206: Charles Joughin
Titanic’s Famously Inebriated Baker
Born: 3 August 1878, Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom
Died: 9 December 1956, Paterson, New Jersey, United States of America
Charles was the Chief Baker aboard RMS Titanic on her doomed maiden voyage. As Chief Baker, his responsibilities covered the entire bakery department onboard the ship, overseeing the baking and creation of all manner of pastries and other delectable goods. According to his later testimony, Charles oversaw thirteen other bakers aboard the ship.
Charles had four full siblings and two half-siblings. His father died when Charles was only around eight years old, and his mother had to take up nursing to keep the bills paid for her family. By the age of eleven, Charles had gone to sea to work and earn money for his family. He would not be the only seafarer in his family (two of his brothers served in the Royal Navy), and it was while working onboard these ships that Charles learned to be a baker by trade. In 1915, one of Charles’s brothers actually died while serving aboard the HMS Cornwallis and was buried at sea.
In his own personal life before Titanic, Charles was married and had two children; a son and a daughter. He had been serving as chief baker on the Olympic when he was transferred to service aboard Titanic. At the time, Charles was being paid £12 per month!
When Titanic struck the iceberg and began to sink, Charles wasted no time. He directed other kitchen staff to begin loading breads and other baked goods into the lifeboats to provide provisions for passengers (after receiving an order to do so by the ship’s officers). He also helped direct passengers to the lifeboats themselves—things below deck could be a bit confusing for some, especially in an emergency situation.
Charles himself was not one of the lucky ones who found his way onto a lifeboat. Instead, he chugged some whisky* before finding himself afloat in the frigid North Atlantic. The whisky seems to have kept his body from succumbing to hypothermia, and eventually he was pulled from the water and into a lifeboat by other survivors. In his own recount, Charles stated he believes he was in the water for around two and a half hours (though his biography on the Encyclopedia Titanica website describes this amount of time as “highly questionable.”) The water was only -2°C (28°F) that night!
Upon his return to England, Charles was called to testify on Day Six of the British Inquiry. His testimony can be read at one of the links below.
After the Titanic disaster, Charles went back to sea and continued to serve throughout World War I. In 1916, he actually survived another disaster when the SS Congress caught fire and was destroyed—though luckily not a single person died in that calamity.
Sadly, the heartbreak and tragedy didn’t end there. In 1919, Charles’s wife died while pregnant with their third baby, and their son Richard also died during the birth. Charles soon left the UK, and his two children behind. He moved to the United States, and obtained citizenship there in the 1930s. In 1925, Charles remarried a woman who had a daughter from a previous marriage. His second wife would pass away in 1944, widowing him for a second time. Charles’s surviving son, Roland, died in 1955. Neither Roland, or Charles’s daughter Agnes, had any children of their own.
In 1941, Charles was once again onboard a ship when disaster struck. The SS Oregon was rammed by the USS New Mexico and sank—luckily Charles would once again survive.
When Charles died in 1956, he had been in contact with Sir Walter Lord, but sadly did not live to see A Night to Remember’s release. His estate was divided between his daughter and stepdaughter.
*While today, Charles’s story is often told from the point of view that he drank copious amounts of whisky and was drunk at the time of the sinking, Charles himself maintained throughout his life that he had drank some whisky, but was not drunk by any means and was still fully aware of his surroundings.
Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked
Located in my Personal Library:
Titanic: First Accounts by Tim Maltin and Nicholas Wade
Sources:
https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/charles-john-joughin.html
https://allthatsinteresting.com/charles-joughin
https://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTInq06Joughin01.php
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6852885/charles-john-joughin