The Titanic

History Beginning in Southampton, England and bound for New York, New York, the Titanic was deemed virtually unsinkable.

History Beginning in Southampton, England and bound for New York, New York, the Titanic was deemed virtually unsinkable.

First Officer Murdoch gave the order “hard-a-starboard” using the traditional to turn to port (left).

He adjusted the engines via telegraph for either ‘full reverse’ or ‘stop’, though the actual testimony is unclear.

He adjusted the engines via telegraph for either ‘full reverse’ or ‘stop’, though the actual testimony is unclear.

Shortly after midnight on April 15, the Titanic lifeboats were ordered to be released and a distress call was sent out.

Many individuals were reluctant to get onto tiny lifeboats, leaving the false sense of security of remaining on the Titanic.

As a result of this, many of the lifeboats weren’t filled to capacity before being deployed.

As a result of this, many of the lifeboats weren’t filled to capacity before being deployed.

The two severed pieces of the glorious titanic acted very differently as they plummeted toward the ocean floor.

The bow of the Titanic is now embedded 60 feet in the bottom of the ocean floor.

The stern’s decent was a little more violent as the pressure differential caused implosion as the bow sank into the ocean.

Analysis of the plating from the Titanic wreck found that it was of a metallurgy that loses its elasticity and becomes brittle in icy water.

A side product of smelting, slag can make rivets brittle and the company had a shortage of skilled riveters, a trade that took great skill.

Turning Ability Construction of the rudders on the Titanic met the requirements of a ship her size, but the design was far from revolutionary.

Little thought was put into how a ship of the size of the Titanic would maneuver out of the way of something like an iceberg for example.

Another factor contributing to the limited maneuverability of the Titanic was her triple screw engine configuration.

This setup had steam engines driving her wing propellers and a steam turbine driving her central propeller.

The turbine engine was not reversible although the steam engines were.

Orientation of Impact Many believe that the Titanic could have been saved if she had hit the iceberg head on.

The bow of the Titanic was naturally stronger and that the impact would have only affected one or two of the watertight compartments (the ship could stay afloat with as many as 4 flooded).

The buckling in the side of the hull resulted in five compartments to be flooded which eventually sunk the ship.

Weather Conditions An obvious possible reason for the Titanic sinking is the weather on the Atlantic during the time of the tragedy.

Speed The official report to the Titanic tragedy dictated 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.

Speed The official report to the Titanic tragedy dictated 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.