Commander Charles Herbert Lightoller RNR, DSC*

1874-1952

RICHMOND SLIPWAYS, 1 DUCK'S WALK

• Commander Lightoller was the senior surviving officer of the Titanic in 1912. Going down with the ship, he took charge of an upturned lifeboat and was the last survivor to be rescued.
• In the First World War, he served eith the Royal Navy, commanding three MTB/Destroyers and rose to the rank of Commander RNR. He won the DSC in 1916 and was awarded a bar to it in 1918 after sinking a U-Boat.
• In 1940 Commander Lightoller took his motor yacht Sundowner to Dunkirk and rescued 127 men from the beaches. Sundowner is preserved at the Maritime Museum in Ramsgate.
• In 1947 in partnership with an old friend and his surviving son, he took over the small boat building business of Richmond Slipways. He lived there on the boatyard at 1 Duck's Walk with his wife Sylvia until passing away peacefully on 8th December 1952.