Editing Matthew Webb (section)

===Work as a second mate and seaman===
Webb's contract expired in 1865, after which he became a second mate for Saunders & Co., another Liverpool-based shipping company. He worked on ships to Japan, Brazil and Egypt.{{Sfn|Watson|2001|p=52}}

Webb was confident in his physical abilities, especially in swimming. He would leap off the [[Yard (sailing)|yardarm]] into the sea, and earned an extra £1 per day for anchoring near a wreck, and then swimming back to shore—a job which the other sailors were too afraid to do.{{Sfn|Watson|2001|p=53}} In one incident, he competed with a [[Newfoundland dog]] to see who could swim the longest in the rough sea. After an hour, Webb was still swimming but the dog had to be rescued from the water.{{Sfn|Sprawson|1993|p=36}}{{Sfn|Watson|2001|p=58}} In the [[Suez Canal]], his ship's propeller became tangled with a rope. Webb dived down repeatedly for hours, cutting the rope until the propeller was freed. Saunders & Co. never acknowledged his efforts so he left for the United States.{{Sfn|Watson|2001|pp=58-59}}[[File:Stanhope_Medal.png|thumb|upright|Stanhope Medal]]Disliking the US, Webb took a job as an ordinary seaman on the [[Cunard Line]] ship ''[[SS Waesland|Russia]]'' to return to the UK.{{Sfn|Watson|2001|p=59}} During the voyage, he attempted to rescue a man overboard by jumping into the cold mid-Atlantic Ocean while the ship was travelling at {{cvt|14.5|knots}}.{{Sfn|Seccombe|1899|p=104}} During the 37 minutes before he was rescued, Webb nearly drowned.{{Sfn|Watson|2001|p=61}}{{Sfn|Seccombe|1899|p=104}} The man was never found, but the passengers of the ''Russia'' gave Webb a [[Prize money|purse]] of gold{{Sfn|Watson|2001|p=62}} and upon returning home, he learned that his attempted rescue had won him the first [[Stanhope Medal]] and made him a hero in the British press.<ref name="dawleyheritage" />{{Sfn|Seccombe|1899|p=104}}

From 1865 to 1875, Webb worked on seven ships, the last being the ''Emerald'', where he served as [[captain]] for six months.{{Sfn|Seccombe|1899|p=104}}<ref name="dawleyheritage" />