Lieutenant Henry Tingle Wilde RNR
Wilde in White Star Line uniform
Born	(1872-09-21)21 September 1872 Walton, England, UK
Died	15 April 1912(1912-04-15) (aged 39) North Atlantic Ocean
Buried	North Atlantic Ocean
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy Reserve
Years of service	July 1897 - April 1912
Rank	Lieutenant - Royal Naval Reserve
Known for	Chief Officer aboard RMS Titanic
Spouse(s)	Mary Catherine Jones ​ ​ (m. 1898; died 1910)​
Children	6

Henry Tingle Wilde, RNR (21 September 1872 – 15 April 1912) was a British naval officer who was the chief officer of the RMS Titanic. He died when the ship sank on her maiden voyage in April 1912.

Early life[edit]

Henry Tingle Wilde was born on 21 September 1872 in Walton, north of Liverpool, England. He was the son of Henry Wilde, an insurance surveyor from Ecclesfield, South Yorkshire. His mother was Elizabeth Tingle of Loxley, Bradfield. Wilde was christened at the Loxley Congregational Chapel in Loxley, Sheffield on 24 October 1872. Henry was known as Harry among his friends. He went to sea in his teens. He apprenticed with Messrs. James Chambers & Co., Liverpool. His apprenticeship began on 23 October 1889, on board the 1835-ton Greystoke Castle, and concluded four years later on 22 October 1893. From there, he served as third mate aboard the Greystoke Castle, and then moved on to third mate of the 1374-ton Hornsby Castle. His first steamship posting was aboard the S.S. Brunswick in 1895, where he served initially as third mate, then as second mate. In 1896, he transferred to the S.S. Europa and served aboard her as second mate. In July 1897, he joined the White Star Line.

Starting as a junior officer, Wilde rose steadily through the ranks while serving on several White Star ships. These included the Covic, Cufic, Tauric, and Delphic.^[1] He also saw service on White Star Line ships Republic, Coptic, Majestic, Baltic and Adriatic. Tragedy struck in December 1910 when Wilde's wife and twin infant sons Archie and Richard died. He was left supporting four children and had some difficulty overcoming the loss. An acquaintance would later say, that "he didn’t care particularly how he went or how soon he joined her." In August 1911, Wilde became Chief Officer of Titanic's sister, the RMS Olympic, where he served under Titanic's future captain, Edward J. Smith.

Wilde was an officer of the Royal Naval Reserve, where he was commissioned a sub-lieutenant on 26 June 1902.^[2]

Titanic[edit]

Wilde was scheduled to leave Southampton on Olympic on 3 April 1912, but a reshuffle on board the Titanic caused the lowering of a rank of William McMaster Murdoch and Charles Lightoller to First and Second Officer, respectively, with Second Officer David Blair being removed from the ship entirely. Almost as soon as the ship had tied up in Southampton, Wilde had been kept ashore when the Olympic departed Southampton on April 3, and was assigned to make the Titanic voyage. Lightoller later recalled that Wilde had stayed ashore because he was to receive "command of another of the White Star steamers, which, owing to the coal strike and other reasons was laid up".^[3] Wilde was ready and willing to serve, although he was a bit apprehensive about the switch to Titanic; he had been hesitant to accept the appointment until his friends told him that he would be "mad to refuse" the opportunity, so he had accepted the posting. Lightoller called Wilde "a pretty big, powerful chap, and he was a man that would not argue very long."^[4] Wilde did not formally join the ship until the evening of April 9.

On the ship's sailing day, 10 April 1912, Wilde reported for duty at 6:00 a.m. Wilde was assembled with men for the ship's lifeboat drill.^[6] The officers made their way to their departure stations; Wilde was at the head of the forecastle, overseeing the crew working the mooring lines. Lightoller was a bit further aft on the Forecastle, working under Wilde's direction. Around the time of departure, he was assisting Lightoller in casting off mooring ropes and in securing of tug lines. Wilde stood by the anchor crane at the bow, his hands clasped behind his back, watching the crewmen kneeling on the deck next to him, coiling the lines neatly for storage.^[5] After the ship was put to sea, Wilde worked the 2–6 watches every morning and afternoon. On April 11, Third Class Steward John E. Hart recalled that at some point during the day, there was a general bulkhead inspection. He saw Wilde and designer Thomas Andrews checking to make sure that the crew would close the watertight doors manually.^[7]

On the Titanic, Wilde reportedly wrote a letter to his sister at Queenstown in which he mentioned that he had "a queer feeling about the ship".^[8]

On April 14, Wilde was relieved of Officer of the Watch at 6pm by Lightoller.^[9] At 11:40 p.m., on 14 April, the ship hit an iceberg. After the collison with the iceberg, Trimmer Hemming and Storekeeper Frank Prentice headed up to the forecastle head, just forward of the anchor crane, to investigate air hissing out of the vent pipe with considerable force, indicating the peak tank was flooding rapidly. Wilde came along with Boatswain's Mate Albert Haines. Wilde asked Hemming about the hissing noise and Hemming said water must be flooding the forepeak tank but that the storeroom was dry. Wilde proceeded on his way. Haines later informed Wilde on the bridge that No. 1 hold was flooding. Wilde told him to get his men up, and then to get the boats out.^[10] He probably may have ordered Boxhall to wake Lightoller, Pitman and Lowe. On the port side, Wilde took charge of the boats and Lightoller would assist him. He met Wilde just outside the door to the officers' quarters and Wilde ordered him to get the covers off the boats. He asked if all hands had been called, and Wilde replied in the affirmative.^[11] Lightoller asked Wilde if they could swing the boats out, but Wilde did not seem to want to just yet. When Lightoller ran to Smith, he gave him permission.^[12]

In the ensuing evacuation, Wilde helped in the loading of Lifeboats No. 8, 14, 12, 16, 2, and 10. While working at the port side lifeboats, Lightoller was approached by Wilde from the starboard side and asked where the firearms were. He had apparently asked Murdoch, but the First Officer had no idea where they were. When the revolvers were brought out, and Lightoller turned to leave, Wilde shoved one revolver into his hand, with a handful of ammunition, saying he may need it. As they left the cabin, Lightoller heard Wilde say "I am going to put on my life-belt."^[13] By 1:40 a.m., most of the port lifeboats had been lowered, and Wilde moved to the starboard side. Steward James Johnston and Fourth Officer Boxhall saw Wilde putting women and children into lifeboat No. 2 and superintending the filling. At 10, chief baker Charles Joughin saw Wilde conducting affairs, shouting at the stewards to keep a large number of passengers gathered back. When the boat was full, Wilde then picked out the men to take charge of it: two sailors and a steward.^[14] Ismay testified that Wilde was the officer who was in charge of collapsible C.^[15] Major Arthur Godfrey Peuchen of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club had just reached the boat deck and saw a group of about 100 stokers with their kit bags, seemingly crowding the whole deck in front of the boats; unlike many of the passengers, these men had come up from below and knew the extent of the flooding. An officer, who may have been Wilde, came along and drove the men out of the area. The stokers did not protest and cooperated with the officer.^[16] Boat No. 8, loaded by Wilde, was to get away first. Wilde ordered able bodied seaman Joseph Scarrott to start loading women and children into Boat No. 14. At No. 12, he asked seaman Clench how many crewmen were aboard. When told there was just one, he ordered him into the boat as there were no other seamen available and ordered him to keep his eye on the No. 14 boat where Lowe was. He began loading boat no. 2. and once away, he crossed over to the starboard side to Collapsible C. He helped load passengers, then put out a call for someone to look after the boat; Quartermaster Rowe was ordered by Smith to do so. Wilde left C and returned to the port side, most likely by passing through the bridge and began loading Boat D. When steerage passengers began rushing, Wilde pulled his gun and ordered every man to get out of the boat. He then ordered, along with Lightoller for all passengers to the starboard side to straighten the ship up.^[17] At D, Wilde told Lightoller, "You go with her, Lightoller." Lightoller said, "Not damned likely!", and jumped back on the ship in defiance of Wilde's order.^[18] This was the last reliable sighting of Wilde.

Death[edit]

An account in the Cornish Post of 2 May 1912, claimed that Wilde was last seen on the bridge smoking a cigarette, and that he waved goodbye to Lightoller as the ship sank. Lightoller himself made no mention of this, in his accounts, only allowing he last saw Wilde "quite a long time before the ship went down."^[19]

Wilde's body was never recovered.

Legacy[edit]

His name is recorded on a family tombstone at Kirkdale Cemetery in Liverpool, marked by an obelisk and gravestone. The inscription reads, "Also Captain [sic] Henry T. Wilde, RNR Acting Chief Officer Who Met His Death in the SS Titanic Disaster 15th April 1912 aged 38 years [sic]. 'One of Britain’s Heroes'".

Portrayals[edit]

• Howard Lang (1958) (A Night to Remember)
• Tony Caunter (1979) (S.O.S. Titanic)
• Mark Lindsay Chapman (1997) (Titanic)
• Will Keen (2012) (Titanic) (TV series/4 episodes)

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Winocour, Jack, ed. (1960). The Story of the Titanic as told by its Survivors. London: Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-20610-3.
• Fitch, Tad; Layton, J. Kent; Wormstedt, Bill (2012). On A Sea of Glass: The Life & Loss of the R.M.S. Titanic. Amberley Books. ISBN 978-1848689275.

External links[edit]

• Henry Wilde on Titanic-Titanic.com
• Encyclopedia Titanica article on Henry Tingle Wilde