Walter John Perkis (August 11th 1874 - August 4th 1954) was one of the seven Quartermasters onboard Titanic. he survived the sinking in lifeboat 4
Early life[]
Walter John Perkis was born in Swanmore Road, Ryde in August 1874. He was the seventh of twelve children born to James Perkis and Emily Ricketts.
Walter went to sea at the age of 16. In 1909 he married to Phoebe Lavina Collins from Bitterne. In 1910 they had one child, a son named Robert.
He was employed as a Quartermaster on RMS Olympic in 1911-1912. That was his last ship before he carried out the same role on her new sistership. At the time, he and his family still resided in Bitterne. The fascinating fact is, that he probably was very impressed by the Olympic, as he named his house after her.
Early Sea Career[]
He joined the Royal Navy on 3 September 1891, his first ship being the St Vincent. He stood at 5' 3½" and had dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a florid complexion. Other ships he would sail aboard included: Australia, Hawke, Cruiser, Victory, Prince George, Duke of Wellington, London and Victory I with his final ship being Excellent before he was discharged on 18 July 1905. Rising to become an able seaman by the turn of the century, his conduct over his period of service varied and he spent at least four spells in the cells for misdemeanours. He was shown on the 1901 census whilst aboard Prince George which was then docked at Gibraltar.
He was married in Southampton in 1909 to Phoebe Lavinia Collins (b. 1881), a native of Bitterne, Southampton; the couple had only one child, a son named Robert Edward (b. 1910). By the time of the 1911 census Walter and his wife were living at "Olympic" on Victoria Road, Bitterne and he was described as a seaman for the White Star Line. Also living with them was Phoebe's mother Martha Sybilla Collins (b. 1858).
Titanic[]
When he signed-on to the Titanic on 9 April 1912 Perkis gave his address as Victoria Road, Bitterne, Southampton. He had been transferred from the Olympic and as a quartermaster he received monthly wages of £5. Also serving aboard was his brother-in-law Alfred Olliver who was married to his wife's sister Amelia Gertrude, née Collins.
Aboard Perkis served on the 6-8pm watch; at the time of the collision he was off duty when the ships joiner came to his quarters and advised the men to "turn out." Having felt no impact Perkis stayed put and waited until 12 o'clock when it was time to relieve the previous watch.
Walter was involved with the launching of the port forward lifeboats under the command of Second Officer Charles Lightoller. On port side, the launch of the lifeboats started very late and slowly. Perkis helped preparing lifeboat 4 first, as it was Lightoller’s intention to lower the boats as far as A-Deck, one deck below, to load the passengers through the windows from their Promenade, but these windows were locked. Eventually Walter manned lifeboat 4. It was later picked up after daybreak by the rescue ship, Carpathia, which arrived more than 1 1/2 hours after Titanic had sunk. Shortly after a voice from lifeboat 4 called out to him that another hand was needed to help man the Lifeboat so he grabbed one of the falls and slid down into the boat where he assumed command.
Perkis estimated that, including three crew, there were 42 people aboard his lifeboat; after rowing aft a further eight crewmen who had swam out to the boat were hauled from the water, two of whom died, one fireman and a steward.
When Titanic sank Perkis approximated that lifeboat 4 was about six lengths of Titanic away and could not discern any suction.
On April 14, Walter Perkis was off duty in his cabin at the time of the fateful collision with the iceberg. He did not hear or feel a thing. The ship’s joiner woke him with news of the collision shortly afterwards.
Following the sinking Perkis was required to give evidence to the American Inquiry into the sinking.
Later life[]
In June 1912 he rejoined his former ship Olympic. He continued to work at sea until 1935.
Tragically they lost their only child very early. Robert was only 19 when he died in 1939.
Walter died in Southampton on the 4th of August 1954, shortly before his 80th birthday. His grave is , at Bitterne Parish Church, Southampton, where he lies beside his wife and their only son. The grave remained unmarked until July 2001.
Sources[]
Special thanks and credits to Marie Keates for allowing me to use a large part of the information on her blog:
https://iwalkalone.co.uk/titanic-tales-from-bitterne-village: Titanic tales from Bitterne Village – I Walk Alone