Article August 31, 1918 Issue

Extracts from Letters

C. H. Lightoller

[We are privileged to quote from a letter received from Capt. C. H. Lightoller, of London, England. An account of this writer's experience in the sinking of the "Titanic," while a Lieutenant in the British Navy, may be read in The Christian Science Journal for October, 1912, page 414.—Ed.]

My old ship has gone down, sunk by collision in the North Sea. This happened on a pretty dirty night and we were cut nearly in two—in fact within an hour of the collision the fore part broke off and floated away. I got everybody away into ships standing by, and with my first lieutenant and a gunner stuck by the remaining two thirds till that also sank five hours later. During that five hours— which I may say was more like five days—one had time to think, but sitting in a chair writing about it is not exactly the same as slowly sinking out in the open sea, with mighty little material help at hand. In fact it just seemed as if every material help would be deliberately withdrawn. My companion destroyer had to leave, our trawler fouled her propeller and drifted away helplessly, and of the remaining trawler, when we sank, all that was visible in the distance was her stern light. One boat was destroyed by the collision, and the remaining boat I had had to send away as the crew were played out. A Carley float (life raft) we had been towing astern had broken adrift and gone. My whaler that had been towing astern of the trawler which was supposed to be standing by us, had also broken adrift and gone. Early in the proceedings a man came to me with a life belt, but just somehow I did not want it.

One or two points stand out very clearly, points I made particular note of. One, I had no inclination to work,—mentally I mean of course,—in fact a distinct disinclination. The feeling, if I can express it, was one of saying to myself, "If I have done my work honestly, earnestly, and wholeheartedly in the past and up to the present, then I can and will stand pat and know it is done." That feeling came repeatedly,—in fact was dominant,—a kind of chin-up-in-the-air knowledge that I had worked conscientiously in the past and had the right to expect to see it through now. The feeling was quite clear, and to me quite understandable, though perhaps I express it badly; however, it was a big point to me.

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