I have been discussing with Craig Stringer on the issue of Lightoller's testimony about his order to Boatswain Alfred Nichols at about 01:05 am to take 6 men, go below-decks and open a port side Gangway door ostensibly to be used for loading further people
after lifeboats were lowered partially loaded via davits. The two men were working on loading Lifeboat #6 at the time and Lightoller said that after Nichols left him to carry out this order, he never saw the boatswain or the men again. This led many early
Titanic researchers to believe that Nichols and his men were overcome by sudden flooding below when they tried to open the gangway door and perished
en masse. But further research about this issue, notably by
Brad Payne, has strongly suggested that this could not have been the case. Apart from the fact that 7 experienced sailors would not have exposed themselves to such danger without taking due precautions, Brad found that at least 2 crew survivors recalled seeing Nichols long after he is supposed to have drowned near the gangway door. Also, Lightoller could not have known whether one or more of those other 6 men survived because he would not have known their identities IF events had transpired like he claimed.
Over the years, there have been different and divided opinions about this, ranging from which deck gangway door was Nichols supposed to open (D or E deck?) to what happened to Nichols and his men and why Lightoller never saw the boatswain again. Some, quite rightly, have questioned whether Lightoller, who is often considered as an unreliable witness,
gave that order at all in the first place. A recent discussion with Craig over PMs had me thinking and looking at the whole thing again; I have put down my thoughts - I stress they are just that.
I agree with my colleague who feels that Lightoller was first of all a "Good Company Man" and would not say or do anything that would make WSL stand out in questionable light. I have always felt that of all the major characters who lived and died through the disaster, Second Officer Charles Lightoller had the most deeply ingrained sense of self-preservation. In other words, not only he had no intentions of dying in the sinking himself but also of making sure that his career did not suffer afterwards. I am
not claiming that Lightoller had any pre-conceived plan to save himself at the expense of anyone else; but he was instinctively and perhaps sub-consciously on the lookout of what to him would be the 'ideal' opportunity to save himself
after he had done his duty to passengers & crew
as he saw it.
That order to open gangway doors on a ship starting to list to port (by then) and sinking by the head was a very questionable one and Lightoller himself knew it. But at the British Inquiry into the disaster, he effectively admitted to not only giving that order to Nichols but also its questionability. See below:
13900. Now let us pursue the two things you have mentioned. You say you gave those orders to the boatswain to go down with some men and open the gangway doors?
- Yes.
13901. Will you point out on the starboard side where they are?
- There are gangway doors one on each side there. (Pointing on the model.)
13902. About where you are pointing now?
- Yes, there are two doors one above and one below on the starboard side, but there is only one on E deck on the port side. The other gangway doors are here.
13903. In the afterpart?
- Yes.
13903a. What deck do those gangway doors open from?
- E deck.
13904. Were your orders general, or did they refer to one set of gangway doors in particular?
- General.
13905. Did the boatswain go off after receiving the orders?
- As far as I know, he went down.
13907. If the boat was down by the head, the opening of those doors on E deck in the forward part of the ship would open her very close to the water, would it not?
- Yes.
13908. When you gave the order, had you got in mind that the ship was tending to go down by the head, or had not you yet noticed it?
- I cannot say that I had noticed it particularly.
13909. Of course, you know now the water was rising up to E deck?
- Yes, of course it was.
13910. Did the boatswain execute those orders?
- That I could not say. He merely said "Aye, aye, sir," and went off.
Having admitted to giving that order, Lightoller is clearly on the defensive here, agreeing that it was perhaps not such a good idea. So, the question arises WHY Charles Lightoller, Second and senior most surviving Officer of the lost
Titanic, a good company man and above all someone who always looked after himself, make a claim that was effectively shooting himself in both feet? After all, by the second day on board the
Carpathia, Lightoller would have known that Nichols had not made it; the only two other people who might have known about that order were Captain Smith and Chief Officer Wilde but they too died in the sinking. Therefore, on surface it would seem that
there was no one alive who could have told anyone else that Lightoller gave the gangway door order at all.
Another member posted that Lightoller said somewhere that he saw neither Nichols
nor his 6 men again. (I have not been able to find that statement myself and would be grateful for an update.) If true, that strikes as a very odd statement to me; both #13905 and #13910 above indicate that Nichols left Lightoller near Lifeboat #6 and went off to carry out that order. That clearly implies that Nichols picked those men himself and went down with them; therefore,
Lightoller would not have known their identities at the time. So,
how can he know that he never saw any of them again?
But more than anything else, Lightoller's statement about that order during the inquiry very strongly indicates that it was true; otherwise, he would never have admitted to what was effectively a very questionable plan. I believe that there is a legitimate explanation as to why Lightoller never saw Nichols again:
- The two men parted company at about 01:05 am and Nichols left to carry out the order while Lightoller continued to supervise loading and lowering Lifeboat #6.
- It would have taken Nichols a few minutes to round-up his 6 men, go below-decks and check the practicalities of that order. As experienced seamen on board a sinking ship, they would not have blindly opened any gangway door but assessed the risks and options first.
- Lightoller lowered Lifeboat #6 at about 01:10 am and himself went to the Officer's Quarters for that brief "Firearms Meeting".
- Lifeboat #6 would have rowed past the gangway doors somewhere between 01:10 am and 01:15 am; no one on board - including characters like Hichens, Molly Brown, Peuchen etc - noticed any open gangway door as far as is known.
- The firearms meeting would have lasted only a few minutes and by 01:20 am Wilde (lifeboat #16) and Lightoller (Lifeboat #12) would have arrived at port side aft where Moody and Lowe had been loading Lifeboats #16, #14 and #12 simultaneously.
- Meanwhile, Nichols and his team below decks would have been assessing the practicalities of opening a gangway door; IMO, they would have decided not to open the E-deck door at all because it would have been very close to the sea level by then. They might have tired to open the D-deck door instead but very likely closed it again (or never opened it) for the same reason that it was impractical and dangerous. All that would have taken time and it would have been just after 01:30 am by the time Nichols and his men started making their way back to the boat deck.
- Lightoller lowered Lifeboat #12 at 01:30 am and then went to where he had lowered Lifeboat #4 on the A-deck. To do that, my forum Craig Stringer believes that Lightoller would have preferred to avoid being delayed on the increasingly crowded boat deck and would have taken the stairs near the deck chair store down to the A-deck and then walked forward along it to where Lifeboat #4 was positioned; I agree. If Lightoller had done that, he would not have passed anywhere near Lifeboat #2 at the time (see below).
- Nichols would have arrived on the boat deck, dismissed his 6 men to other tasks and gone forward on the port side to report his actions - NOT opening any gangway door. He would not have seen Lightoller (for reasons mentioned above) but met Captain Smith and probably Wilde near Lifeboat #2, which was even then being loaded. Nichols would also have seen James Johnstone and realizing that the latter was part of the crew of Lifeboat #2, gave him the now famous "watch the star" tip. It would have been around 01:35 am by then and it is likely that either Smith or Wilde then ordered Nichols to relieve Murdoch at Lifeboats #13 and #15 so that the First Officer could attend to Lifeboat #10.
- Nichols left the scene before Boxhall completed his rocket firing and arrived to take charge of Lifeboat #2, which explains why the Fourth Officer also did not see the Boatswain. Lifeboat #2 was lowered only at 01:45 am.
- Nichols found Murdoch loading Lifeboat #13 on A-deck and relieved him there so that the First Officer could cross over to the port side and attend to Lifeboat #10.
- Moments later, Leading fireman Barrett arrived on A-deck where Lifeboat #13 was about to be lowered. He found Nichols in charge but no officer; but Barrett could hear an officer giving orders up on the boat deck (Moody at Lifeboat #15). Nichols ordered Barrett to get into Lifeboat #13 and "pull an oar"
- Meanwhile, Lightoller continued to load Lifeboat #4 on the port side forward. On the starboard side forward, McElroy started loading Collapsible C.
- After Lifeboats #13 and #15 were lowered and (after a few scary moments) rowed away safely, Moody and Nichols went forward to where McElroy was loading Collapsible C. Moody and probably Nichols got on to the roof of the Captain's quarters to try and release the lashed down Collapsible A.
- Murdoch lowered Lifeboat #10 at 0:50 am and crossed over to join McElroy to continue loading Collapsible C. On the port side, Lightoller lowered Lifeboat #4 also around 01:50 am and went to where Collapsible D was being fitted to the davits of Lifeboat #2, probably under Wilde's supervision.
- Moody asked for the block & tackle equipment to assist in freeing and positioning Collapsible A. As this kit was stored in the Boatswain's quarters, Nichols left to get them.
- While Nichols was away, Lightoller left Wilde briefly to pop over to the starboard side where Collapsible C was being loaded. He saw Murdoch, McElroy, doctors O-Loughlin & Simpson and Assistant Purser Barker with the latter jokingly asking the second officer if he was warm. Lightoller does not see Nichols (see above) before he returns to the port side.
That explains IMO why Lightoller never saw Boatswain Nichols after the two men parted company at around 01:05 am near Lifeboat #6. After Collapsible D was launched at 0205 am, things became too crowded, noisy and hectic and so it would have been difficult for anyone to spot someone they knew unless they were directly interacting with that person.
But what of Nichol's six men? What happened to them? IMO there are 3 possibilities.
- After they returned to the boat deck and dismissed by Nichols, the men went about other tasks and ultimately all perished in the sinking. While this is certainly possible, probably slightly against the law of averages as applied to that night.
- Two or three of them survived but were not called to testify in either Inquiry. Rather more plausible but the chances are high that over the ensuing years, at least one of them would have talked about that futile expedition below-decks. AFAIK, there is no such record.
- Lightoller learned while on board the Carpathia that Nichols did not survive but would have received a report from one of surviving Nichols' men about the futile trip below. He would have then spoken to that man and other two survivors that it was in their best interests to say nothing about the gangway door attempt and to leave everything to him.
But Lightoller could not be sure that one or more of the surviving Nichols' six would not talk at some stage later. The only way he could counter this was to admit to giving that order himself - like he actually did. That way, he would get off with mild criticism that he received rather than risk being caught out on a lie at a later stage.
Craig Stringer has another explanation which is simpler and covers almost all eventualities from Lightoller's point of view. Craig agreed with me that Lightoller almost certainly gave the gangway door order but unbeknown to him either Captain Smith or Wilde countermanded it so that the "Gangway Door expedition" never took place. The only issue I have with that is that after Lightoller lowered Lifeboat #6, he went to the 'firearms meeting where Smith, Wilde and Murdoch - the only people who could have overruled Lightoller - were present. Had one of them countermanded the Second Officer's orders only a few minutes earlier, would they not have told him so? And if they had, why would Lightoller need to have mentioned giving that order during the British Inquiry?
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