Thomas Andrews

Thomas Andrews
Biological Information
Full name	Thomas Andrews Jr.
Gender	Male
Born	February 7, 1873
Death	April 15, 1912 (age 39)
Cause	Perished on the Titanic
Background Information
Family	Thomas Andrews (father) Eliza Pirrie (mother) John Miller Andrews (brother) Helen Reilly Barbour (wife) James Andrews (brother) Elizabeth Law Andrews (daughter)
Romances	Helen Reilly Barbour (married)
Hometown	County Down, Ireland
Religion	most likely Catholic
Titanic Statistics
Boarded	Southampton, England
Destination	New York, U.S.A.
Occupation	Passenger, shipbuilder
Class	First class
Fate	Perished in the first class smoking room
Production
Classification	Historical character
Portrayal	Victor Garber

Thomas Andrews Jr. was an Irish employee for Harland and Wolff who designed and helped build the RMS Titanic. He was very kind-hearted. Andrews was one of the first people certain that the Titanic would, indeed, sink before it became obvious. He was very protective of Rose DeWitt Bukater and found her trustworthy, being that he told her that the Titanic would sink and told no one else (although her fiancée, Caledon Hockley, had heard this as well). He was also friendly to Rose's friend/true love Jack Dawson and was seen saying "Hi" to him a few times despite this being uncommon in first class passengers to converse with third class passenger. He was portrayed by Victor Garber.

Character History

Life on Titanic

Thomas Andrews was one of the nine-man guarantee group to be on board to oversee the maiden voyage of the Titanic.

Death

Andrews was last seen standing in the first–class smoking room staring at a painting, "Plymouth Harbour", above the fireplace, his life jacket lying on a nearby table (in the movie he gave the life jacket to Rose in hopes that she would survive, as well as he express to her his regrets and seeks her apology, and they embrace, as a final farewell). The painting depicted the entrance to where the Titanic expected to visit on her return voyage.

The painting is often incorrectly shown on television and in movies as depicting the entrance to New York.

While the musicians performed Nearer God To Thee, Andrews was carefully correcting the clock on the mantle. Andrews died when the ship split and destroyed the smoking room.

Behind the scenes

One of the most famous legends of the sinking of the Titanic is that Andrews was last seen by John Stewart, a steward on the ship at approximately 2:10 A.M.(ten minutes before the Titanic fully sank into the Atlantic): Andrews was standing alone in the first–class smoking room staring at a painting, "Plymouth Harbour", above the fireplace, arms folded over his chest, his lifejacket lying on a nearby table. But this story, which was published in a 1912 book (Thomas Andrews: Shipbuilder) and therefore perpetuated, came from John Stewart, a steward on the ship who in fact did leave the ship in boat n. 15 at approximately 1:40 a.m.

There were testimonies of sightings of Andrews after that moment. It appears that Andrews stayed in the smoking room for some time to gather his thoughts, then he continued assisting with the evacuation. Another reported sighting was of Andrews frantically throwing deck chairs into the ocean for passengers to use as floating devices. Andrews was then seen 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 was 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.”.

Extrenal links

• Thomas Andrews on Wikipedia
• Thomas Andrews at Find a Grave

Gallery

Thomas revealing the fate of the Titanic to the captain and crew.

Thomas Andrews in the Titanic Heaven sequence.

Thomas Andrews, builder of the RMS Titanic.