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
RMS Titanic’s forward funnel collapsed into the water, creating a wave which thrust Lightoller away from the ship. Wikimedia

9. Lightoller was trapped by the ship as it went down

As Titanic broke apart and sank, Lightoller found himself sucked under and pressed by the inrushing water against a grate. When an internal explosion occurred (likely one of the ship’s boilers) he was pushed away from the vessel temporarily, before further suction dragged him down again. He discarded the pistol from his coat pocket and swam away from the vessel toward the collapsible which he had freed just moments before. He managed to grasp a line trailing from the upended boat, which was thrust further away from the ship when the forward funnel collapsed into the water.

The boat was surrounded by about 30 men, all of them clinging to it in some manner. Clear of the ship as it went down, in the dark, in frigid temperatures, and surrounded by the screams of the dying, Lightoller managed to climb aboard the vessel’s hull. Calming the remaining passengers surrounding it, he had them climb aboard in a manner which prevented the vessel from overturning. As they stood on the upended hull, Lightoller had them shout in unison in the hope of raising one of the other lifeboats, without success.

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