The man who sank Titanic : the troubled life of quartermaster Robert Hichens /Sally Nilsson.

The author of this book is Robert Hichens's great-granddaughter. Hichens was the quartermaster on the Titanic who was given the order 'hard-a-starboard' and thus was the man who was steering the liner when it collided with an iceberg. Less than an hour after the collision Hichens was put in charge of lifeboat six and rowed over 40 passengers to the safety of the Carpathia. Following a dispute with the lifeboat passenger Molly Brown he was branded a coward and a bully, although he was a valuable witness at the inquiries into the disaster. Hichens's life was blighted by the Titanic; his marriage broke down, he drank heavily and in later life he was imprisoned for the attempted murder of a business associate. He died in 1940 while working as third mate on a cargo ship taking coal to Africa. This book aims to give a different view of Hichens and reveal his true character. The author has drawn on unpublished material from the family archive. There are numerous black and white photographs, including one of Hichens at the helm of lifeboat 6, and a short bibliography.