Sir Arthur Henry Rostron, KBE, RD (14 May 1869 – 4 November 1940) was a British merchant seaman and a seagoing officer for the Cunard Line.

[1] Rostron won wide praise for his energetic efforts to reach the Titanic before she sank, and his efficient preparations for and conduct of the rescue of the survivors.

He was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal by the United States Congress, and in 1926, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

After two years of training on the Conway, he was apprenticed to the Waverley Line of Messrs Williamson, Milligan and Co. in Liverpool on the iron clipper ship Cedric the Saxon.

[5] In December 1894 Rostron served on board the steamship Concord after which he passed the examinations for his extra master's certificate.

[6] Rostron joined the Cunard Line in January 1895 and earned a position as fourth officer on the ocean liner RMS Umbria.

In the years afterward he would serve on other Cunard ships including the Aurania, Etruria, Servia, Cherbourg, Ultonia and Saxonia.

He temporarily left the Cunard Line to serve with the Royal Navy during a period of international tension occasioned by the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905.

[10] Carpathia was on its regular route between New York City and Fiume, Austria-Hungary, when, early on 15 April 1912, she received a distress signal from the White Star Line ocean liner RMS Titanic,[11] which had struck an iceberg during its maiden voyage.

[13] Rostron immediately ordered the ship to race towards Titanic's reported position, posting extra lookouts to help spot and manoeuvre around the ice he knew to be in the area.

[13] During this time, Rostron turned off heating to ensure maximum steam for Carpathia's engines and had the ship prepared for survivors, including getting blankets, food, and drinks ready, and ordering his medical crew to stand by to receive the possibly injured.

[15] Crewmen were placed in the corridors to reassure passengers alarmed by the increased speed and changed direction of the ship.

Speaking of the risk taken by running through dense ice at speed at night, he is reported to have said, "I can only conclude another hand than mine was on the helm.

When Rostron believed he was nearing Titanic, he ordered green starburst rockets launched to alert the sinking ship if she was still afloat, or her survivors if she was not.

After his retirement in May 1931, he became a member, and later captain, of the Southampton Master Mariner's Club, and wrote his autobiography Home from the Sea.