"He was a fine fellow and one for whom I had the greatest admiration. It was frightfully hard luck on him that he should have been temporarily transferred from the Olympic to the Titanic for just one voyage.” So said Charles Lightoller referring to Henry Wilde in a letter in 1935.

When Henry signed Titanic’s crew list and agreement, he gave his previous ship as Olympic. Wilde was to have continued sailing on Titanic’s sister ship, but Captain Smith drafted him in at the last minute as his Chief Officer, continuing the role he had carried out for him on Olympic.

This move led to a reshuffle whereby William Murdoch was demoted to First Officer, Charles Lightoller to Second Officer, and David Blair, the intended Second Officer, left the ship. Blair is believed to have taken with him the key to the lookout binoculars for the crow’s nest.

Wilde was a Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve and was extremely experienced having served on ten White Star Line ships prior to joining Titanic for her maiden voyage.

Wilde would have been in his cabin, on the boat deck, when Titanic collided with the iceberg. He was in charge of loading and launching many of the lifeboats on the port side of the ship and helped launch the four collapsible boats.

Henry had been hoping to return to Liverpool and take command of the Cymric and only found out that he was due to accompany Titanic on 9 April, the day before she sailed. On 11 April he wrote what would be his last letter, to his daughter Jennie, expressing his disappointment not to make it home to Liverpool and describes Titanic as "...a very fine ship an improvement on the Olympic in many ways I would like you to see her.”

Henry Wilde died in the sinking and his body, if recovered, was never identified.