This section attempts to give an overview of life in the British Merchant Marine of the turn of the 19th century, with a focus on the experiences that the officers of the RMS Titanic would have had in common. (For specific incidents pertaining to the careers of these officers, see individual biographies). Although their experiences in sail and steam in the period from when Edward Smith was apprenticed in 1863 to when James Moody went to sea in 1902 spanned some 39 years, it is possible to make a few general observations about the profession in which they served. Conditions and practices did change somewhat between the commencement of the careers of Captain Edward Smith, and the youngest officer, James Moody, and the Merchant Shipping Act of 1894 and Merchant Shipping Act Amendments of 1904 would have impacted on their profession. Many of their experiences, however, would have remained constant. This overview is not a comprehensive history of the British Merchant Marine, and it does not seek to define all positions aboard ship (e.g. able seaman, ordinary seaman, bo'sun, carpenter, the engineering officers, etc.). Specific duties assigned to the deck officers differed over time, and also between sail and steam. Although practices, regulations and duties pertaining to their positions changed over time and according to the lines and vessels with which they shipped, a few general remarks can be made.
For this article I have drawn extensively upon the work of Frank Bullen who, by the time he wrote "The Men of the Merchant Service" in 1900, had progressed from ship's boy to Master Mariner. His book, covering a period roughly contemporary with the careers of the Titanic's officers, is highly illustrative of the experiences and mindset common to the British Merchant Marine of his era. It is also recommended that readers interested in delving further into this subject examine the Merchant Shipping Acts of 1894 and the amendments of 1906. They had significant impact on British shipping practices, and the lifesaving regulations of the Act would be extensively amended in 1913 following the Titanic disaster.
A note about the terms "Officer" and "Mate" these are essentially interchangeable (indeed, although the Titanic's senior deck crew are virtually always referred to as "Officers", the term used in the ship's articles is "Mates"). "Mate" is a more traditional term, but by the beginning of the 19th Century use of "Officer" became more prevalent, particularly on the larger liners. Both are used in this article, as while they were most frequently referred to as "Officers", the official documents pertaining to certification use "Mate". All officers referred to are deck officers (as opposed to, for example, engineering officers) unless otherwise specified.
There exists a certain stereotype today of the Edwardian ship's Officer aloof, formal and of a different "class" to the ordinary, humble seaman. This apparently owes much to preconceptions about the "English Officer Class" that would be so lampooned and reviled by the rank-and-file soldiers of World War I. This confusion of the land-based armed forces and the merchant and navy officers is quite unfair. Though Titanic's officers had come far from their early days, symbolised by the position of their quarters on the boat deck abaft the navigating bridge rather than down with the rest of the crew in the forecastle - in a sense isolating them - they were not totally removed from their origins. While many of the men who served as officers in the Merchant Marine were indeed of middleclass families, they had by no means led a privileged life at sea. Hard work under extreme conditions generally weeded out those who did not possess the skills or endurance to make good officers.
APPRENTICES
The required kit differed between shipping lines, but the following was a general guide for an apprentice in a southern-going ship:
Not all the apprentices would have been this well equipped.
The first voyage was a rude shock to these adolescent boys, who were suddenly cast upon their own resources. Personal hygiene and comfort suffered "How many lads are there to be found, I wonder, leaving good homes, such as the majority of sea-apprentices do leave, who have ever washed a shirt or a plate, made a bed, or sewn on a button? Not one in a thousand. These things have always been done for them" (F. Bullen).
Conditions, often cramped to begin with, became foul and unsanitary very quickly "I was once on board a large barque as A.B., where every apprentice (there were six) was on his first voyage
they were nice boys; but one day, when we had been a month at sea, I was invited into their house. And the first thing I said to my host was, 'I wonder what your poor mother would say if she could see this place.' It smelt; that rank aroma which is the product of deficient ventilation, foul clothes, and stale food, caught me by the throat as I entered. The bunks of those young gentlemen were like the bins in a rag-dealer's shop, their chests were little, if any, better, and there was a thriving population of vermin of various sorts. Not a plate, knife, fork, spoon or mug had been washed since our departure from London." (F. Bullen)
One wonders what a young man such as James Moody, later noted for fastidious personal habits, would have made of such conditions. Certainly, young men (no different in any age) picked up vices quickly smoking, drinking and swearing, then as now, were the most popular.
Treatment of apprentices varied greatly from ship to ship in spite of attempts to set standards through legislation. In some vessels their interests would be looked after, the Mate would see to their education and they would never be set to do the most arduous or difficult tasks. In other ships, they might be utilized to make up a deficit in the ship's company. "I have often seen the sons of well-to-do parents, who had given them a costly education, paid a heavy premium with them, and provided them with gorgeous outfit, driven harder than any other item of the ship's company" (F. Bullen). Charles Lightoller, the only officer of Titanic to publish a book about his experiences at sea, would recount horrific stories about his apprenticeship on the Primrose Hill. In heavy seas, where every hand was needed, the young men developed painful saltwater boils from having worked in chaffing wet clothes. Rats might gnaw raw skin by night, as the ship's crew attempted to sleep in their damp clothes and bedding.
Lloyd George, in pressing for further reform through the 1906 Merchant Shipping Amendment Act, would damn the diet provided for merchant seamen aboard ship, calling it 'meager, monotonous, miserable'. The statutory scale introduced in 1906 would go some way towards improving food, but as it was difficult to enforce (particularly on longer voyages), the diet aboard ship remained much as it had before, and that with which Titanic's officers were familiar - "'cracker hash' or sea pie (alternate layers of salt beef, peas and powdered ship's biscuit), 'dandyfunk' (baked powdered biscuit and marmalade), salt beef or tinned meat (called 'Harriet Lane' by seamen after a notorious murdered lady in dockland)." (A. Eames).
For all aboard ship there were the perils to be faced every voyage, whether one was a master or an apprentice. In their early years at sea, most of Titanic's officers experienced a passage around Cape Horn. "All sailors know, either by experience or repute, how cruelly hard are the conditions attached to forcing a passage around that awful promontory that reaches down almost into the Antarctic Circle, deep into the chosen habitation of the fiercest and most persistent gales that rage around the planet. Here, for weeks on end, you shall feel the weight of an unfaltering westerly gale, with all its accompaniments of snow and sleet and darkness." (F. Bullen) It was off Cape Horn that Lightoller and Lowe would see their first icebergs. SHIP'S BOY
While some of the conditions of half a century before still lingered on those smaller vessels that would accept boys who ran away from home, these were mostly coastal vessels (deep-water ships belonging to shipping lines generally did not accept runaways). Therefore, any young man who found himself too badly abused could leave the ship when it was next in port usually only a matter of days, not months as it was for the international trade. It was possible, however, for a Ship's Boy to work his way up to A.B., and from there to acquire the necessary texts and study in his own private time to sit for the Second Mate's certificate. It was a hard school, and conditions would appall most men ashore. Harold Lowe was one of the few boys who not only endured but also rose to become a Master Mariner a tribute to both his intelligence and his perseverance.
Apprentices
Ship's Boy
Exams for Certificates
Second Mate
First Mate
Master
There were two usual ways of gaining entry into the Merchant Marine for those wishing to become ship's officers. The most common was to join as an apprentice. This was the course followed by Edward Smith, Henry Wilde, William Murdoch, Charles Lightoller, Joseph Boxhall and James Moody. Middle class families could either send their sons to a training institute or send them to sea for a period of at least four years, straight of out of school at the age of approximately 13 or 14. Obtaining a position as an apprentice meant either putting the boy's name down for a position at a shipping line or visiting various ships, requesting that he be taken aboard. Some unscrupulous dealers would place advertisements in newspapers offering to place the teenagers in apprenticeships, then charge the unfortunate boy's family heavy fees and commissions. Those families who had connections in the shipping industry were at a decided advantage when it came to placing their boys. William Murdoch and Joseph Boxhall's families, for example, were involved in seafaring and had extensive contacts, and Edward Smith and Charles Lightoller shipped with firms that employed their relatives. Without contacts within the industry, however, all a parent could do was examine the lists of shipping firms in the major shipping centers (e.g. Liverpool) and attempt to select one of the larger, more reputable firms. 
Photo Credit: WWI Document Archive Service
A premium was paid to the shipowners, generally in the vicinity of £60 or more, and the boy was outfitted with his basic kit. All the Titanic's officers who served apprenticeships did so in sail, although steamers were becoming more common it was a prerequisite of the White Star Line that its officers had served time in sail, and this experience was required to attain certification as a second mate.
The other route to become an officer was to start as a ship's boy the harshest way of all. Of Titanic's officers, only Harold Lowe would follow this course, running away to sea in his early teens. The 1890s, when Lowe first shipped out, were within living memory of the days when "it was the privilege of every man on board to ill-treat the boy; and if, as very often happened, the poor little wretch died under it well, what of it? it was only a boy. And the peculiar part of it all was that the brutes who did these evil deeds prided themselves that their actions were right and proper. There was only one way of training a boy with a rope's-end if it were handy; if not, a fist or a boot would do, but he must be beaten." (F. Bullen)
Back to 'Why' Index
Main Page