WHY DID THE TITANIC SINK WITH

SUCH TERRIBLE LOSS OF LIFE?

AN HISTORICAL INVESTIGATION

Use the information in this booklet and information

from other
worksheets and research to compile your finished
report.
 Use the following evidence to link up with who or what was to blame:

The wireless operators ignored The lookouts had not been given
warnings of ice-bergs. Captain Smith binoculars by the White Star Line or
was not informed. Captain Smith.
For the two hours when the
At 12.05 a.m., 25 minutes lifeboats were being loaded
after the collision, Captain total confusion reigned; there
Smith realized the extent had been no lifeboat drill
of the damage to the arranged by Captain Smith
Titanic and gave the order since leaving Southampton,
to uncover the lifeboats and neither passengers nor
and prepare to abandon crew knew where to go or
ship. what to do in the
circumstances.
Thomas Harland, managing
Many felt it was safer to director of Harland & Wolff and
remain on deck than to be builder of the ship estimated
lowered into the freezing that the ship had two hours
Atlantic aboard a lifeboat. after hitting the iceberg before
it sank. Later, however, he
failed to point out that the new
The Titanic was originally davits (lowering devices) were
designed to carry 32 strong enough to launch the
lifeboats but the White Star lifeboats fully laden. Tragically,
Line decided to halve this not one officer therefore
number to allow more deck realized that the lifeboats
space for the leisure of the could be lowered fully laden.
passengers. The Titanic was
carrying about 2,200
The White Star Line
Withcanonly
be blamed because
12 people …..
on board,
lifeboat number 1 was the
passengers and crew but
most underfilled boat to be
the capacity of the lifeboats
lowered. The occupants
it finally set sail with
included Sir Cosmo and Lady
could only carry a capacity
Duff Gordon. Some people
of 1,178.
believed they had to used their
Some of the people who
wealth to secure their own
failed to board a lifeboat
lifeboat and crew.
tried to build their own rafts
out of deckchairs or other During the launching of the
buoyancy items. Those lifeboats, gunshots were fired
unlucky enough to be flung into the air to prevent
into the sea tried panicking crowds from
desperately to scramble swamping the boats. There are
onto floating wreckage in also reports of an officer
the hope of surviving until actually shot dead two men,
rescued However, only one and then turned the gun on
lifeboat returned to pick up himself, although the
survivors from the water. evidence for this remains
 It was Captain Smith’s fault It was the shipbuilder’s fault
This was Captain E.J. Smith's About three million rivets were used to hold the
retirement trip. All he had to do sections of the Titanic together. Some rivets have been
was get to New York in record recovered from the wreck and analysed. The findings
time. Captain E.J. Smith said show that they were made of sub-standard iron.
years before the Titanic's voyage,
"I cannot imagine any condition
which would cause a ship to
founder. Modern shipbuilding has When the ship hit the iceberg, the force of
gone beyond that.” the impact caused the heads of the rivets
Captain Smith ignored seven iceberg warnings to break and the sections of the Titanic to
from his crew and other ships. If he had called come apart. If good quality iron rivets had
for the ship to slow down then maybe the Titanic been used the sections may have stayed
disaster would not have happened. together and the ship may not have sunk.

It was Bruce Ismay’s fault It was Thomas Andrew’s fault

Bruce Ismay was the managing The belief that the ship was
director of the White Star Line and unsinkable was, in part, due to the
he was aboard the Titanic. fact that the Titanic had sixteen
Competition for Atlantic passengers watertight compartments. However,
was fierce and the White Star Line the compartments did not reach as
wanted to show that they could make high as they should have done.
a six-day crossing.

The White Star Line did not want them to go all the
To meet this schedule the Titanic could not way up because this would have reduced living space
afford to slow down. It is believed that Ismay in first class. If Mr Andrews had insisted on making
put pressure on Captain Smith to maintain the them the correct height then maybe the Titanic would
speed of the ship. not have sunk.

It was the fault of the first-class

passengers
Far more of the wealthy first class passengers survived than from the lower classes.
One reason for this was that the crew gave the first class passengers priority in the
lifeboats. It is also believed that some first class passengers paid to get onto the boats
at to stop them becoming overfilled.
Who or what was most to blame for the sinking of
the Titanic and the loss of life?

An investigation by Kiril Vankov

Captain Smith can be blamed largely because he ignored

iceberg warning from his crew and other ships, like the Californian
or the Carpathia. He failed to slow the Titanic’s speed as did the
other ships. He did not inform the officers of the iceberg situation,
like pinning where the iceberg. It was the captain’s responsibility
when the ship is out at sea. The lifeboat drills were cancelled for the
practice of the passenger and crew, for church services on Sunday
and specifically, it was the captain’s order. However, he was believed
to have been pressured by Bruce J. Ismay to go as fast as it can,
because of the White Star Line’s financial issues or fire outbreak in
the coal chamber.

Bruce J. Ismay can be blamed partly because there was fierce

competition for Atlantic passengers and he wanted to make a
six-day crossing. To meet the Schule, so the Titanic could not
afford to slow down. It is believed that Ismay put pressure on
Captain Smith to maintain the speed of the ship. He was the
owner of the Titanic and the manager of the White Star Line;
he placed luxury then safety. He reduced the 32 lifeboats by
half to have more deck space for passengers to leisure. He
was one of the men to be placed on the lifeboats and to have
survived. Bruce Ismay, had the bulkheads reduced to only 10
feet tall, so he could get more passengers on board. With
reducing the height of the bulkheads, he only gave a small
chance of the Titanic staying afloat if it would hit something,
because if 5 or more bulkheads are overfilled with water, the
ship would sink. If he would have kept the bulkheads at the
original height, the water would not have been able to fill up 5
bulkheads and the ship could have stayed above water. When
the titanic started to sink, he did not help the passengers
towards the lifeboats, he went to one of the lifeboats himself.
However, in his testimony in New York, he claimed that he
helped any child and woman onto the lifeboats he saw. He
then went to a lifeboat when he did not see anyone else. He
had a severe financial issue that meant he did not want to
order the captain Smith to reduce the ship’s speed.

Thomas Andrews can be blamed because he was the designer of

the titanic. He did not make the 16 watertight compartments
long enough. He could have argued or spoke out that they
should have been the original height and the titanic may not
have sunk at all. Although, he had predicted that the titanic
would sink in two hours, told the passengers to where heavy
clothing and prepare the evacuation. There was even a telegram sent
that he throws “deck chairs, other objects, to people in water. His
chief concern safety of everyone but himself.”

The White Star Line can be blamed because

there was no safety ensured on the titanic, for
instance less lifeboats than the original amount,
the watertight compartments etc. As with Bruce Ismay, the White
Star Line preferred to have the largest, most luxurious steamer in the
world, without as much safety and security. However, the maritime
company had a large amount of financial debt and had competition
from other companies for the Atlantic passengers was fierce.

The First-Class passengers can be blamed as well

because they bribed their way to get onto a life
boat. The crew had given the first-class
passengers a priority in the lifeboats. The lowest
amount of people was 12, because of the
occupants sir Cosmo and Lady Duff Gordon.
Some people believed they secure it with its crew.
However, the first-class only wanted to save themselves to follow the
orders of the crew and go to the lifeboats.

The crew can be blamed because they had no any

lifeboat drill from Southampton, so the crew had no
understanding on how to prepare. The wireless
operators did not inform the captain J. Smith and
ignored the iceberg warnings from other ships. The
crew did not see the iceberg before, due to not having
any binoculars, which could have not caused any
collision. The officers did not know that the lifeboats could be fully
ladened. As well, officers had apparently shot two men dead and then
shot himself. However, the officers had to keep control of the
swarming crowd to get onto the lifeboats. An officer left before the
titanic with the keys to a suitcase with the pairs of binoculars, which
is not the out-looker's fault.
The shipbuilders can be blamed because the 3 million rivets have
sub-standard iron, but not decent quality of iron rivets. When the
force of the iceberg hit the titanic, the rivet’s heads were broken off
and sections of the titanic came off, which made the titanic to
submerged. If it was the decent quality of iron had been used, it
stayed impart and might not have cause the titanic to sink. Although,
the least concentrated area was the bow and was not expected to be
hit. The worker’s training and working condition would as well affect
the proper structure of the titanic. The titanic was rushed to
construct and had caused the low quality at a reasonable cost. As
well, the shipyard had been building two other vessels, reducing the
number of millions rivets to the titanic.

Conclusion.

Overall, I think that it was Captain Smith’s fault. Smith ignored the
ice warnings from other ships and failed to reduce the ship's speed to
fit the conditions at hand. He was the commander of the ship at sea.
The captain had the responsibility when the ship was out of sea. He
had a chance to diverted the course towards the titanic and it could
have been possible that the titanic might not have sunk at all. He also
ignored the possibility that though the sea was calm and peaceful, he
ordered to keep the Titanic’s’ speed to maximum amount, perhaps
from the owner of the titanic, Bruce Ismay.