Titanic

Captain Frank Ernest Beadnell
By Ethan Menaker

Captain Beadnell in 1903, when he took command of
the SS Coptic for the first time.

Captain Frank Ernest Beadnell, who served as Master of many White Star Line ships, was born 155 years ago, 4-June-1871, in Alderton, Suffolk, England. His father, Thomas Fawcett Beadnell, was a master miller, and his mother was the former Caroline Blormfield. He had four older sisters: Rose, Alice, Marion “Minnie”, and Florence, as well as one older brother: Thomas Fawcett Beadnell Jr. After Frank’s birth, one more sibling, a younger brother named Percy, would follow in 1873. Between the 1871 and 1881 censuses, it appears that the elder Thomas Beadnell passed away and Caroline remarried (unknown to whom), as the latter census shows her living in the West Ham neighborhood of East London as an “engineer’s wife” and like other children of that era, Frank is listed in the census as a “scholar.”

Young Frank first went to sea in 1885, as an apprentice in the full-rigged ship Titania, under the command of Captain James L. Dunn. The ship was owned by the Hudson’s Bay Company, and at the time, its primary focus was carrying cargo of steel rails to support the western extension of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. He served with the Hudson’s Bay Company for close to a decade, leaving it to join the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company as a Junior Officer on its routes between London and New Zealand. He would not remain with Shaw, Savill, and Albion for long, as in October 1895, he joined the White Star Line as a Junior Officer on the original RMS Majestic. By early 1896 he transferred to the SS Coptic. He was serving as its Second Officer on 13-July-1898 when the ship brought the news to the Hawaiian islands that they had been annexed by the United States. He was promoted to First Officer on the Coptic in January 1897, and again to the position of Chief Officer in September 1899. Like many other White Star Line officers who served in the company’s Pacific service, Captain Beadnell lived for a time in the United States, with the 1900 United States Census showing him residing in San Francisco with his wife, the former Katherine “Kate” May Burke, who was three years his senior and born in Ireland.

A model of Captain Beadnell’s first ship, the Titania.

On 4-January-1903, Beadnell’s career would take a major turn, albeit at someone else’s misfortune, as on that day, the Coptic’s master, Captain John Henry Rinder, fell ill and was advised by his doctor to remain ashore for the ship’s upcoming voyage. Beadnell, who at the time was 31 years of age, had been the ship’s Chief Officer for nearly four years at the time, was given temporary command of the Coptic for one voyage. At the time, the ship was carrying $200,000 USD of silver bullion (approximately $7.57 million USD/ £5.65 British pounds today). Captain Rinder recovered and returned to the Coptic in March 1903 and Beadnell reverted to his previous position as the ship’s Chief Officer. Captain Rinder resigned from the White Star Line in October 1903 and Captain Francis Henry Armstrong became the ship’s master in December 1903. In August 1904, Beadnell briefly transferred to the SS Germanic as Chief Officer for two months, returning to the Coptic in October 1904. One month later, Captain Armstrong’s tenure on the Coptic would come to a sad end, as he passed away while the ship was in port at Yokohama, Japan on 2-November-1904 and on that date, Captain Beadnell took over permanent command of the ship, his first of many permanent commands with the White Star Line. At some unknown point during his tenure on the Coptic, Beadnell helped save the lives of two Japanese seamen whose vessel had been capsized by a typhoon and for these actions, he received special thanks from the Japanese government.

In April 1905, Captain Beadnell left the Coptic after serving on the ship for almost nine straight years, transferring to command the SS Armenian and RMS Gaelic, before his first stint commanding the SS Cymric from July to October 1905. He also commanded the SS Persic around that time before a shore appointment as the White Star Line’s first Marine Superintendent in Genoa, Italy as the company was expanding its reach in the Mediterranean. After helping set up that service, he returned to the sea as Master of the SS Romanic, running between Italy and Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. While in command of the Romanic, on 12-July-1907, the ship collided with the 66-ton schooner Natalie B. Nickerson, resulting in the loss of three out of eighteen of the Nickerson’s crew. According to a newspaper article, Captain Beadnell said that his ship was sailing slowly through heavy fog when it first encountered the Nickerson’s light but there was not sufficient time for the Romanic to veer away and avoid a collision. Captain Beadnell and his crew picked up the survivors and took them to Boston.

Captain Beadnell would remain in command of the SS Romanic until September 1908, when he transferred to command the SS Laurentic, a role which he would hold for less than two months as between then and January 1916, he rotated in command of many different White Star Line ships, none of which he served on for longer than eight months at a time: SS Laurentic, SS Cufic, SS Megantic, the original RMS Majestic, SS Cymric, RMS Adriatic, RMS Celtic, RMS Cedric, SS Cretic, RMS Olympic, and RMS Baltic. While commanding this Majestic, on 17-October-1913, he rescued the crew of the sinking French schooner Garonne, and received a pair of binoculars from the French president. His White Star Line records list his tenure as the Olympic’s master as lasting from 02-September-1915 to 13-October-1915 with “coastal voyage” being listed in parentheses on those records. However, the records of fellow White Star Line Captain Sir Bertram Fox Hayes show him taking over the Olympic on 18-September-1915. Maritime historian Mark Chirnside notes that the Olympic’s log shows Hayes superseding Beadnell so it is quite possible his tenure on the Olympic was only on shore or that the “coastal voyage” he commanded it for was merely a repositioning voyage to prepare for war mobilisation.

Captain Beadnell with Purser Robert Edwards of the SS Cymric in 1915. .

On 31-July-1915, while commanding the SS Cymric, Captain Beadnell once again played a role in rescuing the crew of a foundering schooner, the Gypsum Queen, which was carrying timber from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to Preston, England. He was “highly commended by the Cymric’s passengers who lined the ship’s rails and witnessed the rescue.” Only three months later, on 16-October-1915, he took command of the RMS Baltic, replacing Captain Joseph Barlow Ranson, who transferred to the RMS Adriatic in the stead of the aforementioned Captain Sir Bertram Fox Hayes, who of course transferred to the RMS Olympic. Newspaper reports regarding Beadnell’s appointment to the Baltic note that he “had a very quick turn round this voyage, as he only arrived at Liverpool on Tuesday in the Cymric, and left again the following day in the Baltic” contradicting records that show his Olympic tenure lasting till that date.

Undated photo of Captain Beadnell.

After two months commanding the Baltic, Beadnell returned to the Cymric as commander on 1-January-1916 for the final time, as four months later, on 09-May-1916, just past noon, the Cymric itself was torpedoed by a German submarine. All but five of its crew were rescued, with four of the five (two engineers, a greaser, and a fireman) dying instantly as the torpedo struck the ship’s engine room on the port side, and the fifth victim, the Chief Steward, drowned while trying to enter a lifeboat. Five boats were lowered successfully and as it became clear that the Cymric was not going to sink immediately, Captain Beadnell and the wireless operator returned to the ship to send out an S.O.S. call. A British naval vessel arrived at 9:10pm, standing by in the area until the Cymric sank in the wee hours of morning at 3:15am the next day. There were no international repercussions that occurred as a result of the sinking, as there were no passengers on board. To this day, the wreck of the Cymric has not been located.

A colour image of Captain Beadnell aboard the Adriatic,in 1926 (still from BFI "Liverpool docks and the Mersey" 1926, courtesy of Conner Nelson).

Only one month after the sinking of the Cymric, Captain Beadnell returned to the command of the SS Megantic on 16-June-1916, and his tenure on the Megantic would be his longest tenure on one ship since his time on the Coptic, as he remained in command of the ship until 06-May-1921, a period of almost five years. From that date until October 1921, he commanded the RMS Celtic, before transferring back to the RMS Baltic until December 1922, when he took command of the RMS Adriatic, a role which he would also hold for nearly five years, until his 1927 retirement. During his tenure on the Adriatic, reporter T.G. Barman of the Liverpool Evening Express interviewed Captain Beadnell about his career as part of his regular column profiling merchant shipping captains. In the profile of Captain Beadnell, Barman noted that regarding how quickly Beadnell rose to command, “there are not many men who have accomplished the arduous climb from the position of Junior Officer to that of Command in nine short years. Indeed, it might almost be said that under present conditions in the merchant marine such a feat would be impossible and could not be duplicated. Promotion such as this would be stretched over about 15 years.” Barman also noted that Captain Beadnell was a big proponent of wireless technology as he kept a five-valve wireless set in his cabin and spent his time away from the bridge “amusing himself by receiving concerts, and addresses broadcast from either side of the Atlantic”.

Captain Beadnell on the bridge of the RMS Adriatic in advance of his 1927 retirement.

In late April 1927, it was reported that Captain Beadnell was going to retire on June 4th of that year, his 56th birthday. While the White Star Line’s retirement age was 60, he elected to retire early in order to “give younger men a chance of promotion”. In an interview with the Wolverhampton Express and Star, Beadnell recalled his early days with the company, noting that “ had only been eight years in the White Star service when I obtained a command at the age of 33, when I was probably the youngest commander ever appointed by the Line. I shall spend my retirement in the Isle of Man.” At the time of his retirement, he was “one of the few remaining ship masters in the Atlantic trade whose active service began in the famous clipper ships of England.”

Photo Gallery (of his house on the Isle of Man) .

Photo Gallery (of his house on the Isle of Man) .

Captain and Mrs. Beadnell built a house on the Isle of Man. It was known as May Bank and it was in the village of Baldrine, near Garwick Beach. It still exists today as a private home and was on the market in the last few years.. The Beadnells’ retirement was not all peace and quiet, as on 22-January-1938, Mrs. Beadnell’s purse was snatched from her in an attack at the front gate of her home. Newspaper reports note that the attack “upset Captain Beadnell considerably, as he is not in good health.” Just over a year later, on 04-April-1939, as World War II commenced, his Royal Navy Reserve records note that he was suffering from pernicious anaemia, but that he is “willing to offer his services to the country.” In 1946, as their health continued to decline in old age, Mrs. Beadnell placed several want ads in the Isle of Man Times seeking “domestic help.” On 23-February-1954, Captain Beadnell died at the age of 82 and was buried at the Borough Cemetery three days later in a private ceremony. Not even two months later, Mrs. Kate May Beadnell died on 17-April-1954 and was also buried three days later in the same cemetery. As they did not have any children, his personal estate (valued at £2,000) was bequeathed to his sister Minnie and her children and his household furniture was auctioned off to the public.

Works Cited

Websites
- Encyclopedia Titanica thread (Picture from 1903: Capt Beadnell: https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/community/threads/picture-from-1903-capt-beadnell.25491/).
- White Star Line service records of Frank Ernest Beadnell, John Henry Rinder, and Francis Henry Armstrong (via FindMyPast.co.uk).
- Royal Navy Reserve records, ADM-240 and ADM-340 for Frank Ernest Beandell (via nationalarchives.gov.uk).
- 1871 Census of England & Wales (via FindMyPast.co.uk).
- 1881 Census of England & Wales (via FindMyPast.co.uk).
- 1900 United States Census (via FindMyPast.co.uk).
- Hatfield v. Guay, 87 F.2d 358 (1st Cir. 1937) (via https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/87/358/1545774/).
- Wanted on Voyage Ocean Liner Monographs by Peter Kohler: White Star’s Big Ship SS Cymric (via https://wantedonthevoyage.blogspot.com/2023/12/white-stars-big-ship-ss-cymric.html).
- Wikipedia article on SS Cymric (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Cymric).

Newspaper articles (most via FindMyPast.co.uk)
- Excerpt of The Pacific Commercial Advertiser (14-July-1898) via (https://www.studocu.com/en-us/document/myers-park-high-school/us-history/801-us-in-hawaii/115254484).
- San Francisco Call (04-January-1903).
- Ottawa Free Press (13-Jul-1907).
- Liverpool Journal of Commerce (07-August-1915).
- Liverpool Journal of Commerce (16-October-1915).
- Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer (10-May-1916).
- Nottingham Evening Express (11-May-1916).
- Liverpool Evening Express (20-December-1924).
- New York Times (16-April-1927).
- New York Daily News (17-April-1927).
- Liverpool Journal of Commerce (25-April-1927).
- Wolverhampton Express and Star (25-April-1927).
- Isle of Man Times (22-January-1938).
- Isle of Man Times (27-February-1954).
- Isle of Man Times (24-April-1954).
- Isle of Man Times (22-February-1957).
- Isle of Man Times (18-April-1957).

Other Sources
- Reddit thread on Mark Chirnside’s list of RMS Olympic captains
(https://www.reddit.com/r/titanic/comments/1iza8f9/there_are_two_different_versions_of_list_of_rms/#lightbox).
- May Bank real estate listing (https://media.onthemarket.com/properties/2466043/doc_0_3.pdf