Charles Joughin
Charles Joughin was the chief baker on Titanic. At the time of the collision, Joughin was off duty. He was asleep in his cabin, which was next to the turbine engine on the port side of the ship when the impact with the iceberg woke him abruptly. At 12.15 am, Joughin began to prepare provisions for the lifeboats. Once this task was complete, the baker nipped back to his cabin for “a drink.” He then returned to the deck to assist the stewards in loading the women and children into lifeboats. This was no straightforward task as many women resisted believing they would be safer on board the distressed ship.
As a consequence, Joughin and his companions had to force many women into the lifeboats. As Joughin was not a seaman, he was not called upon to man any of the crafts. Left behind on Titanic with most of the other men, he returned to his cabin for another drink. It was then he came across seawater flooding the lower levels of the ship. Believing all the lifeboats to be gone, Joughin returned to the deck and began to throw deck chairs overboard to give himself and others something to cling to once they were in the water.
Joughlin then headed to a deck pantry for what he claimed was ‘a glass of water.” While there, he heard a booming crash and the sound of twisting metal. The ship was finally beginning to sink. Joughlin quickly left the pantry and joined a throng of people making for the poop deck. The ship lurched, throwing those in front of him to one side, allowing Joughlin to pass them and make it to the starboard hull where he hauled himself over the rails.
Joughlin balanced on the rails as the ship began to descend vertically. Once he hit the water, he avoided being dragged under by the pull of the ship and in fact barely wet his head. Joughin claimed he swam around for 2 hours before he came across the semi-submerged lifeboat under the charge of Officer Lightoller. There was no room for the baker, so he clung to the side until another boat rescued them. Joughlin survived his ordeal with nothing worse than swollen feet- probably because the alcohol in his system raised his body temperature.