Commander CH Lightoller
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In Lightoller's few decades at sea he was in four shipwrecks, but Titanic was the worst.He was 2nd officer aboard the RMS Titanic. On the Titanic's voyage the weather was marvelous. In any other conditions it would be ideal, but in the cold Atlantic it made it difficult to see icebergs. April 14,1912 was a moonless night. The sea was like a sheet of glass. Lightoller and the other officers controlled the ship with additional alertness, because they were entering a region that might have icebergs on their route. The ship's wireless operator had received many ice warnings, but a very vital message never made it to the bridge. If the message had made it's way to the bridge Lightoller, who was steering the ship at that time, could have slowed down or stopped to avoid the invisible icebergs.
That night Lightoller was relieved, and went to his cabin to get some sleep, and was awoken by a shock. It wasn't long after the shock that the 4th officer came to inform him that they had struck a iceberg and was going down. Lightoller quickly went to the bridge. At this time the crew tried to stop the engines and boilers. It was loud, and nobody could here anything. Lightoller showed a crew member that he wanted to start taking off the lifeboat covers. Lightoller met with Captain Smith just before the lifeboats were released and asked him "Should I get the women and children away first?" Captain Smith replied with a yes, and lightoller left with his orders. Many of the passengers asked why they were fleeing from the "unsinkable" ship, and the answer they received was "It is just a precaution, and you will be back on board in about an hour."
"We could clearly see the Californian's lights, but they paid no attention to our distress calls or rockets that we were firing every minute," Commander CH Lightoller said later. The Californian only had one wireless operator, who had just went off duty when we hit the iceberg. This fact explains why they were not responding to our calls, but not why they never responded to our rockets. If the Californian would've came to our rescue every soul on board the Titanic could have been saved.
The passengers were confident that the RMS Titanic was "unsinkable," and some women refused to get on a lifeboat. Years after the Titanic tragedy Lightoller still remembered a couple, not long married, walking the decks during the situation. He asked the girl if he could put her on a lifeboat, and she refused. "We started together, and we'll finish together," she said. She didn't know just how soon that was. Lightoller could see the bow gradually lower. Between filling lifeboats he would run to look down a staircase that went three or four decks down. "I would never forget watching the cold greenish water creep up step by step. The lights gleamed off the top, and the already submerged lights gave it a ghastly transparency." Lightoller used this measurement to tell what was happening. How far down the ship was, and how fast she was going. "I don't know when I started taking it seriously, but suddenly I started piling more people into the lifeboats." He knew they had to work faster. "The Titanic's men set a standard that will never be beaten," Lightoller said during an interview years later, "Every lifeboat was used and put in the water without incident. The same tribute to the passengers for their cooperation." The last boats were hard to fill though their were many still aboard. The passengers thought they were either to old to take a younger passenger's place, or the women wouldn't leave their husbands.
. Titanic took a dip, and many died then and there. Everyone scrambled for the stern. Lightoller knew the end was near. He took a header and tried to swim away. Lightoller was sucked down many times, but he eventually made it to an empty overturned lifeboat. Lightoller clung there, and waited to watch the RMS Titanic sink. One of the four funnels fell and hit the water just inches away from the lifeboat. The wave from that funnel picked up their lifeboat, and threw it away from the sinking ship all together. "It was from their that I watched the Titanic disappear. I watched as the bow go deeper in the water, and the bow go higher in the air. When it reached about 60 degrees I heard a sort of roar as the boilers left their places and went down crashing through everything in their way. The lights went out. You could still see the dark outline as she went up until she was perpendicular with the cold water. She slowly went down and vanished." The only words that were spoken on Lightoller's boat was "she's gone." The wireless operator was in the lifeboat with Lightoller, and he told him about the other ships that responded. Lightoller calculated that the Carpathia would be on the seen around daylight. The wireless officer then told him about the message that never made it to the bridge. "When i told him that I didn't remeber it he told me he stuck it under a paperweight and never sent it to the bridge. Many people died that was in our boat, because we were knee-deep in the cold water. We prayed, and I can still remember that prayer."
The Carpathia came, loaded up the lifeboats, and took the survivors away from the Titanic's resting place, their loved ones' bodies, and the place they would never forget.
That night Lightoller was relieved, and went to his cabin to get some sleep, and was awoken by a shock. It wasn't long after the shock that the 4th officer came to inform him that they had struck a iceberg and was going down. Lightoller quickly went to the bridge. At this time the crew tried to stop the engines and boilers. It was loud, and nobody could here anything. Lightoller showed a crew member that he wanted to start taking off the lifeboat covers. Lightoller met with Captain Smith just before the lifeboats were released and asked him "Should I get the women and children away first?" Captain Smith replied with a yes, and lightoller left with his orders. Many of the passengers asked why they were fleeing from the "unsinkable" ship, and the answer they received was "It is just a precaution, and you will be back on board in about an hour."
"We could clearly see the Californian's lights, but they paid no attention to our distress calls or rockets that we were firing every minute," Commander CH Lightoller said later. The Californian only had one wireless operator, who had just went off duty when we hit the iceberg. This fact explains why they were not responding to our calls, but not why they never responded to our rockets. If the Californian would've came to our rescue every soul on board the Titanic could have been saved.
The passengers were confident that the RMS Titanic was "unsinkable," and some women refused to get on a lifeboat. Years after the Titanic tragedy Lightoller still remembered a couple, not long married, walking the decks during the situation. He asked the girl if he could put her on a lifeboat, and she refused. "We started together, and we'll finish together," she said. She didn't know just how soon that was. Lightoller could see the bow gradually lower. Between filling lifeboats he would run to look down a staircase that went three or four decks down. "I would never forget watching the cold greenish water creep up step by step. The lights gleamed off the top, and the already submerged lights gave it a ghastly transparency." Lightoller used this measurement to tell what was happening. How far down the ship was, and how fast she was going. "I don't know when I started taking it seriously, but suddenly I started piling more people into the lifeboats." He knew they had to work faster. "The Titanic's men set a standard that will never be beaten," Lightoller said during an interview years later, "Every lifeboat was used and put in the water without incident. The same tribute to the passengers for their cooperation." The last boats were hard to fill though their were many still aboard. The passengers thought they were either to old to take a younger passenger's place, or the women wouldn't leave their husbands.
. Titanic took a dip, and many died then and there. Everyone scrambled for the stern. Lightoller knew the end was near. He took a header and tried to swim away. Lightoller was sucked down many times, but he eventually made it to an empty overturned lifeboat. Lightoller clung there, and waited to watch the RMS Titanic sink. One of the four funnels fell and hit the water just inches away from the lifeboat. The wave from that funnel picked up their lifeboat, and threw it away from the sinking ship all together. "It was from their that I watched the Titanic disappear. I watched as the bow go deeper in the water, and the bow go higher in the air. When it reached about 60 degrees I heard a sort of roar as the boilers left their places and went down crashing through everything in their way. The lights went out. You could still see the dark outline as she went up until she was perpendicular with the cold water. She slowly went down and vanished." The only words that were spoken on Lightoller's boat was "she's gone." The wireless operator was in the lifeboat with Lightoller, and he told him about the other ships that responded. Lightoller calculated that the Carpathia would be on the seen around daylight. The wireless officer then told him about the message that never made it to the bridge. "When i told him that I didn't remeber it he told me he stuck it under a paperweight and never sent it to the bridge. Many people died that was in our boat, because we were knee-deep in the cold water. We prayed, and I can still remember that prayer."
The Carpathia came, loaded up the lifeboats, and took the survivors away from the Titanic's resting place, their loved ones' bodies, and the place they would never forget.
Mr. Frederick Dent Ray
![Picture](/uploads/1/8/4/9/18496076/4447830.jpg)
Mr. Ray went to bed around 10:30 pm on April 14, 1912. He awoke with a shock. "The shock felt like a train pulling up at the station. I laid awake for about ten minutes. Then called a steward who told me that we had hit an iceberg, it was very serious, and we had to get to the lifeboats. I fell back asleep. Sometime after that, someone pulled my leg, but i dozed off again. Someone else came to the doorway and yelled 'all hands to the boats.' I thought it was time to get up." He went up from E deck to A deck, and stood on the deck. It was very cold. Mr. Ray went back to his cabin to get his overcoat. He opened his suitcase to get some handkerchiefs, toothbrush, and shaving gear, because where ever he ended up in the morning he would require them. The E deck was deserted. Mr. Ray went back up to the A deck, because he was a crew member and they would want him for rowing. "On the way up I saw some other crew members loading up mailbags of passengers' valuables. On my way up I also heard someone tuning a fiddle. Later I found out that it was the band. I went along to the lifeboat, number 13 boat. I saw it was almost full, so I helped the remaining passengers on." Mr. Ray recognized Washington Dodge, whom he had worked on the Olympic with, and ordered him on a lifeboat to row. Dodge had a wife and a little boy that had already left on a lifeboat.
No women or children were on the deck. They were inside until it was too late. Mr.Ray and the 61 other people in his lifeboat went into the water, and escaped the ship. They watched the "unsinkable" Titanic go down.
No women or children were on the deck. They were inside until it was too late. Mr.Ray and the 61 other people in his lifeboat went into the water, and escaped the ship. They watched the "unsinkable" Titanic go down.