Titanic Scandal: How J. Bruce Ismay's Reputation Was Ruined

it's April 15th 1912 about 370 Mi off the coast of New Finland in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean the night air is cold and calm the sky is a light with stars and the ocean is as still as glass but on it the world's newest and grandest ocean liner RMS Titanic is going down by the head Witnesses who are standing among the crowds of people filling the boat deck looking on as families were separated in the chaos noticed something peculiar as one of the final lifeboats collapsible sea began to be loaded men were scrambling in a panic for a seat and among them was none other than Jay Bruce Isme president of the White Star Line finding a place in the Lifeboat determined to save his own life rather than going down with his ship as honor would dictate he successfully escaped while 1500 others including women and children perished behind him the headlines the next morning wasted no time alerting the public to the scandalous details of ism's Escape during the sinking he was branded a coward with the press and the public in agreement that as chairman of the White Star Line ism's rightful place was alongside the captain on the bridge awaiting the ship's final plunge but then came allegations that Isme had urged Captain Smith to push for a faster Crossing during the maiden voyage and it earned him a lifetime of scorn and a ruined reputation which lasts to this day in movie adaptions of the sinking Isme is always depicted as a greedy and tactless villain twirling his mustache and making the selfish decision to save himself over others at the very last moment but as with all things the reality is a lot more complicated ladies and gentlemen I'm your friend Mike Brady from Ocean lier designs and this is the true story of Joseph Bruce Isme the man the tabloids dubbed the coward of the [Music] Titanic born in Crosby Lanier in 1862 Isme was destined for the shipping business from the very start in the early years of his career he worked under his father Thomas Isme who at the time was the chair of the White Star Line one of the Premier transatlantic passenger lines upon Thomas's death in 1899 Joseph or Bruce as he was more commonly known assumed the role of chairman of the line and his first order of business was to couple his father's Last Ship the Celtic with not just a single sister but a trio of them comprising what would be known as the big four these ships Celtic Cedric Adriatic and Baltic were the largest and most luxurious liners to take to the water at the time and they were a resounding success for the company now this success would only last for a few years before the competitors card line responded with their own Super liners the speed queens morania and Lucitania now Isme knew that the white Starline needed to respond the transit Atlantic game at the time was like a NeverEnding game of one-upsmanship Legend has it that had a dinner meeting in 1907 with Lord perir chairman of hland and wolf ship Builders the two men devised a plan for a trio of ships that would outclass the kunard Greyhounds which would result of course in the construction of the Olympic class beginning with Olympic the later Sister being Britannic and of course in the center of it all the ill fated RMS Titanic now it wasn't uncommon for Isme to travel on his ships during their Maiden voyages and this was the case in April of 1912 as he boarded the Titanic preparing to make the crossing between Southampton and New York and back again as we know this roundtrip would be cut short by a cruel twist of fate and it's believed by some that Isme is far from blameless in the tragic foundering of the liner Elizabeth lines a FirstClass passenger traveling on Titanic recalled over hearing a conversation on board the ship between Isme and Captain Smith in which the men were discussing the prospect of putting more pressure on the boilers in an attempt to potentially speed up the ship's cross crossing the conversation gave rise to the rumor that Isme coerced Smith into speeding the ship into the ice field therefore dooming the liner he was quoted as saying things are working smoothly the Machinery is bearing the test and the boilers are working well we'll beat Olympic and get into New York on Tuesday but while many took this to mean the ship would be pushed harder than Olympic's Crossing time from the year before it was likely just an observation at the time of that conversation the ship had been steaming along in an impressive clip and Titanic was on track to beat her sister's cross cross in time but it was also not up to Isme to make decisions as to the ship's operation those decisions lay entirely with the ship's master smith and Isme while he was the ship's owner was officially making the crossing as a passenger not an officer or crew member it's been said that Isme as white star lines managing director could put undue pressure on Captain Smith to make it into New York early but evidence seems to show that is was one to mostly honor his role as passenger when it came to decision making and defer judgment to the ship's officers and crew when Olympic had first entered service and Isme exchanged a series of communic with Philip Franklin the chairman of the white star lines parent company the international mertile Marine Franklin was pushing for Olympic to dock early at New York the Tuesday night instead of the Wednesday morning Isme responded as you are aware I am not favorably disposed to trying to land passengers on Tuesday afternoon but if after talking the matter over with Lord purri Captain Smith and Mr Bell the consensus of opinion is in favor of this being done you may rest assured that I will not allow my individual feeling to stand in the way now this response does not paint the picture of a man Keen to rush his ship into Harm's Way he mentions specifically that he would first need to get the consent of Captain Smith Joseph Bell Olympics chief engineer and Lord Pur from the Harland and wolf Shipyard now obviously Isme could never truly be just an ordinary passenger but when it came to decision- making on the ship's run it doesn't seem like Isme would want to overrule the captain in fact far from being one to put pressure on the ship's crew to land early it seems that Isme early on in Olympics career was of the exact opposite opinion although landing on the Tuesday night would be of benefit to the ship she could be prepared for the return Voyage sooner and easier and passengers could opt to sleep on board for the night if they wanted Isme was clearly still no fan of early Landings on the topic he said to Franklin as I have repeatedly stated I feel very strongly that passengers would be far more satisfied to know when they left here that they would not land until Wednesday morning rather than be in a state of uncertainty in regard to this for the whole of the trip I do not think you can have ever experienced the miseries of a night landing in New York had you done so I think your views might be altered now by the time Titanic was steaming on her maiden voyage the concept of landing on a Tuesday night instead of the Wednesday morning may have become more the norm so chances are they may have been a little bit more flippant about it aboard Titanic but as a character study the does not sound like the kind of mustache twirling villain who was Keen to put pressure on the ship's crew to make an early Landing in New York in the first place now further blame was cast on Isme for his decision to apparently disregard the ice warnings which had been sent by other vessels now as with the ship's speed it was once again not within ism's purview to decide what should be done with ice warnings while several witnesses describe Isme flashing a Marone with ice warnings from the nearby ship Baltic one of the big four and then subsequently downplaying the danger this was in no way a show of negligence or carelessness the messages had already been handed off to Isme by Captain Smith who had received them and then made note of them in their positions before passing the information along to Isme it was entirely common for Isme and other higher ups like Thomas Andrews the ship's designer to keep tabs on the ship's performance throughout her maiden voyage and assure that everything was functioning as intended the weather reports like those from Baltic were also part of this routine now what Smith chose to do once he received These Warnings is no real reflection on hism who was merely using the Marone grams which were then the absolute latest technology at sea and a Marvel in their own right to make conversation with passengers throughout the voyage now shortly after the collision with the iceberg Isme gathered with the ship's officers on the bridge to discuss the extent of the damage dawned in pajamas and overcoat and slippers he was one of the first people on board to learn of Titanic's impending fate now despite knowing full well that the iceberg had damaged his ship mortally is May reportedly proceeded onto the boat deck as the passengers were mustard a Serene smile on his face careful not to let his expression betray him in case Panic should spread among the passengers as lifeboats began to be loaded and lowered away Isme himself traveling as an ordinary passenger spent 2 hours almost the entirety of the time it took the ship to sink ushering women and children into the boats and helping the ship's officers maintain order one woman reportedly approached a boat with Isme saying come along and jump in she replied but I'm only a stewardess Isme saw her hesitation and responded never mind you are woman take your place some other officers recall that Isme was so insistent upon helping women into the boats that they felt he was hindering their own efforts with fifth officer Harold low at one point exploding at Isme to stop interfering in his work Isme by this point was a little more panicked and called for a boat to be lowered away over and over again low Bal if you will get to hell out of it then I shall be able to do something now from this point onward as May continued to assist passengers but also stayed out of the way of the other officers wouldn't be until the third to last boat was being lowered that Isme considered escaping the ship himself now the Senate hearings held after the sinking Place Isme in one of the final lifeboats to leave the ship collapsible sea only after he and another male first class passenger Mr William Carter repeatedly called out to assure that no other women and children were around to take their seats in the boat now popular media would go on to relentlessly lambast Isme for his decision to board a Lifeboat in Li of women and children despite the fact that he had spent the ship's Final hours helping to save as many lives as he could Isme it seems was adhering to the policy of Women and Children First rather than women and children only in Maritime disasters the policy was for the women and children to proceed into the lifeboats first and men would only be permitted AB board once there was room now as both Isme and Carter made sure no more were waiting to board protocol dictated that they could freely board the boat themselves with no women and children in sight to take ism's place in the Lifeboat no further lives were lost as a result of his decision to save himself perhaps to underline this collaps will C's total occupancy upon leaving Titanic was 44 passengers while its ultimate capacity was 47 now This lends Credence to his testimony that no further passengers were waiting to be helped into the boat as he made the decision to enter it because the boat was never completely filled testimonies also state that just prior to Isme climbing into the boat there was a large group of men scrambling for a spot to call the chaos it said that an officer reportedly first Officer Murdoch fired two warning shots into the air bringing the crowd to order the gunshots would have been enough to frighten much of the crowd away sending many in search of other means of escape with no one standing around and enough room for several passengers still available on collapsible sea Isme and Carter stepped into the boat as it began to lower away for Isme this would prove something of a miscalculation to say the least Edwardian culture focused on the concept of the ideal man one who would sacrifice himself gladly for king and country it was the kind of ridiculous nationalistic chest thumping that would lead in just two short years to the horrendous casualties and Battlefield losses of the first world war even children were being indoctrinated with this stuff and pet Jaan published just one year before Titanic sank the titular character is confronted with his impending fate and unable to escape simply stands up proudly to declare to die will be an awfully big adventure in the same book Wendy confronts the P at hook who says so my beauty you are to see your children walk the plank are they to die asked dendy they are he snarled at this moment Wendy was grand these are my last words dear boys she said firmly I feel that I have a message to you from your real mothers and it is this we hope our sons will die like English gentlemen this was a best-selling children's novel now it was this kind of rigid ideological society that Bruce Isme would soon face and as Titanic sank the lights cut out and the ship was finally plunged Into Darkness Isme sat facing away he couldn't bring himself to watch Once rescue arrived conflicting accounts of ism's actions once again served to muddy his reputation some witnesses later claimed that upon boarding Carpathia Isme immediately set about loudly and boisterously claiming I'm Isme I'm Isme for God's sake get me something to eat I'm starved I don't care what it costs or what it is bring it to me another variation alleges that he was shouting to be immediately shown to a stateroom then reportedly sequestered himself self the Stater room of the ship's doctor refusing to speak to anyone in order to hide from the scrutiny of passengers but ism's official testimony as well as the testimony of others on board directly contradict this story riddled with trauma and having just endured a night floating in a rickety Lifeboat with no food or water in the freezing North Atlantic it isn't likely that Isme would have been a man with enough Vigor to be loudly making demands by all accounts Isme was a shattered husk of the man he had been the day before after he came on board Isme is reported to have been standing with his back against a bulkhead refusing all offers of food and water only quietly requesting after some time that he'd be shown to a room where he could be alone he was shaking like a leaf while in his room he spent the rest of the journey to New York in a heavily medicated days grief stricken over the loss of Titanic and the souls who went down with her second officer laller and first class passenger Jack Thea both visited him in his State Room on Carpathia where they recall a deeply shaken Isme repeating again and again that he should have gone down with with his ship and they didn't realize so many women had perished Isme believed that he had left behind an empty ship and the Survivor guilt had left him in a nearly catatonic State for the remainder of the journey to New York interestingly before reaching New York a few Marrs were sent out from Carpathia to White star's New York office under a clever code name simed yamy which was Isme spelt backwards he first sent news of the sinking and then a few hours later another telegram was sent requesting the white stars vessel Cedric another one of the big four be made ready immediately for a journey back home to Britain for himself and Titanic surviving officers now ism's critics point to these telegrams as evidence that Isme was attempting to flee from the Senate inquiries that he knew would come to pass realizing full well that he would be in danger of being held liable for the sinking the White Star Line Titanic's owner was itself owned by an American conglomerate the international mertile Marine but is's own testimony contradicts this as well he claims that he was unaware that the hearings would be held in the US it' assumed that because Titanic flew the British flag the inquiries would be held on British soil so it seems likely that Isme was actually trying to make him and his officers ready for an inquiry at the first possible notice officer laller testified he had even offered the suggestion to Isme himself as he was under the same impression now both men insisted that the telegrams were ism's attempt to ensure he'd be present for the proceedings rather than planning to run away from them entirely of course public opinion of Isme plummeted after the sinking with newspaper headlines branding him a coward and rumors spreading that he'd even dressed in women's clothing to disguise himself and be allowed entry into a Lifeboat yellow journalism was firing on all cylinders with one man in particular the powerful American journalist William Randolph Hurst dubbing him J brute Isme and Publishing scathing political cartoons in an attempt to smear ism's name Hurst was no Isme fan to begin with the two had already formed an intense dislike of one another after years of disagreements the defamation in the American Press left little for Isme in the way of of course there would be very little pity from the public for a powerful and Wealthy businessman who reportedly chose to save his own skin rather than die honorably other journalists were gentler with their assessment but the undertone still remained with one Journal simply remarking it is not given to everybody to be a hero Isme was also widely blamed for the lack of lifeboats available on Titanic critics were quick to point out that the lack of lifeboats must have been a cost cutting measure on isma's part in order to make the ship more profitable which is a ridiculous myth that still exist to this day but Titanic like all other ships of her time was built to specifications required by the British Board of Trade and Titanic's designers had actually exceeded this expectation by providing more lifeboats than was necessary once the Senate inquiry into the sinking was concluded Isme was cleared of all liability relating to the sinking Senator Smith who oversaw the proceedings determined that Isme had done everything in his power to save as many lives as possible in the 2 hours he spent on deck and that in not choosing to save himself he would have added just one more life to the 15 100 already lost despite having been legally cleared of any wrongdoing Isme would never recover from the public scorn and the trauma of having lost Titanic he quietly resigned from most of the companies he oversaw but he stayed on as chairman of the White Star Line to oversee a grim task he stayed on to help pay out insurance claims filed by victims of the disaster it said that there wasn't a single following board meeting where Isme did not bring up on the agenda the payment of claims to victim's families he became a recluse and absolutely retreated from public view until his death in 1937 it said that Titanic became a taboo subject among his family and no one was able to mention it one year before his death his granddaughter Evelyn naively asked if he had ever been involved in a shipwreck in possibly the first and last occasion of Isme ever speaking of Titanic after the sinking he simply replied yes I was once on a ship that was thought to be Unsinkable with all the drama surrounding the Titanic disaster and the 1500 lives lost the public was clamoring to find a scapegoat and Isme fit the bill perfectly he had all the makings of the picture perfect villain a businessman who inherited a business from his father immense wealth and a decision to save his own life over those of women and children but so much of this narrative was by Design essentially propaganda by an American Press controlled by anti-british management that had everything they needed to construct the perfect villain in the form of J Bruce Isme the portrayal stuck almost every depiction of Isme in Titanic related media like movies and films since the sinking has depicted him as the nefarious businessman risking lives to turn a profit those responsible for this journalism quote unquote most notably William Randolph Hurst were not out to expose the truth they just had been handed the story of a lifetime and Isme was caught in the crossfire to this very day we see the effects of the Isme smear campaign and his name has become associated with spinelessness and greed in the face of the world's most famous Maritime disaster but only by challenging this narrative and actually studying the facts do we come to appreciate the complexity of ism's position many argue that Bruce Isme was a man who died twice officially in 1937 but perhaps in a more significant and painful way on the morning of April 15th 1912 ladies and gentlemen it's your friend Mike Brady from ocean liner designs thank you so much for watching this video If you enjoyed it please leave a comment below don't forget to subscribe to the channel because we get new videos out weekly if you want to support my work and get really cool perks like behind the scenes and Early Access please visit my patreon in the link in the description below or sign up as a YouTube member come and join the crew as always stay safe stay happy I'll see you again next time

Channel: Oceanliner Designs

Views: 107,029

Keywords: great ocean liners, maritime history, ocean liners, famous oceanliners, ships documentary, history of ships, engineering, history, ships, documentary, origins explained, world history project, animated history, open educational resources, titanic, shipwreck, sinking, boats, ocean, disaster, tragedy

Id: EOU7suqvBSY

Length: 19min 47sec (1187 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 07 2024