William McMaster Murdoch

William "Will" McMaster Murdoch
Born	28 February 1873(1873-02-28) Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
Died	15 April 1912(1912-04-15) (aged 39) RMS Titanic, Atlantic Ocean
Occupation	Ship's First Officer
Spouse	Ada Florence Murdoch (née Banks)
Parents	Samuel Murdoch Jane Muirhead

Lieutenant William "Will" McMaster Murdoch RNR (28 February 1873 – 15 April 1912) was a Scottish sailor who served as First Officer aboard the RMS Titanic, where he was employed by the White Star Line. He is notable as the officer in charge on the bridge the night when the Titanic collided with an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean. He was one of the 1,500 people who died in the disaster.

In two motion films about the Titanic, Murdoch was portrayed shooting passengers and himself during the sinking of the Titanic; this was based on a number of eyewitness evidence of a shooting/suicide by an officer during the launching of the last lifeboat. At present there has been no evidence to be able to disprove Murdoch's alleged suicide.

Life and career

Murdoch was born in Dalbeattie in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, the fourth son of Captain Samuel Murdoch, a master mariner, and Jane Muirhead, six of whose children survived infancy. The Murdochs were a long and notable line of Scottish seafarers who sailed the world's oceans as early as the 19th century; William's father and grandfather were both sea captains as were four of his grandfather's brothers.

Murdoch was educated first at the old Dalbeattie Primary School in High Street, and then at the High School in Alpine Street until he gained his diploma in 1887. Finishing schooling, he followed in the family seafaring tradition and was apprenticed for five years to William Joyce & Coy, Liverpool, but after four years (and four voyages) he was so competent that he passed his second mate's Certificate on his first attempt.

He served his apprenticeship aboard the Charles Cosworth of Liverpool, trading to the west coast of South America. From May 1895, he was First Mate on the Saint Cuthbert, which was to sink in a hurricane off Uruguay in 1897. Murdoch gained his Extra Master's Certificate at Liverpool in 1896, at the age of 23. From 1897–1899, he was First Officer aboard the J.Joyce & Co. steel four-masted 2,534-ton barque Lydgate, that traded from New York to Shanghai.

From 1900–1912, Murdoch gradually progressed from Second Officer to First Officer, serving on a successive number of White Star Line vessels, Medic (1900 – along with Charles Lightoller, Titanics second officer), Runic (1901–1903), Arabic (1903), Celtic (1904), Germanic (1904), Oceanic (1905), Cedric (1906), Adriatic (1907–1911) and the Olympic (1911–1912).

In 1903, Murdoch met a 29-year-old New Zealand school teacher named Ada Florence Banks en route to England on either the Runic or the Medic. William McMaster Murdoch and Ada Florence Banks began to correspond regularly and on 2 September 1907 they were wed in Southampton at St Deny's Church.

During 1903, Murdoch finally reached the stormy and glamorous North Atlantic run as Second Officer of the new liner Arabic. His cool head, quick thinking and professional judgement averted a disaster when a ship was spotted bearing down on the Arabic out of the darkness. He overrode a command from his superior, Officer Fox, to steer hard-a-port, rushing into the wheelhouse, brushing aside the quartermaster and holding the ship on course. The two ships passed within inches of one another. Any alteration in course would have actually caused a collision.

The final stage of Murdoch's career began in May 1911, when he joined the new RMS Olympic, at 45.000 tons. Intended to outclass the Cunard ships in luxury and size Olympic needed the most experienced large-liner crew that the White Star Line could find. Captain Edward J. Smith assembled a crew that included Henry Wilde as Chief Officer, William Murdoch as First Officer, and Chief Purser Henry W. McElroy. On 14 June 1911 Olympic made her maiden voyage to New York.

The first indications of what was to come occurred on 20 September when the Olympic had her hull badly damaged in a collision with the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Hawke. Since Murdoch was at his docking-station at the stern of the ship during this collision – a highly responsible position – he found himself giving evidence in the inquiry into an incident that turned into a financial disaster for the White Star Line, as the voyage to New York had to be abandoned and the Olympic taken to Belfast for repairs, which took a good six weeks. It was thus not until 11 December 1911 that Murdoch rejoined his ship. During the time that he served aboard Olympic as First Officer (until some time in March, 1912) there were two further – though lesser – incidents, striking a sunken wreck and having to have a broken propeller replaced, and nearly running aground while leaving Belfast. However, upon reaching Southampton, he learned that he had been appointed as Chief Officer of the new Titanic, sister ship to Olympic and reputedly the largest and most luxurious ship afloat. Lightoller later remarked that "three very contented chaps" headed north to Belfast, for he had been appointed First Officer, and their friend Davy Blair was to be the new second officer. Awaiting them would be an old Adriatic hand, Joseph Groves Boxhall, as Fourth Officer, and others who would be familiar colleagues, including the now aging Edward John Smith, as Captain, and on the verge of retirement.

RMS Titanic

Murdoch, with an "ordinary master's certificate" and a reputation as a "canny and dependable man", had climbed through the ranks of the White Star Line to become one of its foremost senior officers. He was selected to be Titanic's Chief Officer, with 16 years of maritime experience now behind him.

Murdoch had originally been assigned as the ship's Chief Officer, though when the Titanic's skipper Edward J. Smith brought Henry Wilde, his Chief from his previous command, Murdoch was temporarily reduced to First while First Officer Charles Lightoller was in turn reduced to Second. The original Second, David Blair, would sit out the voyage altogether while the rest of the ship's complement of officers remained unchanged.

From left to right: First Officer William M Murdoch, Chief Officer Henry T. Wilde, an unidentified officer and Captain Edward J. Smith seen on the Olympic.

Titanic's sinking

William Murdoch in his 30s.

Main article: Sinking of the RMS Titanic

Murdoch was the officer in charge at the bridge when at approximately 11.40pm on 14 April 1912 a large iceberg directly in Titanic's path was sighted. Quartermaster Robert Hichens, who was at the helm, and Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall, who left the bridge minutes before the collision, both stated that Murdoch gave the order "Hard-a-starboard", a tiller command which would turn the ship to port (left) by moving the tiller to starboard (right).

Boxhall also reported that Murdoch set the ship's telegraph to "Full Astern", though his testimony was contradicted by Greaser Frederick Scott and Leading stoker Frederick Barrett who stated that the stoking indicators went from “Full” to “Stop”. During or right before the collision Murdoch may have also given an order (as heard by Quartermaster Alfred Olliver when he walked onto the bridge in the middle of the collision) of "Hard a'port" (moving the tiller all the way to the port (left) side turning the ship to starboard (right)) in what may have been an attempt to swing the remainder (aft section) of the ship away from the berg in a common manoeuvre called a "port around" (this could explain Murdoch's comment to the captain "I intended to port around it"). The fact that such a manoeuvre was executed was supported by other crew members who testified that the stern of the ship never hit the berg.

Despite these efforts the ship made its fatal collision at an estimated 37 seconds after the berg had been sighted. The ship's starboard side brushed the iceberg, buckling the hull in several places and causing rivets to pop out below the waterline, opening the first five compartments (the forward peak tank, the three forward holds and Boiler Room 6) to the sea.

After Captain Smith and Thomas Andrews had established that the ship would sink, the evacution began. Murdoch was put in charge of the starboard evacuation during which he launched 10 lifeboats, containing almost 75% of the total number who survived. He has let too many boats go with too few passengers, but at least he didn't waste time. He got his boats more efficiently launched and better filled than Lightoller on the port side. The Second Officer was way too strict in the order 'Women and children first'. He let plenty of men into the boats when no women were available but he wasn't aware that the boats could support the weight of 70 men, so he planned to let some boats lower to A-Deck for further occupants, and others to a gangway door on D-Deck to have more passengers enter there, but that later plan didn't work out. As a result, lifeboat 7 was launched first at 0:25 A.M. with only 28 people, not even half full and the same story with lifeboat 1, launched at 1:00 A.M. with only 12 people. He was also present at the shooting at Collapsible C. With most boats he was assisted by Sixth Officer Moody.

He was last seen attempting to launch Collapsible A. He was never seen again after Titanic disappeared into the Atlantic Ocean on the morning of 15 April 1912. His body, if recovered, was never identified. Within days of the disaster, several crew members and passengers spoke of an officer committing suicide in the ship's final moments; the officer is variously reported to be Moody, Wilde, or Murdoch. Several survivors, including the ship's lamp trimmer, Samuel Hemming, Second Officer Charles Lightoller and Colonel Archibald Gracie said they saw Murdoch attempting to free Collapsible A from the falls on the Boat Deck just before the bridge submerged and a huge wave washed him overboard into the sea.

The memorial to William Murdoch in Dalbeattie.

In his home town of Dalbeattie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, there is a memorial to his heroism and a charitable prize has been established in his name. The charitable prize was given a donation by the James Cameron film for its false portrayal of Murdoch after the residents of Dalbeattie complained.

Portrayals

• Theo Shall (1943) (Titanic)
• Barry Bernard (1953) (Titanic)
• Richard Leech (1958) (A Night to Remember)
• Paul Young (1979) (S.O.S. Titanic) (TV Movie)
• Malcolm Stewart (1996) (Titanic) (TV Miniseries)
• David Costabile (1997) Titanic) (Broadway Musical)
• Ewan Stewart (1997) (Titanic)
• Courtenay Pace (1998) (Titanic: Secrets Revealed) (TV Documentary)
• Charlie Arneson (2003) (Ghosts of the Abyss) (Documentary)
• Brian McCardie (2012) (Titanic) (TV series/4 episodes)

In both the 1996 and 1997 films, Murdoch committed suicide. The 1997 film depicted Murdoch taking – but later rejecting – a bribe from villain Caledon Hockley; and shooting two passengers (Tommy Ryan and another unidentified passenger) dead in a mob on the deck after Murdoch presumes they intend to storm one of the remaining lifeboats. Murdoch then salutes Chief Officer Henry Wilde and commits suicide by firing the pistol into his temple, his body crumpling backwards into the sea. Murdoch's descendants took offense at his portrayal in both the 1996 and 1997 films, and studio executives later flew to Murdoch's hometown to issue an apology for this depiction to his surviving relatives.

References

• William McMaster Murdoch, A Career at Sea. By Susanne Störmer
• [http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org Encyclopedia Titanica
• Dalbeattie museum

External links

• Dalbeattie Town History – Murdoch of the 'Titanic'
• Murdoch -The Man, the Mystery
• Lieutenant William Murdoch at Find A Grave
• William McMaster Murdoch: Women and Children First Order

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