Frederick Barrett

Frederick William Barrett was officially a Leading Fireman, but he called himself a Leading Stoker, explaining there's a difference during the British Inquiry. He operated in Boiler Room No. 6 of the Titanic. He survived the sinking.

Early life & career[]

Frederick Barrett was born in Liverpool on January 10, 1883 near Liverpool to an Devon workman. Little is known about Barrett's youth. Barrett decided to turn to the sea when he discovered that his wife was unfaithful. The date of his first trip to sea is not certain. In 1903, he joined the Cunard Line aboard the RMS Campania as a stoker. In 1904, he entered the service of the Allan Line by serving aboard the SS Parisian and then the White Star Line aboard the RMS Cedric. In 1906, he returned to the Cunard Line serving again on the Campania. He then joined the American Line aboard the SS City of New York.

When he signed-on to the Titanic on April 6^th, 1912; he gave his address as 24 King Street in Southampton. His previous ship was the New York. As a leading fireman, he took home monthly wages of £6 10s.

The collision[]

On April 14 ^th, at 11:40 P.M., Barrett was in Boiler Room 6 talking to Second Engineer John Hesketh when the alarm started to sound and the red light above the watertight door leading aft went on. There was an ear-splitting cracking noise and then it looked like the entire starboard hull was pressed away. With water invading the room and the watertight doors closing, Barrett yelled to his comrades to leave as soon as possible and managed himself to escape. Now in Boiler Room 5, Barrett saw the damage stretched out all the way to 50 cm behind the watertight bulkhead, giving entrance to a thick stream of water that was now flooding the room.

He stayed in Boiler Room 5 until 1:00 A.M. At that moment, the watertight bulkhead between boiler rooms 5 & 6 gave away under the water pressure. Barrett and junior assistant Second Engineer Harvey were doused with 30°F water. Barrett heroically jumped away to the steel ladder up, but Harvey was sucked away in the whirling water.

Rescued[]

He then went to A-Deck, where boatswain Alfred Nichols placed him in charge of boat No. 13. Once put to sea, boat No. 15 was almost lowered on top of them. Barrett tried to cut the ropes while the other occupants of the boat attempted to keep boat 15 from landing on them.

At daylight, in the morning of April 15, they were rescued by the Carpathia.

Inquiry[]

A few weeks later, on May 25^th, Frederick Barrett was working on the Olympic. When Senator Smith was given a tour of the Titanic's sister by Captain Haddock as part of his investigation, Haddock mentioned that one of his stokers had been aboard Titanic and Smith then went down to the boiler room to talk with Barrett and get a better impression of how conditions had been aboard Titanic in the Boiler Rooms at the time of the collision. During the Inquiry, Frederick proved to have a dry sense of humor as Senator Smith had asked where the water on the stokehold plates had come from, during the hit, on which Frederick reacted with: "Well, out of the sea, I expect".

Afterwards[]

Frederick later married to Mary Ann Jones on February 16^th, 1915 and had many children but only one survived named Harold. Mary later died 1923 and Frederick never remarried and later died on March 3^rd, 1931 from pulmonary tuberculosis.

Portrayals[]

'S.O.S Titanic' (1979)[]

Frederick Barrett is portrayed by Maurice Roëves. he is portrayed strangely because in the end credits he is a victim

'Titanic: The Musical' (1997)[]

Brian d'Arcy James played Frederick Barrett in the 1997 production of Broawday.

'Titanic' (1997)[]

Frederick Barrett is portrayed by Derek Lea.

'Titanic: The Legend Goes on'[]

'Saving the Titanic' (2012)[]

'Saving the Titanic' is a documentary and movie in one about the Engineers, Stokers and Electrians on Titanic. Frederick Barrett has prominent role as a main character, played by North-Irish actor Ciarán McMenamin, who portrays him as an unflappable, obstinate, stoic and often silent man, but modest, fair to his men, very wise and cool-headed. He choses not to sleep at the Leading Firmen's accomodations, as an Engineer suggest as he feels better at the regular Firemen's berths. When there's a bunker fire, he takes a leak on it when Chief Engineer Bell orders him to put it out. He makes friends with Greaser Thomas Patrick Dillon, who learns he has lost his wife after just proudly showing a picture of his own love. Barrett later comes inbetween Patrick and another Leading Fireman when they fight over a spot at a table in the Fireman's Mess. This leads him to be punished with extra shifts by Joseph Bell. He fulfills his duties and picks out a coalstone, where he carves the silhouette in his free time.

Barrett makes himself a crucial help after the ship hits an iceberg while they are down below and the place is slowly filling with water. He manages to escape later, after 1:20 A.M. as the bulkhead between Boiler Room 5 and Boiler Room 6 caves in, which leads to a massive downpour of seawater, sadly having to leave Engineer Shepherd behind who had broken his leg after tripping over a pump hose. The Boiler Room quickly fills with water and Fred takes the ladder to higher ground.

The representatives of White Star Line want to use him as a hero figure to give the public a bit of consolence in a bid to distract them from White Star Line's wrongdoings. Frederick does not agree with them and doesn't see himself as a hero figure as he was still living while many of his colleagues had died. After leaving their office, he sees Dillon, both men smiling to see that their friend is still alive despite their difference. Barrett places the coalstone at the Pier in Southampton, where Titanic was once moored.