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I would say travelling too fast for conditions. A moonless night in an area known to have icebergs.
Granted there may have been design defects but they wouldn't have caused the ship to sink had they not hit an iceberg. As for the huge loss of life .... well, that's a different topic.
A series of unfortunate events and decisions made along the way. Every disaster has a trail leading to the final item. Blame is rarely a single entity though at sea it is on the captains shoulders.
I have heard a few different people were responsible; the captain for increasing speed trying to get to NY faster, the first mate for not giving the keys for the binoculars, the company itself with the belief of it being unsinkable, hence not near enough lifeboats etc.
My personal opinion is that it was Bruce Ismay's fault. He was the one who ordered Captain Smith to increase speed despite ice warnings and no wind, thus making the icebergs harder to see.
It could be argued that had Captain Smith not bowed down to him, it wouldn't have happened, however, let's keep in mind this was his last journey as a captain, and Bruce Ismay was the Managing Director and son of the founder of the White Star Line. It would have been difficult to say no to someone as powerful as he.
My personal opinion is that it was Bruce Ismay's fault. He was the one who ordered Captain Smith to increase speed despite ice warnings and no wind, thus making the icebergs harder to see.
It could be argued that had Captain Smith not bowed down to him, it wouldn't have happened, however, let's keep in mind this was his last journey as a captain, and Bruce Ismay was the Managing Director and son of the founder of the White Star Line. It would have been difficult to say no to someone as powerful as he.
Did he "order" the Captain or simply "cajole" him? Big difference.
As it was Captain Smith's last journey, all the more reason for him to tell the guy to stuff it. He had a few more days to deal with him before retirement.
As someone who has the responsibility for so many lives, it behooves a person in the position of Captain to overrule the idiots trying to tell them how to do their job.
As someone who has the responsibility for so many lives, it behooves a person in the position of Captain to overrule the idiots trying to tell them how to do their job.
True. The Captain might have been caught up in the hype.
My personal opinion is that it was Bruce Ismay's fault. He was the one who ordered Captain Smith to increase speed despite ice warnings and no wind, thus making the icebergs harder to see.
It could be argued that had Captain Smith not bowed down to him, it wouldn't have happened, however, let's keep in mind this was his last journey as a captain, and Bruce Ismay was the Managing Director and son of the founder of the White Star Line. It would have been difficult to say no to someone as powerful as he.
It is not at all an accepted fact that Mr. Bruce Ismay "ordered" that the Titanic increase her speed.
I have heard a few different people were responsible; the captain for increasing speed trying to get to NY faster, the first mate for not giving the keys for the binoculars, the company itself with the belief of it being unsinkable, hence not near enough lifeboats etc.
When horrible and tragic events happen it is easy in hindsight to assign blame using "Iffa, Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda", but what is often found is that not one thing lead to disaster, but a series of events or issues that simply set the stage for what would be played out.
Take any major disaster of the last century; from the Lusitania to Titanic to even 9/11/01, and you find a series of *mistakes* taken on their own were small, but when the pieces were fitted together spelled disaster.
I place most of the responsibility on whoever chose to sail in "iceberg water" instead of taking a longer route into the warmer water to the south. Too bad for a thousand folks that "getting there first" was more important than "getting there at all".
As all racers say, "You first have to finish before you can finish first".
There a study that the cold water weaken the steel making it brittle so when the rivets rib the ice berg the head snap off. I blame the ship builder technology at that time period
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