Titanic: 'Unsinkable'
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CooperKid — 14 years ago(October 22, 2011 05:58 PM)
Quote time!
"in the event of an accident, or at any time when it may be considered advisable, the captain can, by simply moving an electric switch, instantly close the doors throughout and make the vessel practically unsinkable."The Shipbuilder
, a trade journal, in an article about the Olympic class ships.
"We place absolute confidence in the Titanic. We believe that the boat is unsinkable."- Philip Franklin, vice-president of White Star Line.
"I will say that I cannot imagine any condition which should cause a ship to founder. I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that." - Capt. Smith.
So yeah. Speaks for itself really.
You're only supposed to blow the
doors off! - Philip Franklin, vice-president of White Star Line.
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deeveed — 14 years ago(January 31, 2012 08:15 AM)
"I will say that I cannot imagine any condition which should cause a ship to founder. I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that."
- Capt. Smith.
That's certainly Capt Smith's mindset as the "commander" of the Titanic. And here's a tidbit which I read and found interesting. Capt Smith prior to the Titanic voyage had I believe two close calls where his ship could have sustained bad damage either to his ship or another while he was in charge of piloting. He apparently wasn't "taking care" as he should have. I think that quote of his possibly underlies those near misses he almost had.
- Capt. Smith.
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harryrstevens — 10 years ago(April 30, 2015 11:38 PM)
What current commenters fail to appreciate is the time period, the prevailing attitudes. They judge 1912 people with 100 more years of experience. First off, there was an absolute confidence in "modern technology". While certainly there had been loss of life as technology advancements were introduced since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, nothing even close to the scale of the Titanic sinking had ever occurred. There was no thought that sht happens. It was just inconceivable. Second, the Titanic & her sister ships were so much larger than any previous ship they really had no experience with something so large. Just learning how to maneuver her in harbour provided many surprises. Thirdly, as to the lack of sufficient lifeboats, the designer originally provided for enough lifeboats. However the Board of Trade had adopted the policy of having ships designed to be their own lifeboat, as it were. To stay afloat long enough so that one or more rescue ships would arrive before the ship in trouble sank. Large ships were not to be absolutely unsinkable, just unsinkable long enough. The lifeboats were only intended to ferry passengers from the ship in trouble to one or more rescue ships, so they were to be used as ferry boats rather than hold passengers for days or weeks. It was the Titanic sinking that shocked a complacent first world society. One could say that the unwarranted confidence in technology that started with the Industrial Revolution ended with the sinking of the Titanic. Thereafter a whole sea change in engineering thought commenced. An acceptance that sht does happen, that it must be planned for as best as possible. While WWI marked the end of an era in many things, it was the sinking of the Titanic that ended the first era of applied technology to began our modern era of applying technological advances to everyday life. Since then, whenever an engineer seemed overconfident in their design, there was someone around to remind them of the Titanic.