This is the story of Charles Joughin who was the chief baker on the Titanic when it hit an iceberg on the 14th of April 1912.
source The Titanic's final plunge
Duty and Drink
When it became clear that the Titanic had to be evacuated, Joughin prepared bread for all the lifeboats and had it delivered, about 4 loaves each.
While doing this and with the realization that there were not enough lifeboats for everyone, 1,178 spaces for 2,223 people, he began drinking and who can blame him. Some reports say he drank 2 bottles of whiskey.
Likely listing as much as the Titanic itself, the chief baker returned to the deck and began to help women and children into the lifeboats. At one point in the middle of the panic some women decided it was safer to stay on the 'unsinkable' Titanic rather than risk the freezing waters. Not having any of this, Joughin went after them and forcefully threw them into the lifeboats.
As Chief Baker with 13 men at his command, he was assigned the role of captain of one of the lifeboats. He choose not to board it giving up his space to another, likely a decision he had already made when he started to drink.
Once the boats were away Joughin went around the deck throwing deckchairs and other objects that might float, overboard, in the hope that someone might use them as a floatation devices.
source Charles Joughin
Last Man Standing
When the ship broke in half Joughin rushed to the back of the ship along with many of the others left on board. Once the ship began to tip over, like in the first picture, he managed to climb over the railings so that he was at the highest point out of the water.
According to his own testimony he 'rode the ship down like an elevator', and when he finally entered the water he managed to paddle away without being submerged, his head "may have been wetted, but no more".
With the adrenaline and alcohol in his system, according to him he didn't feel much of the cold. He threaded water for two hours until daylight broke and he saw a capsized boat with 25 survivors on it.
source Picture of the actual capsized boat
Rescue
After swimming over to the upturned boat he found that it was too unstable to hold any more people. He held onto the side of the boat with the lower half of his body still in the water. He remained like this for the next 4 hours until the RMS Carpathia came to their rescue.
After a total of 6 hours in the water Charles Joughin was pulled onboard with no ill effects, bar swollen feet.
DISCLAIMER Drinking alcohol has been shown to increase the rate of heat loss and make it more likely to get hypothermia. With only a few studies showing that there may be a certain amount of alcohol intake that helps deal with the cold.
While it is possible that he took that 'right' amount of alcohol it is more likely that his survival was both due to the fact he kept his head dry and because he had an abnormally high constitution for the cold.
Long story short, don't get drunk and expect to survive the frigid waters of the Atlantic.
sources:
Wikipedia article
When Hitler Took Cocaine and Lenin Lost His Brain
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