#second officer lightoller

[sweetwickednemesis]

Grappling for control in an impossible situation.

Second Officer Charles Lightoller and Fifth Officer Harold Lowe, portrayed by Johnny Phillips and Ioan Gruffudd in James Cameron's 1997 film, Titanic

[sweetwickednemesis]

"Back, back, back. Back! Get back, I say, or I'll shoot you all like dogs. Keep order, here! Keep order, I say! Mr. Lowe, man this boat." Second Officer Charles Lightoller, portrayed by Johnny Phillips in the 1997 film Titanic by James Cameron

[gryffinwhore-love]

I think I just found a descendent of Second Officer Charles Lightoller's on Facebook???

[rmstitanicfacts]

DID YOU KNOW: two of Titanic’s surviving officers took wildly different tracks after the sinking? 

Second Officer Charles Lightoller (in bowler hat with pipe to right of center) was the senior-most surviving crew member of the Titanic, and supervised the loading of the port side lifeboats during the sinking. Lightoller would also become one of the most well-regarded surviving crew members due to stories of his stoic heroism as the ship sank. Despite his heroism in the sinking, and his service in the First World War, Lightoller found that White Star was unwilling to give him a vessel to command - something he attributed to Titanic being a “black mark” on his career. He worked several different odd jobs after leaving the sea – innkeeper, chicken farmer, writer, and property speculator. In the early 1930’s, Lightoller wrote his memoirs: Titanic and Other Ships, which was dedicated to his wife, Sylvia, “who made me do it.” The book became a popular seller until it was pulled from shelves when the Marconi Company threatened a lawsuit for libel against its operators. Lightoller commanded his yacht, Sundowner, as one of the Dunkirk “Little Ships” in 1940, before dying in 1952, at the age of 78.

Third Officer Herbert Pitman (with mustache, roughly center) was not a member of the Royal Navy Reserve, and thus avoided being called up in the First World War. continued to work for the White Star Line following the sinking of the Titanic - even serving as an officer aboard Titanic’s sister ship, Olympic, in the 1920′s. He retired from White Star in the late 1920′s to work for the Shaw, Saville, & Albion Line, whose vessel, S.S. Mataroa, Pitman served as chief purser aboard during the Second World War due to failing eyesight. Pitman remained a sailor until his diminished eyesight forced his retirement in 1946, after over 60 years at sea. Pitman died at home in 1961 at age 84, the second-to-last surviving officer of Titanic.

[rmstitanicfacts]

DID YOU KNOW: a secondary drama occurred following the sinking of the Titanic? Collapsible Lifeboat B washed off of the roof of the officer’s quarters as it sank, capsizing in the process. Throughout the night, several hardy survivors - led by Second Officer Charles Lightoller - carefully kept the boat balanced by shifting their weight when ordered to, while standing on the slick overturned surface of the boat. Some aboard the overturned boat succumbed to exposure - such as Jack Phillips, the Senior Wireless Operator. Collapsible B is shown here being examined by sailors of the CS Mackay-Bennett, the cable ship sent to recover bodies from the wrecksite, in late April, 1912, having been left to drift when the men standing atop the overturned boat were brought aboard another lifeboat (this one right-side up).

[rmstitanicfacts]

Two of RMS Titanic’s officers look out the gangway door while the vessel is stopped in Queenstown, Ireland. The identification of the officers, however, has never been conclusively agreed upon. The British Titanic Society identifies them as Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall (left) and Second Officer Charles Lightoller (right), while other sources have identified them as Lightoller (left) and First Officer William Murdoch (right), and some have even identified them as Sixth Officer James Moody (left) and First Officer Murdoch (right). Others even claim them to be Lightoller (left) and Chief Officer Henry Wilde (right).

In any respect, it is the last known photograph to show any part of the inside of the RMS Titanic, as the photograph was taken just before the gangway door was closed. If one of the two officers is Murdoch or Wilde or Moody, it is the last known photograph of him.