Drawing Office Copy - AKA Thomas Andrews' Notebook

[nancykwan]

Does anyone have information regarding Harland & Wolff Olympic's Drawing Office Copy (sometime known as Thomas Andrews' Notebook which can be found in Cameron's Titanic Explorer CD)? Are these notes actually written by Andrews? What's the significant behind that notebook? There are approximately 56 pages of notes, which I read through, but none of them are Andrews' personal notes taken during Olympic's maiden voyage on his recommended improvements.

[Tom McCluskie]

Hi Nancy, hopefully I can answer your question.

Thomas Andrews did indeed have a notebook with him in which he detailed changes and observations he found on Titanic. We know this is correct as he always, as did all the other design engineers, carry a notebook with them on their frequent visits to vessels under construction. This was long before the days of video or digital cameras or portable voice recorders and thus the simple notebook was the most efficient method for making notes or observations. Whenever Andrews or another designer would return to the drawing office these notes would be shared and the information relayed to the individual drawing offices where the drawings would be modified or redrawn as necessary. The notebook used by James Cameron was in use by Andrews and othersand over time became known as the "Andrews Notebook" however that description is not completely accurate but neither is it inaccurate. In point of fact these notebooks were in general office use and would be taken to the vessel under construction by any designer requiring to visit the vessel. This obviously would have included Thomas Andrews but it is important to note the notebooks were NOT personal to any individual rather they were a source of reference.

We do know Andrews had such a notebook with him aboard Titanic, likewise a full set of the major construction drawings. Unfortunately as you can imagine these documents were lost with Andrews.

[nancykwan]

Thank you, Tom Your reply has been very helpful. --Nancy