Check out a possible historical source of the choice of name "William Turner" in POTC. A dangerous and exciting story, and it really happened:

http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/lusitania.htm

http://www.pbs.org/lostliners/lusitania.html

"Whether or not Turner's behavior can be justified, it doomed his ship. When U-20 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger found a huge four-stacker in its sights just south of Queenstown, Ireland, it was able to kill her with a single torpedo, penetrating the hull just below the waterline. The initial explosion set off a violent secondary blast. The ship sank in 18 minutes, with a lost of 1,195 of the 1,959 on board, including 123 Americans. Captain Turner was washed clear of the bridge as the ship sank, and survived after spending more than three hours in the water.

So ended the life of the Lusitania. She is now a faint ghost of the ocean greyhound she once was, one of the saddest wrecks I've ever seen. But when I visualize her upturned bow, I can imagine the pride of those who once sailed on the swiftest ship in the world."

Do you think that's who the POTC writers were thinking of?

-- carpediem

(Text excerpted from "Lost Liners" published by Madison Press Books)

Very interesting--------thanks for posting this. The part about surviving the blast on a ship and being in the water a long time sure seems to fit. Seems that T&T did put a lot of "sea lore" into these films, so this could be a possibility. Maybe someone that has access to Terry's site could email him this question. :ph43r:

That's really interesting Carpediem, it certainly seems like that may be where the idea came from. Do you remember when the film 'Titanic' was released someone discovered a grave of a real Jack Dawson who perished on the Titanic. People were laying flowers on the grave. So I guess it is possible that this is the inspiration.

I know someone who may be able to help. Leave it with me. :)

WOO HOO! I love a mystery!

Very interesting story. I have been doing some reading about the Titanic and I really find those kind of stories mind boggling. I love watching things on tv about the Titanic and things of that nature.

He was JOSEPH Dawson. See here