TITANIC ( the sinking as told by her second officer )

[MrSRedburn]

I see there is a very edited version on the BBC education website but most of it is cut out to reduce it to a few minutes in total.

[MrSRedburn]

I remember hearing this recording on the radio in 1962 on the 50th anniversary. I did contact the BBC recently and asked if they were going to release it on CD but they said there was too much Titanic stuff on the market for it to be worth while. Is the recording on sale now?

[scorpietta]

I don't feel that Cameron's portrayal of Lightoller was entirely fair or at all accurate. The picture I have is of a man who was proud of his station as a senior officer in command. He was proud, erect and presented an atmosphere of austerity, which may be read as arrogant by some. Still, I didn't like it at all.

[AllieCat356]

ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL PRESENTATION,  THANK YOU EVER SO MUCH FOR SHARING!!!!!!!!!!

[TravellinMan94]

The Lord called him 58 years ago today. RIP

[maryanne151]

My books are in storage so can't quote him verbatim but something to the effect that he lied his backside off at the hearings to protect the corporate machine blah blah blah and seemed to think that the officers who died were heroes and Lightoller wasn't because he lived. He especially seems fond of Murdoch for supposedly killing himself (his supposed suicide is debatable). He treated Lightoller well in the movie but his comments afterwards seems to suggest that he changed his mind afterwards.

[BamfFromLA]

@maryanne151 That's interesting. I read in one interview that those who knew Murdoch said that it was unlikely he killed himself. But there was solid evidence that several people saw an officer shoot himself just before the final pludge. Perhaps they like Murdoch killing himself because he was the one who sealed TItanic's fate. I don't mind Lightoller at all. He's portrayed very well in "A Night to Remember" from 1957.

[maryanne151]

@BamfFromLA Yes he was but that movie gave him credit for ALL of the good that happened that night. For example, when he told Bruce Ismay to shut up (or something to that effect) that was actually Office Lowe. Not trying to take away anything Lightoller did that night - he performed amazingly well. If not for his direction, I doubt any of those men on the overturned collapsible would have lived through the night.

[kingcarcas1349]

I think the music adds something to it anyway, thumbs up!

[zacher456]

Im pretty sure what he heard when he said the boilers were crashing down the ship broke in half..

[FlaviusConstantius]

Lightoller was a remarkable man. One would think his heroism and miraculous escape from the Titanic would be enough for one lifetime, yet he was also the survivor of numerous other shipwrecks, lived as a cowboy and gold prospector in the American west, was decorated for sinking a U-Boat in WW1, and helped evacuate 120 British soldiers from Dunkirk on his yacht.

[snooky396]

This must have been a real life nightmare.

[maryanne151]

Cameron seemed not to know just how to treat this character. On one hand he was sympathetic but on the other, he seemed to give quite a bit of the blame to Lightoller. Maybe not so much in the movie but if you've ever read some of his comments after making the movie, he puts Lightoller in the category of part of the evil corporate machine being responsible for the tragedy. Lightoller was a hero before, during and after Titanic and lost two sons in WWII.

[jazzjohn2004]

@maryanne151

[BamfFromLA]

@maryanne151 What did he say about Lightoller?

[maryanne151]

@BamfFromLA I replied to your question in a separate comment.

[herp3]

@maryanne151 he also with his private boat saved over 130 English soldiers trapped at Dunkirk during ww2

[Injin12]

This is taken from Lightohllers book, the voice is a narrator, not the man himself.

[Nebel64]

Yes...this is word for word from his book, "Titanic and other ships." I think that was the title, but Im not sure.

[maryanne151]

I've often wondered about that. I have heard this recording before and it was always said that this was actually Lightoller speaking but he sounds just a bit too American. It seems to make more sense to me that it would be a narrator reading from his autobiography.

[jazzjohn2004]

Yes, but the voice over was recorded over 60 years ago, in 1933 and sounds scratchy.

I tried to emhance the voice, the only way I could do it was by adding period music, updated.

If you can do better, be my guest.

[sahzach]

is this the real titanic?

[kingvlad451]

yes

[RcUniverseGuy]

why add the music? we have to turn our speakers up so loud to hear the talking that the music makes me deaf

[metteholm75]

Yes. like Glamorous 888 said: The man is an interesting speaker, but the music is very distracting and far too loud.

[quello23]

Hey do you have that song in donwload? its beatiful :,)

[srr510]

Truly moving. Watch and listen to this with a box of Kleenex.

[sandman19681012]

A very nice piece of work my friend. I will be leading a team to the spot in the North Atlantic where she sank in just under 14 months. I am assembling research material for my group at this time. I will include this clip for them to study. Thank you.

Sandman

[eleventhdr]

You are going out to the site this would be really interesting!

[plotchickens]

Shouldn't have had any music on it. You did a good thing by showing footage from the only great Titanic film to date.

[toddsmitts]

Lightoller was supposed to be First Officer on the Titanic but Captain Smith wanted to bring over Henry Wilde, his Chief Officer from the Olympic, so William Murdoch and Lightoller were demoted to First and Second Officer, respectively.

If not for the change, it would have been Lightoller's shift commanding the bridge rather than Murdoch.

One wonders if he would have reacted differently and perhaps there would have been no collision at all...

[old9skool9love]

The fact that Lightoller actually watched the ship sink with his own eyes and didn't mention it snapping into two halves, this means it must have sank intact, but broken under the surface (either as she went down or after she had went down)

[krirre]

he could have missed it. why would it break into two halves under the surface? That doesent sound logic to me.

[twocentsin]

Robert Ballard proved that the ship broke in half. It did for sure.

[plotchickens]

Nonsense. It was pitch black and the breakup would not be totally obvious from every angle.

[Mischler2010]

The survivors heard a very loud noise just at the moment the lights went out. Lawrence Beesley described it in his book. He heard that noise for about 30 seconds and i'm absolutely sure it was the ship breaking apart. He didn't see it though, because it was simply to dark.

[MCRfan1019]

I just did a report on him by randomly picking a name on the board and i got him, he is very brave and know im going to dedicate my life to sailing for him just for him

[Rhoda444]

Is it a real recording? If so, it sounds as if he's just reading out from his autobiography "Titanic and Other Ships" which is now back in print (amazingly, considering how politically incorrect it is - but that is part of it's charm!)

[jazzjohn2004]

itan752.. Sorry the recording of Lightoller' it was made in 1935 and a bit scratchy. So, the only way I could emphasise was to have his voice ( edited ) slightly below the music.

The music is " abide with thee " a lot of people heard that as the ship went down. According to other survivor's they heard the band play a song called "autumn".

But they all heard a lone violinst ( Wallace Hartley ) playing " abide with thee."

[hotforxx]

@jazzjohn2004"  Nearer My God To Thee"

[snakes3425]

He later saved the lives of soldiers trapped at Dunkirk during world war II

[toddsmitts]

I'm reading his biography right now. He also survived three other shipwrecks before and after the Titanic. He searched for gold in the Klondike, had a stint as a cowboy, and rode the rails with hobos. While commanding a destroyer in WWI, he rammed and sank a U-Boat. How has no one made a movie about him?

[Titan752]

Nice video.... the music played in competition of volume with the commentary... you could have left it ( the music ) out of the video.

[viabetty1912]

hey does anyone know what the songs calleD?

[dave46563]

I think A Night To Remember is a great film..Even better than Cameron's Titanic..More accurate in some ways considering it was made in 1958.

[boovie9]

is this video real

[spruebox]

Thanks for sharing that :)

[beserker1912]

the movie made him seem evil thats what i dont like

[toddsmitts]

He was just a bit stricter in enforcing the "women and children first" rule, to the extent of interpreting it as "women and children only".

[zaohad1]

nice vid! Im a titanic fan too