R.M.S. Titanic--Lightoller, Charles Herbert.

Mrs Sylvia Lightoller, by direct descent to the present owner.

Charles Herbert Lightoller (1874-1952) was the most senior officer to survive the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. Though appointed originally as First Officer, he was demoted to Second Officer before the liner set sail from Southampton on 10 April 1912.

On the night of the sinking, he assumed responsibility for the lowering of lifeboats from the port side. He eventually managed to escape the sinking ship in collapsible lifeboat 'D', and was the last survivor to board the rescue ship, the Carpathia. Since Captain Smith and First Officer William Murdoch had not survived, Lightoller became the most senior surviving officer and a key witness in the subsequent enquiries into the disaster in both America and Britain. Years later, he published Titanic and other ships, his account of his maritime career. He also broadcast his memoirs on BBC radio in the 1930s. Kenneth More starred as Lightoller in the 1958 film A Night to Remember.

This hurried letter was probably written aboard the Lapland before it set sail for England, and was given to one of the other crew members to post when the Lapland docked in Plymouth.