Titanic -The Greatest Maritime Disaster In Peace Time

On The 15th of April 1912 the Titanic sank in calm but icy seas on her maiden voyage to New York.

The Titanic sank in a usually busy shipping lane and one might wonder how it came about that nobody went to the rescue of the distressed ship. People certainly wondered about the lack of assistance from The Californian who was present that same night!

Apathy or genuine error?

Flares were sent up by the sinking ship and Captain Lord of The Californian was awoken. He dismissed the flares while the Titanic tried in vain to contact the ship using Morse lamps.

Lord later testified that the sea was calm and he had mistaken the Titanic’s lights for stars. He resigned in August 1912; some sources say he was dismissed. He was never tried for any offences under The Merchant Ship Act, but his reputation is dubious.

Construction

Rivets and steel from the Titanic were recovered and analysed. The rivets were said to have been made of low quality iron which broke on impact. The steel was found to become brittle at freezing temperatures.

Lifeboats

Titanic carried more than the legal requirement of lifeboats according to the British Board of Trading Regulations. . Of course they were not intended to accommodate passengers for any length of time but to ferry them to safety and return. The rescue mission seems to have been somewhat disorganized however. Lifeboat Seven carried 28 people with a capacity of sixty five. Lifeboat one was launched with only twelve passengers and Lifeboat Eleven was overloaded with seventy.

Bruce Ismay                   

Managing director of the White Star Line was under pressure from competitors which lead to a vested interest in the ship making the six day crossing.

Thomas Andrew

White Star requested that the six water tight compartments not go as high as they should because it compromised passenger living space. If Andrews had made the compartments to the correct measurements perhaps the Titanic would have arrived safely in New York.

Captain E Smith

Smith was on his retirement trip to new York and he wanted to get to America in record time. He ignored warnings of icebergs.

Chances of Survival

The 90’s film version of Titanic demonstrated how the upper classes had more of a chance of survival than those who were from the lower classes.