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The remain’s of the officers quarters on the wreck of the titanic
Joseph Groves Boxhall was born in Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, the second child of Captain Joseph and Miriam Boxhall. He was born into an established seafaring tradition,Boxhall followed in the footsteps of his ancestors on 2 June 1899, when he joined his first ship, a barque of the William Thomas Line of Liverpool where he served his apprenticeship which lasted four years,He then went to work with his father at Wilson Line and, after obtaining his Master's and Extra-Master's certifications in September 1907, joined the White Star Line, where He served on White Star's liners Oceanic and Arabic before moving to the Titanic as Fourth Officer in 1912
Boxhall reported to White Star's Liverpool offices
at nine o'clock in themorning on 26 March
1912, and travelled toboard the titanic at Belfast
the following day. boxhall's duties on the titanic included scheduled watches, aiding in navigation, and assisting passengers and crew when necessary.
When Titanic collided with an iceberg at 11.40 PM on 14 April, Officer Boxhall was off duty near the Officers' Quarters. Hearing the lookout bell, he headed immediately to the bridge, arriving just after the impact. captain smith ordered Boxhall to perform an inspection of the forward part of the ship. He found no damage, but was later intercepted by the ship's carpenter, who informed him that the ship was taking water.
it was Boxhall who calculated the Titanic's position so that a distress signal could be sent out. It was also Boxhall who sighted the masthead lights of a nearby vessel (possibly the SS Californian) and attempted in vain to signal by Morse lamp and distress flares.
later Officer Boxhall was put in charge of lifeboat No. 2, which was lowered from the port side at 1.45 AM with 18 persons aboard out of a possible 40. He rowed away from the ship for fear of being pulled down by suction.Boxhall did not actually see the Titanic sink, as her lights had gone off and his lifeboat was about three-quarters of a mile away.
Boxhall spotted the Carpathia on the horizon at 4.00 AM and guided her to the lifeboats with a green flare. After being collected by the Carpathia, Boxhall and the other survivors arrived at Pier 54 in New York on 18 April.
Following the Titanic sinking, Boxhall briefly served as Fourth Officer on White Star's Adriatic before joining the Royal Naval Reserve as a sub-lieutenant. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1915, Boxhall returned to White Star in May 1919, having married Marjory Beddells two months prior. After the White Star-Cunard merger in 1933, he served in senior capacity as first and later chief officer of the RMS Aquitania. His health deteriorated sharply in the 1960's, and he was eventually hospitalised; Joseph Boxhall, the last surviving deck officer of Titanic died on 25 April 1967, He was 83. According to his last wishes, his ashes were scattered to sea at 41°46N 50°14W – the position he had calculated as Titanic's final resting place over half a century earlier.
