The Sinking of the Titanic

Authors

  • Heather Kelly Memorial University of Newfoundland

Keywords:

ENGI 8751, CASE STUDY, CIVIL, TITANIC, SINKING, SAFETY, LIFEBOATS, SOLAS

Abstract

The Titanic was a British luxury passenger ship completed in 1912 that was one of the largest of its kind at the time. When built it was widely deemed to be virtually unsinkable, but the ship met with disaster after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage. This resulted in the sinking of the vessel and the deaths of over 1,500 of the 2,224 passengers and crew. Although impact with the iceberg was the catalyst, investigation has suggested that material failures and design flaws, as well as outdated safety requirements, all played a role in the large scale destruction and loss of life. In particular, this paper will focus upon the impact of the brittle steel used for the hull, the failure of key rivets, the flawed design of the watertight compartments, the inadequate number of life boats onboard, and the excessive speed of the vessel under the conditions. It will also review changes to marine design and safety requirements that resulted from the tragedy, including the formation of the International Ice Patrol (IIP).

References

L. Marriott, “Titanic”, 1997.

“Titanic: The Unsinkable Ship”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1998.

V. Bassett, “Causes and Effects of the Rapid Sinking of the Titanic”, 1998. http://www.writing.eng.vt.edu/uer/bassett.html. Retrieved March 5 2013.

T. Foecke, “Metallurgy of the RMS Titanic”, NIST-IR 6118, 1998

W. Broad, “In Weak Rivets, A Possible Key to Titanic’s Doom”, The New York Times, April 15 2008.

A. Clarkson, “Titanic’s Watertight Compartments”, 2013. http://www.titanic-titanic.com/titanic_watertight_compartments.shtml. Retrieved March 6 2013.

R. Gannon, “What Really Sank The Titanic”, Popular Science, February 1995.

BBC, “More Information About: Titanic”, 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/titanic. Retrieved March 9, 2013.

“Report on the Loss of the S.S. Titanic”, 1990 (original report date 1912).

C. Berg, “The Real Reason for the Tragedy of the Titanic”, The Wall Street Journal, April 12 2012.

A. Nicholas, “To the Lifeboats – Evacuating Titanic”, American Daily Herald, April 15 2012.

S. Spignesi, “The Complete Titanic”, 1998.

“The Titanic Disaster, Due to Excessive Speed”, The Connaught Telegraph, August 3 1912.

S. Wells, “Titanic: Legacy of the World’s Greatest Ocean Liner”, 1997.

“Surviving Disaster – The Titanic and SOLAS”, International Maritime Organization, 2013. http://www.imo.org/OurWork/Safety/regulations/documents/titanic.pdf. Retrieved April 9, 2013.

M. Levinson, “A General Semantics Analysis of the RMS Titanic Disaster”, 2012.

“International Ice Patrol”, 2012. http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=IIPHome. Retrieved March 10, 2013

Downloads

Published

2013-04-09

Issue

Section

Coastal and Ocean Engineering (ENGI.8751)