joseph bruce ismay - Laurel County Schools

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
F RO M I D E A C O M E S R E A L I T Y
 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>.