James Paul Moody
James Paul Moody (born August 21, 1887 - died April 15, 1912) was the youngest officer on the RMS Titanic and the only junior officer of the ship to die in the disaster.
R.M.S. Titanic
Moody is most notable for having been on the bridge of the Titanic when she struck an iceberg at 11:40 PM, on Sunday April 14th, 1912. Shortly before impact, Lookout Frederick Fleet sighted the iceberg and called the bridge to notify them that the iceberg was directly in the ship’s path. Moody answered the call, “what do you see?”, to hear Fleet screaming, “Iceberg, Right Ahead!” Hearing this, the young officer coolly responded “thank you”, before relaying the message to 1st Officer William Murdoch. Immediately following the collision, Murdoch ordered Moody to note the time into the ship’s log.
During the sinking many eyewitnesses recounted that Moody assisted in launching several of the lifeboats. 5th Officer Harold Lowe later testified that he and Moody loaded lifeboats 14 & 16, which were the two furthermost aft boats on the port side. Lowe stated that Moody told him to get into lifeboat 14 and that he would get on another one. Moody was last seen attempting to load Collapsible A, which was an emergency lifeboat that had been moved from the roof of the officer’s quarters onto the boat deck. Collapsible A subsequently washed clear of the boat deck as the rising waters overtook those crew members, including Moody, who were racing to launch it. Moody’s final fate is unknown but it is likely that, like most other Titanic victims, he died of hypothermia in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic. James Paul Moody was at the age of 24 at the time of his death.
Moody was portrayed by Edward Fletcher in the 1997 blockbuster Titanic.