Throwback Thursday: The sinking of the ‘unsinkable’ RMS Titanic 112 years ago
Today we look back at the tragic sinking of the Titanic 112 years ago as well as a few facts brought to light after the tragic historical event:
The RMS Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean early on April 15, 1912, while on her inaugural voyage from Southampton to New York.
According to History Extra, the Titanic narrative, from design to disaster, and the many circumstances that each led to the ship’s destruction – from unusual weather to errors in judgement – make for a compelling read.
Despite many warnings, the Titanic accelerated through perilous waters at nearly 23 knots. The berg was identified barely 30s before impact because lookouts lacked binoculars.
At 23:40 on April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic, which was the world’s largest man-made vessel that moved at the time, at 269m long and predominantly considered ‘unsinkable’, collided with an iceberg.
The iceberg inflicted a crack of more than 200ft along the Titanic’s starboard side. The extent of the break caused five of the forward compartments to flood, whereas the ship’s design allowed for four to flood safely.
It is widely believed that if the Titanic had collided head-on, it would have survived the impact. It just took two and a half hours for the massive vessel to sink, plunging survivors into the cold seas.
The marine calamity claimed the lives of more than 1500 people leaving only 705 survivors.
Titanic facts:
How big was the Titanic?
The Titanic was 269m long, 28.2m wide, and had a top speed of 23 knots.
Around 3000 people worked on Titanic’s construction:
Titanic was built on Queen’s Island, historically the hub of Belfast’s shipbuilding industry. The founding of the Harland & Wolff shipyard in 1861 transformed Belfast into one of the world’s leading shipbuilding centres. Over 1700 ships were produced at the shipyard’s Queen’s Island location, including the RMS Titanic. Titanic was the second of three Olympic-class ships designed and built for the White Star Line between 1908 and 1914.
History Extra further stated that around 3000 people worked on the ship’s construction, accounting for around 20% of Harland & Wolff’s workforce.
How many people died in the Titanic disaster?
The sinking killed more than 1500 people. Many people died within minutes of entering the Atlantic Ocean, which had a temperature below zero.
Only 330 bodies were discovered out of the approximately 1500 persons who died; the exact number of deceased however remains widely disputed.
Two of the nine dogs taken aboard, a Pekinese and a Pomeranian, were among the 705 survivors.
The Daily Mail reported on the disaster on April 16, headlining, “Titanic sunk. No lives lost.” However, the actual nature of the tragedy would not be revealed for some days.
Historian WB Bartlett told the Daily Mail: “The real tragedy of the Titanic was that it was a completely avoidable catastrophe.”
He continued: “It’s a well-known fact that there were only enough lifeboats onboard the ship to accommodate 1178 of her approximately 2200 passengers and crew, but other factors also played a role, such as the angle at which the ship struck the iceberg, the speed at which she was travelling, and the reactions of those onboard and elsewhere to events. The awful loss of life, which unfolded in slow motion over a few hours, was the result of a series of incidents, each of which compounded the problem.
What the disaster did succeed in doing was to substantially reduce the level of complacency in the shipping industry and to introduce a rapid change in regulation – such as 24-hour radio coverage, compulsory lifeboat drills and boats for all – still seen a century later.”
How many lifeboats were on board the Titanic?
Titanic was originally planned for 64 lifeboats, but only had 20, leaving insufficient space for the 2200 passengers and crew. Many of the launched boats were underutilised, with one carrying only 24 people while having a capacity of 65.
According to History Extra, a lifeboat practice was scheduled on the day it struck the iceberg, but it was cancelled.
The giant ocean liner set sail with too few lifeboats to accommodate everyone on board, assuming that if she got into danger, other ships would come to her rescue – but they didn’t, leaving the question, why?
One of the reasons for this was because of a miners’ strike in Britain that generated a lack of high-grade steam coal, resulting in significantly fewer ships than normal at sea in the North Atlantic.
There was also the issue that not all ships had radios, and those that did not keep them operational around the clock.
At least two ships, the SS Californian and SS Parisian could have reached Titanic in time to rescue everyone on board if they had received the distress signal – but the radios on both ships were turned off that night.
The Titanic’s notably inadequate quantity of lifeboats did not violate any rules:
Only four days after the sinking, a hurriedly assembled investigation met in New York. Another would follow in Britain in May. They found that the White Star Line did not commit negligence, and, while the shipping business would be taken to court and required to pay out, the fines were not excessive. The SS Californian, the second ship that did not assist the Titanic, received the most vehement criticism.
In terms of lifeboats, the Titanic’s notoriously inadequate quantity did not violate any rules – health and safety measures have come a long way – therefore the investigations could only determine that the existing regulations were out of date.
If anyone got blamed, it was Joseph Bruce Ismay, the highest-ranking White Star Line official who survived. He had jumped into a lifeboat and apparently couldn’t watch as the Titanic sank, before spending four days in shock and anguish.
Nonetheless, he was condemned as a coward, and the rumour mill sprang into work. According to reports, he was aware of the ice warnings, first reduced the number of lifeboats, and pressed Captain Edward John Smith to maintain the speed so Titanic could set the trip record.
He became ‘the most talked-about man in the world,’ according to one newspaper. Though he was never officially held culpable, Ismay was condemned in a media trial and spent the rest of his life utterly devastated.
Looking at the numbers:
- $6m was the estimated total value of passengers’ belongings that went down with the ship
- 3364 sacks of letters, packages, and documents were on board when the ship sank.
- 50 000 pieces of bone china crockery were used for onboard dining.
- According to history Extra, 20 minutes was the alleged maximum survival time for most passengers who plunged into the below-freezing waters of the North Atlantic
- £900 000 was the amount paid at auction in 2013 for a violin played by band leader Wallace Hartley
- 20 was the number of lifeboats on board (two wooden cutters, 14 standard wooden lifeboats, and four collapsible canvas lifeboats)
The Titanic’s captain had allegedly been involved in an earlier collision:
The ship was captained by 62-year-old Edward Smith, a long-time commanding officer of the White Star Line with a history of high-profile commands.
Before his short tenure on Titanic, Smith had captained Olympic and had been involved in a collision in the Solent with a cruiser, HMS Hawke.
An enquiry found Olympic to be to blame for the accident, sucking the Hawke off course with its speed and size. These were enormous ships to manoeuvre but the incident could be seen as an indication that Smith may not have been up to the task of handling this new class of super-ship.
The crew might have received as many as six iceberg warnings:
Titanic is thought to have received at least six iceberg warnings on April 14.
The most important, sent by SS Mesaba and causing the ship’s crew to be diverted to a massive sheet of ice right in its path, was never delivered to the bridge.
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