The Man Who Sank Titanic: The Troubled Life of Quartermaster Robert Hichens

Setting the record straight about the Titanic helmsman who steered into an iceberg.

Robert Hichens has gone down in history as the man who was given the famous order “Hard-a-Starboard” in a desperate attempt to steer the Titanic away from an iceberg—but failed.

Following this, his falling out with the ‘Unsinkable Molly Brown’ over his actions in lifeboat 6 saw him branded a coward and his name indelibly tarnished.

Robert was one of the most important witnesses at both the US and British Inquiries, answering hundreds of gruelling questions.

His testimony became the ‘traditional’ story of the tragedy people know today. When he returned to England fellow crewmen considered him jinxed and his career was almost ruined.

Robert had a long career and was a hardworking, ambitious seaman. A fisherman at 19, he joined a training programme with the Royal Naval Reserves and moved through the ranks quickly to the respected position of quartermaster.

In the Second World War he was part of a cargo ship convoy on route to Africa where his ship dodged mines, U-boats and enemy aircraft to bring essential goods back to Britain. To Robert, being at sea was everything but the dark memories of the Titanic were never far away. In 1933 he was involved in a failed murder attempt after a bitter feud, which nearly cost him his own life too.

In The Man Who Sank Titanic Robert’s great-granddaughter, Sally Nilsson seeks to set the record straight and reveal the true character of the man her family knew. This is one man’s story of survival, betrayal and determination.