Thomas Andrews

then aged 39, was the Managing Director of Harland & Wolff Shipyards, nephew of Lord Pirrie (Harland & Wolff's chairman), and one of Titanic's main designers. A tireless workaholic, he had supervised every detail of the ship's construction and outfitting, and was the world's foremost expert on every aspect of her. He sailed on Titanic with a hand-picked team of seven experts, the Harland & Wolff "guarantee group," who spent most of the voyage trouble-shooting last-minute problems and perfecting the finishing of this, the company's greatest creation. Andrews himself brought along Titanic's complete blue-prints, and worked practically non-stop on the voyage, carrying a notebook everywhere, making notes about imperfections and ideas for improvements. He was, for instance, concerned that the coat-hooks were attached to the walls with an unsightly number of screws, which he intended to change. Knowing Titanic was going down, robbed Andrews of his soul. All his heart was in that ship. He went down with the Titanic on April 14, 1912.


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