Herbert Pitman
Encyclopedia
Herbert John "Bert" Pitman MBE
(20 November 1877 - 7 December 1961) was the Third Officer on board the . He was the only deck officer who was not a member of the Royal Naval Reserve
.
, Somerset
, England
. He was the son of farmer Henry Pitman and his wife, Sarah Marchant Pitman. After Henry's death in 1880, Sarah remarried to Charles Candy. In 1881, a census shows the young Pitman was living on 112 acre (0.45324832 km²) farm on Sutton Road with his brother, sister, and widowed mother.
Pitman first went to sea in 1895 at the age of 18 by joining the merchant navy
. He received the shore part of his nautical training in the navigation department of the Merchant Venturers' Technical College, under Mr E. F. White, and qualified as a master mariner in August 1906. He served a four year apprenticeship with James Nourse Ltd. followed by five years as a deck officer. From 1904, he served one year as a deck officer with the Blue Anchor Line before moving to the Shire Line, where he served for six months. He moved to the White Star Line
in 1906. While with White Star, he served as Fourth, Third and second officer
on the vessels Dolphin and Majestic and as Fourth Officer on the Oceanic.
office at nine in the morning on 26 March of that year. There he collected his ticket for Belfast
; he arrived there at noon the following day and reported to (then) Chief Officer William Murdoch
. As the Titanic departed Southampton
on 10 April, Pitman was assisting (now First) Officer Murdoch at the stern of the ship in supervising the casting-off of mooring ropes and taking on of tug lines. While the Titanic was at sea, Pitman's duties included working out celestial observation and compass deviation, general supervision of the decks, looking to the quartermasters, and relieving the bridge officers when necessary.
At the time of the Titanics collision with the iceberg
, Pitman was off-duty, half-sleeping in his bunk in the Officers' Quarters. He heard and felt the collision, later testifying that it felt like the ship "coming to an anchor." He was dressing for his watch when Fourth Officer Boxhall
rushed in and informed him they had struck an iceberg and were taking on water. Pitman was then ordered to report to the starboard side of the ship to assist in uncovering lifeboats. After receiving the command to lower the boats, Murdoch ordered Pitman to take charge of lifeboat No. 5. Before entering the lifeboat, Officer Murdoch shook Pitman's hand saying, "Goodbye; good luck." With Murdoch's utter seriousness, Pitman thought for the first time that night that the Titanic was really going to sink. Pitman stepped into the lifeboat and it was lowered to the water. Murdoch had ordered Pitman to take the lightly loaded lifeboat to the gangway doors to take on more passengers, but finding the doors shut, Pitman moved the lifeboat away from the ship.
Up to this point, Pitman had expected the ship to remain afloat. After an hour in the lifeboat, however, he realized that Titanic was doomed. He watched her sink from about 400 yards away, and was one of the few to claim that she sank in one piece. As the stern slipped under water, he looked at his watch and announced, "It's 2.20," to his fellow lifeboat passengers. Hearing the screams of those in the water, Pitman immediately decided to row back and rescue whomever he could. However, the others in his lifeboat were fearful of being mobbed and capsized, and Pitman eventually remanded his order. It was a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Pitman was rescued by the along with the other survivors, arriving at Pier 54 in New York
on 18 April. While in New York, he served as a witness in the American inquiry into the sinking. He and his fellow surviving officers were allowed to leave New York on the Adriatic on 2 May. After returning to England, he served as a witness for a second time, this time for the British inquiry.
, he served as purser on board the SS Mataroa, and finally retired in the spring of 1946 after over 60 years at sea. He spent his retirement living in Pitcombe, Somerset, with his niece (his wife having preceded him in death). Pitman died of a subarachnoid hemorrhage
on 7 December 1961. He was 84.
In April 1998, several items relating to Pitman were sold at auction by Sotheby's
.
film, made in 1997.
Pitman has a sizeable role in the 1997 Broadway musical Titanic
.
In the video game Titanic: Adventure Out of Time
, Officer Pitman is replaced by the fictitious Third Officer Morrow.
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
(20 November 1877 - 7 December 1961) was the Third Officer on board the . He was the only deck officer who was not a member of the Royal Naval Reserve
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...
.
Early life and career
Pitman was born in the village of Sutton Montis near Castle CaryCastle Cary
Castle Cary is a market town and civil parish in south Somerset, England, north west of Wincanton and south of Shepton Mallet.The town is situated on the River Cary, a tributary of the Parrett.-History:...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was the son of farmer Henry Pitman and his wife, Sarah Marchant Pitman. After Henry's death in 1880, Sarah remarried to Charles Candy. In 1881, a census shows the young Pitman was living on 112 acre (0.45324832 km²) farm on Sutton Road with his brother, sister, and widowed mother.
Pitman first went to sea in 1895 at the age of 18 by joining the merchant navy
Merchant Navy
The Merchant Navy is the maritime register of the United Kingdom, and describes the seagoing commercial interests of UK-registered ships and their crews. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensign and are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency...
. He received the shore part of his nautical training in the navigation department of the Merchant Venturers' Technical College, under Mr E. F. White, and qualified as a master mariner in August 1906. He served a four year apprenticeship with James Nourse Ltd. followed by five years as a deck officer. From 1904, he served one year as a deck officer with the Blue Anchor Line before moving to the Shire Line, where he served for six months. He moved to the White Star Line
White Star Line
The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated vessel, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of Titanics sister ship Britannic...
in 1906. While with White Star, he served as Fourth, Third and second officer
Second Officer
Second Officer may refer to:*Second Officer , a civilian aviation rank*Second Officer , a merchant marine rank*A naval rank in the Women's Royal Naval Service*A billet in the Star Trek universe...
on the vessels Dolphin and Majestic and as Fourth Officer on the Oceanic.
Titanic
Like the other junior officers, Pitman received a telegram early in 1912 directing him to report to White Star's LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
office at nine in the morning on 26 March of that year. There he collected his ticket for Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
; he arrived there at noon the following day and reported to (then) Chief Officer William Murdoch
William McMaster Murdoch
Lieutenant William "Will" McMaster Murdoch RNR was a Scottish sailor who died on board the , where he was employed by the White Star Line, serving as First Officer...
. As the Titanic departed Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
on 10 April, Pitman was assisting (now First) Officer Murdoch at the stern of the ship in supervising the casting-off of mooring ropes and taking on of tug lines. While the Titanic was at sea, Pitman's duties included working out celestial observation and compass deviation, general supervision of the decks, looking to the quartermasters, and relieving the bridge officers when necessary.
At the time of the Titanics collision with the iceberg
Iceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
, Pitman was off-duty, half-sleeping in his bunk in the Officers' Quarters. He heard and felt the collision, later testifying that it felt like the ship "coming to an anchor." He was dressing for his watch when Fourth Officer Boxhall
Joseph Boxhall
Commander Joseph Groves Boxhall RD RNR was the Fourth Officer on the , and later served as a naval officer in World War I.-Early life:...
rushed in and informed him they had struck an iceberg and were taking on water. Pitman was then ordered to report to the starboard side of the ship to assist in uncovering lifeboats. After receiving the command to lower the boats, Murdoch ordered Pitman to take charge of lifeboat No. 5. Before entering the lifeboat, Officer Murdoch shook Pitman's hand saying, "Goodbye; good luck." With Murdoch's utter seriousness, Pitman thought for the first time that night that the Titanic was really going to sink. Pitman stepped into the lifeboat and it was lowered to the water. Murdoch had ordered Pitman to take the lightly loaded lifeboat to the gangway doors to take on more passengers, but finding the doors shut, Pitman moved the lifeboat away from the ship.
Up to this point, Pitman had expected the ship to remain afloat. After an hour in the lifeboat, however, he realized that Titanic was doomed. He watched her sink from about 400 yards away, and was one of the few to claim that she sank in one piece. As the stern slipped under water, he looked at his watch and announced, "It's 2.20," to his fellow lifeboat passengers. Hearing the screams of those in the water, Pitman immediately decided to row back and rescue whomever he could. However, the others in his lifeboat were fearful of being mobbed and capsized, and Pitman eventually remanded his order. It was a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Pitman was rescued by the along with the other survivors, arriving at Pier 54 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
on 18 April. While in New York, he served as a witness in the American inquiry into the sinking. He and his fellow surviving officers were allowed to leave New York on the Adriatic on 2 May. After returning to England, he served as a witness for a second time, this time for the British inquiry.
Later years
Pitman continued to serve with the White Star Line following the Titanic disaster. He served on the liners and Titanics older sister , later moving from deck officer to purser because of his failing eyesight. In the early 1920s, he moved from White Star to Shaw, Savill and Albion Company Ltd. and also took a wife in 1922 — Mildred "Mimi" Kalman from New Zealand. During the Seond World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he served as purser on board the SS Mataroa, and finally retired in the spring of 1946 after over 60 years at sea. He spent his retirement living in Pitcombe, Somerset, with his niece (his wife having preceded him in death). Pitman died of a subarachnoid hemorrhage
Subarachnoid hemorrhage
A subarachnoid hemorrhage , or subarachnoid haemorrhage in British English, is bleeding into the subarachnoid space—the area between the arachnoid membrane and the pia mater surrounding the brain...
on 7 December 1961. He was 84.
In April 1998, several items relating to Pitman were sold at auction by Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
.
In media
Pitman was portrayed in an uncredited performance by Kevin De La Noy in the TitanicTitanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
film, made in 1997.
Pitman has a sizeable role in the 1997 Broadway musical Titanic
Titanic (musical)
Titanic is a musical with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone that opened on Broadway in 1997. It won five Tony Awards including the award for Best Musical...
.
In the video game Titanic: Adventure Out of Time
Titanic: Adventure Out of Time
Titanic: Adventure Out of Time is a computer game developed by Cyberflix. It was published in the United States and Europe by GTE Entertainment and Europress respectively, and released on November 12, 1996...
, Officer Pitman is replaced by the fictitious Third Officer Morrow.