Noah Van Ess
M13 Track:
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Charles Lightoller
John Jacob Astor IV
Steward
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Charles Hebert Lightoller
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Born March 30th, 1874 in Chorley, Lancashire
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At 13, in 1888 began a four year sea-going apprenticeship and would quickly move up to Second Mate, and by age 21, he had already survived one shipwreck, a fire at sea, and a cyclone.
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He eventually switched to working on steamships and even briefly tried to get in on the Klondike Gold Rush. When this didn’t work out he was briefly a cowboy and then road the rails and made his passage back to England penniless, by 1899.
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He obtained his Master’s Certificate and was working on cattle boats before joining the White Star Line in January 1900, where he started as Fourth Officer and on board met a passenger he would later marry, Sylvia Hawley-Wilson
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He often worked under the command of Captain Smith (played by Carlwell Redmon) and moved up the ranks on several ships, even being a First Officer
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He was set to be the First Officer of the Titanic under Officer Murdoch as Chief (played by Greyson Taylor) but the addition of Henry T. Wilde as Chief Officer bumped Murdoch down to Second Officer.
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Lightoller's duty began at 6:00 pm on the night of the collision. He and Captain Smith had discussed the cold temperatures and hoped that starlight would help reflect any icebergs.
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At 9:20 the Captain left him with these instructions “If in the slightest degree doubtful, let me know.”
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The team kept a watchful eye and he was relieved by Officer Murdoch at 10:00 pm.
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Lightoller was awakened by the vibration during the collision but could not tell what so he waited in his cabin for orders. Fourth Officer Boxhall came to get him.
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Lightoller took charge of the boats on the port side, at first believing that the situation was dangerous but that the boat wouldn’t sink.
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He was vigilant about loading lifeboats, as a veteran of a previous shipwreck. He only allowed women and children (other than crewmen for maning) on the boats, interpreting the rule as ONLY women and children. This meant many lifeboats remained underfilled and would later be subject to contraversy
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He was the officer to drop the last boat, Collapsible B, while the Tiatnic was sinking. The Collapsible would be overturned and many climbed on there, including multiple crewmen who would later be rescued by Lifeboats 4 and 12.
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Lightoller was saved in lifeboat 12 which ended up carrying 75 persons (designed for 65). He helped all survivors into the Carpathia before being the last aboard.
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He was called to testify at both inquiries, as the seniormost surviving officer.
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He continued to sail during the war and experienced more ship wrecks and problems in the coming years, including one ship that sunk six years to the day Titanic sank.
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He would eventually be a Chief Officer on the Celtic but White Star mostly wanted to forget what was left of the Titanic Disaster and he never got his own command. After 20 years he resigned from White Star Line.
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He would continue sailing the rest of his life including even more disasters until he passed away on December 8th, 1952 from heart failure.
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Colonel John Jacob Astor IV (JJ Astor)
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Born on July 13th, 1864 in New York, into one of the richest families of the time
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He was educated at St. Paul’s School, Concord and later Harvard, after travelling abroad (1888-1891) he went home to manage the family fortune.
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Throughout his life he developed multiple mechanical devices and built the Astoria Hotel.
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He was married to Philadelphian Ava Shippen Willing in 1891 and together they had 2 children but they divorced in 1909
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2 years later, Astor married 18 year old Madeline Force (a year younger than his son), and the pair were judged about the respectability of their relationship
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The two decided to take a quiet winter abroad to let the gossip die down, travelling to Egypt and Paris and then boarding the Titanic at Cherbourg to go home.
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They boarded with Astor’s manservent Victor Robbins, Mrs. Astors maid Miss Rosalie Bidois, private nurse Miss Caroline Louise Endres, and their dog, Kitty.
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Their ticket cost about £224 (£32,500, $40,000 today)
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After the impact Astor went to investigate and reassured his wife, when they were brought to the boat deck him and his wife sat on the mechanical horses in the gym.
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Mrs. Astor was helped on to Lifeboat 4 and Astor asked to join her, saying she was in ‘delicate condition’ but Lightoller told him no.
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His body was recovered (#124) by Mackay-Bennet and buried in New York.
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Steward
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Assists with aiding guests, given a set of rooms to report to for service. First and Second Class Stewards usually had about 8-10 rooms, Third class would take care of many more than that.