SCARBORO’S TITANIC TRIBUTE
A SCARBOROUGH man who died trying to save others aboard the Titanic is set to be commemorated with a blue plaque – on the centenary of the great tragedy.
James Paul Moody, who was born in Granville Road, South Cliff, in 1887, was the sixth and youngest officer on RMS Titanic, which tragically foundered on April 15, 1912.
He was the man who answered the bridge phone from the lookout and uttered the fateful words to the first officer: “Iceberg right ahead”.
Moody attended the training shiphms Conway from the age of 14 and later attended King Edward VII Nautical School in London where he passed his Masters Examination in April 1911.
He was just 24 years old when he died and was last seen trying to help others by launching a collapsible lifeboat
A blue plaque has now been provided by the Friends of HMS Conway and is set to be unveiled on April 14 – a century on from when the Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic.
Adrian Perry, chairman of Scarborough Civic Society, said: “If ever there was a time to unveil this plaque, it is now. It is great that we can recognise
people from Scarborough who had such amazing lives.”
He added that the society is very grateful to the Friends group for funding the plaque, which will go up at 17 Granville Road, off Filey Road.
Helen Fletcher Rogers, honorary secretary of the Friends of HMS Conway, said: “We’re delighted that this has been arranged for the 14 th , which is perfect timing.
“A number of residents had approached us about a plaque and they were all very keen.”
Records show that Moody was on watchwhen the Titanic struck an iceberg at 11.40pm on April 14, 1912.
It took two hours and 40 minutes for the liner to sink and throughout the whole of that time James Moody worked selflessly to get as many passengers as possible into the lifeboats.
During this lengthy evacuation of the ship he is said to have filled three five-ton lifeboats but refused to go in one himself.
As a junior officer he should have manned one of the lifeboats. However he deferred to the more senior Fifth Officer Lowe and then went to help other officers on the port side where his fate was sealed. He was last seen by Second Officer Charleslightoller trying to launch a collapsible boatatabout 2.18am. He was the only junior officer to lose his life, having showed outstanding and selfless devotion to duty. Moody’s sacrifice has also been commemorated on a monument in Woodlands Cemetery and at St-martin-on-theHill Church.
Shipbuilder Sir Edward James Harland, born in Scarborough in May 1831, is also commemorated with a blue plaque, situated above Marks and Spencer in Newborough. He created the famous Belfast-based Harland and Wolff shipbuilders in partnership with Gustav Wolff in 1861.
The shipyard had close links with the White Star Line and built the RMS Titanic.