Robert Hichens (RMS Titanic)

This article is about the quartermaster of the RMS Titanic. For the Victorian author, see Robert S Hichens.

Robert Hichens
Born	September 16, 1882 Newlyn, Cornwall
Died	September 23, 1940 (aged 58) Aberdeen, Hong Kong

Robert Hichens (September 16, 1882 – September 23, 1940) was part of the deck crew on board the RMS Titanic when it sank on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912. He was one of six quartermasters on board the vessel and was at the ship's wheel when the Titanic struck the fatal iceberg.

Quartermaster Hichens gained notoriety after the disaster because of his conduct in lifeboat no. 6, of which he was in charge. Passengers accused him of refusing to go back to rescue people from the water after the ship sank, that he called the people in the water "stiffs", and that he constantly criticized those at the oars while he was controlling the rudder. Later he complained that the lifeboat was going to drift for days before any rescue came. When the RMS Carpathia came to rescue Titanic's survivors he said that the ship was not there to rescue them, but to pick up the bodies of the dead. By this time the other people in the lifeboat had had enough of Hichens, especially Denver millionaire Margaret "Molly" Brown. Although Hichens protested, Molly Brown told others to start rowing to keep warm. After a last attempt by Hichens to keep control of the lifeboat, Molly Brown threatened to throw him overboard. These events would later end up being depicted in the Broadway musical and film, The Unsinkable Molly Brown. During the American inquiry into the disaster Hichens denied the accounts by the passengers and crew in lifeboat 6. His conduct was also noticeable in the 1997 blockbuster, Titanic, in which he was played by Paul Brightwell.

On September 23, 1940, Hichens died of a heart attack aboard the English Trader in Aberdeen Harbour.

External links

• Bio at Encyclopedia Titanica

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