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Introduction
The R.M.S. Titanic sideswiped an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912. Estimated to be able to stay afloat for 2 days under the worst scenario, the ship sank in less than 3 hours [Gannon, 1995].
Main Cause for Sinking
The iceberg created a 300-foot gash in the Titanic's hull above and below the waterline.
Structural Errors That Accelerated the Sinking
Steel brittleness
Tests on Titanic's steel showed that the steel had high sulfur content, which increases the brittleness of steel by disrupting the grain structure [Hill, 1996]. This increase in brittleness contributed to the severity of the hull's damage. Titanic's steel showed high levels of oxygen, which leads to an increased ductile-to-brittle transition temperature. For Titanic's steel, that temperature was determined to be 25 to 35 degrees C [Hill, 1996].
The water temperature that night was below freezing. The wrought iron rivets that fastened the hull plates to the Titanic's main structure also failed because of brittle fracture during the collision with the iceberg. Low water temperatures contributed to this failure [Garzke and others, 1994].
Ship’s Midsection
Contributing to this failure in the midsection was the design of Titanic's huge spiral staircase. The staircase not only weakened the midsection's structure, but served as a means for water to pass up through the ship.
As it filled with water, the bow submerged, raising the stern out of water. When the stern reached an angle of about 45 degrees, the stresses in the ship's midsection (15 tons per square inch) caused the steel to fail and the bow to rip loose and sink [Gannon, 1995].
Conpartments
The lower section of the Titanic was divided into sixteen major watertight compartments.
Actually, the compartments were watertight only in the horizontal direction--their tops were open.
After the collision, six watertight compartments began filling with water. Soon, water spilled over the tops. Scientists have concluded that the watertight compartments contributed to the disaster by keeping the flood waters in the bow of the ship [Gannon, 1995].
If there had been no compartments, the incoming water would have spread out, and the Titanic would have likely remained afloat for another six hours.
Human Errors that Accelerated the Sinking
Captain’s mistake
Captain E. J. Smith had not slowed the ship's speed that night, although the ship's wireless operators had received several ice warnings. The ship was moving at more than 22 knots.
Crew’s mistake
The sea was a "flat calm," a rarity for these waters.
Titanic and the SS Maheno. The well know ship “The Titanic” now lies 3,800 m under water off the shore of Newfoundland where it sunk back in 1912 after colliding with an iceberg, the ship is now rapidly rusting and disintegrating. The SS Maheno is a major tourist attraction that lies on the east coast of Fraser Island, Australia. It was a trading ship between New Zealand and Australia from years 1905 to 1935, and also participated in World War I for the New Zealand Naval Force. The wreck was left there to disintegrate after the owners refused to pay to move it. Corrosion is ‘a chemical process by which a metal is oxidised. ’ (corrosionist.com). Iron is the only metal that rusts and occurs out of the chemical processes, oxidation and reduction. In most cases, corrosion of iron occurs when the metal is losing its electrons, this is oxidising. Another cause behind the occurrence of rusting is ‘rust eating bacteria’ at deep enough levels of the ocean. And finally, abiotic factors such as salinity, pH and oxygen levels have an impact on the rusting or shipwrecks. The last cause to be discussed is environmental effects such as salinity, pH and oxygen levels.
The Great Lakes have been home to more than 6,000 shipwrecks on its five major Lakes (Childs, 2011). One of the most popular wrecks was that of the bulk freighter the Edmund Fitzgerald on the Canadian side of Lake Superior. It had transported goods across the Great Lakes for about 17 years before it was overcome by the power of the Lakes. In terms of lifetimes of shipping vessels, The Fitzgerald was still relatively young. “The Fitzgerald, often called the Titanic of the Great Lakes was not only the most famous freshwater shipwreck; it was also the biggest mystery in the Great Lakes history” (Schumacher, 2006). Weather played a key role in the defeat of this ship and the death of all 29 hands on November 10, 1975. “Winter is a time of intense
The Lusitania was destroyed in the same was as the Titanic as they could not pull the boats into the sea and water kept rushing into the hull through the front where the torpedo hit as the boat couldn’t be stopped.
Soon after the Titanic took off, it sunk. It took 3 hours to sink and there were only enough lifeboats for less than half of the people on the ship. The Titanic sunk in the Atlantic Ocean on April 14th and 15th, 1912.
Unfortunately there was very many important people on the ship. Many of the people on the titanic died in the freezing cold water.There was thre...
The Titanic worked like you would expect. Just like any other boat or ship, it floated because it weighed less than the amount of liquid it displaced. However, many factors contributed to the sinking of the Titanic. Rivets are very
Imagine you’re peacefully sailing along on a giant cruise liner in the middle of the ocean. But suddenly, you feel a shaking and the boat starts to tip. But how could this be? This boat is supposed to be unsinkable. People run to the far side of the boat, trying to avoid impending doom. Panic sets in aboard the Titanic. There are many theories of the cause of this loss of life, but I believe that the primary cause of catastrophic loss of life on the Titanic was the poor communication between crew members because a critical iceberg warning was never delivered to the captain, the Titanic was traveling at full speed in an ice field, and the captain of the ship was very relaxed about the iceberg, making it not seem like a threat.
The titanic was a gigantic ship. It was the biggest, newest, and advanced ship during its time. The titanic was built in Belfast with the newest and best technology. Then after its completion it would travel to New York. During the tragedy of the Titanic the engineers had a key role on saving people. Although the tragedy of the titanic was sad it taught us many lessons on preventing such a thing again. Although the titanic has sunk to the bottom of the ocean it will never be forgotten.
...tself 500ft below the water, none of them have been proven indefinitely. Whether the ship crossed the Superior Shoal, with water as shallow as 22 feet; or the ship suffered a stress fracture and broke apart on the surface, there will always be one more possibility regarding the Fitzgerald’s demise. For instance, the sip could have also succumbed to the forces of the Three Sisters, a Lake Superior phenomenon, consisting of massive waves. Ultimately, each of these current theories are merely conjectures, and since each holds the possibility of being true, the cause of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald’s sinking is an ongoing mystery, one that has and will continue to bring about many theories. Finally, as a result of the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, the 30 million people who lived next to the great lakes would forever look across their waters with renewed respect.
The ship, R.M.S Titanic, has been popular several different times in a little over 100 years. The first time in April 1912 when it first sailed for North America. This great ship was said to be unsinkable. Many errors led to the major tragedy of the Titanic, including the life boats were not all there or filled as much as they should have been, the ship tried to go full speed to break the iceberg, and the Californian ship did not respond the Carpathia had saved the rest.
Damage beyond the hull was also witnessed that allowed for the influx of water. Whenever the forepeak tank was damaged, “six watertight compartments flooded with water, causing the ship to sink faster than it should have,” (Bassett). The Titanic, being the largest ship at this time, should have stayed afloat for two to three days after striking the iceberg. Within three hours, the Titanic sank, which never should have
The Unsinkable Ship That Sank On the day of April 12,1912, Titanic was thought to be the dream ship that could never be destroyed. Like today’s society, the passengers were enjoying the time of their lives and thought nothing could ever happen to them because everybody thinks it’s the “unsinkable” ship, or at least that’s what everyone knew it to be. White Star Line’s Titanic was called the “Ship of dreams”. As they loaded up, many passengers of different classes and sectors of society thought that, that was the ticket to their dreams. But as time pass by from enjoying too much, little do they know that the ship is sinking.
Lack of sufficient lifeboats could not prevent other difficulties that took place on the ship. Two problems that happened was a smoldering fire broke out in one of the ships coal bunkers and the breakdown of the Titanic's wireless system (Discovery.com). Edward J. Smith was the captain of the Titanic. Some might question his ability to command a voyage after fining out how Smith disregarded many ice warnings.
As the water flooded into the first five compartments, the water would pass the water line. Once it passed the water line, the water would start to flood into the rest of the compartments like falling dominos. Since one-half of the ship kept flooding in with water, the water would slowly start to break the ship in half. Once one-half of the ship went under the other half that was floating above the water would snap and break off. Thus separating the Titanic into two pieces laying at the sea floor. The Titanic would ultimately sink on April 15, 1912. With the ship sinking, there are three factors on why the Titanic sank. The three factors are human error, corporate negligence, and design error. The three factors are equally responsible on why the ship sank.
The Titanic, one of the biggest well known tragedies in history. The horrific accident was a catastrophe that impacted the world. Devastating news that this colossal ship everyone thought was indestructible had sunk from a collision with an iceberg. But the question is, could the terrible tragedy have been stopped? Why did the Titanic give so easily following the hit?