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.
Comments and suggestions to admin@lusitania.net
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!