Thomas Andrews Jr, 39, was born on February 7, 1873 at Ardara House, Comber, Northern Ireland, a son of the Right Hon. Thomas Andrews and Eliza Pirrie; he was also a nephew of Lord Pirrie, principal owner of Harland & Wolff (the builders of the Titanic.) In 1884 he entered the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, but at the age of 16 he left school and entered Harland & Wolff as a premium apprentice, gradually working his way up through various departments. He eventually became the managing director of H & W in charge of designing, and was familiar with every detail of the construction of the firm’s ships. In 1901 he became a member of the Institution of Naval Architects, and on June 24, 1908 he married Helen Reilly Barbour and they lived at “Dunallon”, Windsow Avenue, Belfast.
Thomas Andrews made a point of sailing with a team of mechanics on the maiden voyages of the Adriatic, Oceanic and Olympic in order to observe their operation and recommend improvements to future vessels to be built by his firm. Naturally, he accompanied Titanic first to Southampton and then on its journey to New York
At sea, Andrews had spent most of the journey making notes and assisting the crew with minor difficulties as they got to know the new ship. He was always a popular man on these trips.
On the evening of April 14th he returned to his cabin after dinner to study the blueprints and collate his notes. He barely noticed the collision and was unaware of any problem until Captain Smith sent a message requesting his immediate presence on the bridge. Later, Saloon Steward James Johnson described how he saw Andrews and Captain Smith touring the forward part of the ship, they visited the flooding mail room and the squash court which was also quickly filling with water. Back on the bridge he broke the news to Captain Smith that in view of the damage the ship had suffered he did not expect her to stay afloat more than two hours. During the liner’s final hours he wandered the decks encouraging passengers to wear their lifebelts and to make their way to the boats. He was last seen staring into space by the painting in the first class smoking room, his lifebelt discarded.