Will Turner died at home in Great Crosby on Friday, June 23rd, 1933 and was buried in the family grave at Rake Lane Cemetery the following Monday. Captain Turner died a bitter man, unable to bear the public's scorn over the loss of his ship. He never forgave the Admiralty, and particularly First Lord Winston Churchill, for their thoroughly discreditable attempts to exonerate themselves at his expense.

Captain Turner, Cunard Commodore.Taken at the time of Aquitania's maiden voyage, May 1914. Collection of Lusitania Online.

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NOTE: We are also deeply indebted to Mr. George Cogswell for his superb recent detectivework in tracing the elusive wife of Captain Turner. Unfortunately, the information was not available to us at the time our original book went to press, so consequently she is not mentioned by name in the original edition of the book. However, it is nice to finally be able to fit this missing piece in now. Thanks again George! Will Turner was not the only Captain to be so shamefully treated by guilty authorities.In 1945, the American heavy cruiser USS INDIANAPOLIS was lost to a Japanese submarine, with horrendous loss of life. Her commander, Captain Charles B. McVay III, like Turner, survived the sinking. In what could only be described as a monumental exercise in scapegoating, the US Navy court-martialled McVay for the loss of his ship. They found McVay guilty of hazarding his ship by not zig-zagging at the time of the attack. (Sound familiar?) The story of Captain McVay so closely parallels that of Captain Turner that Lusitania Online has established contact with the USS INDIANAPOLIS Survivors Association.We are proud to announce that our two sites are now linked, for the sake of the common memory of two outstanding Captains, who were so wrongfully treated for their roles in two historic events, thirty years apart. William Thomas Turner was born in Clarence street, Everton, Liverpool on October 23rd 1856.His father was also a seaman by the name of Charles,who by the time of William's birth had already passed his captains exam and was serving as a First Mate.William first went to sea aboard a small ship called GRASMERE but his first voyage, at the age of 13, almost cost him his life as the ship was wrecked in a gale off the Northern Irish coast. Undeterred, Will took passage aboard a clipper called WHITE STAR, bound round the Cape of Good Hope for Aden then on to the Guanape Islands.It was there that Will saw his fathers ship, the QUEEN OF NATIONS. Will transferred to QUEEN OF NATIONS for the voyage home, by way of Cape Horn, under his fathers command.QUEEN OF NATIONS took a severe battering off the Horn and had to put in to the Falklands for repairs, which delayed the voyage for three months. After several voyages on different ships gaining experience, Will finally followed his father by joining the Cunard Line in 1878, by that time holding the rank of Fourth Officer. Also at this time, he was living with his aunt,a widow by the name of Ann Hitching and her two children, Alice and Wilfred. His first Cunard appointment was to a ship called the CHERBOURG. One foggy morning, CHERBOURG was steaming very slowly out of the Husskisson Dock when she collided with a small Barque, the ALICE DAVIES.ALICE DAVIES sank rapidly, drowning four of her crew and the Pilot, but a rescue party from the CHERBOURG picked up the survivors, Will Turner personally rescued a man and a boy who had climbed up the sinking ships rigging.In February of 1883, Will Turner was again in the news after selflessly jumping into the freezing cold waters of the Alexandra Dock to rescue a 14 year old boy who had fallen in.Turner received the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society's Silver Medal for this feat.In April of that same year, he left Cunard upon discovering that they would not promote a man to Master unless he had already commanded a square rigged sailing ship.He gained his Captain's certificate in 1886.In 1889, he sailed out of New York harbour as Master of a three masted Barque called STAR OF THE EAST, bound for Australia. Star of the East By John Gray Just before STAR OF THE EAST sailed, Will Turner resurrected an old sailing ship custom by buying a brand new bowler hat.He always wore this hat whenever he was ashore on ship's business or when leaving or returning to the ship in port.It was a custom that he maintained to his dying day and it was this which earned him the nickname of Bowler Bill.  STAR OF THE EAST's round voyage was a good one and the ships owner wrote Turner a glowing reference. Armed with this, he returned to Cunard. Will Turner married Alice Hiching, his cousin from Halifax, Yorkshire, on the 31st of August 1883 at Holy Innocents Church in Manchester. Afterwards they moved into their new home, 31 Springfield Road, Sale, near Manchester. Many thanks to Kevin Roach who contacted us with this new information regarding Turner's Marrage. They went on to have two sons, Percy in 1885, and Norman in 1893, but for some reason now unknown their marriage broke down soon after Norman was born.In 1897, Will was serving as Chief Officer aboard the Cunard steamer CATALONIA when they sighted a French Schooner,the VAGNE, dismasted and sinking in a gale off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland . Without hesitating, Chief Officer Turner got up a volunteer rescue party and despite the bad weather, succeeded in rescuing the VAGNE's entire crew.Will received an illuminated address for this feat, from the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society in December of 1897. In 1902, Will Turner was awarded the Transport Medal for outstanding government service as Chief Officer of the UMBRIA, ferrying troops to South Africa during the Boer War. 1903, Will's wife Alice took their two sons and moved out of the marital home. It was also the year that Cunard had finally given him a command, the ALEPPO, on the Mediterranean service.Cunard had a slight problem with Will Turner. He was undoubtedly an outstanding seaman, but his manner could only be described as gruff.He lacked the polished manners that a Cunard Captain was expected to have. Will Turner was singularly unimpressed by first class passengers, classifying them as "a load of bloody monkeys who are constantly chattering" They expected to be entertained, they clamored to sit at his table and they expected to be pandered to.Will Turner would have none of it.He avoided dinner at the Captain's table whenever he could, though he was known to make exceptions. Yet the very personality traits which Cunard were trying to shield their customers from were having quite the reverse effect. Because he avoided them, the first class passengers actively sought him out! It was a kind of inverse snobbery that had the Cunard reservations staff answering uestions such as"on which ship is Captain Turner next sailing,and are there any passenger vacancies?" In no time at all, he became the talk of the passengers. Baffled by the phenomenon,,Cunard gave him Command of the CARPATHIA for the whole of 1904, where the same thing occurred. They then transferred him to the IVERNIA on the Boston run. Passenger revenues for the Boston service soon showed a marked improvement. 1906, Will and Alice were now irreconcilably separated and both moved into new, separate houses. Will moved to Aintree whilst Alice and the boys moved to Bowdon. Having moved into his new house, Will advertised for a housekeeper. Enter Miss Mabel Every. Over the coming years, Will and Mabel would become inseparable. 1907, Cunard stole the thunder with the advent of the LUSITANIA. Will was at that time in command of the CARONIA. 1908, Cunard Commodore James Watt LUSITANIA'S only Captain so far, retired. On Watt's recommendation, Will Turner was appointed to command the LUSITANIA. Now he would show them what he was made of! The crossings were quicker,as were the turnaround times, and the ship always looked her best . Cunard had to admit it, they had been wrong about Will Turner. 1910, Commodore Pritchard, MAURETANIA'S Captain, retired . Cunard appointed Turner to the MAURETANIA. MAURETANIA now regularly smashed all previous records. September of 1910 saw Will Turner,the MAURETANIA and the crew of another Liverpool steamer, the WEST POINT, involved in a piece of high drama. The captain and crew of the WEST POINT had been forced to abandon their vessel due to an uncontrollable fire on board. The WEST POINT succumbed to the fire and sank in the North Atlantic. A passing steamer, the DEVONIAN, picked up one of the WEST POINT'S lifeboats,but at the time, there was no sign of the boat containing Captain Pinkham and 15 other members of WEST POINT'S crew. Captain Turner diverted his ship to search for the missing men.When he eventually found them, the weather was atrocious, with a heavy sea running.However, Captain Turner was not about to abandon his fellow seamen to their fate. He very skillfully maneuvered the MAURETANIA to within a very short distance of the lifeboat and despite the weather, succeeded in rescuing all 16 persons.Captain Turner received another illuminated address from the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society,as well as the undying gratitude and admiration of Captain James Pinkham, for his masterly display of ship handling.  In December of 1910, Cunard announced a Christmas Special voyage, Liverpool to New York and back in just 12 days! Despite being told that it couldn't possibly be done, Will Turner did it. Thanks to truly superhuman efforts, the ship made a lightning fast turnaround in New York. Cunard followed up the success of this voyage with a Coronation Special; in the summer of 1911, and planned another Christmas Special for that December. This time, fate prevented the MAURETANIA from fulfilling that promise. Two days before the planned departure,the ship broke free from her moorings during an unusually strong gale and ran aground in the Mersey. 1913, Cunard promoted him to Commodore. The Admiralty also honored him with the rank of Commander in the Royal Navy Reserve, and during the Mersey Review of 1913, he conducted the King and Queen on a tour of the MAURETANIA. Captain Turner with the King to his right, conducts Their Majesties on a tour of the Mauretania in 1913. Sally Wells/Lusitania Online. 1914, he was given command of the brand new AQUITANIA for her maiden voyage to New York. In August 1914, WW1 broke out and most of Cunard's ships were requisitioned for war service by the Admiralty. He did not get another ship till January 1915, the brand new TRANSYLVANIA. In April 1915, LUSITANIA'S regular Captain, Daniel Dow, was nearing nervous exhaustion over the constant U-boat scares. Dow went on leave and Turner was duly reappointed to command his old ship. Lusitania's last departure from New York by John Gray The story of the LUSITANIA'S final voyage has been told many times and is still the subject of much controversy. However, it has now been firmly established that the LUSITANIA was indeed carrying a substantial cargo of munitions and that the torpedo struck the forward cargo hold.(You will find an account of the sinking on our Disaster page and the Torpedo page, which is more pictorial in nature and carries a link to the wreck site. It is worth reading the Disaster page at this point in order to gain a good background, then resume reading this page, which you have nearly finished now!). Unfortunately, Captain Turner had the good/ill luck to survive the disaster, which immediately gave the Admiralty the chance of a much-needed scapegoat. During the course of the weekend after the disaster, those in charge at the Admiralty worked hard to prepare their version of events. Their biggest problem was that the ship had been sunk by a U-boat which was known to be in the area, after the Admiralty had withdrawn her escort, the cruiser HMS Juno. Also a problem was that the ship had gone down in just 18 minutes, with appalling loss of life, due to the explosive nature of the cargo that the Admiralty's Trade Dept. had loaded aboard her, namely a large consignment of sorely needed American-made munitions. If either or both of these facts became public knowledge via the inquiry, some very important heads would roll. So a scapegoat seemed to be urgently needed, and who better to fulfill that role than Captain Turner. The Admiralty therefore compiled a lengthy report on the sinking, in which they blatantly falsified the facts, omitted vital depositions as well as signals that had sent to the ship, and tailored other evidence. By the time they'd finished, Captain Turner found himself facing Admiralty charges of deliberately disobeying Admiralty sailing instructions by failing to zig-zag (even though he was never ordered to!), thus apparently hazarding his ship unnecessarily. He was further accusedof gross negligence and treasonable behavior by deliberately putting his ship in harm's way, all because (according to the Admiralty) he was supposedly in the pay of the Germans! The subsequent public inquiry, under Lord Mersey, ultimately (and quite rightly) cleared Turner of all blame, when the Admiralty's staff work dramatically let them down in court and a furious Lord Mersey discovered what the Admiralty were attempting to do. But mud, especially when hurled by the Admiralty, sticks; even to this day. The very fact that Turner had stood accused at all had had a most profound effect. Shortly after the public inquiry, Will's estranged wife, Alice, emigrated to Australia, taking Percy and Norman with her. Will was subsequently given command of the ULTONIA, ferrying Canadian troops to France and was then given command of the IVERNIA, again on war service, but despite Turner's zig-zagging, the ship was torpedoed and sunk on New Years Day of 1917 by Kapitan-Leutnant Steinbauer of UB47. Once again Turner survived, but the IVERNIA was his last command. In January of 1918, he was awarded the O.B.E at Cunard Chairman Alfred Booths behest, for his war service. The war over, Turner retired with Mabel Every to Devon. However, the press soon found him again after Winston Churchill published his memoirs in 1921 in a four-volume tome called THE WORLD CRISIS, which, though toned down, reiterated the Admiralty's allegations against him, so any chance of a quiet life was wrecked. From that point on, he lived as a virtual recluse, ashamed of the Admiralty- inferred criminality for his part in in the loss of his famous ship. As Will's mother also died at this time,Turner decided to move back to Liverpool. Will Turner and Mabel Every bought No. 50, De Villiers Avenue, in the quiet Liverpool suburb of Great Crosby. During the mid nineteen-twenties, he was diagnosed with cancer of the upper intestines. He went to Australia, seeking his sons, but his search was unsuccessful.He hadn't seen his ex-wife and sons since Lord Mersey's inquiry in1915, and he never saw them again.This seems likely to have been because by the time he went to look for them, they'd moved to Canada,without his knowing.Thanks again to the indefatigable George Cogswell for this last piece of information!