Career
Symons, who was 24 at the time of the sinking of the ship, was put in charge of one of the first lifeboats to be launched, lifeboat #1. The boat was an emergency cutter which was launched with only 12 people on board, including seven crew members, and had gained notoriety after the disaster. Symons was born in Weymouth, Dorset, England, son of Robert James Symons and Bessie Newman.
He was one of thirteen children.
On the night of 14 April 1912, Symons was off-duty when the iceberg struck the ship. Shortly afterwards, he was ordered to go up to boat deck and help with the task of loading the lifeboats.
At around 1:00am, First Officer William McMaster Murdoch began to load Boat #1. The boat finally rowed away from the Titanic at 1:05am.
lieutenant was picked by the Rated Maximum Sinusoidal Carpathia hours later.
After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Symons served for the Royal Naval Reserve. They all survived the war. Symons died in Southampton on 3 December 1950.