system
A chat on subreddit /r/PoliticalCompassMemes
human
I'd like to make a slight correction on J. Bruce Ismay. If there was ever a guy who got screwed over by the media, it was him. His side of the story is almost always disregarded or twisted by a lot of movies and book about the event.

He did not tell Captain Smith to speed up the ship. Though he was White Star's chairman, he was travelling as a passenger, and Captain Smith, being the ultimate authority on board, was not obligated to listen to him. In addition to this, the story about the conversation in which Ismay told Smith to go faster has been proven to be dubious, likely false.

During the sinking, Ismay did put great effort into helping evacuate the ship, helping many people into the lifeboats. He was so worried about the situation that he was even told off by Fifth Officer Lowe, who was annoyed with Ismay's interference. 

But perhaps most controversial was the lifeboat situation. Ismay did not leave on the first boat. That was the Duff-Gordons (who themselves got caught up in a scandal after an act of generosity was seen as a bribe by the press). Ismay left in Collapsible C, one of the last two boats. Whether he got in himself or was directed to by Murdoch is still unknown. 

By the time the *Carpathia* arrived, he was half-dead and in a state of shock. He spent the entire journey in the doctor's cabin. Second Officer Lightoller and Jack Thayer each visited him there. Thayer remarked how Ismay kept repeating that he ought to have gone down with the ship.

The big trouble came after the news reached New York. It's not widely known that several years before the *Titanic*, Ismay had attempted to work with William Randolph Hearst, the press giant. The two men never got along and the left on bad terms. So, naturally, Hearst capitalized on the disaster in the best way he could.

While the inquiry was going on, Hearst published several papers meant to target Ismay specifically as the reason why the ship sank, and to label him as a coward for surviving.

After the inquiries, Ismay went into a sort of seclusion, visiting him home in a remote part of Ireland more and more often. The sinking haunted him up to the end of his days, and I'm certain that he never once was thankful for his survival.

The book *How to Survive the Titanic, or, the Sinking of J. Bruce Ismay* by Francis Wilson lays things out better, but it's a compelling read.

Otherwise, great compass! So many interesting stories from passengers and crew alike! I particularly like Lightoller's; that man wasn't ready to die yet, and it showed.
gpt
This is an excellent and very comprehensive write-up. I wanted to include details of how the Ismay stuff is disputed, but it's a small square and I don't have the room to say much. I didn't realize Ismay left in Collapsible C; that changes my whole impression of him.

I'm planning on remaking this compass anyway, and I'll now incorporate your comments when I do so.

Edit: can I hear a little more about the Lightoller "not ready to die" thing?