Charles Alfred Bartlett
Encyclopedia
Commodore
Charles Alfred Bartlett CB
CBE
RD RNR
(1868–1945) was a merchant seaman and Royal Naval Reserve officer, who achieved command status with the White Star Line
shipping company. Bartlett is perhaps best remembered as the captain of the HMHS Britannic
during World War I
, from 1915 to November 1916, when the ship was sunk off Greece by a German-laid mine. Bartlett was known as "Iceberg Charlie" to his crew due to his alleged ability to detect icebergs miles away. Born in London in 1865, Bartlett served six years with the British India Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. before joining the White Star Line in 1894. Bartlett retired in 1931 and died in his home Feb. 14, 1945.
Commodore (rank)
Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...
Charles Alfred Bartlett CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
RD RNR
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...
(1868–1945) was a merchant seaman and Royal Naval Reserve officer, who achieved command status with the White Star Line
White Star Line
The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated vessel, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of Titanics sister ship Britannic...
shipping company. Bartlett is perhaps best remembered as the captain of the HMHS Britannic
HMHS Britannic
HMHS Britannic was the third and largest of the White Star Line. She was the sister ship of and , and was intended to enter service as a transatlantic passenger liner. She was launched just before the start of the First World War and was laid up at her builders in Belfast for many months before...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, from 1915 to November 1916, when the ship was sunk off Greece by a German-laid mine. Bartlett was known as "Iceberg Charlie" to his crew due to his alleged ability to detect icebergs miles away. Born in London in 1865, Bartlett served six years with the British India Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. before joining the White Star Line in 1894. Bartlett retired in 1931 and died in his home Feb. 14, 1945.