Lightoller was briefly spotted by Fifth Officer Harold Godfrey Lowe while he and Sixth Officer Moody were busy loading lifeboats #14 and #16, although it cannot be said with any certainty what role- if any- Lightoller played in the launching of those two boats. Sometime after the launching of Lifeboat #16, Chief Officer Wilde approached Lightoller and asked where the firearms were kept (they had been Lightoller’s responsibility when he had been First Officer):

“I told the Chief Officer, “Yes, I know where they are. Come along and I’ll get them for you,” and into First Officer Murdoch’s cabin we went-the Chief, Murdoch, the Captain and myself-where I hauled them out, still in the pristine newness and grease...I was going out when the Chief shoved one of the revolvers into my hands, with a handful of ammunition, and said, “Here you are, you may need it.”

Lightoller doubted Wilde’s logic, thinking he would not need the firearm. He was wrong.

The next boat Lightoller began loading was Lifeboat #12. Approximately forty people were loaded into the boat by Lightoller and Chief Officer Wilde. No male passengers were allowed to board. At 1:20 am, boat #12 was lowered away.

Lightoller then headed toward emergency Lifeboat #2, which was being readied for launch by Chief Officer Wilde. As he was approached Lifeboat #2, he saw Purser Herbert McElroy, Assistant Purser Lomond, Senior Surgeon Dr. William O’Loughlin, and Junior Surgeon Dr. John Simpson standing near the wall of the officers' quarters with their hands in their pockets. Simpson saw Lightoller, and cracked a joke:

“...he couldn’t resist his last mild joke, he said, “Hello, Lights, are you warm?” The idea of anyone being warm in that temperature was a joke in itself, and I suppose it struck him as odd to meet me wearing a sweater. I had long since discarded my greatcoat.”

Lightoller shook hands and said goodbye to all of them. None of the men, with the exception of Lightoller, would survive. Suddenly, someone yelled out that “a group of men have taken over the boat!” Lightoller pushed through the crowd, and began to grab the men sitting in emergency Lifeboat #2 and throw them out onto the deck. At the same time, he reached in his pocket and drew his “unloaded” revolver:

“...I encouraged them verbally, also by vigorously flourishing my revolver. They certainly thought they were between the devil and the deep sea in more senses than one, and I had the satisfaction of seeing them tumbling head over heels onto the deck...”

With the help of Archibald Gracie, Lightoller was able to get the boat loaded while Chief Officer Wilde and a few seaman held back the crowd. Fourth Officer Boxhall was put in charge of the boat, and at 1:45 am, the boat was lowered away with 25 or 26 people aboard. As it was being lowered, Captain Smith yelled down that they should “row round to the aft gangway and pick up more passengers.” Lightoller repeated the order, and sent several seamen- including the bo'sun 'Big Neck' Nichols and his crew- below deck to open the gangway doors. They were never seen again, and the plan never materialized. By the time emergency Lifeboat #2 had been launched, the bow of Titanic was so far down, that the boat only had to be lowered 14 feet.

By now, someone had managed to unlock and open the A-deck promenade windows, and Lifeboat #4 was finally able to be loaded. Lightoller loaded the boat with the help of Chief Second Steward George Dodd, Colonel Archibald Gracie, and Clinch Smith. One of the people loaded into the boat was Madeleine Astor. John Jacob Astor helped her into the boat and asked Lightoller if he could come aboard as well, seeing as how his wife was “in a delicate condition.” Lightoller refused saying “Sorry, women and children only!” Astor then asked Lightoller which lifeboat this was. Lightoller told him it was Lifeboat #4. Mr. Astor then said goodbye to his wife and stepped away from the boat. Lightoller was convinced that Astor had gotten the number with the intent of filing a complaint later. A few moments later, Steward Dodd noticed young John Ryerson trying to board the boat with his mother. Lightoller yelled “That boy can’t go!”, and Dodd put his arm up to prevent him from boarding. “Of course that boy goes with his mother, he is only thirteen.” insisted Arthur Ryerson. “Very well, sir, but no more boys!” Lightoller said. Once the lifeboat was filled with 30 people, Lightoller gave the order to lower away. The time was 1:50 am.

By 2:05 am, there was a group of men lifting Collapsible D up and dragging it over to the davits were emergency Lifeboat #2 had just been lowered. As soon as the falls, block, and tackle were ready, Lightoller and Chief Officer Wilde hooked up Collapsible D. As they were doing this, the crowd began to push towards the boat, because it was the last lifeboat on the port side of the ship. The crewmembers around the boat formed a ring through which only women and children could pass. At one point early in the loading of Collapsible D, the male passengers made a rush towards the boat. It is not clear what happened, but Colonel Archibald Gracie stated at the US Inquiry that Lightoller had to fire warning shots in the air:

Colonel Gracie: “As to what happened on the other side during our departure, the information that I was given by the second officer was that some of the steerage passengers tried to rush the boat, and he fired off a pistol to make them get out, and they did get out.”
Senator Smith: “Who fired that pistol?”
Colonel Gracie: “Lightoller. That is what he told me. He is the second officer.”

Lightoller would never admit to this publicly. Lightoller and Wilde could only find fifteen women near the boat, so after they were safely aboard, Lightoller finally admitted some men. Just then, Colonel Gracie arrived with two female passengers, and several men jumped out to make room for them. Lightoller stepped into the boat and helped the ladies in. Chief Officer Wilde saw how close the ship was to foundering and yelled “you go with her Lightoller!” Lightoller retorted “not damn likely” and jumped back aboard the ship to continue loading the boats. By 2:05 am, Collapsible D had been lowered away, containing around 22 people. As it passed by the A-deck promenade, Hugh Woolner and Björnström-Steffansson leapt into the bow, for a total of 24 people aboard.

After seeing Collapsible D safely away, there remained but one thing for Lightoller to do: launch Collapsible B which was stored on port side roof over the officers' quarters. Lightoller pulled himself up onto the roof of the officers' quarters, just as the water was beginning to spill over the edge of the bridge rail. Amongst the group trying to free Collapsible B was Junior Marconi Operator Harold Bride and Able Bodied Seaman Samuel Hemming. Lightoller and the others cut the lashings, and pushed Collapsible B over the edge of the officers' quarters. Someone had put oars and wood planking up against the wall of the officers' quarters, in an attempt to slide the collapsible down to the boat deck. Collapsible B fell, bounced off the oars, and landed upside down on the boat deck. As Lightoller prepared to jump down from the roof of the officers' quarters, he heard someone say “All ready sir.” He turned and realized it was Hemming, who he had tried to send away on Lifeboat #6. Lightoller asked, “Hello, is that you Hemming?” Hemming replied, “Yes, sir.” Lightoller looked puzzled and asked, “Why haven’t you gone yet?” Hemming smiled and said, “Oh, plenty of time yet, sir.” Apparently, after exiting Lifeboat #6, Hemming had followed Lightoller around, helping him to load the boats. Lightoller was so busy that he hadn’t even noticed.

Just then, a bulkhead went, the bow dropped several feet, and water began to flood the forward boat deck rapidly. Lightoller watched as a great wave of water rolled along the boat deck, sweeping the men standing there into “a great huddled mass.” Lightoller decided to take his chances in the water instead of heading to the stern and “lessening one’s already slim chances, by becoming one of a crowd.” He walked to the roof of the wheelhouse, which was now submerging, and dove off into the water:

“Striking the water was like a thousand knives being driven into one’s body, and for a few moments, I completely lost grip of myself-and no wonder for I was perspiring freely, whilst the temperature of the water was 28 degrees, or 4 degrees below freezing.”

Lightoller saw the crow’s nest, now even with the water, and struck out blindly for it. Just as he was swimming towards it, he realized how futile it would be to hang on to anything attached to the ship. He tried swimming to the starboard side of the ship, but his head kept going under water. Lightoller remembered that he still had the Webley revolver in his pocket, and realized that it was weighing him down. He took it out, and let it sink. Just as he did this, the water began pouring down the ventilator shaft directly in front of the forward funnel which led to No. 3 stokehold. Lightoller tried swimming away, but found himself being drawn back towards it. He ended up being pinned to the grating on the ventilator, underwater, and unable to move. As he was pinned on the grating underwater, he recalled a bible verse he had learned in Sunday school many years earlier (Lightoller practiced Christian Scientology). He tried to push away from the vent, but kept being dragged back towards it:

“...I was irresistibly dragged back, every instant expecting the wire to go, and to find myself shot down into the bowels of the ship...Apart from that, I was still struggling and fighting when a terrific blast of hot air came up the shaft, and blew me right away from the air shaft and up to the surface.”

Lightoller surfaced amid a mass of people struggling in the icy water. He saw Collapsible B floating near the base of the forward funnel, and swam towards it. By the time he reached it, he was so exhausted that he just grabbed a rope hanging from it and hung on to the cork fender without climbing aboard. No sooner had he reached Collapsible B, then the forward expansion joint opened up, causing the forward funnel to topple into the water. The funnel missed Lightoller by inches, and washed Collapsible B “fifty yards” from the ship.

Several people who had been next to Lightoller in the water, and atop the collapsible had not been so lucky. Lightoller had managed to maintain his grip on the rope and cork fender without being washed away, but the cold was taking its toll. He had lost all feeling in his extremities, and knew he had better get aboard the collapsible before it was too late. He climbed aboard just before 2:20 AM, and watched as Titanic’s stern swung up and disappeared beneath the surface, leaving over a thousand people struggling in the icy water. One of Lightoller’s most painful memories of the disaster was the terrible cries for help from the people slowly freezing to death in the water nearby. Thirty to thirty five people managed to climb aboard upturned Collapsible B, but many others had to be turned away or ignored. The men on Collapsible B paddled away, in the hopes that they could get away from the swimmers in the water. By 2:50 am, most of the swimmers in the water had frozen to death, and an eerie silence spread over the site of the sinking. Lightoller asked Junior Marconi Operator Harold Bride to tell the men that Carpathia was on her way, in the hope of buoying their spirits. By this time, there were so many men aboard Collapsible B that it was beginning to sink. When Lightoller had first boarded the collapsible he was able to get his whole body aboard and out of the water. Now, under the weight of the men aboard her, Collapsible B was steadily sinking lower. Lightoller’s legs- and those of several others- were now submerged in the icy water. At least three men who had climbed aboard died during the night. One of these men may have been Senior Marconi Operator Jack Phillips, but no one knows for sure. As dawn approached, a steady swell began to rise up on the ocean. Lightoller knew he had to take action if the men aboard were to keep the collapsible from sinking: “...I made everyone face one way, and then, as I felt the boat under our feet lurch to the sea, one way or the other, I corrected it by order, “Lean to the right,” “Stand upright,” or “Lean to the left,” as the case may be.” With dawn Carpathia arrived and began picking up the survivors. In the light of morning, Lightoller could see Lifeboat #12 a short distance away. He took out his whistle and giving it a shrill blast, hailed her. The crewmembers aboard heard the whistle, and recognizing that an officer was hailing them, rowed over. Able Bodied Seamen Poigndestre and Frederick Clench helped transfer the men aboard the boat. By the time all the men had been transferred, Lifeboat #12, with a capacity of 65, held over 75 people. Passengers from Collapsible D had been transferred into this boat earlier in the night as well. The lifeboat was so overloaded that each wave began washing over the bow, partially swamping the craft. The men aboard rowed very, very slowly to avoid upsetting the boat. Because of this, Lifeboat #12 was the last to be rescued. As soon as Lifeboat #12 reached the side of Carpathia, rope ladders were lowered, and Lightoller helped all the survivors to climb aboard. He waited until everyone else was safely up the ladder, then he climbed up himself. He was the last Titanic survivor to be picked up by Carpathia. Part IV Part I Part II Main Page