Titanic

12,460 feet down in the dark, cold, Atlantic Ocean lies the Titanic. At the time, the Titanic was the biggest moving object in the world. Because of wrong decisions and an iceberg, the Titanic, thought to be unsinkable, went to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, but this tragedy caused changes in ship safety that are still in place today.

The Titanic was a ship that was so large and so powerful, that there was no way it could ever sink, or so they thought. At approximately 11:40 P.M. on April 14, 1912, an iceberg was reported “dead ahead” of the Titanic. As, the leader of the huge ship, Captain Edward Smith ordered a “panic turn” in attempt to miss the iceberg. The attempt was almost successful, instead of hitting the iceberg head on, the iceberg scraped the side of the Titanic. (D’Alto) The collision with the iceberg was such an impact that the rivets that held the ship together were starting to pop loose. Once the rivets started popping loose, it was easy for water to enter the ship and filling the compartments of the Titanic, thus flooding the hull. The flooding of the ship’s hull ultimately led to the sinking. (Streissguth)

Whether it be before, or during the collision, there were decisions made or not made that affected how many lives were lost. Among those decisions, was the fact that Captain Smith was simply traveling the ship too fast, even after being notified that there was a significant amount of icebergs in the area. At the time of impact, the Titanic was traveling at approximately 21 knots, almost top speed. (Streissguth) Another major decision that contributed to the amount of lives lost was the fact that there were not enough lifeboats for all the customers to be safely placed in. At that present time, ships were...

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...ibly being sunk. However, on a cold April night, in 1912, the Titanic collided with an iceberg. The Captain of the Titanic was now forced with some very tough decisions. Bad decisions along with the fact that the Titanic failed to stay intact, resulted in 1,517 lives lost and a ship that is in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Thanks to the discovery of the Titanic, and also modern analysis, the way ships are made, operated and cared for have altered in many ways. Although an awful tragedy, the Titanic has had some positive influence on our society today.

Works Cited

Streissguth, Thomas. The sinking of the Titanic. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 2002. Print.

D’Alto, Nick. “What Sank The Titanic?: A Forensic Analysis.” Carus Publishing Company. April 2012. Web. Jan 2014

“Who Discovered the Titanic, and When?” Titanicuniverse.com. n.p. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.