Captain W. T. Turner of the 'Aquitania' (1914)

A full-length portrait of Captain William Thomas Turner (1856-1933), master of the passenger liner 'Aquitania' (1914) and Commodore of the Cunard Line fleet. Turner is wearing the full dress uniform of a Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve; he is standing by the compass platform on the Flying Bridge. The view is looking across to port.

Captain Turner was promoted to Commodore in March 1913 and appointed as an Honorary Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve in June 1913. He was master of the 'Aquitania' between May and July 1914. The medals which appear in this photograph are the Silver Medal of the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society awarded for lifesaving in 1883, and the Transport Medal for service in transporting troops to South Africa during the Boer War 1899-1902.

Captain Turner is mostly remembered for being in command of the passenger liner ‘Lusitania’ (1907) when she was torpedoed and lost off the south coast of Ireland on 7 May 1915. He was awarded the OBE in recognition of his war service in January 1918.

Object Details

ID: G10917
Collection: Historic Photographs
Type: Glass plate negative
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Bedford Lemere & Co
Vessels: Aquitania (1914)
Date made: 1914
People: Turner, William Thomas; John Brown & Company
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Overall: 305 mm x 254 mm