillips that the new call was SOS and said "Send S.O.S., it's the new call, and it may be your last chance to send it." A myth developed after the disaster that this was the first time the SOS distress call was used, but it had been used on other ships previously.

After taking a quick break, Phillips returned to the wireless room, reporting to Bride that the forward part of the ship was flooded and that they should put on more clothes and lifebelts. Bride began to get ready while Phillips went back to work on the wireless machine. The wireless power was almost completely out shortly after 2:00 am when Captain Smith arrived and told the men that they had done their duty and that they were relieved. Bride later remembered being moved by the way Phillips continued working. While their backs were turned, a crew member (either a stoker or trimmer) sneaked in and attempted to steal Phillips' lifebelt. Bride saw and grabbed the man as Phillips stood up and knocked the crew member out. The water was beginning to flood, the wireless room as they both ran out of the wireless room, leaving the unconscious crewman where he fell. The men then split up, Bride heading forward and Phillips heading backwards. Bride stated that the last time he saw Phillip was when Phillips was running toward the stern. His death was never shown in the film like John Hutchinson most likely he fell to his death at the stern or he had died of hypothermia.

Behind the scenes[]

Jack Phillips

The real Phillips

In James Cameron's 1997 film, Titanic, he was portrayed by Gregory Cooke.

For many years there has been conflicting and contradictory information regarding the exact manner in which Phillips met his death. Many researchers have expressed the belief that Phillips managed to make it to the overturned Collapsible Boat B, which was in the charge of Second Officer Charles Lightoller, along with Harold Bride. In Lightoller's autobiography, Titanic and Other Ships, he writes, "Phillips, the senior wireless operator, standing near me, told me the different ships that had answered our call..." "...As it turned out, the information from Phillips, and the calculation, were about right, though poor old Phillips did not live to benefit by it. He hung on till daylight came in and we sighted one of the lifeboats in the distance..."

"I think it must have been the final and terrible anxiety that tipped the beam with Phillips, for he suddenly slipped down, sitting in the water, and though we held his head up, he never recovered. I insisted on taking him into the lifeboat with us, hoping there still might be life, but it was too late." Harold Bride reporting seeing Phillips' body as he boarded the Carpathia. However, Lightoller's and Bride's claims about Jack Phillips are contradicted elsewhere by fellow survivor Archibald Gracie IV, who made it clear that the wireless operator who cheered up the occupants of the upturned collapsible by calling out the names of approaching ships was Harold Bride, not Jack Phillips (as Lightoller thought in 1934). It is also clear from the accounts of Gracie and Lightoller that only one body was transferred from the collapsible onto boat #12. Bride stated that he knew the body of "the man lying aft" was transferred to #12; this was undoubtedly the body of the crewman mentioned by Gracie and Lightoller.

Gallery[]

External links[]

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