who was at the helm when the titanic sank
William McMaster Murdoch Murdoch was the officer in charge at the bridge when at approximately 11.40pm on 14 April 1912 a large iceberg directly in the Titanic's path was sighted. Quartermaster Robert Hichens, who was at the helm, and Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall, who may or may not have been on the bridge during the collision,[2] both stated that Murdoch gave the order "Hard-a-starboard",[3][4][5] a tiller command which would turn the ship to port (left) by moving the tiller to starboard (right).