Captain Haddock oeuvre", it is inspired by the German French-language film "Captain Craddock". In "The Crab with the Golden Claws", Haddock sings one of the film songs, "Les gars de la Marine". At the time of Captain Haddock's introduction to the series in 1940, the character's manners presented a problem to Hergé. As a sailor, Haddock would need to have a very colourful vocabulary, but Hergé could not use any swear words as he knew his audience included children. The solution reportedly came when Hergé recalled how around 1933, shortly after the Four-Power Pact had come into being, he had overheard a
Herbert Haddock was born to Herbert James Haddock (born 1825) in Rugby, Warwickshire on 27 January 1861. Before working for the White Star Line, Haddock was a lieutenant with the Royal Navy aboard HMS "Edinburgh". In 1902, Haddock was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath. He was later "aide de camp" to British royalty. His White Star Line career included commanding a number of liners, including the RMS "Britannic", SS "Germanic", RMS "Cedric", and RMS "Oceanic". Haddock was also nominally the first commander of RMS "Titanic". He signed on as her master at Southampton on 25 March 1912, and