J. BRUCE ISMAY

'Joseph Bruce Ismay' (December 12, 1862 – October 15, 1937) was a British businessman who served as Managing Director of the White Star Line of steamships. He travelled on (and survived) the doomed maiden voyage of his company's marquee ocean liner, the RMS ''Titanic''.

Contents

Biography

Early life

RMS ''Titanic''

Later life

Portrayals

Controversy

External links

References

Biography

Early life

Ismay was born at Crosby, Merseyside. He was the son of Thomas Ismay (January 7 1837 – November 23 1899) and Margaret Bruce (1837 – April 9, 1907), daughter of ship-owner Luke Bruce. Thomas Ismay was the senior partner in Ismay, Imrie and Company and the founder of the White Star Line. The younger Ismay was educated at Elstree School and Harrow, then tutored in France for a year. He was then apprenticed at his father's office for four years, after which he toured the world. He then went to New York City as the company representative there, eventually rising to the rank of agent.
On December 4, 1888, Ismay married Florence Schieffelin of New York, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. Three years later, he returned with his family to the United Kingdom and became a partner in his father's firm, Ismay, Imrie and Company. In 1899, Thomas Ismay died, and his son became head of the family business. Bruce Ismay had a head for business, and the White Star Line flourished under his leadership. In addition to his ship business, Ismay also served as a director of several other companies. However, in 1901, he was approached by Americans who wished to build an international shipping conglomerate. Ismay agreed to merge his firm into the International Mercantile Marine Company.

RMS ''Titanic''

In 1907, Ismay met with Lord Pirrie of the Harland & Wolff shipbuilding company of Belfast. Together, they planned to build a steamer that would outdo the RMS ''Lusitania'' and the RMS ''Mauretania'', the recently-unveiled marvels of White Star's chief competitor, Cunard Line. Ismay's new type of ship would not only be fast, but would also have huge steerage capacity and luxury unparalleled in the history of oceangoing steamships. The latter condition was largely meant to woo the wealthy and prosperous middle class. Three ships were planned and built. The second of these would be White Star Line's pride and joy, the RMS ''Titanic'', which began its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City on April 10, 1912. The first and third ships of this class were the RMS ''Olympic'' and HMHS ''Britannic'' originally intended to be called Gigantic.
Ismay occasionally accompanied his ships on their maiden voyages, and ''Titanic'' was to be one of them. When the ship hit an iceberg south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and started sinking on the night of April 14, he was rescued in Collapsible Lifeboat C. Reports say as the ship was in her final moments Ismay turned away, unable to watch his creation sink beneath the North Atlantic. He was taken aboard the Cunard liner RMS ''Carpathia'', he arrived in New York on the 18th. Ismay later testified at ''Titanic'' disaster inquiry hearings held by both the U.S. Senate (chaired by Senator William Alden Smith) and the British Board of Trade (chaired by Lord Mersey).
After being picked up by the ''Carpathia'', Ismay was led to the cabin belonging to the ship's doctor, which he reportedly did not leave for the entire journey. He ate nothing solid, received only a single visitor, and was kept under the influence of opiates for the entire journey.
After the disaster, Ismay was savaged by both the American and the English press for deserting the ship while women and children were still on board. Some papers called him "J. Brute Ismay," and suggested that the White Star flag be changed to a yellow liver. Some ran negative cartoons of him deserting the ship. London society ostracized him, and labelled him one of the biggest cowards in history. Strong negative press came particularly from newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst, who is said to have had a personal vendetta against Ismay.^[1] In 1913, Ismay resigned as president of International Mercantile Marine, to be succeeded by Harold Sanderson.
After the ''Titanic'' tragedy, Ismay continued to be active in maritime affairs. He inaugurated a cadet ship called ''Mersey'' used to train officers for the merchant navy, donated £11,000 to start a fund for lost seamen, and in 1919 gave £25,000 to set up a fund to recognize the contribution of merchant mariners in World War I.

Later life

A resident of the Wirral Peninsula near Liverpool in his older days, J. Bruce Ismay died in Mayfair, London, on October 15, 1937, of a cerebral thrombosis, at the age of seventy-four. His funeral was held on October 21, 1937, and he is buried in Putney Vale Cemetery in London. He was survived by his wife, Julia Schieffelin. After his death, Schieffelin renounced her British citizenship to become an American citizen again. She again became a citizen on November 14, 1949. Julia Florence Ismay, ''née'' Schieffelin, eventually died December 31, 1963, in Kensington, London.

Portrayals

J. Bruce Ismay has been played by many actors in different versions of the ''Titanic'' story.

★ In the 1943 German film ''Titanic'', portrayed by actor Ernst Fritz Fürbringer.

★ In the 1958 British film ''A Night to Remember'', portrayed by actor Frank Lawton.

★ In the 1979 British/American tv-film ''S.O.S. Titanic'', portrayed by actor Ian Holm.

★ In the 1996 American tv mini-series ''Titanic'', portrayed by actor Roger Rees.

★ In the 1997 American film ''Titanic'', portrayed by actor Jonathan Hyde.

★ In the 1982 American TV series ''Voyagers!'' in the episode ''Voyagers of the Titanic'', portrayed by actor Sam Chew, Jr..

★ In the 2003 documentary ''Ghosts of the Abyss'', portrayed by maritime artist Ken Marschall
He is also referenced in Derek Mahon's poem 'After the Titanic'.

Controversy

There are a number of controversies concerning the actions of Ismay on board the Titanic.
Some passengers stated that during the voyage they heard Ismay pressuring Captain Edward J. Smith to go faster, in order to arrive in New York ahead of schedule, so as to generate some free press about the new liner. One passenger claimed to have seen Ismay flaunting one of the iceberg warnings at dinner time, waving it around, then placing it back in his pocket. However these claims are not supported by evidence from any of the surviving officers, and the testimony of some passengers is at best unreliable, and at worst, revealed to be invention.
During the sinking, Ismay assisted the crew in loading and lowering the lifeboats. When there were no female passengers in the vicinity of the deck, he and another first-class passenger (William Carter) were invited to board one of the collapsible lifeboats if they took the place of one of the seamen. This incident would, according to Ismay, haunt him for the rest of his life, as there were still women and children present on the ship. His personal servant, Richard Fry, and secretary William H. Harrison remained on board and perished when the ship sank.

External links

★ J. Bruce Ismay biography at Encyclopedia Titanica

★ Find-A-Grave

References

★ Article on Ismay and the Titanic