Causes and Effects of the Rapid Sinking of the Titanic (2024)

Understanding the causes for the rapid sinking of the Titanic is necessary to prevent similar accidents in the future. The changes made in ship design and safety regulations following the disaster were effective in decreasing the casualties of accidents at sea. Examples include the successful rescues of 1600 passengers and crew from the Andrea Doria in 1956, 700 passengers from the Prinsendam in 1980, and all the passengers and crew from Mikhail Lermentov in 1986 and the Oceanos in 1992 [Garzke and others, 1994]. Other lessons need to be learned, however. Just because shipbuilding companies have the technology to build something does not mean that they should. In the case of the Titanic disaster, the causes for the sinking indicate that shipbuilding technology was far more advanced than the understanding which engineers had of the materials they were using to build the ships.

Glossary

bow: the front section of a ship. (Back)

bulkheads: the upright partitions dividing a ship into compartments. (Back)

Charpy test: a common test of brittleness in structural materials. A Charpy test is run by placing a specimen against a steel backing and striking it with a large pendulum. (Back)

coupon: a cigarette-sized sample of material. Coupons are the test specimens used with the Charpy test. (Back)

davits: the small cranes that project over the side of a ship and are used to raise and lower lifeboats. (Back)

References

Division of the History of Technology, Transportation Collections, National Museum of American History, in cooperation with the Public Inquiry Mail Service, Smithsonian Institution, "The Titanic," http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmah/titanic.htm (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, May 1997).

Gannon, Robert, "What Really Sank the Titanic," Popular Science, vol. 246, no. 2 (February 1995), pp. 49-55.

Garzke, William H., David K. Brown, and Arthur Saniford, "The Structural Failure of the Titanic," Oceans Conference Record (IEEE), vol. 3 (1994), pp. 138-148.

Hill, Steve, "The Mystery of the Titanic: A Case of Brittle Fracture?" Materials World, vol. 4, no. 6 (June 1996), pp. 334-335.

Manning, George, The Theory and Technique of Ship Design (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1956), pp. 25-53.

Muckle, William, Modern Naval Architecture (London: W.P. Griffith & Sons, 1951), pp. 121-125.

Refrigerator, Mister, "R.M.S. Titanic," http://www.scv.net/~fridge/index.htm (May 1998).

Rogers, Patrick, Anne-Marie O'Neill, and Sophfronia S. Gregory, "Sunken Dreams," People, vol. 49, no. 10 (March 1998), pp. 44-51.

Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Principles of Naval Architecture, 4th ed. (New York: The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, 1977), pp. 121-133.

Author's Note: When she wrote this report, Vicki Bassett was a senior in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin. (Back to Beginning)

Causes and Effects of the Rapid Sinking of the Titanic (2024)

FAQs

What caused the Titanic to sink so quickly? ›

When the Titanic hit the iceberg, the hull plates split open and continued cracking as the water flooded the ship. Low water temperatures and high impact loading also caused the brittle failure of the rivets used to fasten the hull plates to the ship's main structure.

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What were some effects of the Titanic sinking? ›

In the immediate aftermath of its sinking on April 14-15, 1912, the Titanic sparked a lawmaking frenzy resonating throughout the international community. From this fervor emerged the adoption of the first International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) in 1914.

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What was the cause of the Titanic crash? ›

Why did the Titanic sink? The immediate cause of RMS Titanic's demise was a collision with an iceberg that caused the ocean liner to sink on April 14–15, 1912. While the ship could reportedly stay afloat if as many as 4 of its 16 compartments were breached, the impact had affected at least 5 compartments.

What made the sinking of the Titanic a devastating disaster? ›

High speeds, a fatal wrong turn, weather conditions, a dismissed iceberg warning and lack of binoculars and lifeboats all contributed to one of the worst maritime tragedies. An estimated 100,000 people gathered at the dock in Belfast, Ireland, on March 31, 1911, to watch the launch of the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic.

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Why is the Titanic disappearing so fast? ›

The initial impact of the two main sections of the vessel when it collided with the seafloor, twisted and distorted large sections of the wreckage. Over time, microbes feeding off the iron of the ship have formed icicle-shaped "rusticles" and are speeding up the deterioration of the wreck.

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What is causing the Titanic to decay? ›

The 'Titanic' Wreckage Could Entirely Disintegrate in Approximately 30 Years, Experts Say. The ill-fated ocean liner has been pummeled by various underwater threats including salt corrosion and a certain kind of bacteria. By Laura Barcella. Updated on June 22, 2023 08:14AM EDT. The eroding Titanic.

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Are there any Titanic survivors still alive? ›

There are no survivors of the Titanic alive today

The Dean family actually never had plans to board the Titanic, but were transferred onto the ship as a result of coal strikes.

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What famous person died on the Titanic? ›

DIED: John Jacob Astor, millionaire

Astor was a member of the prominent Astor family and helped build the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. He was also an inventor, a science-fiction novelist, and a veteran of the Spanish-American War.

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Has anyone seen the Titanic underwater? ›

Since then, fewer than 250 people in the world have personally viewed the Titanic wreckage, which sits about 2.5 miles below the ocean's surface, according to OceanGate.

Whose fault was the Titanic? ›

Captain Edward Smith is most famous for his role at the helm of the Titanic, the disastrous last voyage in his successful career at sea. Rumors about Captain Smith and his final hours have circulated since that fateful night, leading many to blame the captain for the sinking of the ship.

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Why did the captain ignore the warnings on the Titanic? ›

Therefore, preparation for such a disaster as an iceberg field was thought to be superfluous. Icebergs that time of year and in that area were simply unheard of. The pride of the captain and facade of the blue sky caused him to disregard the several iceberg warnings he received and increase the speed anyway.

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Did Titanic break in half? ›

The Titanic broke in half because of the uneven distribution of weight in the ship's stern, which put immense stress and pressure on the ship's hull. The hull was also weakened by the low temperature of the water and the lack of expansion joints to accommodate the ship's length.

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Whose fault was it that the Titanic sank? ›

Captain E.J. Smith: As the Captain of the Titanic, many people point to E.J. Smith has the immediate subject to blame for the 1912 disaster.

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Who decided to speed up the Titanic? ›

During the congressional investigations, some passengers testified that during the voyage they heard Ismay pressuring Captain Smith to increase the speed of Titanic in order to arrive in New York ahead of schedule and generate some free press about the new liner.

How could Titanic have been prevented from sinking? ›

The colossal cruise liner had been built with bulkheads in its bow in the event of a collision. If the ship had hit the iceberg head-on therefore, it's predicted that only the first three or four watertight compartments would have been flooded, a less severe alternative to what actually happened.

Was Captain Smith to blame for the sinking of the Titanic? ›

Smith was accused of ignoring ice warnings from other ships and failing to reduce the ship's speed to fit the conditions at hand. The British inquiry essentially exonerated him, saying he did nothing other captains wouldn't have done.

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