Herbert Pitman, Titanic’s Third Officer

Early life and merchant-service training

Herbert John Pitman was born on November 20, 1877, in Sutton Montis, Somerset. He entered the Merchant Navy at eighteen and combined practical sea service with formal navigation training. He qualified as second mate in 1900, first mate in 1902, and master mariner in 1906.

Before White Star Line, he served with companies trading to Australia and Japan. He joined White Star around 1906 and held several officer ranks aboard ships including Dolphin, Majestic, and Oceanic. By 1912 he had broad maritime experience, although only part of it had been on the North Atlantic.

Joining Titanic and ordinary officer duties

Pitman received instructions to travel to Belfast in March 1912 and joined Titanic for the trials. As third officer, his duties included bridge watches, celestial observations, compass work, deck supervision, and oversight of quartermasters.

On April 14, he worked the 6-to-8 p.m. watch and later went to his cabin. His next watch was due at midnight. He knew the ship was entering a region associated with ice and had seen wireless notices in the chart room, but he did not expect an immediate emergency.

Awakened by the collision

The collision woke Pitman. He later compared the sound to an anchor chain running out. He looked outside, saw no obvious alarm, and returned to his cabin. Because his next watch was approaching, he began to dress.

Fourth Officer Boxhall then came to the cabin and reported that the mail room was afloat. When Pitman asked what had happened, Boxhall answered that the ship had struck an iceberg. Pitman went on deck, saw crews uncovering boats, and noticed ice on the forward well deck.

He also looked below and saw water around a forward hatch after firemen reported flooding. The sequence shows how awareness developed in stages: a strange noise, a quiet deck, a report from another officer, and then visible evidence that water was entering the ship.

Preparing and commanding Lifeboat 5

Pitman went to Lifeboat 5 on the starboard side. He helped uncover and swing it out. J. Bruce Ismay urged that the boat be filled, and Pitman checked with Captain Smith before proceeding. Women, children, several men, and crew members entered.

First Officer Murdoch decided when the boat should be lowered and ordered Pitman to take command. Murdoch also told him to remain near the after gangway in case the boat was called back to receive more people. Before the boat left, Murdoch shook Pitman’s hand and wished him good luck.

Pitman’s inquiry estimates varied, but Lifeboat 5 was not filled to its rated capacity. Like several early boats, it left while many passengers were still inside the ship or reluctant to believe that entering a small open boat was safer than remaining aboard Titanic.

Watching Titanic sink and the decision not to return

After lowering, Lifeboat 5 moved away and waited. Pitman watched Titanic settle and heard the disaster’s final sounds. He later described the cries after the ship disappeared as one of the most distressing parts of the night.

Pitman ordered the boat to start back, but people aboard objected that the craft could be overwhelmed by swimmers. He abandoned the attempt. The decision became part of his inquiry evidence and illustrates the fear faced by people in partially filled boats: the desire to help was weighed against the risk of losing everyone already aboard.

Lifeboat 5 later joined with Lifeboat 7 for visibility and balance. When Carpathia’s lights appeared, the boats rowed toward the rescue ship. Pitman helped passengers board Carpathia and later gave evidence in New York and London.

What Pitman told the inquiries

Pitman testified about the ice messages, officer duties, flooding he observed, lifeboat preparation, Murdoch’s orders, the loading of Boat 5, and events after Titanic sank. The British inquiry questioned him at length and recalled him the next day.

His evidence is especially useful because it connects several stages of the emergency without claiming a bridge view of the collision itself. He was an off-duty officer who returned, inspected conditions, worked a boat, and then witnessed the sinking from the water.

Later career as an officer and purser

Pitman returned to White Star service and later served aboard Oceanic and Olympic. As his eyesight deteriorated, he moved from the deck department into purser work. He eventually joined Shaw, Savill and Albion and spent more than two decades in the purser’s department.

During the Second World War he served as a purser on troop-carrying voyages. In 1946 he received an MBE for long and meritorious service at sea and in dangerous wartime waters. He retired from the Merchant Navy shortly afterward.

Death and place among the surviving officers

Pitman lived in retirement in Somerset and died on December 7, 1961, aged 84. He was buried in the churchyard at Pitcombe.

His death left Joseph Boxhall as the last surviving member of Titanic’s deck-officer group. Pitman’s own record remains valuable because it combines professional training, direct inquiry testimony, a lifeboat command, and a long maritime life after Titanic.