Charles Joughin was the chief baker aboard the RMS Titanic—but it was what he did after the iceberg struck that made him a legend.
As chaos erupted, Charles was everywhere—helping women and children into lifeboats, slipping loaves of bread to them for extra rations, and even giving up his own spot on Lifeboat 10 to assist others. Then he did something few would think to do: he ran below decks, gathered dozens of deck chairs, and tossed them into the freezing Atlantic—hoping someone in the water might grab one and survive.
As the end neared, he steadied himself with a stiff drink and made his way to the stern, holding onto the rail as the great ship tilted skyward. At the very last moment, he simply stepped off—becoming the last person to leave the Titanic. According to his own account, his head barely went under, and he felt no suction.
He floated for two hours in the icy dark, eventually finding the overturned Collapsible B lifeboat, already crowded with men, including Officer Charles Lightoller. With no room to climb aboard, Charles held onto the side until another lifeboat arrived. Miraculously, he was rescued—and when the RMS Carpathia came, he climbed the rescue ladder on his own, soaking wet but unshaken.
You might think he’d retire from sea life after that—but not Charles. He later returned to work aboard Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic, and served in World War I on the SS Congress, which also had to be abandoned after a fire. This time, though, Charles got into the lifeboat.