The Drunken Baker on the Titanic
On board the Titanic, Charles Joughin served as the Chief Baker. Joughin simply swam around in the sea with them while the ship sank and roughly 1,500 people perished before he was found alive and well the next morning. This made many people wonder how he managed to survive under the same circumstances that claimed the lives of so many others.
The fact that Joughin was fully expecting to not survive turned out to be the key to his survival. So he drank like a fish in honor of his imminent death. Alcohol, not sea water, mind you. A perplexing confluence of circumstances kept the man alive. Typically, drinking alcohol would increase your risk of hypothermia. Alcohol does, however, have another special impact on the human body in life-threatening circumstances. It essentially forces you to disregard the physical peril you are facing.
According to research, victims of severe trauma, such as gunshots and stab wounds, have a higher chance of surviving the more inebriated they are. Similar to how you're better equipped to bear the impacts of being smashed on your body if you visit a hospital in the bitter cold.
In order to keep people alive as the Titanic sank, Joughin dispatched his workers to supply the lifeboats with food. Then, disregarding his own safety to ensure that he could save as many people as possible, he pushed people who were reluctant to board the lifeboats.
The closer they came to sinking, the more people left on the boat started to panic, but Joughin kept his calm and kept drinking. He began tossing deck chairs overboard when the water began to swirl over his feet, so that at least the passengers would have makeshift flotation aids. He returned to his cabin to get another drink after that. Apparently, he was on the boat's stern when it literally split in two. He reportedly found the stern rail and simply rode the sinking ship into the water.
Many of the first fatalities drowned in a panic once they were in the water or quickly lost body temperature due to cold shock after being exposed to the significant temperature change. Joughin simply took a few laps and opted to stay submerged. Alcohol didn't make it warmer, but it did make him more composed in the face of it, and that is probably what kept him alive.
