Commander Charles Herbert Lightoller (30 March 1874 – 8 December 1952), was a British mariner and naval officer who was the second officer on board the ocean liner during its ill-fated maiden voyage, and was the most senior crewmember to survive the disaster.
During the sinking, and as the officer in charge of loading passengers into lifeboats on the port side, Lightoller strictly enforced the women and children only protocol, allowing only female passengers and children onto boats and turning away male passengers and female crewmembers. Lightoller went down with the ship and survived the night balancing on Collapsible B with several others.
Lightoller served as a commanding officer in the Royal Navy during World War I and he was twice decorated for gallantry. During World War II, in retirement, he voluntarily provided his personal yacht, the Sundowner, and sailed her as one of the "little ships" in the Dunkirk evacuation.
Early life
Lightoller was born at Yarrow House in Chorley, Lancashire, on 30 March 1874, into a family that had operated cotton-spinning mills in Lancashire since the late 18th century. His mother, Sarah Jane Lightoller (), died of scarlet fever shortly after giving birth to him. Two of his older siblings, Richard Ashton and Caroline Mary Lightoller, both also died of scarlet fever in early childhood.
His father, Frederick James Lightoller, was a Captain in the British Army at the time of his first marriage. He remarried in 1876 to Margaret Barton, who died childless after five years of marriage. After being widowed again, Frederick allegedly had an affair with the family maid Joyce Gladwin, with whom he fathered a daughter, Janet, in 1883. In 1885, he
emigrated, along with his eldest daughter Jane, to New Zealand when Charles was 10, leaving him in the care of extended family. There he married Joyce in Auckland, and died in 1913.
Though better known by his first name, Lightoller preferred to be called by his middle name "Herbert".
Early maritime career
thumb|left|Lightoller as a merchant marine officer, c.1894.
At age 13, not wanting to end up with a factory job, Charles began a four-year apprenticeship on board the barque Primrose Hill. On his second voyage, he set sail with the crew of the Holt Hill. During a storm in the South Atlantic, the ship was forced to put in at Rio de Janeiro. Repairs were made in the midst of a smallpox epidemic and a revolution. Another storm, on 13 November 1889 in the Indian Ocean, caused the ship to run aground on an uninhabited four-and-a-half-square-mile island now called Île Saint-Paul. They arrived in Calcutta, India, where he passed his second mate's certificate.
In 1895, at age 21 and a veteran of the dangers at sea, he obtained his mate's ticket and left sailing ships for steamships. After three years of service in Elder Dempster's African Royal Mail Service on the West African coast, he nearly died from a heavy bout of malaria. To return home, he became a hobo, riding the rails back across Canada. The blast shattered a few of the fort's windows but caused no other damage. Lightoller was never apprehended but confessed to his company's superiors and related the whole story in an autobiography.
In 1903 he found himself in Sydney again, having been transferred to the SS Suevic—possibly as punishment for another indiscretion. During the voyage, he met Sylvia Hawley-Wilson, a returning Australian whom he married in St James' Church, Sydney and took back to England on the return passage.
He later joined the under the command of Captain Edward J. Smith in the Atlantic. From there, he was promoted to third officer on the , the flagship of the White Star Line. He returned to the Majestic as first mate and then transferred back to the Oceanic in the same position. In March 1911, while serving as first officer on the Oceanic, the ship's foremast was struck by lightning in a gale; Lightoller was standing on the bridge at the time, and narrowly avoided being seriously injured by falling splinters. While on the ship, with the bridge decking wet and the ship rolling, he liked to amuse himself "by trying to slide from one side of the bridge to the other, without touching anything".
Titanic
thumb|right|Second Officer Lightoller (center) and First Officer [[William McMaster Murdoch|William Murdoch (right) closing the Titanic gangway before departure from Queenstown, Ireland, 11 April 1912.]]
On 20 March 1912, Lightoller boarded the in Belfast, as first officer for the sea trials. Lightoller would later state, "I was thoroughly familiar with pretty well every type of ship afloat, from a battleship and a barge, but it took me fourteen days before I could with confidence find my way from one part of that ship to another by the shortest route." Captain Smith gave the post of chief officer to Henry Wilde of the Olympic, demoting the original appointee William Murdoch to first officer and Lightoller to second officer. The original second officer, David Blair, was excluded from the voyage altogether, while the roster of junior officers remained unchanged. When the ship departed Southampton, Lightoller was at his departure station in the crow's nest.
At sea, Lightoller had the 6:00–10:00 watch every morning and night. On 14 April 1912, Lightoller and some of the other officers also discussed the subject of the ship's top speed; they were "interested" in seeing what the ship could do. Murdoch had the 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. watch on the bridge. However, the officers' lunch was served at 12:30. Lightoller returned to the bridge at that time to relieve Murdoch and let him grab a quick bite to eat. Captain Smith came on to the bridge, and gave him an ice warning message; this was the first that Lightoller recalled hearing anything about icebergs ahead of the ship. When Murdoch returned from his lunch, Lightoller mentioned that Captain Smith had given him a message regarding ice. Murdoch showed no overt surprise, but Lightoller was under the impression that the subject was new to the First Officer, just as it had been to him. Lightoller headed off to get lunch for himself.
At 6:00, Lightoller became officer of the watch, relieving Wilde. Murdoch returned at 7:05 p.m., and took the watch for a half-hour so that Lightoller could have his own dinner. Lightoller returned from dinner to resume his watch. Murdoch remarked to him that the temperature had dropped another four degrees. Murdoch departed the bridge. At 9:00, Captain Smith conferred with Lightoller on the bridge, and they agreed that they should be able to see an iceberg with plenty of time to avoid it. Smith left the bridge, saying, "If it becomes all doubtful, let me know...". 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." Moody picked up the phone to the Nest in the wheelhouse and Lightoller overheard him say, "Keep a sharp look out for ice, particularly small ice.", before hanging up. Lightoller noted that Moody's order differed somewhat from the wording that he had specified, as Moody had not mentioned "growlers". He 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". Moody carried the order out, ringing the crow's nest a second time and conveying the order more precisely.
He then ordered the quartermaster, Robert Hichens, to check the ship's fresh water supply for signs of freezing below the waterline, signs which, if present, would indicate the ship was entering dangerous ice. Lightoller commanded the last bridge watch prior to the ship's collision with the iceberg, after which Murdoch relieved him at 10:00 p.m.; Lightoller conveyed to Murdoch the ship's course and the ice field that they were approaching, and that they expected to be in the vicinity of the ice somewhere around 11:00. Lightoller wished Murdoch "joy of his Watch" and departed the bridge.
Collision and port-side evacuation
Lightoller was in bed and awake when he felt the collision. Although he felt it had something to do with ice, he continued to lay in his berth, then felt the engines stop. Wearing only his pyjamas,<!--Please do NOT change the British spelling to the US 'pajamas'--> Lightoller hurried out on deck to investigate, and conferred with Pitman – who was awakened by it and came out of his own cabin – on what happened. He retired back to his cabin; deciding it would be better to remain where other officers knew where to find him if needed, he lay awake in his bunk until fourth officer Joseph Boxhall arrived and remarked, "You know we have struck an iceberg." Lightoller responded, "I know we have struck something." Boxhall told him that the mail room was flooding, and Lightoller found the information enough to move him to act. Lightoller did not conclude that the ship would actually founder. He pulled on trousers, and a navy-blue sweater over his pyjamas, and donned (along with socks and shoes) his officer's overcoat and cap.
When Lightoller emerged onto the boat deck, he found that the noise of escaping steam made it very difficult to communicate with anyone. During the evacuation, Lightoller took charge of lowering the lifeboats on the port side of the boat deck.
There were fears from some of the officers that the davits used for lowering the boats would not hold the weight if the boats were full, but they were unaware that the new davits on the Titanic had been designed to do so. Under this misapprehension, 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. The men failed in this task and were never seen again (presumed drowned carrying out this final order). The under-capacity boats then pulled away from the ship as soon as they hit the water, rendering the plan a failure. At least one boat is confirmed as wilfully ignoring officers' shouted orders to return.
Collapsible B and rescue on Carpathia
upright=0.9|thumb|Lightoller (centre) after being rescued aboard , talking to Captain [[Arthur Rostron (right) and Chief Officer Thomas Hankinson]]
As the ship began its final plunge, Lightoller attempted to launch Collapsible B on the port side; the boat was one of the smaller Engelhardt lifeboats with canvas sides and was stowed atop the officers' quarters. The collapsible fell onto the deck upside down. Lightoller then crossed over to the starboard side of the roof, to see if there was anything further to be done there. A large wave rolled aft along the boat deck and engulfed many people. Seeing crowds of people run away from the rising water, Lightoller realized it would be futile heading aft and dived overboard from the roof of the officers' quarters. Lightoller described the shock of the water as being like "a thousand knives being driven into one's body". Following this, he saw Collapsible B floating upside down with several swimmers hanging on to it. He swam to it and held on to a rope at the front. Then the Titanics Number 1 (forward) funnel broke free and hit the water, washing the collapsible further away from the sinking ship; it killed several people and closely missed Lightoller.
Lightoller climbed onto the boat and took charge, calming and organising the survivors (numbering around 30) on the overturned lifeboat. He led them in yelling in unison "Boat ahoy!", but with no success. During the night a swell arose, and Lightoller taught the men to shift their weight with the swells to prevent the craft from being swamped. As dawn broke and it became possible for those in other lifeboats to see them, Lightoller used his officer's whistle to attract the other lifeboats' attention; eventually lifeboats Nos. 4 and 12 rowed over and rescued the survivors of the overturned lifeboat and he took charge of both boats and their crew.
Titanic inquiries
thumb|[[Titanic|RMS Titanic four surviving officers; clockwise from left: Fifth Officer Harold Lowe, Second Officer Lightoller, Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall; Third Officer Herbert Pitman, seated]]
As the most senior surviving officer, Lightoller was a key witness at both the American and British inquiries, later saying he "felt more like a legal doormat than a mailboat officer" after the inquiries had finished.
Lightoller took the British inquiry more seriously, describing it as "such a contrast to the dignity and decorum" in comparison to the more informal setting of the hastily convened U.S. inquiry. However, he would later note that, unlike in Washington, the crew had to be careful in their answers to avoid being pinned with the blame and potentially having their careers end. He noted the conflict of interest in the British Board of Trade (B.O.T.) holding the inquiry: