Charles Joughin drinks whiskey on the Titanic according to the version of the movie “A Night to Remember”.
The sinking of the Titanic is one of the great tragedies of the last century and is reflected in a film classic, Titanic, the film by James Cameron, released in 1997, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.
In the film there is a secondary character, who is barely seen, Charles Joughin who is shown as a drunkard, but it was much more: thanks to alcohol he became one of the few survivors of the shipwreck.
Joughin was also the Titanic’s head baker. And his story was special for several reasons.
The Titanic and Charles Joughin. A real photo of the baker who saved the whiskey.
The sinking of the Titanic and the incredible role of Charles Joughin
During the sinking of the ocean liner, Joughin and the other chefs and bakers were tasked with bringing food and supplies to the lifeboats.
Thus it was that, together with the stewards and other sailors, Joughin helped women and children to get on the lifeboats.. When, after a while, the women on deck refused to get on the boat saying they were safer aboard the Titanic, he forcibly brought them up to save them.
Then he went back to his cabin and drank as much whiskey as he could in the shortest time possible. He finished one bottle and opened another with the aim of losing consciousness from drunkenness, preparing to die.
Later, as best he could, he made his way to the B deck walkway, where he threw about fifty sunbeds overboard so that people in the icy waters They could use them as flotation devices.
Charles Joughin was the last person to get off the Titanic, and he did so completely drunk.
On the Titanic, there were spaces for men only, such as the smoking room. Photo: Twitter
Joughin was on top of the boat, drunkenly clinging to a safety railing. This was recorded in the James Cameron film.
How did Charles Joughin survive in freezing water?
The baker, instead of dying of fear or a massive heart attack, jumped into the water and he spent three hours in the Atlantic Ocean at -2 degrees before being rescued. Normally, it would have been enough time to kill someone, but Joughin’s body had so much whiskey that alcohol was his best tool for fighting. So he stayed alive.
Joughin swam in daylight, where he saw an overturned collapsible lifeboat with second mate Charles Lightoller and 25 other men standing on the side of the boat. She swam slowly towards them, but there was no room.
A cook, Isaac Maynard, recognized him and took his hand as the head baker clung to the side of the boat., with feet and legs still in the water. Then another lifeboat appeared and Joughin swam towards him and was rescued. The baker stayed there until he boarded the RMS Carpathia, a ship that eventually saved him.
Boats with survivors of the Titanic.
Charles Joughin’s letter about his experience on the Titanic and frozen water
In a letter to Walter Lord, author of the book A night to remember, Joughin recalled his experience in tragedy. In the first place he referred to other testimonies on the sinking “most of the written accounts I read are disturbing scenes that didn’t actually happenexcept in the last moments when many rushed madly to what they considered a safer place, the Deck. “
Joughin then noted that “luckily I was alone, I managed to climb onto the starboard railing and get out into the water as the ship sank. I was expecting some sort of aspiration, but I didn’t feel it. At no time was my head underwater. “
Already on the high seas, the baker remembered that he kept “moving his arms and legs and I remained standing. Most of the crew knew lifeboats and fire stations, since they had already been part of the crew of the “Olympic” (a sister ship).
Causes of the Titanic tragedy according to Charles Joughin
A ticket to the Titanic which turned out to be a ticket to death on the high seas.
For the baker, the reason for the sinking of the ship was the “Major mistake on the part of Captain Smith who kept the course despite ice warnings in sight and the sharp drop in temperature, which dropped sharply from 5pm. m “.
As for the loss of life, according to Joughin it was due to “the shortage of lifeboats, the number of passengers and crew, but many more could have been saved if they obeyed orders. In these circumstances, the crew is helpless. “
Charles Joughin survived and returned to travel on the high seas
After being saved Joughin returned to England and was one of the crew members who came forward to testify. in the British investigation led by Viscount Mersey.
In 1920 he moved permanently to the United States, in the city of Paterson, New Jersey. and, according to his obituary, he was also aboard the SS Oregon when it sank in Boston Harbor. She also served on ships operated by American Export Lines, as well as on troop transport during World War II before retiring in 1944.
Eventually, Charles Joughin died on December 9, 1956 of pneumonia. He was 78 years old.
How the Titanic sank
The appearance of Titanic has dazzled the eyes of the world with its impressive level of luxury and comfort. She sailed on April 10, 1912 from the English port of Southampton, to begin her voyage to New York.
Remains of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. Photo / AP
But only four days later, during the night of the 14th and the early morning of the 15th, in a place in the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of the American city of Newfoundlandthe ship of dreams has come to an end.
The commander of the ship, the English Edwar Smith, could not avoid a collision with an iceberg. And, from that moment, one of the greatest maritime disasters of all time began, where only 711 of the 2,208 people on board survived, taking into account both crew and passengers.
Currently the remains of the ship are located at coordinates 41 ° 43 ’35 “N, 49 ° 56′ 54” W. There are several tutorials on Youtube to locate them via Google Earth or Google Maps.
Source: Clarin
