George Thomas Rowe was born on March 20th, 1881. He was a native of Hampsire, like his parents. He was the was the eldest son, one of eleven children. as well as the second child of a plumber, Richard Rowe. His mother was Annie Groves.
One of eleven children, Rowe's siblings were: Annie Elizabeth (b. 1879), Richard Herbert (b. 1883), Ernest Groves (b. 1885), Percy William (b. 1887), Edith Ethel (b. 1890), Violet May (b. 1892), Frederick Skinner (b. 1895), Lily Victoria (b. 1897), Elsie Jane (b. 1901) and Frederick Montague H. (b. 1903).
Around his twenties, he had left for sea, and had been going on various ships of the Royal Navy, which he had joined in 1894. Later he went to work for White Star Line and was an Able Seaman of Oceanic and Majestic.
George Rowe was part of the Deck Crew on board the RMS Titanic when it sank on its Maiden Voyage on April 15th, 1912. He was one of six Quartermasters on board the vessel and was helping fire the rockets and signal Morse code to a mystery ship near the Titanic.
He joined the Titanic in Belfast for her delivery trip and served aboard as lookout. When he signed on again in Southampton, this time as Quartermaster, on April 6th, 1912, he gave his address as 63 Henry Street, Gosport, Hampshire. His monthly wages were £5.
At the time of the collision, Rowe had been on duty at the poop deck since 8pm. Describing the night as fine, he felt a slight jar and immediately looked at his watch, noting the time as 11:40 P.M.. He then glanced to the starboard side of the ship and saw a mass of ice pass by, which he estimated to be 100 feet in height and so close to the ship that he feared the aft bridge, which stood proud of the railing, would strike it.
He remained at his post by the telephone to await further orders, but no instructions were relayed, and at 12:25 A.M. he noticed a lifeboat in the water off the starboard side. He immediately rang up to the bridge and asked the person who answered if they were aware that a boat had been lowered; the person on the other end of the line responded by asking if Rowe was the third officer, but he confirmed his identity as a quartermaster and was then asked to bring rockets to the bridge for firing.
Doing as instructed, Rowe carried flares to the bridge where he was met by 4th officer Boxhall; the pair began firing off the rockets until what Rowe estimated to be 1:25 A.M. , and he also sent Morse code on the ship's bridge lights; he noted that at this time the crew had begun working on releasing the forward starboard collapsible lifeboats. Chief Officer Wilde found himself in need of a seaman, and Rowe asked Captain Smith if he should continue firing off the flares; Smith ordered him to stop and help man Collapsible C.
Rowe seemingly arrived quite late in Collapsible C's preparation, as he only had time to help about six women and children into the boat before the order was given to lower away. Just before lowering, Wilde called out for more women and children, but none came forward, and Rowe noted how two male passengers then climbed into the stern of the boat, without invitation, before it was finally lowered. Collapsible C was filled with what Rowe initially estimated to be 39 persons—which included himself, three firemen, one steward, two male passengers and the rest women and children (and later on in proceedings four interlopers revealed themselves who Rowe described as Filipinos who had been hiding in the bottom of the boat); he later identified one of the men who climbed in just before lowering as Ismay. Through media at the time, he became aware that the second man was William Ernest Carter.
The descent to the water, although by now only a short distance, was fraught with difficulties and took longer than expected; a 5–6° list to port meant that Collapsible C hung so far in that her gunwale was catching upon rivets and any other protuberances on the side of the ship; oars and occupants' bare hands were used to try and push the boat away from the side of the ship to aid her flight. Upon touching down on the water, Rowe stated that the forward well-deck was then awash but the forecastle head had not fully submerged.
He saw a white light approximately five miles away just a few degrees off the port bow of Titanic, which he took to be the stern light of a sailing ship, but despite the efforts of those in the boat pulling towards it, they made no headway. Instead, they altered their course and headed towards a lifeboat they could see which was carrying a green lantern.
Rowe estimated Collapsible C was about three-quarters of a mile away when the ship plunged, and he recalled hearing rumblings like "a distant thunder". From the lifeboat's position at the time, Rowe was unable to confirm if the ship had broken up during the sinking.
In the wake of the disaster, Rowe was called to testify at both the US and British Inquiries into the sinking.
During the 1950's, when interest in Titanic resurged, he corresponded with Walter Lord during his writing of A Night to Remember.
In popular culture[]
Quartermaster Rowe has been portrayed in two Titanic films.
A Night to Remember[]
George Rowe in A Night to Remember (1958)
In the 1958 British film A Night to Remember, Rowe was portrayed by Cyril Chamberlain. The film portrays 1st Officer Murdoch as ordering Rowe into Collapsible C after Rowe fired off all the rockets to alert the SS Californian, even though Captain Smith ordered him into the boat.
1997 film[]
George Rowe in Titanic (1997)
In James Cameron's Titanic, Rowe was portrayed by Richard Graham. He plays a significant role in the fictional occurance of Rose's attempt at suicide, then when she screams so loud that he and a group of sailors at the forward well deck are alerted, they follow instinct and run aft to see what's going on. They find Jack, who just pulled her in, with Rose underneath him, he looks at his abandoned shoes and the scene does look suspicious to an outsider, therefore Rowe orders the seamen to enlighten the Master-At-Arms.
Rowe launches the first distress rocket, while 4th Officer Boxhall watches.
He's later seen firing the first distress rocket while Titanic's bow has sunk deep and the first lifeboat, number 7 is being lowered.