1. Charles Lightoller was the most senior officer to survive the disaster.
65 Facts About Charles Lightoller
1. 2.
Charles Lightoller served as a commanding officer in the Royal Navy during World War I and, despite ordering an alleged war crime while engaged in anti-submarine warfare, he was twice decorated for gallantry.
3.
Charles Lightoller was born in Chorley, Lancashire, on 30 March 1874, into a family that had operated cotton-spinning mills in Lancashire since the late 18th century.
4.
At age 13, not wanting to end up with a factory job, Charles Lightoller began a four-year apprenticeship on board the barque Primrose Hill.
5.
Charles Lightoller joined the crew of the clipper ship Duke of Abercorn for his return to England.
6.
Charles Lightoller returned to the Primrose Hill for his third voyage.
7.
The cargo of coal caught fire while he was serving as third mate on board the windjammer Knight of St Michael, and for his successful efforts in fighting the fire and saving the ship, Charles Lightoller was promoted to second mate.
8.
Charles Lightoller went to the Yukon in 1898 to prospect for gold in the Klondike Gold Rush.
9.
Charles Lightoller earned his passage back to England by working as a cattle wrangler on a cattle boat and arrived home penniless in 1899.
10.
Charles Lightoller returned to the Majestic as first mate and then transferred back to the Oceanic in the same position.
11.
In March 1911, while serving as first officer on the Oceanic, the ship's foremast was struck by lightning in a gale; Charles Lightoller was standing on the bridge at the time, and narrowly avoided being seriously injured by falling splinters.
12.
Charles Lightoller made some inquiries for binoculars but did not find a pair that had been set aside for their use.
13.
Charles Lightoller returned to the bridge at that time to relieve Murdoch and let him grab a quick bite to eat.
14.
Captain Smith came on to the bridge, and gave him an ice warning message; this was the first that Charles Lightoller recalled hearing anything about icebergs ahead of the ship.
15.
When Murdoch returned from his lunch, Charles Lightoller mentioned that Captain Smith had given him a message regarding ice.
16.
Murdoch showed no overt surprise, but Charles Lightoller was under the impression that the subject was new to the First Officer, just as it had been to him.
17.
Charles Lightoller headed off to grab a bite of lunch for himself.
18.
At 6:00, Charles Lightoller became officer of the watch, relieving Wilde.
19.
Charles Lightoller asked Moody to use the telephone to call up the lookouts in the Crow's Nest; he wanted to have them "keep a sharp lookout for ice, particularly small ice and growlers", and to "pass that word on until daylight", as each successive shift took its turn on duty.
20.
Charles Lightoller noted that Moody's order differed somewhat from the wording that he had specified, as Moody had not mentioned "growlers".
21.
Charles Lightoller thought the detail was important enough to have Moody call the lookouts again, and to clarify that they should keep a sharp lookout for "small ice and growlers".
22.
Charles Lightoller then ordered the Quartermaster, Robert Hichens, to check ship's fresh water supply for signs of freezing below the waterline, signs which, if present, would indicate the ship was entering dangerous ice.
23.
Charles Lightoller wished Murdoch "joy of his Watch" and departed the bridge.
24.
Charles Lightoller had retired to his cabin and was preparing for bed when he felt the collision.
25.
Charles Lightoller did not conclude that the ship would actually founder.
26.
Charles Lightoller pulled on trousers, and a navy-blue sweater over his pyjamas, and donned his officer's overcoat and cap.
27.
When Charles Lightoller emerged onto the boat deck, he found that the noise of escaping steam made it very difficult to communicate with anyone.
28.
Charles Lightoller helped to fill several lifeboats with passengers and launched them.
29.
Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Godfrey Peuchen has the distinction of being the only adult male passenger Charles Lightoller allowed into the boats on the port side evacuation, due to his previous nautical experience and offer of assistance when there were no seamen available from the Titanic's own complement to help command one of the lowering lifeboats.
30.
Under this misapprehension, Charles Lightoller's plan was to fill the lifeboats from the waterline and sent 10 men to open the gangway doors in the ship's port so that passengers would have access.
31.
Charles Lightoller led him, Murdoch and Smith to the cabin, and brought out the box of revolvers.
32.
Charles Lightoller said Wilde gave him a revolver, along with ammunition; Lightoller stuffed into his pocket.
33.
When Charles Lightoller helped at Collapsible D, he saw a group of men and hopped into the boat, drew his revolver and "encouraged them verbally" to get out.
34.
Charles Lightoller later recalled that the gun was not even loaded.
35.
Charles Lightoller then passed the duty of loading Lifeboat 2 over to Fourth Officer Boxhall.
36.
Charles Lightoller then crossed over to the starboard side of the roof, to see if there was anything further to be done there.
37.
Charles Lightoller described the shock of the water as being like "a thousand knives being driven into one's body".
38.
Surfacing, Charles Lightoller spotted the ship's crow's nest, now level with the water, and started to swim towards it as a place of safety before remembering that it was safer to stay away from the foundering vessel.
39.
Charles Lightoller was pinned against the grating for some time by the pressure of the incoming water, until a blast of hot air from the depths of the ship erupted out of the ventilator and blew him to the surface.
40.
Charles Lightoller then realized he could not swim properly because of the weight of the Webley revolver he was carrying in his coat pocket, so he swiftly discarded it.
41.
Charles Lightoller climbed onto the boat and took charge, calming and organising the survivors on the overturned lifeboat.
42.
Charles Lightoller blamed the accident on the seas being the calmest that night that he had ever seen in his life and on the floating icebergs giving no tell-tale early-warning signs of breaking white water at their bases.
43.
Charles Lightoller deftly defended his employer, the White Star Line, despite hints of excessive speed, a lack of binoculars in the crow's nest, and the plain recklessness of travelling through an ice field on a calm night when all other ships in the vicinity thought it wiser to heave to until morning.
44.
Charles Lightoller was able to help channel public outcry over the incident into positive change, as many of his recommendations for avoiding such accidents in the future were adopted by maritime nations.
45.
Charles Lightoller returned to duty with White Star Line, serving as a mate on RMS Oceanic.
46.
Charles Lightoller received a promotion from sub-lieutenant to lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve in May 1913.
47.
Charles Lightoller served on this ship as the ship's First Officer until it ran aground and was wrecked on the notorious Shaalds of Foula on 8 September 1914.
48.
Charles Lightoller was the last man off the grounded ship, taking the navigation room's clock as a souvenir.
49.
Charles Lightoller opened fire on the "Zepp" with tracer rounds eventually hitting its tail and forcing the airship's withdrawal.
50.
Charles Lightoller wrote that whilst in command of the Falcon, he kept the ship in a constant state of readiness; the ship's guns were loaded and cleared for action at all times.
51.
Charles Lightoller expected his men to think and act for themselves in times of an emergency.
52.
Charles Lightoller was quickly exonerated in a court martial for the loss of the ship, and he was commended for remaining on board the ship along with his first officer until the majority of the crew had been evacuated to the boats.
53.
On 10 June 1918, Charles Lightoller was awarded the Reserve Decoration.
54.
Lieutenant Commander Charles Lightoller was accordingly awarded a bar to his Distinguished Service Cross for sinking UB-110.
55.
Contradictory information exists about the numbers of UB-110s crew lost, with Charles Lightoller claiming 15 survivors with 13 lost, while a German account claims 13 survivors with 21 lost, most in the post-battle events.
56.
Charles Lightoller was promoted to acting lieutenant commander in July and was placed on the retired list on 31 March 1919, with the rank of commander.
57.
Charles Lightoller did put most of the blame on Marconi operator Jack Phillips, claiming that he did not deliver an ice warning which could have prevented the sinking.
58.
In 1936, Charles Lightoller gave a radio interview for the BBC, in which he described the Titanic disaster.
59.
The retired Charles Lightoller did not turn his back on sailing altogether, as he eventually purchased a private motor yacht, Sundowner in 1929.
60.
Commander Charles Lightoller stood up in the bow and I stood alongside the wheelhouse.
61.
At the time of the evacuation, Charles Lightoller's second son, Trevor, was a serving second lieutenant with the 3rd Division, which had retreated towards Dunkirk.
62.
Charles Lightoller then ferried arms and ammunition for the Royal Army Service Corps until the end of the war.
63.
Charles Lightoller's parents were Frederick James Charles Lightoller and Sarah Jane Widdows.
64.
Charles Lightoller died of chronic heart disease on 8 December 1952, aged 78, during London's Great Smog of 1952.
65.
Charles Lightoller's body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered at the Commonwealth "Garden of Remembrance" at Mortlake Crematorium in Richmond, Surrey.