Titanic survivor and hero. Joseph was born into a family tradition of serving at sea. He first began his career in 1899 for the William Thomas Line and by 1907 had joined the White Star Line as a junior officer. When Titanic struck an iceberg April 14, 1912, he was ordered to go down and inspect the forward part of the ship. As he later recounted, he did not see any damage, but a passenger from steerage handed him a chunk of ice that had broken off and fallen onto the deck. Joseph then calculated Titanic's position which was used by Jack Phillips, the First Marconi Operator, to call out their position for immediate assistance. Put in charge of Lifeboat 2, he rowed the half full lifeboat away from the Titanic, fearing that suction could pull the lifeboat down. The rescue ship, Carpathia, saw the flares that Joseph had sent up, which guided them to the lifeboats. Joseph was later called as a star witness to testify about the Titanic's final hours. In 1915 he was commissioned to serve during World War I onboard the HMS Commonwealth. Joseph returned to sea with several other ship lines and worked his way into becoming chief officer of several different ships. He retired in 1940, but in 1958 served as Technical Advisor for the film 'A Night to Remember', based on the Titanic. After he passed away from cerebral thrombosis, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered at the Titanic's last known position. Joseph has been written about extensively, and has been portrayed in numerous films throughout the world.
Titanic survivor and hero. Joseph was born into a family tradition of serving at sea. He first began his career in 1899 for the William Thomas Line and by 1907 had joined the White Star Line as a junior officer. When Titanic struck an iceberg April 14, 1912, he was ordered to go down and inspect the forward part of the ship. As he later recounted, he did not see any damage, but a passenger from steerage handed him a chunk of ice that had broken off and fallen onto the deck. Joseph then calculated Titanic's position which was used by Jack Phillips, the First Marconi Operator, to call out their position for immediate assistance. Put in charge of Lifeboat 2, he rowed the half full lifeboat away from the Titanic, fearing that suction could pull the lifeboat down. The rescue ship, Carpathia, saw the flares that Joseph had sent up, which guided them to the lifeboats. Joseph was later called as a star witness to testify about the Titanic's final hours. In 1915 he was commissioned to serve during World War I onboard the HMS Commonwealth. Joseph returned to sea with several other ship lines and worked his way into becoming chief officer of several different ships. He retired in 1940, but in 1958 served as Technical Advisor for the film 'A Night to Remember', based on the Titanic. After he passed away from cerebral thrombosis, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered at the Titanic's last known position. Joseph has been written about extensively, and has been portrayed in numerous films throughout the world.
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