The man who sank Titanic
Subtitle: the troubled life of Quartermaster Robert Hichens
By: Sally Nilsson
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Stroud, [England]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 159
ISBN-13: 9780752460710
Subjects: Sailors; Titanic (Steamship); Shipwrecks; Biography
Description: "Hichens' granddaughter sets the record straight about the Titanic quartermaster who steered into an iceberg and kept control of a lifeboat. Robert Hichens has gone down in history as the man who was given the famous order to steer the Titanic away from the iceberg and failed. A key witness at both U.S. and British Inquiries, he returned to a livelihood where fellow crewmen considered him jinxed. But Robert had a long career and was a hardworking, ambitious seaman. A fisherman at 19, he quickly became a junior officer in the merchant navy. In World War II he was part of a cargo ship convoy on route to Africa where his ship dodged mines, U-boats and enemy aircraft. To Robert, being at sea was everything but the dark memories of the Titanic were never far away and in 1933 a failed murder attempt after a bitter feud nearly cost Robert his life. Here Robert's great-granddaughter Sally Nilsson seeks to set the record straight and reveal the true character of the man her family knew. This is one man's story of survival, betrayal and determination."--Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.