2nd Officer Lightoller not wanting to stay in the same hotel as crew

[RonJF2]

After completing Wyn Craig Wade's great work for about the 15th time, I still find it remarkable that Charles Lightoller threw a fit that he had to eat and sleep in the same hotel as common crew. He did realize he did that on the Titanic? What a prima donna. Does anyone know the reason for this behavior?
Ready for Arun's response, dude's everywhere lol.


Best,

Ron

 

[RonJF2]

Same ship sir, just as being in a same hotel building. They had different dining rooms on different floors in the hotel but that wasn't good enough for Mr. Lightoller.

 

[Carolyn Winkelmann]

I don’t know, but do we know if this was typical for him, or just after the Titanic wreck? If it was not typical, maybe after the wreck he wanted to avoid gossip, avoid tainting testimony for future hearings, needed time to think, needed time to recover, etc.

 

[Dave Gittins]

Lightoller didn't associate with the ordinary crew. He slept in his cabin on the bridge and ate in the officer's mess, further aft. I guess he wanted to keep up that arrangement.

 

[brionboyles]

I think you may be judging Lightoller too harshly.
Class distinction aboard ship was no different, and in fact, an important part of discipline and authority.
I doubt very seriously that White Star spent more than they had to for crew accommodations in New York, given that the line terminated crew pay as the stern disappeared into the Atlantic. I'm certain the hotel was the cheapest the White Star could get away with, and I am reasonably certain that the crew was familiar with this sort of thing. A bed and a bowl of soup would have been about all they expected.
On the other hand, as an officer I, too, would expect a measure of distinction in accommodations between officer and crew. For the White Star to fail in this is to undermine the relationship between them.
Reducing an officer to the status of a steward or fireman would have been damaging to the line and the weight of Lightoller's testimony.
It was a period in time where class distinctions and appearances were far more important than today, when egalitarian gestures and blurred boundaries between those in authority and those over whom authority is practiced have made enforcement and respect a difficult thing to maintain.

 

[antren]

Lightoller's behavior was not perfect, but it was generally understandable. He was a product of his time, and he acted in accordance with the expectations of the society in which he grew up.