The effects of the titanic - Essay Example

The Tragedy of the Titanic Could Have Been Avoided On April 14,1912 a great ship called the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage. That night there were many warnings of icebergs from other ships. There seems to be a conflict on whether or not the warnings reached the bridge. We may never know the answer to this question. Indeed it really does not matter because the greatest tragedy of all is that there were not enough lifeboats for everyone on board. Although the Titanic hit an iceberg and was sinking, the tragedy, meaning the unnecessary loss of life could have been avoided if the trappings of wealth had, for once, not taken priority in the early part of the twentieth century.

The Titanic had enough lifeboats for first and second class passengers, but not for steerage. So the poor passengers almost all drowned, while the rich passengers mostly survived. Titanic carried 20 lifeboats, enough for 1178 people. The existing Board of Trade required a passenger ship to provide lifeboat capacity for 1060 people. Titanic's lifeboats were situated on the top deck. The boat was designed to carry 32 lifeboats but this number was reduced to 20 because it was felt that the deck would be too cluttered and thus pose an inconvenience to the first class passengers whom enjoyed strolling the deck.

On a luxury ship, lifeboats for everyone would mean less room for games and sports on the upper decks. Passengers would have had to give up play areas for lifeboats (Lord, Lives On 85). White Star line tragically sacrificed safety for luxury. The question remains whether or not first and second class passengers received preference on the lifeboats. The White Star line claims there was no distinction between the three classes of passengers, however, only 25 percent of third class passengers were saved compared to 53 percent of first and second class passengers.

The White Star line explained that third class passengers were more reluctant to leave the ship and they did not want to part from their belongings. The surviving crew of the Titanic also claimed that there was no discrimination. Yet at the British Inquiry of the accident, not a single third class passenger was called as a witness (Lord, Lives On 93-94). Thus, the inescapable conclusion is that, from Titanic's inception, trappings took place over life.ReferenceLord, Walter. A Night To Remember.

Mattituck: American House, 1955. PP 152-170.