Sir Bertram Fox Hayes DSO RD

RNR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

(25 April 1864 – 15 May 1941) was a sea captain with the

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...

Life and career

Bertram Hayes was born in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

in Cheshire, but his family moved to

Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. According to the 2011 UK census, Goole parish had a population of 19,518, an increa ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

when he was four years of age. He began his service in the Merchant Navy as a Junior Clerk at the age of 14 in the Goole Shipping Company. He went to sea in 1880 and gained his Master's Certificate in 1889 and his Extra Master's in 1897. In 1898 he joined the firm of Ismay, Imrie & Company (parent company of the White Star Line), sailing as Mate aboard the Coptic. He was promoted to Master and commanded the SS '' Britannic'', and during the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

he took troops to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, carrying 37,000 troops in three years, for which he was awarded the Transport Medal. He also served on the White Star Line ships '' Teutonic'', '' Germanic'', '' Suevic'', ''

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

'', the '' Laurentic'', in which he inaugurated the company's Canadian service in 1909, and the '' Adriatic''. Hayes was called as a witness to the British Board of Trade inquiry held after the

Titanic disaster The sank in the early morning hours of 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The largest ocean liner in service at the time, ''Titanic'' had an estimated 2,224 pe ...

, which he attended on 11 June 1912. In his testimony, Hayes was questioned mainly on the subject on routines regarding spotting ice. Hayes described the circumstances on the night of the sinking of the Titanic as "abnormal, which nobody had experienced before". During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he was appointed Captain of the RMS ''Olympic'' when the ship was employed as a troop carrier across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. In 1917 he was awarded a CMG for his services. On 12 May 1918, en route from New York to Southampton and while in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

, the Olympic, sighted the U-boat SM U-103. After opening fire, the Olympic turned to ram and sank the submarine. For this service, he was awarded the DSO. He was knighted in 1919 for "valuable services in connection with the transport of troops".The London Gazette Publication date:12 September 1919 Issue:31553 Page:11575
/ref> Between 1922 and 1924 he captained the RMS ''Majestic'', which was then the world's largest ship, and retired as

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

of the White Star Line in 1924 when the company reinstated the rank. In 1925 he published his memoirs, ''Hull Down, Reminisces of Windjammers, Troops and Travellers'', in the book Fox-Hayes makes no mention of the ill-fated

RMS Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

even though he was with the White Star Line at the time of the sinking. He remained a bachelor and died on 15 May 1941 at his home in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

References

www.angloboerwar.com
- www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

External links

Photograph of Sir Bertram Fox Hayes from the National Portrait Gallery.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Bertram Fox 1864 births 1941 deaths People from Birkenhead English sailors Steamship captains White Star Line Royal Naval Reserve personnel