By Jeffery & Caroline

10x

So why was the Titanic so remarkable?

Well for a start it was the biggest and most luxurious of its time, it was thought to be unsinkable and was even called the ship of dreams.

Even though it sank it is still remembered and not just as a tragedy but also as a great improvement in technology and ship building. The tickets for the voyage were like gold dust everyone who was anyone wanted them!

What caused the Titanic to sink

Most people think the Titanic sunk just because it hit an iceberg which is true but there were quite a few factors which lead up to this, for example:

• The fact that captain Edward J Smith ignored 7 ice warnings & went to bed, he also refused to slow down.

• Some believe it was partly the ship builders fault because good quality iron was not used in building the rivets which meant they were more likely to have come apart.

• Others believe it was Bruce Ismay’s fault. He was the Managing Director of the White Star Line. White Star Line wanted to show that they could make a six-day crossing. To do this the Titanic couldn’t afford to slow down. So some think he may have put pressure on the captain.

• Some say it was Thomas Andrews' fault the White Star Line did not want the water tight compartments to go all the way up because this would have reduced living space in the first class. If Mr Andrews, the ship's architect, had made sure they were the right height maybe the Titanic would not have sunk.

 

And finally, was it Captain Lord's Fault? The Californian, captained by Stanley Lord had stopped for the night about 19 miles north of Titanic. At around 11.15pm the Californian's radio operator turned off the radio and went to bed. Sometime after midnight the crew on watch reported seeing rockets being fired into the sky from a big liner. Captain Lord was informed but it was concluded that the ship was having a party. No action was taken by the Californian. If the Californian had turned on the radio they would have heard the distress messages from Titanic and would have been able to reach the ship in time to save all passengers.

Titanic19 miles

Why were so many lives lost?

• One of the factors that makes the sinking of the Titanic so memorable is the fact that lives were needlessly lost. There were not enough lifeboats on board to hold all the passengers and crew and when the lifeboats were launched they were not filled to capacity. The Titanic also carried 3500 lifebelts and 48 life rings though were useless in the icy water. The majority of passengers that went into the sea did not drown, but froze to death.

•  Many people were confused about where they should go after the order to launch the lifeboats had been given. There should have been a lifeboat drill on 14th April, but the Captain cancelled it to allow people to go to church.

•  Many people believed that the Titanic was not actually sinking but that the call to the lifeboats was actually a drill and stayed inside rather than venture out onto the freezing deck.

Who we think was most to blame for the tragedy!

We believe it was Captain Smith’s fault simply because he made so many mistakes:

1. Ignored ice warnings

2. Didn’t make sure there were enough binoculars for look outs

3. Refused to slow down

4. He cancelled the life boat drill