James
Paul Moody (21st August 1887 to 15th April 1912.)
Anyone who knows me know I love Scarborough; its almost as
though I lived there in a previous life. When I drive away from it I always
feel mildly down. I had seen a big crumbling house on www.rightmove.co.uk and
decided to the go and have a look at it. While there I passed this blue plaque.
This was the home of James Paul Moody, the youngest officer on RMS Titanic. He
was the man who answered the bridge phone from the lookout and uttered the now
famous, yet fateful words: “Iceberg right ahead”.
In
March 1912 Moody received a telegram early in 1912 ordering him to report to
White Star's offices in Liverpool. From here went to the Harland & Wolff
yard in Belfast and, in April, boarded Titanic. He was earning $37 a month but
was allowed the luxury of his own cabin.
It
then sailed to Southampton to take on passengers. Moody was responsible for closing
the last gangway. Six crew members were late and he turned them away (probably
saving their lives.) At 11:40pm on 14th April 1912 the iceberg was
seen by the lookout. He rang the warning bell three times and phoned the
bridge. It was Moody who answered the call, asking, "What do you
see?" Fleet replied, "Iceberg, right ahead!" 37 seconds later
they struck the iceberg. Attempts were made to steer the ship left but it was
too late.
At
12:05 am (just after midnight) the captain ordered the crew to prepare the
lifeboats. Mood helped loading three lifeboats (numbers 12, 14, and 16.)
Another officer said an officer should man each lifeboat. Though Moody could
have done this he deferred to another officer. This decision probably meant he
lost his life. At 12:45am the first lifeboat was lowered into the water. Moody
was on the starboard side trying to help out further but soon water had come on
the deck. At 2:18am the ship snapped into two. The ship’s lamp trimmer said he
saw Moody on top of the officers' quarters trying to launch a collapsible
lifeboat minutes It took two minutes from the snapping of the ship to its
sinking.
Moody
was last seen alive diving from the bridge into the sea. Though you would think
he drowned he probably died of hypothermia in the unforgiving North Atlantic
waters. The wireless operator (who survived) said he saw Moody in the water
nearby another collapsible lifeboat. Another officer was clinging to a broken
deck chair but dead (the frost clamped the deckchair to him.) It’s said that
Moody may have been shot because the wireless operator said he had a head
injury. We’ll never know.
At
4:10am The Carpathia started picking up
survivors.
Moody
was 24 at the time of his death. His body, if recovered, was never identified.
He was the only junior officer on the Titanic to die in the sinking.
It's not known how many people died. The passenger list
wasn’t definitive. Some people had cancelled their trip at the last minute,
some travelled under false names and some were counted twice on the casualty
lists. Even though some survived they soon died from exposure to the cold. The
figure is 1490 to 1635.
This
is terrific website detailing the demise of the ship. As you can see from the
table at the bottom the first class passengers faired best.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_RMS_Titanic
