First of all, know that I have so much love and appreciation for this post. It warms the cold cockles of my heart that watching the film inspired OP to delve into doing more research, and that said research inspired and impassioned them to make a post like this, which in turn inflamed otherâs desires to learn more. This is what I live for, and it is refreshing to see a post on the Titanic that doesnât involve the infamous âdoorâ, tall tales of faulty materials, or otherwise less than ârivetingâ conspiracy theories *finger guns*
However, as someone who has studied and loved the RMS Titanic for almost twenty years, I couldnât help myself in clarifying, contesting, and expanding upon a few points brought up in the original post and subsequent additions. Hopefully my addition with serve to further educate and engage others into doing more of their own investigating.
On the popular subject of lifeboats on board Titanic, it is true that Titanic was equipped with what we know today to be an unacceptable number of lifeboats. As already stated, they were following the standard maritime regulations of the day, which required vessels over 10,000 tons to carry a minimum of sixteen lifeboats. In fact, Titanic carried twenty, four more than thought necessary, in the form of fourteen clinker-built lifeboats with reinforced keels (the oneâs well known for having been able to carry 65 passengers), two wooden cutters (smaller, less sturdy, able to carry approximately 40) loaded onto davits, and four collapsible boats (basically rafts) stored on deck and on the roof of the officerâs quarters. The reality of this is that this was considered enough, for the simple fact that lifeboats were not intended to be filled once and sent on their way, but rather to ferry passengers to a rescuing ship and then be sent back for more, therefore eliminating the need for a seat for every single passenger aboard as the ship itself was meant to serve âas its own lifeboatâ until help could arrive.
The lifeboat drills before departure were indeed perfunctory, and the drill scheduled for the Sunday of the disaster was in fact cancelled, allegedly in lieu of Captain Smith choosing to deliver one last Sunday service, but otherwise for reasons unknown. It is unfortunate that most of the officers and crew were unaware of the reinforced keels in the fourteen main lifeboats, and that they were undertrained in the usage of the new davit system for lowering said boats, but they were all highly skilled seamen with combined decades of experience under their belts. Some lifeboats, the early ones especially, were indeed lowered underfilled, yes, but not out of malice or ineptitude; rather the opposite.
As is the unfortunate case in most dissections of what happened that night, the experience of the men on board served to work against them. Boats were underfilled due to the misinterpretation of orders, likely and largely due to the deafening and distracting screech on deck of steam escaping, and out of overcautious miscalculation. Many in charge of filling boats feared that overfilling would cause the boats to sink too far into the water for safety, especially in the notoriously unpredictable seas of the North Atlantic, or that the boats would buckle under the weight in the davits â unaware of the aforementioned reinforced keels that would have prevented the latter.
As regrettable as the lack of lifeboats is, in the amount of time Titanic took to sink, it is unlikely that even with more lifeboats available, that more lives could have been saved. In the two hours and forty minutes Titanic lasted before going under, they didnât even manage to launch all twenty they had, and those collapsible boats were launched either by desperate men or simply washed off the deck by the incoming sea. In James Cameronâs most recent documentary, Titanic: 20 Years Later, it was agreed that with an approximated launch time of nearly 30 minutes per boat itâs nigh on miraculous as many boats were safely launched and people saved as there were.
Contrary to popular belief, the iceberg warning Titanic received over the course of her voyage were not âignoredâ by Captain Smith. Many of them were in fact acknowledged and replied to, aside from the few (messages from the Amerika and the Mesaba) that were notably never delivered to the bridge in the first place, but were forwarded from Titanic to Cape Race, a popular and notoriously busy hub for wireless messages on the coast of Newfoundland. The message received from the Californian, reporting that they had been stopped and surrounded by ice, was not prefixed with the proper call sign indicating it as a serious report, included no coordinated, and was overly casual in itâs wording, thus causing it to be discarded angrily by Jack Phillips and ignored.
There is conflicting evidence as to whether any specific action was taken to avoid ice. I am of the personal opinion that Titanic did indeed adjust course south to avoid these reported areas, specifically the one issued by the Baltic that was directly in the line of Titanicâs planned route, but that the unfortunate reality of the shipâs later than intended maiden departure, and unseasonably cold weather caused the bergs to drift farther than previously assumed. I find that there are discrepancies between said planned route, the final given coordinates before she sank, and where the wreck site is actually located extremely suspect and indicative of some amount of course correction. As I said however, this is a topic of much debate, an example of which you can read HEREÂ for more information.
All in all, however, the practice of going at the speed they were in the clear and calm weather conditions provided was standard practice, with the caveat that should the weather change even minutely that the speed would be slowed, and in my opinion should not be considered something that was done recklessly or without caution as any bergs were thought to be easily spotted in time to slow. Once again, Captain Smithâs experience worked against him.
On the topic of spotting icebergs, the lack of binoculars provided to the lookouts is a complicated and long story. In the interest of brevity, let me just say that it was not industry standard to provide them, usage of binoculars was largely at the discretion of the man on duty, and regardless, it has been proven by modern tests that in open waters on dark nights, using binoculars to detect objects is, according to Appendix C: The Question of Binoculars found in On a Sea of Glass by Tad Fitch, J. Kent Layton & Bill Wormstedt, quote, âhighly ineffective, and borderline pointlessâ.
To touch on another point briefly, the construction of the ship had absolutely nothing to do with the loss of life in third class. While itâs true that Titanic was a bit of a maze for passengers, this was true for all classes and areas. Many first AND second class passengers, whose cabins were located as low as C-F decks reported no problems navigating to either A deck or the boat deck for evacuation. Nor are there any factual reports of third class passengers being unduly restrained below decks, as the movie shows for dramatic effect. The sad truth is simply that many third class passengers suffered from the lack of information given to both crew and passengers, in addition to the obvious language barriers. It is likely that many were told by unassuming and ill-informed stewards that this was simply a drill, or that the severity of the situation was not dire, and that they needed to wait, unfortunately until it was too late.
In terms of controversy surrounding Titanic, the issue of the Californian really takes the cake. Titanicâs distress rockets were indeed seen by officers on watch, and napping Captain Lord was informed of them. He did not order the wireless operator awake, which no one including me will argue was not a Mistakeâą, but did tell the officers to attempt to signal the ship by Morse lamp. They did, but when they received no discernible reply, and then shortly after when the lights of the odd mystery ship in their sights disappeared, they stopped and carried on their normal duties.
All that said it is easy to jump to conclusions and blame the Californian and her captain for the tragic loss of life incurred â after all, had Lord simply woken the wireless operator they could have heard Titanicâs distress call and raced to her aid in record time! Right? Unlikely. Californianâs âattemptâ at an ice warning earlier in the evening said that they were stopped for the night and surrounded by pack ice. In order to get to Titanic they would have had to reignite ice cold engines, push through dangerous pack ice, and sail an indirect route to where they thought they could see Titanicâs distress rockets. Had they gotten there, if they even could have gotten there at all, it is unlikely it would have been in a timely enough manner to save anyone. Not to say they shouldnât have tried, they inarguably should have, but I find it is unfair to place blame for the accident itself on Captain Lord or his crew.Â
Also, the mentioned story of a second âmystery shipâ full of dead seals nearby is⊠for lack of a kinder term, Bullshit. There is absolutely no evidence of any other âmystery shipsâ or âmystery linersâ in or around the area of Titanic and Californian. Tragedies of this type attract infinite amounts of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and attention seekers. A report like that ~miraculously uncovered~ is undoubtedly a result of such things.
There is an excellent documentary by historian Tim Maltin called âTitanic: Case Closedâ (available to watch on youtube HERE), that discusses a relatively new, but now becoming widely accepted, theory as to how and why visibility issues like the lookouts faced on Titanic, and how the Californian could possibly have âignoredâ Titanic. Itâs a fascinating look into how cold weather mirages work and is a must-watch for more information on those topics.
Overall, I think my real problem when people discuss what happened that night is the impulse to sling blame in any one or multiple directions. Itâs undeniable that things could have and should have been done differently, but hindsight is 20/20 when it comes to things like this. To say that what happened to Titanic and all those aboard was a âtextbook lesson on âhow to majorly fuck up repeatedly again reloaded 2.0ââ, is, I think, unfair and a gross, bordering on cruel, oversimplification. Anything with human beings involved will be subject to human error, but in the grand scheme, what happened to the RMS Titanic was entirely out of the control of anyone involved. It is shocking, horrifying, and sad to see a timeline of events laid out before you and be able to see every single spot where Something, Anything could have been changed in order to prevent what happened, but thatâs the unfortunate nature of of tragic events. All we can do is look past what might have been, and instead at what was done: the incredible good and perseverance that was carried out that night.Â
The crew who did their absolute best, the passengers who loved and cared deeply enough to sacrifice themselves to save others, the stokers below decks who kept the lights on until the last minute, the officers who Did go back to try and help others despite extreme danger to their own lives. They are who and what we should focus on when we talk about what happened that night, and the tragic accident of the Titanic should instead be considered exactly that, a tragic accident, and a textbook lesson on just how lucky those of us who never have to find out how we would handle ourselves in such a situation.
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