Captain Haddock Hergé thought this was a perfect name for Tintin’s new mariner friend, and so Captain Haddock was born. There was a real 20th-century ship's master bearing this unlikely but appropriate surname: Captain Herbert Haddock had been the skipper of the famous White Star Line's passenger vessel "Olympic". He had also been temporarily at the helm of Olympic's even more famous sister ship "Titanic" before "Titanic" was officially handed over to White Star for her doomed 1912 maiden voyage. Another famous namesake, and a possible inspiration for the Captain's ancestor Sir Francis, was the English admiral Richard Haddock, a veteran of
SS Belgian Captain convoys during the Second World War. Convoy ON 177 departed Cardiff on 4 April 1943 bound for New York. "Belgian Captain" was carrying a cargo of coal bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia. Convoy HX 241 departed New York on 25 May 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 10 June. "Belgian Captain" was carrying a cargo of steel and lumber bound for London. She sailed from Halifax on 27 May and joined the convoy at sea on 29 May. Convoy ON 192 departed Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire on 8 July 1943 bound for New York. "Belgian Captain" was bound for Halifax, Nova