After Carpathia arrived in New York, Lightoller was called to testify at the US Senate Inquiry into the disaster. Lights was the senior surviving officer, and he was put in a position where he had to defend the captain, the other officers, and the White Star Line against allegations brought against them. Some of these allegations may have been true and justified, and Lightoller was accused of “whitewashing” his testimony to cover up the truth about certain issues. These accusations have never been proven or disproven. Following the US Inquiry, Lightoller testified at the English inquiry as well.

In 1913, Lightoller returned to the sea. He was once again assigned to Oceanic, where he served as First Officer. After World War One broke out, R.M.S. Oceanic was recommisioned as the armed merchant ship H.M.S Oceanic. Lightoller was switched from the rank of First Officer, to the rank Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Oceanic was put on patrol in the waters around the Shetland Islands. Unfortunately, the liner was not designed for such duty, and on September 8, 1914, she ran aground near the island of Foula. Oceanic’s hull was holed and ripped away in several compartments, and the holds began flooding. Once again, Lightoller was put in charge of loading and lowering lifeboats on a sinking vessel. Despite the damage, Oceanic did not sink right away. However, shortly after this, she broke up and sank.

Lightoller’s next assignment aboard the 13,000 ton Cunarder Campania was much different than any of his previous posts. Campania had been converted into a seaplane carrier during the war, and Lightoller flew as an observer on one of the planes. During a training exercise near Iceland, Lightoller spotted an enemy fleet from his airplane. This marked the first time that an airplane ever located an enemy fleet during a time of war. Lightoller remained aboard Campania until December of 1915, when he was given his own command aboard the torpedo boat HMTB 117. Lightoller saw some action during his command, and on July, 31, 1916, he attacked and damaged the Zeppelin L31 with his ship. For his actions, Lightoller was presented with the Distinguished Service Cross. After a few more patrols aboard HMTB 117, Lightoller was given a promotion and a post on the destroyer Falcon, where he served as Commander. He saw the ship safely through some action and several patrols, but in April of 1918, Falcon accidentally collided with the trawler John Fitzgerald. Falcon was mortally wounded in the encounter, and sank three hours later. Lightoller once again supervised an evacuation from a sinking vessel.

The Royal Navy soon gave Lightoller another command aboard a destroyer. This time he served in Garry. On July 19, 1918, one of the ship’s lookouts spotted a submarine off the port bow. Lightoller steered his vessel right towards the submarine, and rammed it. The collision tore the submarine in half, but heavily damaged Garry’s bow as well. The bow plating accordioned back on itself, the keel was torn, and the forepeak was opened to the sea. Luckily, new safety designs (many required by law after the Titanic disaster) contained the flooding, and Garry was able to stay afloat. Because of the damage, Garry had to limp the 90+ miles to port in reverse to alleviate strain on the bulkheads. Lightoller was given another bar to add to his Distinguished Service Cross. Shortly after this, he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander.

By the end of 1918, Lightoller had been promoted to a full Commander. Since the war was over, Lightoller left the Royal Navy, and rejoined the White Star Line, with the hopes of serving aboard Titanic’s sister ship Olympic. The White Star Line was no longer managed by Bruce Ismay, who Lightoller had defended in the disaster inquiries. The new managers wanted the public to forget the entire incident, and thought it would be bad publicity to have a former Titanic officer serving aboard her sister ship. For this reason, Lightoller was passed over for a post on Olympic, and was handed the position of Chief Officer aboard Celtic. None of Titanic’s surviving officers ever got their own commands in the merchant service. Lightoller served aboard Celtic for a while, but when it became apparent that he would never be promoted to Captain and given his own command, he resigned from the White Star Line.

Lightoller and his family spent the next few years dabbling with guest house ownership after the Great Depression hit. They were fairly successful in the field, even though the times were hard. The Lightoller family weathered the Great Depression and in 1921, Lightoller purchased an old Admiralty steam launch of 52 feet. He had it converted into a diesel yacht with a length of 58 feet, doing much of the refitting himself with the assistance of his eldest son Roger. Sylvia christened the vessel Sundowner, an Australian term meaning 'wanderer'. Throughout the early thirties, the Lightoller family used Sundowner to take family trips around England and Europe with their children. Around this time, Lightoller began work on his autobiography, after much prodding and support from his wife. The book, Titanic and Other Ships, was published in 1935. After a few problems the book became a good seller, but was pulled from the shelves shortly thereafter when the Marconi Company threatened with a lawsuit.

When World War Two broke out, Lightoller’s services were once again required by his country. In July 1939, Lightoller and his wife were approached by the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy wanted them to perform a survey of the German coast. Lightoller agreed. He and Sylvia performed the survey disguised as an elderly couple on a vacation aboard their yacht. Lightoller performed the survey safely and successfully. After the survey, Lightoller moved to Hertfordshire, and became a highly successful chicken farmer. While in Hertfordshire, Lightoller kept Sundowner in dry-dock near Chiswick.

In May 1940, the German army pinned down and surrounded the entire British Expeditionary Force near the French port of Dunkirk. On May 31, 1940, Lightoller got a call from the Admiralty asking him to take Sundowner to Ramsgate, where a navy crew would take her to Dunkirk to help aid the evacuation of the British troops. Lightoller said no, declaring that unless he could command Sundowner, she wasn’t going anywhere. The Admiralty- painfully short of captains and crews- readily agreed to his terms. On June 1, 1940, the sixty-six year old Lightoller, his son Roger, and a scout named Gerald took Sundowner and headed for Dunkirk with the fleet of vessels which had been assembled for the evacuation. On the approach to the port, a motor cruiser, Westerly, was strafed by a Luftwaffe aircraft, and sank. Lightoller, Roger, and Gerald rescued the three crew members, all of whom proved to be a great help aboard the ship. Even though Sundowner could only hold twenty or thirty people comfortably, Lightoller managed to cram 130 people in the sixty-foot yacht. On the return trip, Sundowner was strafed and became the target of several bombing runs by Luftwaffe aircraft. Despite this, Sundowner survived intact. She fought her way across the Channel, and landed her precious cargo safely in Ramsgate Harbour. Lightoller and his small crew waited for two days to be called back to duty, but their services were no longer needed. Unknowingly, Lightoller and his son had participated in one of the greatest rescues of all time. Although Dunkirk did eventually fall with the remaining stranded soldiers becoming prisoners of war, the failure of the German army to eradicate the British troops proved to be a major blunder, and allowed Britain to resist the German onslaught that was to come. Soon after the evacuation of Dunkirk, Lightoller joined the British Home Guard. This did not last long, because the Royal Navy once again sought after his services. They convinced him to work in a Small Vessel Pool until the war was over. Lightoller greatly enjoyed serving his country. Sadly, the war also brought tragedy to the Lightoller family. Charles and Sylvia’s youngest son, Brian, had joined the RAF, and was killed in a bombing raid during the first night of the war. A few years later, their oldest son Roger, joined the Royal Navy. He went on to command a gun boat. He survived many battles and encounters with the enemy, but was killed in a German raid during the final month of the war. Old and saddened by the loss of his sons, Lightoller retired from the Royal Navy for the final time in 1946 at the age of seventy two. After his retirement from the Royal Navy, Lightoller opened up a boatyard called Richmond Slipways. His boatyard built multi-purpose vehicles and , motor launches for the London River Police. Aside from running the slipways, Lights spent most of his time with his beloved wife. Just two years later, Lightoller’s health began to decline. He would never fully recover. On December 8, 1952, Charles Herbert Lightoller passed away from a coronary occlusion, in the presence of family and friends. He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in the Garden of Remembrance in Mortlake Cemetery. Copyright 1999 Tad Fitch & Kerri Sundberg **Any images within this document which are from the website owners' private collection may not be reproduced without their permission.** Part I Part II Part III Sources Officers Index Main Page