April 14th ... Another beautiful day at sea.
The order was given to steer hard to port, and reverse engines to slow down. These two decisions combined to make the situation worse rather than better. Had they hit the iceberg head on damage to the bow would have been extensive... but not enough to sink her.
Then there's the question about the rivets holding the steel plates together. Inferior quality that became brittle on the freezing water make them easier to break, causing steel plating to separate.
The design flaw... the interior water bulkheads did not go high enough to prevent sea water from spilling over from one section to another.. taking on more water, making the bow sink lower, sealing the ships fate as sea water flowed unobstructed from the bow to the stern.
It was also expected that some water tight doors were reopened, and left open, making the sinking faster.
Add to this the coal fire that was burning since departure.... heating the steel plates, make the plates and the rivets easier to fail.
The thought of the Titanic being unsinkable negatively impacted any sense of urgency. Coupled with the lifeboats... not enough to save everyone. Even if full, still over 1,000 people still would have been left behind, stranded, to perish. Add to this, life boats were lowered not filled... another 472 people could have been saved.
The distress flares as viewed by the closest ship, the Californian, were thought to be a celebration, rather than calls for help. Radio calls could not be received by the Californian, as their radio was shut down earlier. Had Californian received the radio calls for help, or realized that the flares were calls for help, all the passengers on the Titanic could have been saved. The captain of the Californian believed that Titanic had stopped for the night, playing it safe in the ice field... and besides, his impression was that Titanic was unsinkable... so they couldn't be in distress.
All of this certainly spelled doom. Perhaps if not all these things had not combined, the out come would have been different.
Calamity of circumstances compounding design flaws, construction flaws, poor decisions, bad judgement, and just plain bad luck, or if you will, bad karma ... all coming together in a chain of events to create the "perfect storm" to spell tragedy.
Late evening...
Disaster strikes at 11:40pm
A mere 20 minutes later, at 12:00 midnight,
the captain learns that the ship is sinking...
there is no way to save her,
she has about 2 hours.
Passengers show little regard for the small tremor
Passengers show little regard for the small tremor
due to the collision with the iceberg.
There is not much concern...
There is not much concern...
after all, Titanic is unsinkable!
Early on, as lifeboats begin filling,
most don't want to get in the lifeboats.
Lifeboats were launched half empty.
As the situation quickly progressed,
As the situation quickly progressed,
Passengers realize...
There is no escape... Titanic is sinking.
Fear ... panic... and hopeless.
Fear ... panic... and hopeless.
But as the band plays,
"Nearer to God are thee".
The violins bring a sense of comfort...
an acceptance of what will transpire.
April 15th... the unthinkable.
April 15th... the unthinkable.
So what really caused the accident that mortality injured the ship and thus cause the ship to sink resulting in great loss of life?
Theories are numerous.
Iceberg warning were ignored, not given priority.
Titanic was steaming too fast into the ice field.
Theories are numerous.
Iceberg warning were ignored, not given priority.
Titanic was steaming too fast into the ice field.
Trying to break a crossing record... full speed ahead.
Of course there's the iceberg.
A calm ocean making it difficult to see the iceberg.
Of course there's the iceberg.
A calm ocean making it difficult to see the iceberg.
It was a moonless night, too dark to spot the iceberg sooner.
Lookouts did not have binoculars, so they couldn't see the danger sooner.
The order was given to steer hard to port, and reverse engines to slow down. These two decisions combined to make the situation worse rather than better. Had they hit the iceberg head on damage to the bow would have been extensive... but not enough to sink her.
Then there's the question about the rivets holding the steel plates together. Inferior quality that became brittle on the freezing water make them easier to break, causing steel plating to separate.
The design flaw... the interior water bulkheads did not go high enough to prevent sea water from spilling over from one section to another.. taking on more water, making the bow sink lower, sealing the ships fate as sea water flowed unobstructed from the bow to the stern.
It was also expected that some water tight doors were reopened, and left open, making the sinking faster.
Add to this the coal fire that was burning since departure.... heating the steel plates, make the plates and the rivets easier to fail.
The thought of the Titanic being unsinkable negatively impacted any sense of urgency. Coupled with the lifeboats... not enough to save everyone. Even if full, still over 1,000 people still would have been left behind, stranded, to perish. Add to this, life boats were lowered not filled... another 472 people could have been saved.
The distress flares as viewed by the closest ship, the Californian, were thought to be a celebration, rather than calls for help. Radio calls could not be received by the Californian, as their radio was shut down earlier. Had Californian received the radio calls for help, or realized that the flares were calls for help, all the passengers on the Titanic could have been saved. The captain of the Californian believed that Titanic had stopped for the night, playing it safe in the ice field... and besides, his impression was that Titanic was unsinkable... so they couldn't be in distress.
All of this certainly spelled doom. Perhaps if not all these things had not combined, the out come would have been different.
Calamity of circumstances compounding design flaws, construction flaws, poor decisions, bad judgement, and just plain bad luck, or if you will, bad karma ... all coming together in a chain of events to create the "perfect storm" to spell tragedy.
Help arrives the next morning ...
