Robert Hichens Draws Ire on Titanic
Quartermaster Robert Hichens accepted his first North Atlantic duty on Titanic, having served his career to that point on Union Castle and British India lines. He steered the ship’s wheel when the order came down to turn the wheel “hard a’starboard” away from the iceberg. When his relief showed up at 12:23 am, the officer on duty directed the men to tend the lifeboats. Hichens held charge of Lifeboat 6.
Some of the women aboard the lifeboat accused Hichens of talking sharply to the lifeboat’s women, wrapping himself up in extra blankets, and drinking all the whiskey. He defended his use of some blankets, “I was standing at attention, exposed, steering the boat all night, which is a very cold billet. But worse, the women said he refused to return to Titanic to pick up survivors in the water, which he defended as fear of suction as Titanic went down.
