He said that in testimonies from inquiries in America and Britain just after the event, there were a lot of statements from women saying their husbands put them on lifeboats.

They then “went to the back of the boat to have a cigar, to stand around and be chummy, while basically the boat went down.”

Mr Savage said: “There was one gentleman who was rather wealthy… who went back downstairs after he put his wife on the [life] boat… put on his tuxedo…went back upstairs and smoked… with the idea that if I am going die, I may as well die as a gentleman and well-dressed.”