Rigel

There are many stories of courage and heroism that came from the tragedy in the sinking of the RMS Titanic. We have all heard of the band who continued to play for the passengers and crew while the ship was sinking, the engineers that willingly relinquished their lives to continue to power the ship as it sank, and the captain who inevitably ‘went down with the ship’. However, there is one hero who you may have not heard of – Rigel. At only 4 years old, Rigel helped save dozens of lives during and after the sinking of the Titanic; this is his story.

Boarding the RMS Titanic on April 8, 1912 was an exciting day for William McMaster Murdoch, his wife Ada and their faithful companion, Rigel, a black Newfoundland. They arrived 2 days ahead of departure to settle in while William, the First Officer of the Titanic, could review the final preparations for the ship. Ada would walk their gentle Rigel up and down the decks of the ship during the afternoons before taking tea in one of the many parlors. Rigel was well-behaved, but friendly as the First-Class passenger children would often stop to pet his soft black fur.

While William worked throughout the days and well into the evenings, Ada had Rigel to keep her company. Ada’s journal recounted one such evening:

“This lavish ship with all her fine furnishings, elegant diners, and superior crew have provided no less comfort than that of an empty home. I would be utterly alone should Rigel not keep me company. He has proven to be a fine companion, seemingly knowing when my heart is in need of a little extra warmth and my hand to feel slightly less empty.”

- Ada Murdoch, 12 April 1912

Just before midnight on April 14, 1912, Ada and Rigel were awoken by the jarring shake of the ship striking the iceberg hidden in the Atlantic Ocean. A short time later William came to the room and told Ada that there had been a collision, but it would be of little consequence. Unfortunately, the First Officer’s last words to her would haunt Ada until her death.

Sometime after William left the room to attend to the ship, Rigel refused to settle. Ada eventually gave in and decided to take Rigel for a late-night walk along the decks. While strolling across the ship, Ada noticed that the ship was no longer moving and several of the ship’s crew were scurrying around, faces fraught with worry. By this time, several of the other second-class and third-class passengers had made their way up to the ship’s deck and were peering over the edge.

One of the crew members stood up on a stool and announced to the crowds that they were to report to the lifeboats as a precautionary measure. Rigel must have sensed the panic and he pulled from Ada’s grip and took off down the deck leaving her shouting for him to return.

It was at this point that Ada was unaware of Rigel’s whereabouts and what he was doing. The next accounts come from other survivors of the Titanic. The following passage came from William Carter II, one of the child survivors of the Titanic:

“The black dog that belonged to the First Officer came running out the crowd towards me. I remembered petting him a couple days prior and wondered where he had come from. I held onto him while I searched for my mother. People were pushing me around, but I held firm to Rigel’s fur. We eventually found my mother and sisters, but when we tried to get in one of the lifeboats, they told my mom I was too old – I was 11 at the time. My mother refused to leave without me, and we were pushed from the lifeboat. I remember sitting and crying on the deck of the ship when Rigel’s furry tail brushed over my head. He must have sparked an idea in my mother, as she dressed me as a girl, and we went to another lifeboat. They let me on without a whisper. I don’t know where Rigel went after that, but I attribute my life to that dog.”

- William Carter II, recounting his escape during the sinking of the RMS Titanic

William Carter II was not the only child that Rigel helped save that night. It was reported that he was seen comforting several other children as they cried and clung to their parents during the chaos along the decks of the Titanic.

Two young children, feared to have been orphaned with the sinking of the ship, remember their father kissing their heads, wrapping them up in a blanket and instructing Rigel to sit with them as the lifeboat lowered into the frigid waters below. It was the last time that they ever saw their father. One of the children, only known by his surname, Navratil, recounts the events below:

“We only spoke French, but we could tell that something terrible had happened. People were running up and down the decks. The ship itself was making terrible creaking sounds, noises from nightmares. I remember this black dog coming towards me and my brother through the crowd. My little brother was crying, and this dog just came up and licked his face until he started to smile. I could tell that my dad was scared and was trying to get us all off the ship. But when we got to the few remaining lifeboats, they would only take me and my brother. Father looked so upset that he couldn’t go with us, but I remember him kissing our foreheads and squeezing us so tightly – I thought my bones would break. He then sat us in the lifeboat and called the dog to sit with us. He wrapped us in a blanket and waved goodbye as they lowered the boat into the water. I screamed for him, and even tried to jump out to be with him, but the dog stepped in front of me and kept me in the lifeboat. Last time I saw my father, he waved and then disappeared into the frantic crowd at the edge of the ship. That dog stayed with us until we were a good 10 meters from the ship before he jumped into the water. I don’t know where he went after that, but he helped save me and my brother’s life – and I’ll never forget that.”

- Navratil

After leaving the Navratil boys, Rigel made his way to another lifeboat prior to the Titanic’s horrific plunge beneath the Atlantic Ocean where he seemed to search out nearby survivors, barking to provide them with a heading towards safety and rescue. As the ship sank, the screams intensified. People could be seen jumping from the side of the ship into the icy waters beneath it. For some time, the lifeboats lingered just outside the sea of weary passengers wailing for help as they splashed around the water. It wasn’t until the sounds of screams and cries began to slowly diminish that a single lifeboat, the one carrying Rigel, approached the casualties floating in the freezing waters.

Only 9 people were pulled from the water that night and of those only 6 survived. It was over an hour after the Titanic slipped beneath the surface of the water that the Carpathia arrived. As the Carpathia approached, it was Rigel’s faint barking that could be heard by the crew of the Carpathia, as they nearly stuck the lifeboat that was carrying Rigel and several other passengers. Rigel’s size and weight made it difficult to get him to the deck of the Carpathia, but one man, Jonas Briggs, fashioned a sling to hoist the dog aboard.

Several crew members of the Carpathia were surprised to see how few lifeboats were dispatched from the Titanic, and how many people were assigned per boat. One crew member was quoted as saying:

“The courage and bravery of those who helped others in need must trump the selfish and callous nature of those who failed to heed the desperate cries of the souls lost to the sea. May God have mercy on those who let their fellow man die, for not even a dog could ignore those pleading for help.”

- Crew member of the Carpathia

Rigel was later adopted by the Carpathia’s Master at Arms, John Brown who heard of the dog’s heroics surrounding the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Soon afterwards, the two then moved to rural Scotland where Rigel lived out the rest of his life peacefully.

Although the lives of those saved have since been lost to time, and the Titanic herself is slowly losing her battle to erosion along the Atlantic Ocean floor; the acts of the many brave men, women, children and pets will forever be remembered on that fateful April night.