TITANIC AND RIGEL DOG STORY

TITANIC AND RIGEL DOG STORY

டைடானிக் கப்பலில் இருந்து காப்பாற்றப்பட்டவர்கள் இருளில் மிதந்து கொண்டிருந்தனர் - தன் எஜமானர் முதல் ஆபீசர் முர்டாக் கை தேடி 3 மணிநேரம் கடலுக்குள் நீந்திய ரிகள் rigel என்ற நாய் .

கர்போதிகா இருளில் வந்த போது 4 நிர் போட்டில் மோத வந்த போது கப்பலுக்கு தன் குரைப்பின் மூலம்  எச்சரிக்கை செய்த நாய் இது.

அவர் பனி மலையை கண்ணுற்றதும் மணி அடிப்பவர் தான் இந்த நாய்க்கு சொந்தக்காரர் ஒரு பயணியை சுட்டுக்கொன்றது மனம் உறுத்தலால் தற்கொலை செய் பவர் .

மீட்புக்கு பின் கற்பத்தியா கப்பல் தலைவர் ஜான் பிரவுன் அதனை தன்னுடன் எடுத்து சென்றார் .

ஆன் இஷான் என்ற பெண்மணி நாயை ஏற்ற மறுத்ததால் தானும்
படகில் ஏறாமல்  நாயை அணைத்துக்கொண்டு உயிர் துறந்தார் 

Rigel, a big black Newfoundland dog, belonging to First Officer Murdoch, saved the passengers in Life Boat #4. They were drifting in front of the Carpathia, too weak to call out. The dog had swam in the icy water for three hours, probably looking for his master. He was swimming in front of the lifeboat and alerted the Carpathia crew by barking. The boat might not have been rescued if not for the sharp barking of Rigel.

.The year 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic which went down around midnight on April 14, 1912. Titanic was considered to be the most luxurious ship ever built and was thought to be unsinkable. At its helm was the experienced first officer, William McMaster Murdoch, of Scotland. Murdoch brought a companion when he came to the Titanic:  a large, black Newfoundland dog, named Rigel, whom he had also had with him when he was serving on the Titanic's sister ship, the RMS Olympic. On that fateful night, Rigel was safely housed in the Titanic's modern kennel facilities since Murdoch needed to focus on the goal of this voyage—to reach New York in record time.

dog Newfoundland Titanic Rigel William Murdoch
William Murdoch and Rigel

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Each day, a crewmember would take the dogs for a stroll around the promenade deck. These canine parades became quite an event and people would schedule their times on deck so that they could see the dogs. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the dogs so much that an informal dog show was scheduled by the first class passengers to be held on Monday, April 15th. Unfortunately, that show would never take place.

In the fog and darkness Titanic collided with an iceberg tearing five hull compartments open. This was too much for the "unsinkable" ship and she began to go down. In the years that followed, the human tragedy and bravery of that night would be well documented. We know quite a bit about the fate of the 1,522 people that were lost that night, and even more about the 714 people that survived. In the chaos of those events, it is not surprising to find that the accounts of what happened to the dogs are less clear. Some of the reports are confused or incomplete, but the following information appears in a variety of respected accounts of that fateful night.

Although many people died because of the inadequate number of lifeboats it turns out that some of the first boats in the water had empty seats. Thus, Henry and Myra Harper boarded their boat carrying their Pekingese, and Elizabeth Rothschild and Margaret Hays each boarded different boats carrying their small Pomeranians and the presence of the dogs was not challenged. The Bishops' little dog was with them in their cabin; however, when it became clear that, by now, there were not enough lifeboats for all the passengers, Helen Bishop felt obliged to leave her much-loved pet behind. Later, she would tearfully tell how, as she left the cabin for the last time, Frou Frou grabbed the hem of her dress, trying to keep her from going.

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In the case of Ann Isham, however, her dog was a Great Dane and clearly too large for the lifeboats. She refused to leave her dog behind and insisted that she would do what was needed to save him. Sadly, after the sinking, her body was observed in the water with her arms frozen around her beloved dog.

But what of Rigel and the other dogs in the kennels? Murdoch had no opportunity to leave his post to rescue his dog. After the collision, he took charge of the starboard evacuation. Crew members report seeing Murdoch hard at work, attempting to free Collapsible Lifeboat A from the rope tackles used to lower it when a huge wave washed him overboard. He was never seen again.

An unknown passenger went to the kennels and released all of the dogs in an attempt to spare them the horror of drowning in locked cages. Sadly most of the dogs simply disappeared in the cold water, but Rigel's fate was different. Most of the passengers (and dogs) that ended up in the freezing water died from exposure. For that reason, some people have questioned whether a dog such as Rigel could have survived a long swim in the icy ocean. However the Newfoundland dog was bred to function in the harsh conditions of the North Atlantic. It has webbed feet, a rudder-like tail, and a water-resistant coat that make it a natural swimmer. Its body uses the same mechanisms to combat hypothermia that polar bears possess. This allows these dogs to help retrieve fishing nets off the shores of its home island near mainland Canada-actually 400 miles north of where the Titanic sank. There are also many stories of Newfoundlands rescuing people from the sea and enduring icy conditions for long periods of time.

Rigel swam around, at first apparently desperately looking for his master, but after awhile  he chose to simply stay close to Lifeboat 4. The dog was too large to bring on board even if there had been space to do so, but the humans, in their exposed lifeboat, apparently suffered more from the effects of the wet and cold than Rigel did from the freezing water.

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More than two hours after the Titanic went down, the passenger ship Carpathia finally arrived and began to pick up the surviving passengers. However, it was still dark and a low mist hung on the water. Carpathia's crew was calling out and waiting for lifeboat passengers to respond in order to locate them. Lifeboat 4 was separated from the other lifeboats by some distance. Finally, the Carpathia began to pull away from the area, unknowingly on a course directly bearing down on the unseen little lifeboat. Its passengers were simply too weak to shout loudly enough to avoid being run down by the ship. Yet, somehow, Rigel was still strong enough to bark. Carpathia's Captain Arthur Henry Rostron heard the dog and ordered the ship to stop. Swimming in front of the lifeboat, the dog marked the location of the survivors and all were hauled up the starboard gangway.

The day after the Carpathia reached New York with the survivors, the New York Herald carried a story about Rigel's significant role in the rescue of Titanic's passengers. The reporter noted that, since the dog's owner was dead, one of Carpathia's crew named Brigg had adopted him. This was an error, as "Brigg" was the name of a passenger on the lifeboat. Recent evidence suggests that Rigel was adopted by John Brown, Carpathia's Master at Arms, who, at 62 years of age was the second oldest crewman. Brown retired shortly after and took Rigel with him to his rural home in Scotland. Presumably, this canine hero of the Titanic tragedy finished out his natural life without ever having to face icy water again.

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William McMaster Murdoch (born February 28, 1873 – died April 15, 1912) was a Scottish sailor and the First Officer on the RMS Titanic.
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 and it is little wonder that he followed in the family tradition. Before boarding Titanic, William Murdoch had had 16 years of experience at sea.

In 1901, he received a commission in the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) as a Lieutenant and served on the RMS Oceanic during the Boer War.

Lieutenant Murdoch was promoted to Chief Officer on board the RMS Titanic on 3rd April 1912 only to be demoted to First Officer when Lieutenant Henry Wilde was drafted as Chief.

Lieutenant Murdoch was the officer on watch duty on the night of 14th April 1912. He died in the sinking. He left a widow, Ada. He was 39 years old and one of the finest seamen at the time.

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Early life and historyEdit
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.you good to 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, Titanic's second officer), Runic (1901-1903), Arabic (1903), Celtic (1904), Germanic (1904), Oceanic (1905), Cedric (1906), Adriatic (1907-1911) and the Olympic (1911-1912).

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In 1903, Murdoch met a 29-year-old New Zealand school teacher named Ada Florence Banks enroute 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 long tons (46,000 tonnes) 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 June 14, 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 ageing Edward John Smith, as Captain, and on the verge of retirement.

Life on RMS TitanicEdit
SailingEdit
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.

Titanic's sinkingEdit
Murdoch was the officer in charge at the bridge when the Titanic struck the iceberg on 14 April 1912. There are varying accounts as to what orders Murdoch gave in order to avoid collision with the iceberg. It is generally agreed that he gave an order of "Hard a'starboard" (an order which, through rotation of the ships wheel, would work to move the ship's tiller all the way to the starboard (right) side of the ship) in an attempt turn the ship to port (left). Murdoch is reported to have set the ships telegraph to "Full Astern" by Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall, who saw them at that setting when he entered the bridge some time during the accident. Boxhall’s testimony was contradicted by Greaser Frederick Scott, who stated that the engine room telegraphs showed "Stop", and by 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 Oliver 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" (as he explained to the captain "I tried to port around it, but she hit"). 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.

Titanic Murdoch
Murdoch shortly after the collision

Quartermaster Robert Hichens who was at the helm, and Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall, who may or may not have been on the bridge during the collision, both stated that the last command Murdoch gave Hichens was "Hard-to-port!" Despite these efforts the ship made its fatal collision at an estimated 37 seconds after the berg had been sighted. The ship's starboard (right) 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 the collision, 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 then attempted to launch Collapsible A while keeping the increasingly desperate passengers at bay with a service revolver. Cal arrived and reminded Murdoch of the money he gave him to secure his passage aboard the lifeboat, but Murdoch angrily threw it back in his face knowing that it was useless; money cannot save anyone from the cold and unfeeling sea.

When an unidentified man tried to charge the boat, Murdoch instinctively shot him. This startled the crowd who accidentally pushed Thomas Ryan forwards. Murdoch panicked and fired at Tommy as well, mortally wounding him. Murdoch then stumbled back in shock as Ryan's friend, Fabrizio, called the officer a "bastardo". A horrified and guilt-stricken Murdoch looked down at the gun in his hand, then caught the eye of Chief Officer Wilde. With a calm expression on his face, Murdoch saluted his fellow sailor and put the gun to his left temple, wanting to die on his own terms. Wilde called out “No, Will!”, but the Scotsman pulled the trigger before anyone could stop him, his body toppling backwards into the ocean.

Murdoch is last seen among those present in Rose’s ‘dream sequence’. He is standing next to Thomas Andrews, smiling as Rose drifts by and clapping along with the rest of the crowd of happy onlookers as Rose and Jack kiss, the stain of his actions apparently gone.

Behind the scenesEdit
WMM
The real Murdoch

He was portrayed by Ewan Stewart.

In the movie, Caledon Hockley (Billy Zane) bribes Murdoch to gain a place in one of his lifeboats which Murdoch later throws back in Cal's face. There is no evidence that Murdoch ever took a bribe. James Cameron likely put the bribe in the film to show Cal's lack of integrity rather than Murdoch's.

Murdoch's nephew Scott objected to the film's portrayal as damaging to his uncle's heroic reputation. Murdoch is highly regarded in his hometown of Dalbeattie, where there is a memorial to him. Studio executives flew to Dalbeattie to apologise for this depiction. They also presented a £5000 donation to Dalbeattie High School to boost the school's William Murdoch Memorial Prize.

Cameron claims his depiction of Murdoch is not a "cowardly murderer" nor even a man "gone bad", but of an "honorable man" who accepts full collective responsibility for the predicament they are in and is overwhelmed by feelings of desperation. He makes the ultimate sacrifice by taking his own life. Cameron's intention was not to portray Murdoch as a "murderer" as many have suggested, but the very opposite. He apologised on the DVD commentary, nonetheless.

In the CBS' 1996 miniseries "Titanic", Murdoch is also portrayed shooting passengers before shooting himself. This did not generate the same level of controversy because it received far less exposure than Cameron's film. This was based on a number of eyewitness reports of an officer's suicide by gunshot during the launching of the last lifeboat. With Murdoch being a prominently portrayed character, the filmmakers could not have left his fate ambiguous. With the exact details of his death uncertain, they went with a depiction which is at least consistent with the known facts. However, the identity of the officer is unknown, and there is no particular evidence for it being Murdoch.

Cameron's high opinion of Murdoch is revealed when he says, “I’m not sure you’d find that same sense of responsibility and total devotion to duty today. This guy had half of his lifeboats launched before his counterpart on the port side had even launched one. That says something about character and heroism” (James Cameron’s Titanic, p.129). This is maybe why Murdoch has the privilege of being among those seen in Rose’s ‘dream sequence’ at the end of the film. He is standing next to Thomas Andrews, smiling as Rose drifts by and clapping along with the rest of the crowd of happy onlookers as Rose and Jack kiss and implying Murdoch's heroic reputation.