Talk:Charles Joughin

Effects of alcohol in freezing water

I just rewatched Cameron's Titanic and put a name to this guy. You would suspect James Cameron, an experienced underwater filmmaker, knew what he was doing when he only showed Baker taking the odd swig from his small hip flask to "fortify" himself against the cold, instead of him drinking massive amounts at the ship's bar. The movie and the article may suggest that alcohol intake somehow keeps you warm, lessens the effects of hypothermia and increases your chances of survival. The opposite is true. I couldn't find anything on the amount where the bad effects outweigh the benefits. I've updated the article accordingly and, I hope, in an unobtrusive way.

Links: Wikipedia's internal page on hypothermia, Effects of Alcohol in the Cold, Hypothermia Prevention: Survival in Cold Water. 93.135.3.14 (talk)

His story is highly questionable and probably untrue

As upsetting as this may be to some people, it is very likely that his story of riding the stern down into the water and swimming around for two hours is untrue. In his two earliest known accounts, Joughin claimed he was helping near Collapsible A on the boat deck when the ship began its final plunge, and that he then jumped from the boat deck and swam away before the ship went down. He also claimed in these accounts that he was only in the water for about 20 minutes. It was only later that he gave the more dramatic and improbable story that is more famous. Those interested should read George Behe's "Onboard the RMS Titanic", which contains the earlier accounts. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.50.97.7 (talk) 22:49, 17 May 2016 (UTC)

If nobody opposes, I will probably edit the article to reflect this when I get the chance. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.50.97.7 (talk) 04:01, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

Relevant: a recent discussion on the talk page for the article on Titanic′s sinking.

While the details of Joughin's story may be in doubt, his alcohol consumption may have been more helpful than commonly assumed. See this recent discussion in the talk page of the Sinking of the RMS Titanic article. It claims (with some backup) that hypothermia isn't the first danger upon suddenly entering cold water; the initial dangers are cold shock and swimming incapacitation. Moderate alcohol consumption, by increasing the body's surface temperature, might reduce both of those dangers. You still have to deal with the later hypothermia problem, but Joughin's circumstances may have been enough to let him survive that as well. Many of the victims may have died well before the effects of true hypothermia manifested. --Colin Douglas Howell (talk) 09:33, 15 April 2018 (UTC)

That discussion link above no longer works, since it's been archived; look here instead. --Colin Douglas Howell (talk) 23:44, 20 November 2018 (UTC)

SS Oregon

"According to his obituary he was also on board the SS Oregon when it sank in Boston Harbor." - source? From SS Oregon (1883): "Sank in 1886 after a collision with a schooner 18 nautical miles (33 km) East of Long Island, New York". --StYxXx (talk) 04:36, 2 March 2019 (UTC)