Why did Charles Joughin the Titanics head baker manage to survive when so many others didnt and what can we learn from his actions during the sinking.

Most Titanic victims froze within 15 minutes. The ship's head baker survived for two hours—after refusing his lifeboat seat, downing liquor, and riding the sinking stern down like an elevator.

When the ship struck the iceberg on April 15, 1912, 33-year-old Charles Joughin was off duty. He immediately mustered his staff of 13 bakers and ordered them to bring more than 50 loaves of bread up to the boat deck to provision the lifeboats.

He then assisted on the port side, loading women and children into Lifeboat 10. Because the lifeboats swinging over the dark ocean looked precarious, many passengers were terrified to board. Joughin resorted to forcibly grabbing women and dropping them into the boats.

Joughin was assigned as the captain of Lifeboat 10, granting him an authorized seat to safety. He refused to board, later testifying that taking a seat would set a bad example for the other men.

Instead, Joughin returned to his quarters and poured himself a glass of liqueur. He then went up to the promenade deck and threw roughly 50 wooden deck chairs overboard, hoping they would serve as makeshift flotation devices.

As the ship broke apart, Joughin made his way to the poop deck—the rearmost point of the ship. As the stern rose high into the air, he climbed onto the starboard rail. He rode the ship down as if it were an elevator. When the water reached his feet, he stepped off. In his own words, his head "didn't even go under."

Joughin’s survival has historically been chalked up to his alcohol consumption, but the reality involves a mix of biology and timing. When a person enters freezing water, the body's involuntary reflex is to gasp for air and hyperventilate, leading many to inhale water and drown. The alcohol Joughin consumed may have acted as a depressant, blunting his body’s panic response and keeping his breathing steady.

Furthermore, Joughin was the last person to enter the water, and he did it without submerging his head. Keeping his head dry prevented an instantaneous loss of body heat.

At dawn, Joughin spotted the overturned Collapsible B lifeboat. It was too crowded for him to climb aboard, but another cook recognized him and held his hand while he treaded water until rescue arrived.

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