George Kemish (October 29th, 1889 - February 6th, 1966) was a Fireman of the Titanic. He survived the sinking.
When he signed on to the Titanic, on 6 April 1912, George gave his address as 238 Shirley Road, Southampton. His previous ship had been the Olympic and as a fireman he could expect to earn monthly wages of £6.
Following the collision with the iceberg, Kemish recalled being ordered down into the Boiler Rooms to draw the fires, a task which he later lamented was a difficult one. He described the scene:
"I saw one engineer slip and break his leg... We placed him in a pump room and did anything we could to help the other Engineers. Ship’s Carpenters were constantly taking soundings. They may have known, but no one else (except Skipper Smith), that things were going to happen."
Kemish later made his way up to the Boat Deck and described throwing deckchairs over the side to act as ballast. He saw large masses of people gathered, with children and women not wanting to board the boats, so they had to be forced. The people felt safer on Titanic and the distance to the water was pretty big. He explained that the ship's sinking wasn't too noticable thanks because of her stability.
Moments later he saw the famous writer William Thomas Stead in the First Class Smoking Room. To George it appeared as if he cared to stay there, no matter what would happen.
Whether or not George boarded lifeboat 9 from the Boat Deck or Promenade Deck is not certain but he later described jumping from the starboard side, intent on grabbing boat 9's falls and lowering himself into the boat but he missed and dropped into the water. Later he was hauled aboard.
In his account it seemed that the Orchestra didn't play till the very end.
Portrayals[]
A Night to Remember (1958)[]
George Kemish in A Night to Remember (1958)
| “ |
Evening, sir."
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—George Kemish and Thomas Andrews | ||
George Kemish makes a cameo appearance in A Night to Remember, portrayed by an uncredited actor.
He appeared during Thomas Andrews' visit to the Boiler Room with 2nd Engineer John Henry Hesketh. Kemish then greets Andrews, to which Andrews graciously responds.