Talk:William McMaster Murdoch

Titanic (1997 film)
A large part of this article about a man who died fulfilling his duty has been taken up with a minor squabble arising from a baseless decision taken by some scriptwriters nearly 100 years after he died. I have decided to comment out that section dealing with that rather sordid affair. In my opinion, by giving it an unduly prominent position we only perpetuate an unjustified smear.

I know there are alternative points of view, and would not oppose the restoration of that section, although I would view it with sorrow. --Tony Sidaway|Talk 20:55, 13 May 2005 (UTC)


 * Indeed the mention of the movie's inaccuracy seems 'prominent', compared to the rest of the article, but this is only because the article itself is small. It should be restored if the article becomes larger.

The portion of the script involving Murdoch shooting a hostile passenger and then shooting himself was based on an eyewitness report from one man (I forget his name). However, this report was unsubstantiated and disputed by many other eyewitnesses. The man who gave the report was said to have been a little eccentric.

) Ten years ago I really liked Titanic '97 warts and all, but now it makes me cringe, especially the disgraceful depiction of First Officer Murdoch as taking bribes and then shooting unarmed passengers before turning the gun on himself.  None of the screen portrayls of Mr. Murdoch are accurate or flattering, but Titanic '97 was simply awful.


 * Absolutely agree with the above comments. From where I stand, Murdoch should have been given a medal for heroism. It is clear that he was a diligent and brave officer who was eventually drowned, as stated by an eye witness. These film depictions are a disgrace. Wallie (talk) 19:24, 4 November 2008 (UTC)
 * A medal for driving in high speed the ship through an ice field in the middle of the night? Totally deserved, indeed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wintceas (talk • contribs) 16:49, 20 September 2015 (UTC)

Picture of the memorial
I have just uploaded a picture of the memorial on Dalbeattie Town Hall. I dont know if it is worth adding to this artical of not so I shall leave the desision to someone else. Here is the picture.

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Delta-NC (talk • contribs) 01:40, 12 March 2007 (UTC).

Murdoch's helm orders (Titanic)
There are varying accounts and theories as to what Murdoch's orders were just before the Titanic collided with the iceberg, some cited here -. This article fails to cite the controversy and seems to state theories (uncited) as fact. I have moved those sections to talk below and replaced them with more neutral language.

Murdoch was the officer in charge of the bridge when the Titanic collided with an iceberg: Iceberg right ahead before he famously replied: Stop engines, hard a-starboard, full astern, and rang the warning bell.

''He gave orders to 'full speed astern' and 'hard a starboard'. Some historians argue that reversing the engines gave a higher chance of hitting the iceberg than reducing the ship's forward motion and slowly turning the ship.''

Fountains of Bryn Mawr 05:12, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Titanic Murdoch.jpg
Image:Titanic Murdoch.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 02:45, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Strong Evidence Supports Suicide Claim
In the book, "The Night Lives On", by Walter Lord, a sequel to his book a "Night to Remember", the author reports that two passengers, Eugene Daly and George Rheims,each in private letters written to family members, both described witnessing an officer shoot at people rushing a lifeboat and then shooting himself. These passengers provide powerful, corroborating evidence that an officer, likely Murdock, did commit suicide. Neither passenger knew each other, and they were writing private letters to family members; these were not letters intended for publication. This does not detract from Murdoch's heroism, however.

71.167.106.238 (talk) 16:26, 17 April 2011 (UTC)

Lightoller witnessed Murdoch's death?
The article currently says that Lightoller saw Murdoch working to free Collapsible A, when Murdoch was swept into the sea by the wave washing over the boat deck, but Titanic historian George Behe has pointed out in the weblink below, that Lightoller's testimony at the US inquiry, suggests that he was not in a position to witness Murdoch being swept into the sea.

http://home.comcast.net/~georgebehe/titanic/page11.htm — Preceding unsigned comment added by Internetnicknamehere (talk • contribs) 13:36, 21 October 2011 (UTC)
 * This is a self published source, which isn't usually acceptable on Wikipedia. Is there anything in any of Behe's books (perhaps avoiding "Titanic": Psychic Forewarnings of a Tragedy and Lost at Sea: Ghost Ships and Other Mysteries) with an account of this? --Old Moonraker (talk) 13:46, 21 October 2011 (UTC)

I have just added a link about this debate. Perhaps that is best. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.144.254.239 (talk) 10:58, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

Regarding Murdoch
I suggest that the cast note regarding Murdoch be rewritten. For example, it reads, "studio executives later flew to Murdoch's hometown to issue an apology for this depiction". 20th Century Fox (not Cameron) simply donated £5,000 to Dalbeattie High School along with a silver tray. No apology was ever given, despite the media misinterpretating this.

Very little is written regarding Murdoch being responsible for much of the Titanic survivors, as many as 2/3's of the survivors
Yourlocallordandsavior (talk) 22:44, 3 July 2022 (UTC)