Jack Phillips
John George "Jack" Phillips (born April 11, 1887 in Godalming , Surrey , England , † April 15, 1912 in the North Atlantic when the Titanic sank) was a radio operator on the RMS Titanic .
Life
John George Phillips - called Jack - was born the youngest son of George Alfred Phillips and his wife Ann on Farncombe Street in Godalming. His father was the manager of a chain of stores selling curtains . Jack himself was born in the apartment above the shop. He had two twin sisters 13 years his senior, Elsie and Ethel Phillips.
Phillips was baptized a Roman Catholic . In the church of St. John , just a few hundred meters from the shop, there is still a blue plaque that commemorates the famous son of Godalming. Phillips 'upbringing began in the elementary school attached to the church before he switched to a private boys' school thanks to the financial means of his father.
In 1902 Phillips graduated from school and began an apprenticeship as a radio operator at the local post office. In 1906 he moved to Seaforth , where he completed a five-month training course at the Marconi Company's Wireless Telegraphy Training School from March to August . Shortly thereafter, in August 1906, he got his first job on board the White Star Line steamer Teutonic . At that time, the radio stations were still operated directly by the Marconi company, not by the shipping company itself.
Over the next two years, Phillips served on several ships, including the RMS Mauretania and RMS Lusitania . In 1908 he left the shipping industry and took a job at the Marconi radio station in Clifden, Ireland . His task was to receive radio messages from Glace Bay ( Nova Scotia arrived).
In autumn 1911 he was transferred to the Adriatic , with which he drove until Christmas. He then served on board the Oceanic until it was certain in March 1912 that Jack Phillips would be used on the Titanic's maiden voyage .
Titanic
Philipps and his colleague Harold Bride took turns on duty on the Titanic . The radio operators passed on incoming ice warnings to the main bridge at their own discretion. It is believed that this was not done adequately and also that the warnings were not taken seriously enough, which contributed to the Titanic's collision with an iceberg.
aftermath
The Phillips Memorial , the world's largest memorial to a victim of the Titanic , stands in his birthplace, Godalming . It consists of a cloister , a meadow, a second meadow with wildflowers and a walking path along the River Wey .
The following actors have portrayed Jack Phillips to date:
- 1943: Titanic : Karl Dannemann
- 1953: sinking of the Titanic : Ashley Cowan
- 1958: The Titanic's Last Night : Kenneth Griffith
- 1996: Titanic : Matt Hill
- 1997: Titanic : Gregory Cooke
swell
- Jack Phillips in the Encyclopedia Titanica
- The Jack Phillips Story. - Information, pictures and a compilation of the radio messages sent before the sinking
- Stephen Spignesi: Titanic - The ship that never sank. Chronicle of a legend of the century. Goldmann Verlag, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-442-15068-X .
- John P. Eaton, Charles A. Haas: Titanic - Dream and Tragedy. Carl Habel Verlag, 2000, ISBN 3-87179-342-6
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Phillips, Jack |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Phillips, John George |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Radio officer on the Titanic |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 11, 1887 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Godalming , Surrey , England |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 15, 1912 |
| Place of death | North Atlantic |