if you were (Titanic )Captain Edward smith what would you have doneto prevent this tragedy of the Titanic ?

Question

The history of the Titanic began at a dinner party in a London mansion in 1907. Then, J. Bruce Ismay, managing officer of the White Star Line, a prominent ship operating company, and Lord James Pirrie devised plans to build three magnificent ships that would set a new standard for luxury and elegance. The first two would be named Olympic and Titanic while the third, to be built later, would be the Britannic.

The White Star Line started production on the Olympic in December of 1908, while work on the Titanic started the following March. The Titanic included amenities that many of its passengers had never enjoyed in their own homes, such as electric light and heat in every room. The size and splendor of the Titanic quickly established the ship as a legend, even before the first voyage.

The Titanic was officially launched from Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912. While the ship carried more than 2,200 passengers and crew, Titanic was equipped with only 16 lifeboats, with a capacity of 1,708. The White Star Line had decided to use only half the number of boats the Titanic could carry in order to alleviate what was referred to as a "cluttered" feeling on the main deck of the ship.

The Titanic sailed first to Cherbourg, France, to pick up additional passengers, and then to Queenstown, Ireland, before setting out to sea for the transatlantic voyage to New York. The first three days of the voyage passed without incident, while the fourth did not. Although the Titanic had received five ice warnings throughout the day on April 14, Captain Edward Smith decided not to slow down and continued on at 21 knots (25 mph). At 11:40 PM, lookout Fred Fleet spotted an iceberg and notified the bridge. First Officer William Murdoch then ordered the ship turned hard to port and the engine room was signaled to reverse direction. The ship did move slightly, but could not avoid the iceberg, which tore a 300 feet-long hole in the ship, causing compartments to begin filling with water.

Twenty-five minutes after the crash, the ships officers ordered the lifeboats uncovered and began preparing the passengers and crew for evacuation. The first lifeboat was launched twenty minutes after the orders were given. Despite having a carrying capacity of 68, the first lifeboat launched with only 28 passengers. When the last boat launched, there were more than 1,500 passengers left on board. The lifeboats contained mostly women and children. However, J. Bruce Ismay managed to escape by sneaking onto one of the last lifeboats.

At approximately 2:10 AM, the stern, or rear of the ship, rose out of the water and shortly thereafter the weight of the raised stern caused the ship to split in two. The bow, or front of the ship, slowly sunk as the stern settled back into the water. Then, the stern filled with water until it disappeared into the ocean. More than 1,500 souls were lost in the "greatest maritime disaster in history".

Many attempts have been made to find the wreck of the Titanic, yet it wasn't until 1985, when an expedition combining teams from IFREMER and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute discovered the famous ship. The team, led by Robert Ballard and Jean-Luis Martin, took the first photographs of the Titanic in 73 years.

More than 90 years later, people continue to be fascinated with the Titanic. The disaster and its survivors have been the subject of four movies, a Broadway musical and countless books. The movie Titanic, written and directed by James Cameron, is the most expensive film ever made and in 1998 it won 11 Academy Awards. The Titanic recently made headlines again in 2001, when a New York couple announced they would be wed in a deep-sea submersible at the Titanic gravesite.

Answer 1

SIMPLE - IF THEY WOULD HAVE HIT THE ICEBERG HEAD ON THE BOAT WOULD NOT HAVE SUNK. THEY TRIED TO TURN OUT OF THE WAY AND PUT THE ENGINES IN REVERSE, DUMB DECISION. LEAVING THE ENGINE IN FORWARD WOULD HAVE MADE IT TURN FASTER. THE ICEBERG WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SEEN UNTIL THEY WERE REAL CLOSE DUE TO IT BEING A NEW MOON. SO THEY SHOULD HAVE HIT IT HEAD ON AND THEY COULD HAVE CONTAINED THE DAMAGE INSTEAD OF RIPPING THE WHOLE SIDE OPEN.

Answer 2

Captain Smith did alter course to pass well South of the known field of Icebergs. however he was unaware that, that year had an unusual amount of Ice shedding and drifting beyond the normal danger area. Had he been making his normal transients and not involved in the Commissioning of the Titanic he may have been aware of it.

Captain Smith was also not proceeding at best speed as often reported. In fact he was not using all boilers. As this was a 'Shake Down' Cruise he was alternating use of the boilers so the men could check the ones taken 'Off Line'.

Discovery did a very good documentary of little know contributing events, like:
The lookouts binoculars were locked away and the Officer who put them there left the ship with the key before sailing.
The rude response of the Titanic's Radio Operator, caused the California's Radio Operator to give up on relaying the Ice Danger message to the Titanic.
There was also one message regarding the southerly extent of the Icebergs that was not delivered to the Bridge as it had been improperly addressed.

From another source I've heard that given the events that brought the Titanic to the moment the Iceberg was sighted; the only action that would have made a difference was, No Action. Had the Titanic not attempted to turn and hit the Iceberg head-on it would have problem only flooded the first or possibly second compartment in which case it could have stayed afloat.

The extent of damage that occurred was due to improper metallurgy in some of the rivets that were used. It was failure of these rivets that caused the breach of the hull. The metal did not tear for 300 feet as reported.

Answer 3

It is reported that during the hearing conducted after the sinking, one of the Titanic's surviving officers, Edward Lighttoller, supposedly said the last thing he himself heard Captain Smith say was, "Be British, boys! Be British!"

Answer 4

they should have filled all the boats, but even with all the boats filled, there weren't still enough to save everyone. They should have made sure there were enough boats for everyone.... there was really nothing he could do. There as no law back then to keep the radios open to incomingn out going ships by morse code either. ther was really nothing at the time that could have been done.

Answer 5

I would've made sure ALL of the boats were filled. That was the problem. More lives could've been saved if they'd ditched the "women and children only" bit and just filled up the boats that were there. And allowed the third class passengers to come up to the deck as well.

Answer 6

First things first - never test God! Never say that not even God could sink the ship. As the captain, I would have asked for God's protection, and wisdom to guide the ship and its patrons who are trusting in me to bring them to their destination in safety. I would have listened to every weather pattern information, as it was on its maiden voyage, no bit of information would have been ignored. Also, as captain, I would have made sure we had more than enough emergency boats available and thought of the safety of the crew and passengers as my utmost priority! Hindsight is always 20/20 isn't it?

Answer 7

1

Answer 8

I wouldn't have demanded to make the ship run so fast. It was going at perfect speed, but they were stupid. And I would've put more lifeboats. And .... stuff...

Answer 9

Here's an interesting "conspiracy theory" suggestion on point :))

Answer 10

would have stayed awake