Charles Herbert Lightoller, DSC & Bar, RD, RNR (30 March 1874 – 8 December 1952) was a British mariner and naval officer.
Aboard the Titanic[]
Lightoller was the second officer on board the RMS Titanic and a decorated Royal Navy officer. He was the most senior officer to survive the Titanic disaster. As the officer in charge of loading passengers into lifeboats on the port side, Lightoller strictly enforced the "women and children first" protocol, not allowing any male passengers to board the lifeboats unless they were needed as auxiliary seamen. He survived through scrambling onto the upturned Collapsible B lifeboat where he taught the men on it to shift their weight with the water swells to keep it afloat for as long as possible until they were assisted into other lifeboats. Upon the RMS Carpathia’s arrival, Lightoller helped ensure everyone with him made it safely out of the lifeboats and was the last survivor to step aboard the Carpathia.
World War I[]
Lightoller served as a commanding officer of the Royal Navy during World War I and was twice decorated for gallantry. Lightoller's crew were involved in an incident characterized as a war crime, an allegation never officially substantiated.
World War II[]
During World War II, in retirement, he provided and sailed as a volunteer on one of the "little ships" that played a part in the Dunkirk evacuation. Rather than allow his motor yacht to be requisitioned by the Admiralty, he sailed the vessel to Dunkirk personally and repatriated 127 British servicemen.