 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2018) |
Joseph Bell | |
|---|---|
 Joseph Bell | |
| Born | 12 May 1861 Farlam, England, UK |
| Died | 15 April 1912 (aged 50) North Atlantic Ocean |
| Spouse | Maud Bates |
| Children | 4 |
Joseph Bell (12 May 1861 – 15 April 1912) was a British engineer who served as first Chief Engineer of Olympic , and subsequently RMS Titanic; he died in Titanic's sinking.
Joseph Bell was the first son of John Bell Sr. and Margaret Watson, both agricultural entrepreneurs. He grew up in Farlam, a small village in the Rural District of Brampton, in the county of Cumberland; he had three siblings: Jane (1864), Richard (1865) and John Jr. (1868). [1] His mother Margaret died shortly after giving birth to her last child.
Joseph Bell initially attended a private Primary school in the village of Farlam and, after the death of his mother, he moved with his father and his brothers to Carlisle, between the districts of Edentown and Stanwix; Joseph and the brothers attended Carlisle's Academy William Harrison. In time, his younger brother John decided to migrate to Australia, embarking on the transatlantic SS Great Britain, while the rest of the family remained in Carlisle.
After leaving Carlisle, Bell moved to Newcastle, serving his engineering apprenticeship as an engine fitter at the Tyneside works of Robert Stephenson and Company. [1]
In 1885, Bell was hired by the White Star Line and worked on many ships that traded with New Zealand and the United States. In 1891 he was promoted to chief mechanical engineer.
Sister Jane married William Hugh Lowthian in 1886 and spent many years living in Ripley, Derbyshire, where he was a bank manager. It was probably at this time that Joseph met Maud Bates, whom he married in 1893; the couple had 4 children: Frances John, called Frank (1896), Marjorie Clare (1899), Eileen Maud (1901), and Ralph Douglas (1908).
In 1911, Joseph found lodging in Belfast, along with his wife and younger son. The two daughters remained at Ripley, cared for by both a housekeeper and their aunt and uncle (Bell's sister and brother-in-law), while the then fifteen-year-old Frank was studying at the Grosvenor College in Carlisle and later did an apprenticeship at the Harland & Wolff shipyards. Bell became one of the White Star Line's most trusted engineers and was sent to Belfast to oversee the construction and installation of the engines of a number of new White Star liners, including the Laurentic and Megantic in 1908 and 1909. He had subsequently taken each of these liners out for their first few voyages, serving as Chief Engineer. During Olympic's building, Bell had remained in Belfast during the whole time, superintending the ship's construction, "making any suggestions which he thought would lead to improvements." [2] He oversaw the installation of the ship's powerplant and served on the ship as Chief Engineer during her maiden voyage. Bell returned to Belfast and Robert Fleming, another White Star senior engineer, was promoted to chief engineer on Olympic. Bell was present as the Titanic's engines were constructed and assembled at the yard Engine Works. [3]
After serving on the Olympic , he transferred to the Titanic, where he was given the post of chief engineer. He did not formally sign on to the ship until the morning of 2 April. On 10 April, after the ship left Southampton, Bell ordered Leading Fireman Frederick "Fred" Barrett to extinguish a fire in one of the coal bunkers, explaining "Builder's men want to inspect that bulkhead." While anchored in Queenstown, White Star Line Chairman J. Bruce Ismay called Bell to his cabin and discussed the matter of the ship's performance.
On the night of 14 April, shortly before the Titanic hit the iceberg, the engine crew received an order from the bridge to either stop or reverse the engines (accounts vary), in an attempt to slow the ship. Despite the crew's best efforts, the Titanic could not avoid the massive iceberg. After the collision, Ismay, proceeding from the bridge down towards his suite of rooms on B Deck and met Bell at the top of the staircase, and asked him if he believed that the ship was seriously damaged. Bell told him "he thought the damage was serious, but that he hoped the pumps would be able to control the water"; Ismay returned to his room briefly. Quartermaster Olliver entered the engine room to find Bell hard at work and gave him a message from Captain Smith. Bell looked at the note and went back to work. When Bell asked what he wanted, Olliver stated that he was waiting for a response to the Captain's message. Bell told him to tell the Captain that "he would get it done as soon as possible." [4] Titanic sank at 2:20 a.m, on 15 April. Bell was among the 1,500 perished; his body was never recovered, likely having been taken with the ship or sunk sometime after.
Bell and the engineers are believed to have remained in the engine room, urging the stokers and firemen to keep the boilers active, allowing the pumps to continue their work and ensuring the electricity remained on as long as possible.[ citation needed ] Popular belief persisted that Bell and his men stayed below decks, never abandoning their posts, working to keep the lights and the power on in order for distress signals to get out and they all died in the bowels of the Titanic. Bell was last seen by some crewmen at around 2:00 a.m. trying to telephone the ship's bridge for information, but never receiving a reply.[ citation needed ] However, there is evidence to suggest that at least some of the engineers were released to come on deck, when the flooding became severe by 1:20 a.m.; between approximately 1:50 and 1:55 a.m., Greaser Frederick Scott testified to seeing eight engineers standing up against the electric crane on the starboard Boat Deck; by then, all the lifeboats had gone. [5] [6] [7]
Bell's wife and brother-in-law, William Ralph, inherited his farm in Farlam; he had become its full owner since 1904 after his father's death. The farm was immediately sold because both Bell's wife and children never wanted to live in Farlam.
The parish church of St Faith in Waterloo near Liverpool has a plate commemorating Bell. The village cemetery at Farlam also has a memorial to Bell. [8] The Titanic Engineers' Memorial in Southampton names and commemorates Bell and the other engineers of the ship.
RMS Olympic was a British ocean liner and the lead ship of the White Star Line's trio of Olympic-class liners. Olympic had a career spanning 24 years from 1911 to 1935, in contrast to her short-lived sister ships, Titanic and Britannic. This included service as a troopship during the First World War, which gained her the nickname "Old Reliable", and during which she rammed and sank the U-boat U-103. She returned to civilian service after the war, and served successfully as an ocean liner throughout the 1920s and into the first half of the 1930s, although increased competition, and the slump in trade during the Great Depression after 1930, made her operation increasingly unprofitable. Olympic was withdrawn from service and sold for scrap on 12 April 1935, which was completed in 1937.
Benjamin Guggenheim was an American businessman, who was a wealthy member of the Guggenheim family. He was among the most prominent American passengers aboard RMS Titanic and perished along with 1,495 others when the ship sank on her maiden voyage taking 1,496 of 2,208 on board with her.
John Jacob Astor IV was an American business magnate, real estate developer, investor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He was among the most prominent American passengers aboard RMS Titanic and perished along with 1,495 others when the ship sank on her maiden voyage. Astor was the richest passenger aboard the RMS Titanic and was thought to be among the richest people in the world at that time, with a net worth of roughly $87 million when he died.
Thomas Andrews Jr. was a British businessman and shipbuilder, who was managing director and head of the drafting department of the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Ireland. He was the naval architect in charge of the plans for the ocean liner Titanic and perished along with more than 1,500 people when the ship sank on her maiden voyage.
William McMaster Murdoch, RNR was a British sailor who served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy Reserve and was the first officer on the RMS Titanic. He was the officer in charge on the bridge when the Titanic collided with an iceberg, and was amongst the 1,500 people who died when the ship sank. The circumstances of his death have been the subject of controversy.
Titanic is a 1953 American drama film directed by Jean Negulesco, and starring Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck. It centers on an estranged couple and other fictional passengers on the ill-fated maiden voyage of the ship of the same name, which took place on April 14, 1912.
Commander Charles Herbert Lightoller, was a British mariner and naval officer who was the second officer on board the RMS Titanic. During the ship's sinking, and as the officer in charge of loading passengers into lifeboats on the port side, Lightoller strictly enforced the women and children only protocol, not allowing any male passengers to board the lifeboats unless they were needed as auxiliary seamen. He was the most senior officer to survive the disaster. Lightoller served as a commanding officer in the Royal Navy during World War I and, despite ordering an alleged war crime while engaged in anti-submarine warfare, he was twice decorated for gallantry. During World War II, in retirement, he voluntarily provided his personal yacht, the Sundowner, and sailed her as one of the "little ships" in the Dunkirk evacuation.
Joseph Bruce Ismay was an English businessman who served as chairman and managing director of the White Star Line. He was the highest-ranking White Star official to survive the 1912 sinking of the company's flagship RMS Titanic, for which he was widely criticized.
S.O.S. Titanic is a 1979 drama disaster television movie that depicts the doomed 1912 maiden voyage from the perspective of three distinct groups of passengers in first, second and third class. The script was written by James Costigan and directed by William Hale. It is the first Titanic film to be filmed and released in colour.
Frederick Fleet was a British sailor, crewman and a survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Fleet, along with fellow lookout Reginald Lee, was on duty when the ship struck the iceberg; Fleet first sighted the iceberg, ringing the bridge to proclaim: "Iceberg, right ahead!" Both Fleet and Lee survived the sinking, Fleet was the last surviving lookout, out of six in total, on the Titanic.
Lieutenant Henry Tingle Wilde, RNR was a British Merchant Navy officer who was the chief officer of the RMS Titanic. He died when the ship sank on her maiden voyage in April 1912.
Sub-Lieutenant James Paul Moody, RNR was a British sailor, who served as Titanic's sixth officer. He died when the ship sank on her maiden voyage.
Commander Joseph Groves Boxhall RD, RNR was a British sailor who was the fourth officer on the RMS Titanic, and later served as a naval officer in World War I. Boxhall was the last surviving former officer of the Titanic.
A Night to Remember is a 1958 British historical disaster docudrama film based on the eponymous 1955 book by Walter Lord, depicting the final night of RMS Titanic, which sank on her maiden voyage after she struck an iceberg in 1912. Adapted by Eric Ambler and directed by Roy Ward Baker, the film stars Kenneth More as the ship's Second Officer Charles Lightoller and features Michael Goodliffe, Laurence Naismith, Kenneth Griffith, David McCallum and Tucker McGuire. It was filmed in the United Kingdom and tells the story of the sinking, portraying main incidents and players in a documentary-style fashion with considerable attention to detail. The production team, supervised by producer William MacQuitty used blueprints of the ship to create authentic sets, while Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall and ex-Cunard Commodore Harry Grattidge worked as technical advisors on the film. Its estimated budget of up to £600,000 was exceptional and made it the most expensive film ever made in Britain up to that time. The film's score was written by William Alwyn.
RMS Titanic sank on 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean. The largest ocean liner in service at the time, Titanic was four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, with an estimated 2,224 people on board when she struck an iceberg at 23:40 on 14 April. She sank two hours and forty minutes later at 02:20 ship's time on 15 April resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 people, making it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history.
The crew of the RMS Titanic were among the estimated 2,240 people who sailed on the maiden voyage of the second of the White Star Line's Olympic-class ocean liners, from Southampton, England, to New York City in the United States. Halfway through the voyage, the ship struck an iceberg and sank in the early morning of 15 April 1912, resulting in the deaths of over 1,500 people, including approximately 688 crew members.
RMS Titanic was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. It was the second time White Star Line had lost a ship on its maiden voyage, the first being the RMS Tayleur in 1854. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, approximately 1,500 died, making the incident one of the deadliest peacetime sinkings of a single ship. Titanic, operated by the White Star Line, carried some of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as hundreds of emigrants from the British Isles, Scandinavia, and elsewhere in Europe who were seeking a new life in the United States and Canada. The disaster drew public attention, spurred major changes in maritime safety regulations, and inspired a lasting legacy in popular culture.
Titanic: Blood and Steel is a 12-part television costume drama series about the construction of the RMS Titanic. Produced by History Asia, it is one of two large budget television dramas aired in April 2012, the centenary of the disaster; the other is Titanic.
Lifeboats played a crucial role during the sinking of the Titanic on 14–15 April 1912. The ship had 20 lifeboats that, in total, could accommodate 1,178 people, a little over half of the 2,209 on board the night it sank. 18 lifeboats were used, loading between 11:45 P.M. and 2:05 A.M., though Collapsible Boat A floated off the ship's partially submerged deck and Collapsible Boat B floated away upside down minutes before the ship upended and sank.
The unnamed iceberg that sank the Titanic collided with the ship on the night of 14–15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic. Of the approximate 2,200 people on board, over 1,500 did not survive. After the disaster, there was interest in the iceberg itself to explain the circumstances of the collision and the resulting damage to the supposedly unsinkable ship. As a result of the Titanic disaster, an International Ice Patrol was founded whose mission was to reduce the dangers of ice to shipping.
