Charles Lightoller, Second Officer of RMS Titanic was Also a Hero on the Beaches of Dunkirk

Charles Lightoller, Second Officer of RMS Titanic was Also a Hero on the Beaches of Dunkirk

Larry Holzwarth - November 7, 2019

Charles Lightoller, Second Officer of RMS Titanic was Also a Hero on the Beaches of Dunkirk
White Star Line’s financial condition suffered throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. Wikimedia

18. Lightoller retired from the Navy after World War I

In 1919 Charles Lightoller, then in his mid-forties, retired from the Royal Navy, but not from the sea, at least not yet. Despite his loyal defense of White Star Line in the aftermath of Titanic, he found fewer opportunities for advancement with the company. The line itself suffered financial decline, in part due to the loss of ships during the war, and from its association with the Titanic disaster. An immediate post-war boom ground to a halt when the United States passed the Immigration Act of 1924, reducing the amount of immigration to America and severely curtailing profits by the shipping lines. Lightoller languished, unable to obtain posts suitable to his seniority and experience.

He resigned from White Star and turned to other pursuits, which included for a time raising chickens for market. For a time he managed a pub, and he began speculating in real estate during the 1920s. After years of urging on the part of his wife, he wrote Titanic and Other Ships. The book became popular in the 1930s before Marconi threatened to sue its author for comments regarding the Marconi wireless operators before and during the disaster aboard the Titanic. Faced with the threat of a lawsuit by the powerful corporation the book was withdrawn by its publishers.

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