Joseph Groves Boxhall was the Fourth Officer of the Titanic. He survived the sinking with emergency lifeboat 2. His boat was the first one to be rescued by the RMS Carpathia.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Boxhall was the second child of Joseph and Miriam Boxhall, he had two sisters who survived into adulthood (a third sister died in infancy). The Boxhall family had a strong seafaring tradition; his grandfather had been a mariner, his uncle was a Trinity House buoymaster and Board of Trade official, and his father, Captain Joseph Boxhall, was a well known and respected master with the Wilson Line of Hull.
On June 2nd, 1899 Boxhall joined his first ship, a steel hulled barque sailing from Liverpool and belonging to the William Thomas Line. During the course of his apprenticeship he sailed to Russia, the Mediterranean, North and South America and Australia. In July 1903 he obtained his Second Mate's Certificate, and very soon afterwards joined the same shipping company has his father, the Wilson Line of Hull. In January 1905 he passed the examination for his First Mate's certificate in Hull. After further sea time, he studied for his Master's and Extra-Master's certification at Trinity House in Hull, and passed these examinations in September 1907, and in November joined the White Star Line.
Among his earliest berths with the White Star Line was the crack liner Oceanic. He joined her in July 1908 as Sixth Officer, and it was while serving aboard her that he met Charles Lightoller, the only Titanic officer he knew prior to joining the Titanic in Belfast. After spending time on the Australian run in 1911, by the end of the year he was back on the North Atlantic run with the Arabic. He signed off her articles in January 1912, and his next ship was the RMS Titanic.
On the Titanic[]
At 9 a.m. on the March 26th, 1912 Boxhall and the other junior officers of the Titanic: Third Officer Pitman, Fifth Officer Lowe and Sixth Officer Moody collected tickets from the White Star Line marine superintendent in Liverpool for their journey to Belfast. They departed from Liverpool at around 10 p.m. that night and were aboard the new ship by noon the following day.
During the following few days Boxhall assisted with preparations for the vessel's trials and once these had been completed he accompanied her on the short voyage to Southampton arriving there just after midnight on April 4. On the day of departure Boxhall was on the navigating bridge, working the engine room and docking bridge telegraphs on orders from Captain Smith and the Trinity House Harbour Pilot George Bowyer. Once at sea, Boxhall settled into his role of regular watches, navigation and assisting both passengers and crew.
Sinking of the Titanic[]
It had been a calm night on Titanic on Sunday April 14.th
Joseph was busy making calculations on Titanic's position sinds 10 o'clock Titanic time, when he was on watch, as well as First Officer Murdoch and Sixth Officer Moody. It was very cold and Boxhall had retreated to his cabin for a small moment to make himself a nice cup of tea.
At 11.40 p.m. on the night of April 14th, Boxhall, who had been in his cabin, was walking to the bridge. He heard three bells from the crows nest signaling the sighting of an iceberg ahead, he then heard First Officer Murdoch call out orders to Quartermaster Hichens to put the wheel hard over, and the noise of the engine room telegraphs ordering the reversal of the engines. As Boxhall reached the bridge, he saw Murdoch organizing the closure of watertight doors just as a long grinding jar shook the ship. Moments later, Captain Smith was at his side asking what had happened. Murdoch explained and Boxhall was told to go down and inspect the forward part of the ship. Boxhall went down, but saw no damage, but as he continued his tour, a steerage passenger handed him a large piece of ice which had been fallen to the deck.
Boxhall returned to the bridge after a fifteen minute inspection and reported back to the Captain that he, at least, could find nothing awry. Smith then sent Boxhall to get the Carpenter to sound the ship but as Boxhall left the bridge joiner Hutchinson rushed past him, he exclaimed that the forward compartments were filling up fast. The joiner was soon followed by Postal Clerk, John Richard Jago Smith, who informed the Captain that the lower mail sorting room on the orlop deck was also filling up with water.
Boxhall was then sent to fetch Second Officer Lightoller and Third Officer Pitman. The two officers had already been out to see what had happened but had returned to their cabins to await orders.
Boxhall's next task was to work out the ship's position. After he had done so, Captain Smith went to the wireless room and ordered First Marconi Operator Jack Phillips to send out a call for assistance.
At 12:25 P.M., the first lifeboat was lowered into the sea. Quartermaster Rowe was standing to the aft dock bridge. He had noticed the iceberg but then everything went still. He spotted the lifeboat lowering and then rang the bridge, to ask whether they aware a boat was launched. Boxhall answered the phone, wondering if the Third Officer was there. Rowe explained who he was and what he was doing. Then Boxhall wanted to know if Rowe knew where the rockets were stored. Rowe answered positively.
Boxhall had gotten an order to find more rockets. At 12.40 A.M, Rowe began to fire rockets as well on the other side, from an angled rail attached to the bridge. Rowe continued to do so until his rockets ran out around 1:45 A.M. Whilst Rowe was thus engaged, Boxhall scanned the horizon and he spotted a steamer in the distance shortly after midnight. He and Rowe attempted to contact the vessel with a Morse lamp, but they were unsuccessful. At one point, Boxhall sought reassurance from the Captain and asked if he felt the situation was really serious, Smith replied that the ship would sink within an hour to an hour and a half.
Boxhall was put in charge of Lifeboat 2 which was lowered at 1.40 A.M. He initially rowed away in fear of the suction. After the Titanic had gone down, he asked the ladies in the boat whether they should go back to help swimmers out of the water, but they said no. The boat was less than two thirds full. During the night Boxhall periodically set off green flares and also rowed. Around 4.00 A.M. the Carpathia was sighted and Boxhall let off a final flare to guide the ship to them. When he finally clambered aboard the Carpathia, he was ordered to the bridge and he was shaking, but informed Captain Rostron that the Titanic had gone down at about 2.30 A.M.
After the Titanic[]
At both of the subsequent inquiries, Boxhall would be called on to testify to the details of navigation and the evacuation of passengers and crew into the boats. It was Boxhall who first mentioned the presence of another vessel in close proximity that did not respond to the distress signals sent up by the Titanic.
Boxhall suffered from Pleurisy in the wake of the disaster, caused (or exacerbated) by exposure in the lifeboats. Following his return to England, he joined the Adriatic as her Fourth Officer. In the pre-war years he joined the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) as a Sub-Lieutenant and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1915. He served on cruisers, a torpedo boat and a shore base. In the post-war years he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
After his return from the war, Boxhall married Marjory Beddells, daughter of a Yorkshire industrialist, on 25 March 1919 in St. Andrew's Church near her home in Sharrow, Sheffield. The marriage was a happy one, although the couple were childless.
In May 1919, Boxhall returned to the merchant service, and throughout the early 1920s served with White Star and other International Mercantile Marine ships, sailing to the United States, Canada and Australia. Following the White Star Line-Cunard merger, he served in a senior capacity as first and later chief officer of ships such as the Berengaria, Aquitania, Ausonia, Scythia, Antonia and Franconia. He never received his own command in the merchant service, and retired in 1940.
Although a rather quiet, taciturn man, Boxhall enjoyed the respect and friendship of many senior figures in the merchant service, among them Commander Harry Grattidge who had commanded the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. When Boxhall was asked to act as a technical advisor to the 1958 film A Night to Remember, he asked his friend Grattidge to work with him on the project as he was experiencing some health problems. Members of his family were surprised when Boxhall agreed to assist in the making of the film, as he had been rather reluctant to speak on the subject of the disaster. He was involved in the promotion of the film and attended the premiere at the Odeon Theatre in Leicester Square. In the years after the film, Commander Boxhall spoke to some researchers and gave a BBC Interview on the subject in 1962.
Death[]
Boxhall's health deteriorated sharply in the 1960s, leading to his eventual hospitalization. He died on April 25th, 1967; age 83 - the last of the Titanic's surviving deck officers to pass away. His body was cremated and his ashes, according to his wishes, were scattered in the wind of the North Atlantic Ocean over the position he had calculated the Titanic had gone down which is about 15 miles from the actual sinking location.
In popular culture[]
In popular culture, Boxhall is one of the less important officers to be portrayed.
A Night to Remember (1958)[]
Jack Watling as Joseph Groves Boxhall in A Night to Remember (1958)
In A Night To Remember, Boxhall is portrayed by Jack Watling. Boxhall, along with survivors Lawrence Beesley and Edith Russell, served as technical advisors for the movie.
S.O.S. Titanic (1979)[]
Warren Clarke as Joseph Groves Boxhall in S.O.S. Titanic (1979)
In S.O.S. Titanic, Boxhall is portrayed by Warren Clarke. Boxhall is given an extra role in delivering the orders to Jack Phillips to send out the distress signals.
1996 Miniseries Titanic[]
Gerald Plunkett as Joseph Groves Boxhall in 1996 Miniseries Titanic
In the 1996 miniseries, Boxhall is portrayed by Gerard Plunkett. Boxhall takes the scenes from Moody and dies in Episode 2.
Titanic (1997)[]
Simon Crane as Joseph Groves Boxhall in Titanic (1997)
In the 1997 film, he is portrayed by Simon Crane. Boxhall is shown as a background character in the film. He only has two lines: "Make it taught! And winch out!" when preparing the lifeboats, and "Bloody pull faster and pull!" as he orders Emergency Lifeboat 2 to row away from the sinking Titanic.
Boxhall oversaw Rowe's rockets in Titanic 1997
They also made officer Lowe to be the person to light green Roman candles in his lifeboat, instead of Boxhall, who was the one doing that in real life. Nevertheless in terms of appearance it's a good cast.
2012 Miniseries Titanic[]
Cian Barry as Joseph Groves Boxhall in the 2012 Miniseries Titanic
In the 2012 miniseries, Boxhall is portrayed by Cian Barry.
Episode 1 of 2012 Miniseries[]
He is on the bridge when Titanic strikes the iceberg.
Episode 2 of 2012 Miniseries[]
On 9th April, All officers meet in a conference room on board he ship. Henry Tingle Wilde is announced to become Chief Officer, Blair is discharged off the Titanic, and Murdoch and Lightoller both go down one rank.
That Sunday evening, Titanic is sinking. Stewards Annie Desmond and Paolo Sandrini are filling a lifeboat with women and children. Boxhall forbids Paolo from allowing Second Class women into the lifeboats from A Deck, he thinks they have to board from the Boat Deck. Paolo almost clashes with Boxhall until First Officer Murdoch arrives and orders all women and children into the lifeboats.
Episode 3 of 2012 Miniseries[]
On boarding day, Boxhall guards the Second Class gangway for passengers checking in. Peter Lubov presents his ticket to him, but Boxhall redirects him to the steerage gangway.
Episode 4 of 2012 Miniseries[]
He is on the bridge when Titanic strikes the iceberg. Murdoch told him and Moody to go and find Captain Smith.
The ship is sinking and the lifeboats are swung out. Boxhall doesn't allow Grace Rushton to take her dog in the boat, but suddenly John Jacob Astor appears, having released all dogs from their kennels. Grace Rushton and Madeleine Astor both enter the lifeboat, each with their dog, but without their husbands who perish in the sinking.
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