Titanic:Preventable Disaster
by
ElizabethEnke
TheTitanic was competitively designed to be the best, but failed--the seawinning the battle. "The sinking of the Titanic in the early hoursof April 15, 1912, remains the quintessential disaster of this century. A totalof 1,517 souls--men, women and children - lost their lives ( only 711survived)" (Stone 8). The Titanic sunk because it was built to bethe best, and thus caused people in charge to be full of pride, which caused theMarconi telegraph distress signals to be ignored.
"WhiteStar lines needed to construct new vessels to compete with the new vessels ofthe time. They needed to build ships better, faster, and bigger than those ofthe Cunard liners Mauretania and Luistania" (Noble 1). In attempt of doingthis, the White Star lines got into trouble. The Titanic was built atHarland and Wolff shipbuilding, located in Belfast northern Ireland, in the year1912 (Göransson 1). Their ship was huge, the largest ever. The ship weighedapproximately 46,328 tons and which towered eleven stories high. To thosegetting on board it must have looked like they could have walked to America withits 882'9" length. It was the biggest and most expensive liner: over $7.5million then (Noble 1). "The fact that the finest, largest, strongest shipin the world--called, in fact, the 'unsinkable' ship--should have been lostduring its maiden voyage is so incredible that, had it not actually happened noauthor would have dared to contrive it" [sic] (Stone 8). The real-lifedrama of the disaster has spurred thousands of reenactments and web sitesexploring every detail available of that Sunday evening disaster.
Thecatastrophe had social ramifications that went far beyond that night's events.For the first time since the beginning of the industrial revolution early in the19th century, bigger, faster, and stronger did not prove automatically to bebetter. Suddenly the very essence of 'progress' had to be questioned: might theadvancement of technology not always be progress (Stone 8)?
Thetwo main aspects of the Titanic that made her unique probably added toher fall. These were the double hull and the sixteen supposedly"watertight" compartments. Neither were very beneficial. Thewatertight compartments were walls with room near the ceiling to overflow intothe next compartment. These and a few other aspects deemed the Titanicsupposedly unsinkable (Göransson 2). With Captain E.J. Smith at the helm,everyone was completely confident her maiden voyage would be the best ever.
Thisconfidence and spirit of competition exhibited by crew and passengers alike wasthe greatest reason why so many of them died. This appears to be backwardsthinking, but when viewed from the standpoint of the actions taken and theircause, this is the reason for so many faults. The first day they sailed 386miles, the second 519, and the third 546. The reason they gained speed at suchan alarming and unsafe rate was their spirit of competition for the world'srecord for the fastest maiden voyage (Göransson 1-2). If the Titanic hadbeen going slower that Sunday, the crew would have been able to avert disasterby locating the iceberg field before they hit it. Equipped with the finestresources, "the ship even had a French restaurant Café Parisien withFrench waiters," the first swimming pool on an ocean liner, a gym, smokingroom for men, Georgian reading and writing room for ladies, squash court, and anelectric horse, camel and rowboat (Göransson 1).
Thefirst class passengers felt extremely proud, lucky, and amazed about thetop-notch quality of the Titanic. The voyage continued to please themvery much until they heard their expensive trip was at an end. The first classticket was $4,350 then (approximately $50,000 now) (Stone 43). The same attitudeapplied for all the classes. "An attitude was in the minds of all thepeople on board the ship: This ship will never sink" (Noble 1)!
Theevening the Titanic sank was a clear night, no moon, and the water wasabsolutely still. Archibald Gracie, a passenger on Titanic, believes,along with many others, that various types of weather conditions would haveprevented the fate of the Titanic. Had there been a moon and even a few clouds,the iceberg would have been visible much sooner. Secondly, if the sea had evenbeen slightly rough, the water lapping against the ice field would have beenheard from miles away (102-105). Yet another factor that led to the destructionof the Titanic concerns the Marconi telegraph, which utilized Morse cordto send messages by radio waves. "On April 11, 1912, there were 7 warningmessages about icebergs on the Titanic's course. These messages werenoted but were not taken into account" due to the pride and ignorance ofboth the telegraph operator and Captain E.J. Smith (Noble 1). The Titanic'sMarconi telegraph operator demanded that the other operators to get off the airso he could send the many personal passenger messages to shore (Noble 1). Upset,the California's Marconi telegraph operator abandoned his post and wentto bed, thus removing the California from receiving the radio distresssignals sent out by Titanic (Noble 1).
Thefate is now sealed deep in the Atlantic ocean where the 46,000 ton monster laysmashed and broken into two pieces. Before the Titanic was found therewas a controversy over whether the ship broke in two before decent into itswatery grave. Based on research done shortly after Titanic sunk, approximatelyhalf of the eye witnesses said it broke and the other fifty percent said it wentdown as solid as ever (Gracie 1-14). There are still many discrepancies overwhat happened and why. Still searching for the answer to why, the families ofthe lost loved ones became more anguished as they found out the easilypreventable causes for failure of the ship. Families of the dead sought out thesurvivors to ask if they knew what their specific relatives were doing in theirlast days (Gracie 1-14).
Ashistory books have recorded, the last day on the ship Titanic had just assmooth and perfect weather as the preceding part of the voyage. Therefore,preparation for such a disaster as an iceberg field was thought to besuperfluous. 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 theseveral iceberg warnings he received and increase the speed anyway. There wasgreat pressure on the crew put upon by the millionaires to continue speedingaway on their luxurious journey to America. In the early 1900's they wereanxiously taking part in the freedoms of the rich in the gilded age. Early thattragic Sunday, the California, a nearby ship, had repeatedly warned the Titanicof the ice fields, but the Marconi telegraph operator of the Titanic wasvery rude and insulting to the other man.
Thus,it is clear to see why the over-rated capabilities of the ship, the pride of allon board, and the misuse of the Marconi telegraph were the main detrimentalfactors leading to the loss of the Titanic. Of all the ocean liners inthe world, this was the best and the worst. The people on board were the creamof the crop and the dust on the floor, but all with the same curious feeling ofimmortality on board. The Marconi telegraph was the best means of communication,but its signals were ignored by a nearby ship because of the haughty behavior ofthe Titanic's radio operator. The Titanic's maiden voyage was thebeginning and the end in one short scenario. All fought for survival; only 711survived. The competition was great; the loss, fatal. White Star Lines' fightfor the lead in technology had failed. The loss of the Titanic, inaccordance with the redox reaction principle, spurred more strict safetyrequirements throughout the United States and Europe, saving an untold number oflives. (Noble 8)
WorksCited
Göransson, Hannah. The Story of the Titanic. No Date.1 October 1999
<http://www.ida.his.se/ida/~a94hango/titanic.chtml>
Gracie,Archibald. The Truth About the Titanic. 1913. 7 c's Press, Inc, 1973.
Noble, Al. Titanic: The Building. FireflyProductions. 1997. 1 October 1999
<http://www.fireflyproductions.com/titanic/>
Stone, Peter. Titanic. A New Musical. CD:Story and Book. BMG Music: NewYork, NY. 1997.
ThesisStatement: The Titanicsank because it was built to be the best, and thus caused people in charge to befull of pride, which caused the Marconi telegraph distress signals to beignored.
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