The sinking of the Titanic
The fateful day of 15 April 1912 recorded one of the worst transport accidents of all times. The ship, with 2224 people on board hit an iceberg and sank. The accident led to the death of 1503 people, making it the disaster the biggest in the twentieth century. The state of the art vessel was making the first journey after completion. Due to the massive size, many people boarded the ship to mark the first maiden journey. After the impact with the ice, water started entering the vessel at a high rate making the rescue missions impossible. In approximately two hours, the ship was sinking in the far depth of the ocean. Due to the speed at which the ship sank, it was impossible for rescue mission from the beach to reach the scene of the accident in time to salvage the situation. The sinking of the Titanic ship is the worst accident in the transport system of the twentieth century.
Manufacturers of the Titanic
Manufacturers of the titanic understood the dangers associated with traveling long distances at sea. Therefore, the engineers fitted the ship with sensors that could detect obstructions on the pathway from a distance. Such obstacles included icebergs, rocks in the shallow waters as well as islands when the visibility is poor. The sensors detected the obstructions from a range, which the ship could change the direction to safety. More so, the Titanic had radio connections that would be useful in calling for help (Meadow 194). The transmitters captured signals from the nearby ships for communication purposes. More so, the radio calls assisted the management of the vessel to communicate with passengers on board. Therefore, the captain could notify the passengers of any impending danger or an urgent message. In case of an accident, the engineers fitted the ship with twenty lifeboats. The boats accommodated 36% of the capacity carried by ship.
The journey and warnings
The boats aimed to transport the passengers to nearby ships in case of an accident. Therefore, the designers ascertained that the number was enough to save every person before the boat sunk. On the fateful day, the ship was traveling at night from Southampton to New York. The vessel received many warnings from other ships of the floating icebergs in the pathway. In April, the Atlantic Ocean had massive icebergs due to the weather conditions in the region. However, some of the messages did not get to the attention of the captain since the crew was using the radios in communicating with the passengers. Due to the inability to receive the messages, the captain was unaware of the seriousness of the situation and sailed the ship at high speed. Further encounters with more icebergs prompted Captain Smith to change the course and sail southwards.
Collision with the iceberg
In the new route, a German ship sent a message of two massive icebergs along the way. However, the captain did not receive the signal since the radios were busy. Another boat from California sent messages to warn the captain, but the faulty communication system failed to deliver the message. Despite the warnings, the captain did not reduce the speed of the ship as a precautionary step. Instead, he maintained the critical rate (McCarty et al. 147). During the time, the crew on deck identified the icebergs and the sensors begun sending warning messages. However, the speed was too high for the ship to stop or change direction to safety. Therefore, the vessel collided with the iceberg creating a big hole at the bottom of the boat. At the time, many of the passengers were asleep, and the temperature of the water was shallow.
The sinking of the Titanic
Immediately, water started getting into the ship at high speed. During the designing of the ship, the engineers anticipated such a moment. Therefore, they made the boat in a way that divided the bottom of the vessel into compartments. The compartments created buoyancy for natural floatation. Even if water filled four of the chambers, it was impossible for the boat to sink. During the collision, water managed to breach six of the compartments due to broken doors. With the water in the chambers, it was impossible for the ship to withstand the weight leading to breakage into two and an immediate sinking. If the water remained in the four compartments as designed during the manufacturing process, the ship would float for long enabling the rescuers to arrive on time. However, the error led to a miscalculation of the estimated period required for the vessel to sink making the accident tragic.
The aftermath of the sinking
When the ship began sinking, the management sent flares to attract the attention of other boats for help. During the time, the mode of communication during tragic moments was using the radio calls. The ships used the flares as a sign of identification for the vessel. When the other captains saw the flashes they, assumed that the captain was identifying the vessel as the norm. Therefore, no one extended any help to the sinking ship. The last course of action was moving the people to the lifeboats, which could not accommodate many people. As such, over 60 percent of the people died from the accident (Troupe and Jomike 28). Some of the people drowned while those that tried to float died from the cold water. Others suffered injuries from the sinking debris making them too weak to swim. The first rescue ships arrived almost two hours later making the most of the survivors succumb to the cold.
Analysis of the mistakes
A keen analysis of the accident reveals many errors committed by both the engineers of the ship as well as the crew. Initially, the vessel embarked on the journey with some of the radio calls being faulty. The crew used the remaining radio calls in communicating with the passengers. The faulty communications made it impossible for the team to receive all the warning messages from the other ships. Therefore, the vessel took the direction of the significant icebergs without receiving the warning. If the radios were in a working condition, the crew would receive the message and postpone the journey such as the other ships along the way. The inability to accept the messages played a crucial role in causing the accident and the collective loss of lives from the tragedy (Cale and David 134). Therefore, that was the mistake of the engineers responsible for maintaining the ship.
The second mistake was that of the captain. During the journey, he was able to identify icebergs that presented a huge challenge for the safety of the ship. The situation was dire to the extent of changing the course of the journey to avoid the obstructions. Since the weather was the same all over the ocean, it was logical of him to anticipate more icebergs along the new path. However, he maintained a high speed and relied on the people at the deck to spot the icebergs. Due to the lateness of the hour and the poor visibility of the sea, the ship ended up crushing the iceberg and causing a massive accident. If the speed were lower, it would have been possible for the crew to see the ice in advance and change direction before the impact. However, the rate made it impossible to stop the ship making the collision imminent.
Lastly, the compartments of the ship were faulty. From the collision, the engineers expected the watertight compartments to keep out the water. The entry of the water was the reason the vessel sunk from the weight. In a worst-case scenario, the engineers expected the water to access four cabins, whose weight was not enough to sink the ship. However, the faulty doors allowed the water into six compartments making the boat sink from one side. The weight sank one side of the vessel leading to breakage of the vessel into two. The mistake by the designers was the last mistake for the tragedy. If the doors were working efficiently, the weight of the ship would be within manageable limits leaving enough time for the rescuers to arrive. However, the ship sank within two hours leaving a trail of death and technological failure for the designers. The losses paint the accident as the worst in the transport system for the twentieth century. Modern designers used the tragedy to improve the current safety measures for ships such as the introduction of floating devices for all passengers and designation of communication systems for strict communication between the boat and the outside world.
Works Cited
Cale, Priscilla M., and David C. Tate. Sink or swim : how lessons from the Titanic can save your family business. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2011. Print.
McCarty, Jennifer H., and Tim Foecke. What really sank the Titanic : new forensic discoveries. New York: Citadel Press, 2008. Print.
Meadow, Charles T. Making Connections : Communication through the Ages. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2002. Print.
Troupe, Thomas K., and Jomike Tejido. Titanic's tragic journey. North Mankato, Minnesota: Picture Window Books, a Capstone imprint, 2018. Print.
