Many thanks for all your feedback and comments - they are much appreciated.
Glad you liked the photos, Mike P! I tried to select images more contemporaneous with his early career, rather than the two c.1911-1912 images that are so often used. The first portrait, with the broad collar, was taken while he was attending the Rosebery House School in Scarborough, c. 1901.
The image of the fireboat comes from a postcard in my collection. Although undated, the caption refers to a Hoboken fire starting in the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad yards, which leads me to believe that it was the fire Moody witnessed in 1904. The pc is not unusual, and was issued as late as the early teens.
Dave, I'm very pleased that you feel the piece was not overwritten. I had to resist the temptation to add an editorial gloss, as the letters are so rich in source material for the last days in sail that they offer much for analysis and commentary. I thought it would be better to keep the narrative as simple and direct as possible, as Moody writes a crackingly good yarn. I didn't want the barrier of my own 'interpretation' to stand between his story and the reader.
I'm also pleased that people feel that some of the mystery has been stripped away. I particularly wanted to address the idea that I've encountered in some circles - that Moody, as the youngest and most junior officer, was somehow inexperienced when he joined the Titanic. The Boadicea's crossing to New York was just the beginning for him - he was to experience other ferocious storms at sea. On one occasion, as they sailed through the Straits of Magellan in weather that ripped the doors off cabins, his explosives-laden steamer was nearly driven onto rocks ('Good job my will's made' he commented laconically). On another occasion his ship was given up for lost when she was overdue - her prop shaft had broken, leaving her helpless. Moody was no naive stripling when he joined the Titanic - he was a seasoned professional.
