|
William McMaster "Will" Murdoch, RNR (28 February 1873 – 15 April 1912) was a Scottish sailor. Born from a family of sailors, he was employed by the White Star Line in 1900 and quickly became an officer. In 1903, his leadership became recognized when he avoided a collision with the ''Arabic''. In April 1912, he served as First Officer aboard the . 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. Murdoch became an iconic Scottish hero, a status that is maintained and reflected by the memorial in his hometown. However, debate revolves around the adequacy of instructions given to avoid the iceberg. In two films about the ''Titanic'', Murdoch was portrayed shooting passengers and himself during the sinking; this was based on a number of eyewitness testimonies of a shooting/suicide by an officer during the launching of the last lifeboat. However many more reputable sources say it was not Murdoch (see Cause of death.) At present there has been no evidence as yet to prove that William Murdoch was the officer seen committing suicide. Murdoch has become a figure of controversy, with mystery surrounding the circumstances of his death and actions during the collision with the iceberg. ==Life and career== Murdoch was born in Dalbeattie in Kirkcudbrightshire (now Dumfries and Galloway), Scotland, the fourth son of Captain Samuel Murdoch, a master mariner, and Jane Muirhead, six of whose children survived infancy. They were a long and notable line of Scottish seafarers who sailed the world's oceans as early as the 19th century; his father and grandfather were both sea captains as were four of his grandfather's brothers. Murdoch was educated first at the old Primary School in High Street, and then at the Dalbeattie 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 ''St. Cuthbert'', which sank in a hurricane off Uruguay in 1897. Murdoch gained his Extra Master's Certificate at Liverpool in 1896, at age 23. From 1897 to 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 to 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, ''Titanic''s second officer), ''Runic'' (1901–1903), ''Arabic'' (1903), ''Celtic'' (1904), ''Germanic'' (1904), ''Oceanic'' (1905), ''Cedric'' (1906), ''Adriatic'' (1907–1911) and ''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''. They 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 , at . Intended to outclass the ''Cunard'' ships in luxury and size, it 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, Murdoch as First Officer, and Chief Purser Herbert McElroy. On 14 June 1911, it 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 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 ship taken to Belfast for repairs, which took a good six weeks. It was thus not until 11 December 1911 that Murdoch rejoined the ship. During the time that he served aboard 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'', the ''Olympics sister ship and reputedly the largest and most luxurious one 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 J. Smith as Captain and on the verge of retirement. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William McMaster Murdoch」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|