SukritiThe “Unsinkable” Titanic
In 1912, the White Star Line built its most awaited luxurious ocean liner RMS Titanic, “the unsinkable ship” which was soon to head for New York from the coast of England. Charles who turned 38 was known as an expert in forecasting the season and almost everything related to sailing. Charles was one of the 892 crew members that boarded the biggest ship in the history. He was assigned as a second officer to Captain Edward J. Smith who was to hold command on the ship’s directions and was soon going to meet a dreadful ending under horrifying circumstances.
Icebergs In The Atlantic
On the unfortunate night of April 14th, 1912, Charles was off to his bed after his watch was over. Around 11:45 pm he sensed something strange like an earthquake. All of a sudden the mighty ship was shaken. Charles knew this was something big and immediately ran towards the deck hoping that it shouldn’t be what his mind was telling him at the moment.
Rechecked
After rechecking he was told that it’s nothing serious and he could go back to sleep. Although the dutiful sailor couldn’t fall asleep anymore and stayed awake in his cabin. Within half an hour another officer on duty came running with the actual truth behind the tremor that everyone felt.
Bad News
At 11:45 pm the ship hit an iceberg. As Titanic was “the unsinkable ship” he just assured himself that it will not wreck. Charles hurried and put on his uniform on top of his night clothes. He was trying to stay calm and keep the passengers as well as the crew at ease. He started taking the necessary steps.
Cautious Crewman
Charles Lightoller and the other officers were getting the boats down. Charles decided to let women and children on the boats first. Titanic wasn’t at all ready for this situation, there were just 20 boats on the ship when the ship was holding more than 3000 people as sources have told. The crowd was losing patience in the cold night and Charles has to give instant orders to keep the aggressive crowd under control. But things were yet to turn worse.
Race Against The Clock
By now, Charles realized that he didn’t have enough time to send people on the lifeboats as he had no clue about how much more time the ship will stay above the water. In the time of distress Charles was assuring people by keeping their hopes up by telling the fellow passengers that it’s for precaution purposes and they’ll soon get to another ship less than a few miles away.