Why Titanic Sank So Fast, and Why So Many Died #Shorts
Pack: 07 - Why Titanic Sank So Fast, and Why So Many Died
Titanic went from iceberg to the bottom of the Atlantic in about two hours and forty minutes, and most of the people aboard had no place in a lifeboat.
- The collision came at about 11:40 pm on April 14, 1912, and damaged about 300 feet of the hull, well forward on the starboard side. The ship disappeared at 2:20 am. (British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry)
- She could have stayed afloat with her four forward compartments flooded, but not with the forward boiler room flooding as well. (British inquiry)
- Her 20 boats had room for 1,178 people, and many were lowered far from full. The British inquiry counted 711 saved of 2,201 aboard; the U.S. Senate counted 706 saved and 1,517 lost. (British inquiry, U.S. Senate inquiry)
- About 1,500 people died; sources give figures from about 1,490 to 1,517. (NOAA, both inquiries)
- In 1914, the first Safety of Life at Sea convention required lifeboats and lifejackets for everyone on board and set up an international ice patrol. (UK National Archives, IMO)
Which failure mattered most?
Sources
- British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry report (1912)
- U.S. Senate inquiry report (1912)
- UK National Archives, the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea
- NOAA, RMS Titanic history and significance
- IMO, SOLAS
Images
- RMS Titanic departing Southampton, 1912, Francis G. O. Stuart, Public domain
- An iceberg near the site of the Titanic sinking, 1912 (NARA), Louis Ogden, Public domain
- Titanic sinking (illustration), 1912, Willy Stöwer, Public domain
- Collapsible lifeboat D, April 15, 1912, Louis Ogden, Public domain
- Coast Guard C-130 on International Ice Patrol, 1999, U.S. Coast Guard, Public domain
