Simulation of the sinking
Speed of the Titanic
The official report to the Titanic tragedy said that the cause for the Titanic sinking was due to collision with an iceberg, brought about by excessive speed in which the ship was being navigated. It is said that if the Titanic had maintained a lower cruising speed (she was at about 22 knots which was 2 less than her 24 knots top speed), that the iceberg could have been avoided.
'Ignored' Ice Warnings
The Titanic received 6 separate warnings of ice in the area that she was travelling in.
This doesn't mean that they were ignored, however! Lots of people report that they were ignored but according to most reports, all of the warnings were posted in the chart (map) room.
Date/Time Ship Message
14/4 9.00amCaronia (MSF) – Eastbound, New York to Liverpool, Queenstown. The message was delivered to the bridge, where Captain Edward John Smith posted it for his officers to read.
‘Captain, Titanic – West-bound steamers report bergs, growlers and field ice in 42° N, from 49° to 51° W, April 12th. Compliments, Barr’
14/4 1.42pmBaltic II (MBC) – Eastbound, New York to Liverpool, Queenstown. This message was delivered to Captain Edward John Smith as he talked to Bruce Ismay. Ismay pocketed the piece of paper, and later showed it to several passengers. At 7.15pm, Smith asked for its return, when it was finally posted in the chart room.
‘Greek steamer Athenia reports passing icebergs and large quantities of field ice today in latitude 41° 51′ N, longitude 49° 52′ W. Wish you and Titanic all success. Commander.’
14/4 1.45pmAmerika (DDR) – This message was actually a private one to the US Hydrographic Office in Washington DC, overheard by Titanic’s radio operators. Regretably, it never made its way to the bridge.
‘Amerika passed two large icebergs in 41° 27′ N, 50° 8′ W on April 14.’
14/4 7.30pmCalifornian (MWL) – This message was actually to Antillian (MJL), but overheard by Titanic’s radio operators. This was delivered by Bride to the bridge, although Captain Edward John Smith was not made aware of it. He was in the a la carte restaurant, dining with the Wideners.
‘To Captain, Antillian: Six-thirty pm, apparent ship’s time; latitude 42° 3′ N, longitude 49° 9′ W. Three large bergs 5 miles to the southward of us. Regards, Lord.’
14/4 9.40pmMesaba (MMU) – This message never reached the bridge. Harold Bride was getting some much needed sleep, and Jack Phillips was busy on the key sending and receiving commercial traffic to Cape Race.
‘From Mesaba to Titanic . In latitude 42° N to 41° 25′, longitude 49° W to longitude 50° 30′ W, saw much heavy pack ice and great number large icebergs, also field ice, weather good, clear.’
This doesn't mean that they were ignored, however! Lots of people report that they were ignored but according to most reports, all of the warnings were posted in the chart (map) room.
Date/Time Ship Message
14/4 9.00amCaronia (MSF) – Eastbound, New York to Liverpool, Queenstown. The message was delivered to the bridge, where Captain Edward John Smith posted it for his officers to read.
‘Captain, Titanic – West-bound steamers report bergs, growlers and field ice in 42° N, from 49° to 51° W, April 12th. Compliments, Barr’
14/4 1.42pmBaltic II (MBC) – Eastbound, New York to Liverpool, Queenstown. This message was delivered to Captain Edward John Smith as he talked to Bruce Ismay. Ismay pocketed the piece of paper, and later showed it to several passengers. At 7.15pm, Smith asked for its return, when it was finally posted in the chart room.
‘Greek steamer Athenia reports passing icebergs and large quantities of field ice today in latitude 41° 51′ N, longitude 49° 52′ W. Wish you and Titanic all success. Commander.’
14/4 1.45pmAmerika (DDR) – This message was actually a private one to the US Hydrographic Office in Washington DC, overheard by Titanic’s radio operators. Regretably, it never made its way to the bridge.
‘Amerika passed two large icebergs in 41° 27′ N, 50° 8′ W on April 14.’
14/4 7.30pmCalifornian (MWL) – This message was actually to Antillian (MJL), but overheard by Titanic’s radio operators. This was delivered by Bride to the bridge, although Captain Edward John Smith was not made aware of it. He was in the a la carte restaurant, dining with the Wideners.
‘To Captain, Antillian: Six-thirty pm, apparent ship’s time; latitude 42° 3′ N, longitude 49° 9′ W. Three large bergs 5 miles to the southward of us. Regards, Lord.’
14/4 9.40pmMesaba (MMU) – This message never reached the bridge. Harold Bride was getting some much needed sleep, and Jack Phillips was busy on the key sending and receiving commercial traffic to Cape Race.
‘From Mesaba to Titanic . In latitude 42° N to 41° 25′, longitude 49° W to longitude 50° 30′ W, saw much heavy pack ice and great number large icebergs, also field ice, weather good, clear.’
'Freak' iceberg
Many people believe that the iceberg that hit the Titanic was a 'freak iceberg' because it was so far south. However, the 'iceberg season' in 1912 was particularly bad. This could have been because the weather where the icebergs broke off from (to the north of Greenland) was warmer than normal causing an increase in iceberg calving (icebergs breaking off the ice-sheet) or that the weather further south was much colder than normal for April. It could also have been a combination of both. However, it is a bit pointless arguing this as the iceberg was definitely where the Titanic was at the same time!
Inaction of the nearest ship
Two ships were within 50 miles of the Titanic when it sank. The Carpathia, which was the furthest one away, sailed at top-speed (with the chief engineer supposedly covering engine warnings with his hat) to the site. The California was much closer to the Titanic (only 20 miles away) but ignored the distress flares because they thought it was a message for another ship. They had also turned off their radio and so didn't receive the SOS messages the Titanic had been sending out until the morning (when they finally arrived at the crash site, all they found were bodies floating in the sea).
Click here for more about the two captains of the nearest ship.
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Ship Design
Titanic had 15 (or 16 depending on the source) watertight compartments which were put in place to prevent sinking. However, the compartments didn't extend the full height of the boat so when the bow (front) of the boat started to tip downwards, the water that was already in the ship went over the top of the compartments into the next, meaning that they were no longer watertight.
Agility of the ship
On a smaller ship than the Titanic, the turning circle is smaller. A ship of smaller size would have been able to avoid the iceberg in the time available from spotting it to hitting it. However, the Titanic didn't manage to avoid the collision.
Engines
To slow the ship down and try to avoid a collision with the iceberg, the engines needed to go into reverse (backwards). The Titanic's engines were not able to do this fast enough, even though the order was given before the impact.
Portholes
When the Titanic hit the iceberg, many passengers opened their portholes to look at the damage. When the order to evacuate the ship was given, many passengers rushed up to the decks and left their portholes open, allowing water to flood in much faster than it should have done.
Fire
A few days before the Titanic set sail for New York, a fire broke out in the coal bunker in the base of the ship. This fire carried on burning throughout the journey and when the hot metal of the hull near to the fire, met with the cold Atlantic water, it was weakened. Some people say that the fire was burning in the same part of the boat where the iceberg hit.
Water-tight Doors
Logically, when the water started to flood into the boat, the water-tight doors (doors that don't allow water to come through) were closed. However, this meant that all of the water stayed at the front of the boat, leading it to sink bow (the front of the boat) first, ultimately leading it to break in half and for the funnels to fall into the water, killing many of the passengers who were in the water.
Rivets
The Titanic was so big that it didn't fit into the dry dock that it was being built in. This meant that machines could not fix the final rivets at the bow (front) of the ship. This meant that they were fixed by hand - could these have been a weak spot that caused the damage to be greater than it should have been when the iceberg struck the Titanic?
Binoculars
Several of the senior officers were changed just before the Titanic sailed. Because of this changeover, the keys to a cupboard containing binoculars wasn't handed over to the new officers. This obviously meant that the ship was not as safe as it could have been.