JOSEPH BRUCE ISMAY Coward, Villain, or A Man Who Was Judged Unfairly? By Andrew Durant INTRODUCTION Imagine that you hid away from everyone for a huge portion of your life because people criticized you for messing up the voyage of the Titanic. This is what happened to J. Bruce Ismay. This is J. Bruce Ismay’s story. BACKGROUND Born December 12, 1862 Parents were Thomas Ismay and Margaret Bruce Father, Thomas, created the White Star Line Joseph took control as chairman in this ship building company upon his father’s death EXPERIENCE Attended school at Elstree School and Harrow Later, he tutored in France for a year Appointed to office in his father’s business in 1891 Became head of that business upon father’s death in 1899 CUNARD LINE SHIPS BIRTH OF AN IDEA In 1907, a shipyard chairman tells Joseph about the Cunard Line of ships Cunard Line ships were supposedly able to cross the ocean in record time The two men thought of the RMS Titanic, one of three ships that would be faster and larger than Cunard Line ships RMS TITANIC FROM IDEA COMES REALITY Main focus wasn’t high speed, but large size was needed to allow more storage capacity for immigrant trade In addition, they wanted luxury to be a high priority so that more wealthy people would come aboard The Titanic’s first voyage began on April 10, 1912 J. Bruce Ismay’s plan was successful until four days later when the Titanic hit a large iceberg Going Down THE AFTERMATH Joseph discovered that what was going on and that the Titanic was going to sink Soon later, he realized that at least half the passengers would die Joseph tried helping by lowering lifeboats into the water Once he thought there were no more female or children passengers, he boarded a lifeboat and went to the closest ship RUMORS Was Joseph pressuring Captain Edward J. Smith to make the Titanic go faster? Did he want to arrive in New York ahead of schedule? Did he ignore an iceberg warning message while dining? Was it his intention to break the speed record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean? Nobody knows… UNDER PRESSURE The press wanted to know if Joseph purposely left his ship while women and children remained on board Some newspapers call him the “Coward of the Titanic” or “J. Brute Ismay” People published negative cartoons and wrote evil poems about his actions This ridicule continued throughout the remainder of his life CONCLUSION Joseph lived for 25 years after the sinking of the Titanic He finally died of a stroke in London on October 17, 1937 His lack of bravery caused his final years to be full of hatred and unhappiness WORKS CITED “Bruce Ismay: Coward, Villian, or A Man Who was Judged Unfairly?” Titanic Universe Home Page. 10 Feb. 2015. <http://www.titanicuniverse.com/bruce-ismay/3148#sthash.uvYfE7aj.dpuf>. “J. Bruce Ismay.” Wikipedia Home Page. 11 Feb. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Bruce_Ismay>. “Mr. Joseph Bruce Ismay.” Encyclopedia-Titianica Home Page. 10 Feb. 2015. <http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/j-ismay.html>. “Titianicberg-J. Bruce Ismay.” Titanicberg Home Page. 10 Feb. 2015. <http://www.titanicberg.com/J._Bruce_Ismay.html>..