The Failure in the Construction of the Titanic - Essay Example

You’re Name Professor Course 8 February 2006 The Failure in the Construction of the Titanic 1.0 Introduction: The Building of the Titanic The sinking of the Titanic was an event that has not been lost over time and was in fact a historic but tragic occurrence that has, and still is being discussed and researched even in decades after its demise. The two main contractors that devised the blueprint and had the most control over the building of the Titanic were Harland and Wolff (Titanic Facts 2005). It was specifically designed to serve the elite of society in a more elegant type of fashion. Their goal in having the Titanic built was to provide a much larger vessel, (in fact the largest ocean cruiser in existence at that time) to be able to allow for a much larger percentage of passengers, as well as cargo. The designed structure of the Titanic was one that was seemingly fool-proof with doors that were solid steel, timers set to shut doors to prevent flooding, and many reinforcements of steel. It was suppose to be more steadfast in the ocean than any other liner ever created, which might be the reason for no immediate precautions for safety being improvised. However there were no correct calculations on the definite amount of weight it could withstand and this led to a problematic feature of it as well. 2.0:Historic Perception and Critique of the Titanic For years before this vessels first voyage, articles were written claiming it to be unsinkable, and quite possibly this is the reason it was so. What is astonishing is the fact that the public in general believed everything that they were told so they did not harbor any concerns for seeing such heavy cargo being put aboard the ship or so few lifeboats, because as they had been brainwashed to believe the ship would not sink, no matter what hit her. Scientists today can firmly state that this is not an accurate assumption and any ship has the ability of sinking. What is really ironic is the fact that though people knew there was not enough life sustaining devices amended to the ship, they did not seem to be bothered with it, even though other liners had plenty of lifeboats and guaranteed the safety of their passengers by ensuring this one simple fact. Because of the attitudes of those involved with her construction, and the idea that it was an impenetratable ship, a lot of neglect was found in areas where there should have been improvisions in case of an emergency. But because there were those that were so sure of themselves and doubtful that the ship would ever have any type of adverse problems, many amendments that could have been added were not which could have helped reduce losing so many lives. 3.0 Problematic Features of the Titanic One fault that occurred after the ship impacted onto the iceberg had to do with the steel doors that had been implemented into its structure. These doors were supposedly made with the ability to keep water out and closed within twenty five seconds of the detection of water seeping in. However, due to the faults in the construction of the rivets on the ship, holding many plates in place, the water pressure proved to be too severe and the doors malfunctioned preventing them from being able to do what they had been constructed for. Therefore these doors proved worthless in themselves and were just one of the many miscalculations found within the building of the Titanic. What is known to have been the final causation factor of the total submersion of this ship was fixated around the hull girdle (Dietz 1998). Not only has it been discovered that the hull integration played an impeccable part in the Titanic’s destruction, but the actual design and development of the steel, consisting of the framework for the Titanic, was also faulty. The process that was used to construct the steel in that time period has been stated as being a step in the building of the liner that would not have even been able to pass the National Institute of Standards, in the current decade (Baumgartner 1996). The testing that was carried out on the steel itself showed a deficiency in nitrogen and magnesium but higher levels of phosphorus and oxygen were found. This would be acceptable for metallic products that only require a minimal amount of reinforcement of steel plates or stiffeners, but for an ocean cruiser such as the Titanic, there was definitely a default in the amount of metal reinforcements that it had needed. This deficit alone was enough to cause the hull to break apart once it collided with the iceberg. Perhaps if more appropriate metal would have been used to provide a stronger resistance from any type of impact, it might have provided the ship sufficient time to save more lives and slow the sinking of it. Scientists have claimed that the highest probability for the hull breaking apart the way it did was due to the excessive amount of oxygen found in the quality of the steel. An over abundance of oxygen in steel, diminishes its strength and allows it to develop a brittle consistency as well as it raising the temperature of the transition process (Baumgartner 1996). The excessive weight of the Titanic, coupled with the obvious problems of the steel design played a heavy roll in the ships construction problems. Also, the sulfide particles that were also evident have been concluded to be one of the reasons for the fractures in the various parts of the shell plating on the Titanic. “Sulfide particles under pressure can nucleate micro cracks, which further loading will cause to coalesce into larger cracks” (Baumgartner 1996). Due to all of these adverse qualities, which during that era seemed acceptable or perhaps were unaware mishaps in the facilitating of the ships construction; either way led to the tragedy of the ship going down. There is no question about this as the many tests that have been carried out on recovery pieces from the Titanic have shown that the steel was moderately weak with only 1/3 the impact strength of manufactured model steel today (Baumgartner 1996). Another noticeable flaw that investigators have found with the construction of the Titanic is in the fact that, the mechanics during that time cold punched holes into the frame structure for the rivets, rather than drilling them. This is a technique that is no longer used because it is known to cause metal to not hold together properly and break apart easier when subjected to impacts, such as the Titanic was. Even though these seem viable reasons for the Titanic sinking, researchers have also found that, for technology in that period of time, the mechanics that were put into the construction of the Titanic were the best applicable in the time of 1909-1914, and in fact it would be nearly impossible for any cruise liner to be unsinkable based on the extreme impact the Titanic sustained (Baumgartner 1996). However, there were remedies that could have been instated to prevent it from sinking so fast and to have allowed for more time to enable a higher probability for rescue for survivors. Some would claim that if there had only been more life boats aboard the Titanic, perhaps the total amount of lives saved would have equaled over 705. But due to this fault alone, 1,523 people (including women and children) lost their lives in the Atlantic sea on that tragic night of April 14, 1912 (Adamson 1912). 4.0 Attitudes of Risk for the Titanic Many of the attitudes that have been relayed, through the years, concerning the faultiness of the Titanic development, aren’t well known. What is definite and without question is the implication that some of the designers of the Titanic; as well as some of the deck hands, and mechanical engineers knew that the cruise liner was not full proof and that there were implications that had not been worked out in a feasible manner, yet it set sail anyway. For one thing, it was common knowledge there were not enough safety precautions established (such as life vests and life boats) because everyone believed this cruise liner was unsinkable. Weight limit restrictions were not properly correlated, too much cargo was placed aboard, as well as way to many passengers being on board the vessel as well. Even though there was obvious neglect of many of the regulations, the Titanic still left dock, with no question or immediate concern from anyone evident. This also had its own role in the failing of the Titanic since there was indeed evidence that the ship was not totally up to par for such a long trip. Too many assumptions were made, too few questions were asked, and too many hazards ignored for this ship to have ran smoothly. Because of this a lot of people felt then and feel now that it was a doomed vessel before it ever left the dock. Common sense should have alerted anyone in charge that twenty life boats alone were not going to be sufficient enough in case of an accident yet not a soul seemed to pay this fact any attention. Such a common safe guard was simply overlooked due to the fact of sheer obstinacy and stubbornness in believing nothing could possibly go wrong. Furthermore, since the mass perception associated with the Titanic was associative with everyone seeing the vessel as invincible, accommodations weren’t set up properly in case of adverse occurrences which lead to wide scale pandemonium and panic among the people on board the Titanic, once it started to sink. People were neglected that were not considered to be important enough to require saving. This was a horrible attitude to have but it is what took place. A lot of people were left to die to simply save the rich, when if things would have been done differently everyone would have had the possibility of being saved. Another aspectual part of the downing of this massive vessel was in the fact that there was no concern for speed in the water at all. Though the crew of the Titanic had been informed that there had been various icebergs spotted in the vicinity of where they were traveling, they did not slow down their speed, knowing full well the consequences that could occur due to this type of negligence, or did they? Here again it is obvious that there was such a strong belief that nothing could go wrong with this ship, nothing out there in the ocean could harm it, that it was taken to extremes and safety issues where pretty much thrown to the wind. There is the idea that if perhaps they would not have been moving so fast they could have had a chance to avoid the iceberg altogether because when they became aware of it, it was to late and even though they turned they did not avoid it entirely. The ship could not slow down fast enough and make the turn sharp enough to avoid the inevitable and this can only be blamed on those who were in control of the vessel themselves, not on the construction or even the faults that were noticed. This proves how a persons’ attitude can make them blind to their actions and ultimately lead to disastrous consequences. References Adamson, Andrew (1912). ‘Facts about the Sinking.’ The Discovery Herald. [online] Available from: http://www.exn.ca/titanic/details.cfm [accessed 02-03-06] Barmgartner, Henry (1996). ‘Testing the Titanic’s Steel.’ The American Society of Mechanical Engineering. [online] Available from: http://www.memagazine.org/backissues/aug98/features/titanic/testing.html [accessed 02-04-06] Dietz, Dan (1998). ‘How did the Titanic Sink?’ The American Society of Mechanical Engineering. [online] Available from: http://www.memagazine.org/backissues/aug98/features/titanic/titanic.html [accessed 02-03-06] Encyclopedia Titanica (2003). ‘Why the Titanic did not List.’ [online] Available from: http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/articles/stability.pdf [accessed 02-05-06] Titanic Facts (2005). ‘Was the Titanic Construction Responsible for her Sinking? [online] Available from: http://www.titanic-facts.com/titanic-construction.html [accessed 02-06-06] Read More