James Cameron's Titanic Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Thomas Andrews
Thomas Andrews
Biological Information
Full name

Thomas Andrews

Nicknames

Tom

Gender

Male

Born

February 7, 1873

Death

April 15, 1912 (age 39)

Cause

N/A

Background Information
Romances

Helen Reilly Barbour (married)

Hometown

County Down, Ireland

Religion

Christian

Titanic Statistics
Boarded

Belfast, Ireland

Destination

New York, U.S.A.

Occupation

Passenger, shipbuilder children's aide

Class

First class

Fate

Perishes on the Titanic

Production
Classification

Historical character

Portrayal

Victor Garber

"The ship will sink. In an hour or so...two at the most....all this will be at the bottom of the Atlantic."
- Thomas Andrews to Rose DeWitt Bukater.

Thomas Andrews Jr. was a British shipbuilder from Ireland. He designed the RMS Titanic and oversaw her construction from 1909–12 as Managing Director of the shipbuilding firm Harland and Wolff. He was a very warm and kind-hearted man who was modest about his achievements.

Shortly after Titanic collided with an iceberg, Andrews was one of the first people to realize that the ship would indeed sink.

He was both protective and respectful towards Rose DeWitt Bukater. He confided in her that the Titanic would sink while he was unwilling to announce this to the passengers in general, wishing not to alarm them. He was also friendly to Rose's friend and later lover Jack Dawson, despite Jack being a third-class passenger.

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 is seen standing in the first–class smoking room staring at a painting, "Plymouth Harbour", above the fireplace, his lifejacket lying on a nearby table; he gave the life jacket to Rose in hopes that she would survive. He also expressed to her his regrets and seeks her apology saying, "I'm sorry I didn't build you a stronger ship, young Rose." Then they embrace, as a final farewell. 

While the musicians performed Nearer God To Thee, Andrews was carefully correcting the clock on the mantle. Although Andrews' death was never shown on screen, he died when the ship split in half and destroyed the smoking room.

Behind the scenes[]

Andrews was portrayed by Victor Garber in the film.

Contrary to popular belief, the sighting of Thomas Andrews in the smoking room was not the last sighting of him.

The story of Thomas Andrews accepting his fate and waiting in the smoking room for the end to come is one of the most famous legends of the sinking of the Titanic; the story 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 1913 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. However, he might have been confused with Charles Joughin, who survived the sinking and reported doing the same thing. 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. Andrews was last seen leaving the ship at the last moment.

External links[]

Gallery[]

Advertisement