Commander Charles Lightoller, Second Officer on board the Titanic, describes events surrounding the Titanic's sinking on April 15, 1912. This is an excerpt from the original 1936 recording he made of events of the night of the sinking, from the BBC Archives.
He describes how the ship was hit on the starboard side, with masses of ice falling on the deck, but also fatally pierced below the waterline, flooding six compartments. He describes the deafening noise on board from the engines letting steam escape, which made it impossible to hear people talking. They began loading women and children into lifeboats, even though they didn't think they would actually have to abandon ship. Many women refused to abandon their husbands.
He was aware the ship was getting lower and describes seeing the water creeping higher up the ships' stairways. Before many lifeboats were away, he began piling more people into them as he realised the ship was going down.
As he watched the last lifeboat leave, the ship rolled and they scrambled to the aft end of the ship, but he realised the end was coming. He dived from the top of the wheelhouse and began to swim away but got sucked down several times.
He came across a life-raft and hung onto the edge of it. The ship's funnel broke free and weighing about 50 tonnes, it crashed down, just missing the raft, upending it but flinging it away from the ship. He climbed onto the upturned raft and watched the Titanic sink with a rumbling roar as her massive boilers broke free and crashed down through the ship. This cut the electricity and all the lights on the ship went out, as it raised up on end and sank beneath the water.
The ship's telegraph officer was also on the raft and told him the 'Carpathia' had received their distress call and would be with them at sunrise, however many survivors perished from cold during the night, including the telegraph officer.