History of the titanic and what caused this disaster

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History of the titanic and what caused this historical disaster.

Introduction

Titanic was a celebrated Olympic class steamship that sank in the Atlantic Ocean after hitting an iceberg on April 1912.It sank on its first crossing from Southampton to New York leading to the death of more than 1500 people. Harland and wolf shipyard built it for the British shipping company White star line. Construction began in 1909 and completed in 1911. The Titanic was a state of the art technological design and was thought to be unsinkable due to its safety features that were more than required by the safety regulation at the time. It was the largest and most luxurious ship at the time, giving both style and comfort (Green, 2005). Titanic was a technological state of the art design but following its disaster, shipbuilding companies were forced to develop new safety regulations and better ship designs.

Titanic set sail from Southampton on April 10 1912 and made stops in France and Ireland before sailing for New York. It had on board 2227 passengers and crew and was divided into three classes. Passengers on board the first class were high-ranking wealthy individuals and an experienced shipmaster, Captain Edward John Smith was navigating it. Individuals in the second class included employees of the dignitaries in the first class, journalists, academics and tourists among others. Those in the second class enjoyed comfort that equaled that of the first class in other ships. Most of the passengers on board the ship were in the third class, with a majority of them being immigrants moving to North America. The amenities offered in the third class were far much better than that of other ships.

Titanic was a creation of extreme competition among rival shipping lines during this era. The white star line was in competition with Cunard, a shipbuilding company that had previously produced two outstanding ships. Harland and Wolff began building Titanic in March 1909 and launched it in May 31 1911.Building all of the ship’s decks and lavish interiors were completed in 1912. The ship was fitted with two main steam engines, a double bottom with watertight bulkhead compartments, hull steel, wrought iron rivets and twenty lifeboats. This was more than was required by the safety regulations at the time.

The first class accommodation had luxuries and comforts with features such as high-class restaurants, extravagant cabins, a swimming pool, libraries, a gymnasium, and a radiotelegraph. Both passengers and crew could use the radiotelegraph transmitter placed on the first class deck. Compared to other ships at the time, Titanic had superior safety features and this was evident from the references people had of the ship. A white star line brochure when referring to the Titanic stated the ship was designed to be unsinkable. Multiple publications such as the Irish News also described the watertight compartments coupled with the electronic doors to be “practically unsinkable” (Walker, 2012). The ship was not only luxurious, but also provided a sense of safety due to all its technological advancement.

Four days after setting sail, at 11:30 the ship grazed along the side an iceberg. Though it seemed no damage had been done, the iceberg had slashed a wide cut in the hull and five bulkhead compartments began filling up with water. Water poured from one compartment to the next despite its design being watertight due to its short walls that were barely above the water line. To make it worse the hull and wrought iron rivets fractured on impact with the iceberg (Bassett, 2012). At this point, the ship began tilting down and the captain radioed for help and ordered the lifeboats to be loaded. Many passengers died due to the lifeboats being launched when under filled and it did not help that the number of lifeboats carried on the ship was also not sufficient

After receiving distress calls from the Titanic, Cunard’s Carpathian arrived at the scene in the morning and rounded up all the lifeboats and this totaled to 705 survivors. Several boards of inquiry conducted hearings on the ships sinking and every subject investigated (Kuntz et al., 1998) This led to improvements in maritime safety and the international convention for the safety of life at sea (SOLAS) was formed. Other safety measures introduced were, increased lifeboat capacity to accommodate all passengers and crew and installation of wireless communication equipment. Ice patrols were also introduced and were to alert ships of approaching ice fields. Ice patrol would have aided in averting the Titanic disaster.

The sinking of the Titanic is a well know disaster due to the great loss of life and the loss of the “unsinkable ship.” Understanding the reasons the ship sank and the faults in its design was necessary in preventing future accidents. The technologies used in it contributed to its sinking and this revealed the need of shipbuilding companies to come up with technologies that engineers could best understand. The formation of safety regulations thereafter was also effective in decreasing accidents at sea. Despite the loss of lives, Titanic’s sinking influenced the formation of better safety regulations and the use of better materials in shipbuilding. This has helped to save countless of lives thereafter.

References

Bassett, V. (2012). Causes and Effects of the Rapid Sinking of the Titanic. Undergraduate engeneering review, 11-1998.Green, R. (2005). Building the Titanic: The Creation of History’s Most Famous Ocean Liner. Reader’s Digest.Kuntz, T., & Smith, W. A. (Eds.). (1998). The Titanic Disaster Hearings. Simon and Schuster.Walker, J. B. (2011). An Unsinkable Titanic. BoD–Books on Demand.