On the morning of April 15, 1912, RMS Titanic on her maiden voyage sank after striking an ice berg, killing over 1,500 passengers and crew members. It has been generally accepted that the ship was traveling too fast for the conditions, and the captain ignored numerous warnings of icebergs in the vicinity. Further, the ship had half the original number of lifeboats, and the water tight compartments did not include roofs for each section contributing to the rapid sinking of the ship in calm seas. Further analysis of the wreck itself, the inquiries after the disaster, and witness statements have pointed to other evidence which was also to blame. Certainly, Titanic would not have sunk had it not hit the ice berg, but looking at the greater picture we can see that a lot more is to blame than just the design, and the course and speed.
Budget cuts: The White Star Line that owned Titanic was in fierce competition for the transatlantic passenger business with Cunard Lines. Further, they just received major financial backing from J.P. Morgan and Company that included demanding terms. This pressure led to budget cuts from the original design including using inferior steel and rivets for the hull, removal of half the lifeboats, and reducing the thickness of hull steel by one half. However, no expense was spared for increasing the number of luxurious accommodations for first class passengers.
Fire in one coal bin: Owing to a coal miner’s strike, the ship received only enough coal to get to New York, and would need to uplift more coal before returning. A spontaneous fire broke out in one of the coal bins 10 days before the maiden voyage. The fire burned extremely hot in the bin and caused warping to take place in the bulkhead next to it. The fire was located ironically near the very spot where the ship hit the ice berg. As the water tight compartments filled up after the collision, the warped bulkhead between two of the compartments burst causing the ship to list to starboard and take the fatal plunge. Although the fire was extinguished before the disaster, there is no evidence of any accurate reckoning as to how much coal was lost and how that would impact the remainder of the voyage.
Wireless set not operating on a nearby ship: Wireless radio was still relatively new at the time, but very useful in shipping. Wireless operators would communicate back and forth to each other with important information – like the presence of ice fields. Titanic’s operators, however, were overwhelmed with requests from wealthy passengers to send friendly personal messages to family and/or friends stateside. On the fatal night, the messages were so much that one of the two operators told a nearby freighter to please hang up as they needed to get busy with sending them. The freighter’s operator turned his own wireless off and went to bed, as the ship’s captain decided to anchor out in the ice field until daylight. The night watch on the freighter noticed flares being fired into the sky after the passing of a passenger ship, but their color was white not red. The freighter’s captain thought that a red signal was required for distress and did not take any action. The freighter was only about 11 miles away and could potentially have saved many lives had they known about the disaster.
When the ice berg was sighted: The ice berg was a “black ice” variety meaning it was not covered with snow or frost on top and was very hard to see on a moonless night. The lookouts did not have binoculars making their response time shorter. The first officer was in command of the bridge, and when the ice berg was sighted, he decided to reverse the engines at the same time he executed a hard turn to port. However, owing to the ship’s high rate of speed and the engineering of the stern, the ship’s engines could only be stopped and not put into reverse. The ship was too unwieldy to turn sharply enough to avoid collision. When she struck the ice berg, the hull was not punctured but was dented in a manner that caused the hull’s seams to buckle and separate. The water then poured in causing the list and the failure of the water tight compartments.
Conclusions: Why, then did the Titanic’s captain not slow down and change course upon finding out that the danger of ice was imminent? The disaster was the consequence of a cavalcade of problems and errors, but the one that may have stood out the most was the short supply of coal compounded by the spontaneous fire in one of the bins. To change course and/or slow down, the giant ship could risk running out of fuel before reaching New York. Think of it this way: Titanic was sailing at the highest rate of speed over the shortest course possible to reach New York with its dwindling supply of coal owing to the fire. To slow down would extend the amount of time on the voyage as would changing the course away from the ice field. To restore the previously calculated speed with an increased distance would have required an extra amount of coal to be consumed possibly causing her to run out before reaching port. Therefore, the captain may have reasoned that the risk of running out of coal was greater than the risk of hitting an ice berg, in spite of the danger. Today’s scholars might never be able to determine the answer, as the captain, the first officer, and many of the ship’s other officers did not survive the disaster.
Sources: Wikipedia, Britannica, The History Channel, National Geographic
David, I had heard much of this, but not about the fire in the coal bin. Interesting stuff.
The fire didn’t make it into the Titanic movies. Further, it was only briefly mentioned in the British inquiry into the disaster. This makes me believe the theory that the fire/coal shortage drove the decision to go charging straight through the ice field.