The Sinking of RMS Titanic - A Critical and Ethical Study Written by Michael Gunner Candidate Number 53789
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The Sinking of RMS Titanic
A Critical and Ethical Study
Written by Michael Gunner
Candidate Number 53789
Written November 2007
This study is split into three sections. The first looks at the design on the ship itself, the second
looks at the political, social and economic factors affecting White Star line’s decision to build Titanic
and lastly the events of April 14th 1912.
Chapter One
The Design of RMS Titanic
And Contributing Factors of the Design to the Events of April 14th
[2]
RMS Titanic was first conceived in 1907 and met tragedy in 1912. At the beginning of the twentieth
century there was big competition for the transport of mail, passengers and cargo between nations
and across seas via huge ships. In an effort to meet this competition, White Star Lines managing
director J Bruce Ismay engaged Belfast shipbuilders Harland & Wolff to build three large ships
otherwise known as leviathans that would become the largest moving objects ever made by man.
The three Royal Mail ships were named Olympic, Titanic and Gigantic. Gigantics name was later
changed to Britannic. The ships were to be identical, but the Titanic was to be the flagship.
[1]
The keel of Titanic was laid out on March 22nd 1909. Over a period of 26 months, Harland & Wolffs
shipyard labourers worked for nine hours a day, six days a week, to construct the massive hull[3].
The White Star flagships would have two reciprocating steam engines, and a turbine engine to
power the centre propeller. A double plated bottom and a sophisticated system of sixteen
watertight compartments provided the best security possible.
The Titanic's superstructure was completed on the 31st of May 1911. The ship slipped gracefully
into the River Lagan on twenty-two tons of tallow, train oil and soap, and was towed to the fitting
basin. Three thousand carpenters, engineers, electricians, plumbers, painters, master mechanics,
and interior designers were tasked with fitting the whole ship out with the latest in marine
technology and the most luxurious interiors and decorations. At last, on April 12th, 1912, she was
completed. After being certified seaworthy, Harland & Wolff handed her over to White Star Line and
the Royal Mail Triple-Screw Steamer Titanic departed for her place in history. [4]
A diagram showing the design of RMS Titanic [10]
The Titanic was a gigantic ship of it's time. It was 882 feet 8 inches long, and 92 feet 6 inches in
breadth. The ships waterlines was 34 feet and 7 inches above the keel, and at that line, her weight
was 52,310 tons or 117,174,400 pounds[5]. The ships hull contained 4.6 million cubic feet of space
and her engines had an output of a whopping 50,000hp. The Titanic could carry 1,316 passengers,
325 first class, 285 second and 706 in third[5]. At the time of the sinking, the ships crew consisted of
885 men and women. The sheer scale of Titanic was unprecedented, and there was no way to test
the ship for flaws that might not come about until a voyage when she was packed full of
passengers. It could be said therefore that Titanic was almost a social experiment, the success of
the ship carried with it the lives of its passengers and crew and this must have been a huge ethical
issue for White Star Lines. However, they were so confident in their ships, that they may never
have considered the ethical implications of disaster – which would partly be due to the untested,
largely unproven size of the ships.
The Titanic also had two sister ships, the Britannic and the Olympic. During World War 1, The
Olympic served as a troop carrier. After the war, the ship resumed it's Southampton to New York
service but by the 1930s was showing it's age. In 1934, the rivals White Star Line and Cunard
merged to form Cunard White Star in an attempt to survive the world depression. The new
company reviewed its ships for "superannuated and redundant tonnage" and concluded that the
Olympic was to be made redundant, and hence it was taken to Scotland and scrapped.
The Britannic was launched in 1914 but was not finished in time for passenger service. TheGovernment took over the ship and ran it as a hospital boat, and later sank off the Greek island of
Kea in the Aegean Sea on November 21 1915 with the loss of 30 lives. [6]
A photograph of Titanic survivors in a Lifeboat [11]
The Titanic did not come with enough lifeboats for a variety of reasons. A draft of rules by the
British Board of Trade made in 1894 only required Titanic to carry the maximum of 16 lifeboats.
However, by 1912 this draft was drastically out of date, as the Titanic was four times larger than the
largest legal classification considered under the 18 year old rules. Therefore, Titanic was not
legally required to carry more than 16 lifeboats – completely regardless of the number of people on
board. Upon her maiden voyage, Titanic actually carried more than required, the sixteen rigid
lifeboats were supplemented by four collapsible lifeboats.
The complete lifeboat capacity was 1,172 passengers and crew. The total number of passengers
and crew was 2,201[5]. This lack of lifeboats was almost certainly an act of ethical egoism on the
part of White Star Lines, they chose to save their money and put across the passengers through
lack of life boats that the Titanic was extremely safe, but they didn't consider what would happen if
she sank.
The shipping industry was apparently fully aware that the lifeboat regulations were due to be
changed and the Titanic's deck spaces and davits were designed for an anticipated “boats for all”
policy due to be drafted. However, White Star were not going to install the additional boats until
required. This seems on the surface completely unethical, at least by modern standards. However,
in 1912 attitudes towards safety were very different. Lifeboats were expensive to purchase and
maintain, and took up valuable deck space. They also had an effect on ship stability which in turn
could potentially be a safety issue to the contrary. It was also perceived that a large amount of
lifeboats and safety devises and gear gave the public the suggestion that the vessel was unsafe.
Chapter TwoThe Political, Social and Economic Factors
Affecting White Star Line’s Decision to Build Titanic
There were many factors that made up the decision of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company
(the proper name for the White Star line, which was in fact a nickname derived from the logo) to
build the Titanic. There were political, social and economic factors that affected the end result. One
reason in particular that is brought up on the RMS Titanic Inc website is:
“To fly the flag of Great Britain and uphold national honor. Even though Titanic was ultimately
owned by American business interests, the Ship was built in a British yard, operated by British
subjects, manned by British crews, and perceived by the public as a British ship.”
[6]
This quote hints at the possibility that there may have been political pressure from the British
Government on White Star Line to build the ships in an effort to show the world that Britain was
powerful, and commands the seas. There is no evidence to suggest that in this effort, the ship was
built too quickly or that corners were cut in its design. The previous chapter would only contradict
this anyway, as it is evident that White Star Line and Harland & Wolff took the design of the three
ships very seriously.
An underwater image showing Second Class Windows and Deck [9]
However, the previous chapter does bring to the forefront a design issue that was the result of
economic factors and resulted in the greater loss of life. The lack of enough lifeboats to carry the
full amount of passengers and crew was catastrophic and sealed the fate of all those who died.
White Star Line chose, deliberately, not to put enough lifeboats on board partly due to the huge
costs that would have incurred as a result. The lifeboat issue is also a social factor. Back in those
times, safety equipment was viewed very differently and the inclusion of enough lifeboats to carry
everyone on board may have been perceived by the public as an indication that the ship wasn't
really safe enough to carry them[7]. Therefore, an effort to refute any possible perception that RMS
Titanic was unsafe further added to White Star Lines decision to only include 20 lifeboats.[9]
White Star Line also built its new liners in aide of competing with Cunard. Cunard already had the
fast and excellent cruise liners Lusitania and Mauritania. Both of these ships were incredibly quick,
the Lusitania was able to reach a top speed of 26.7 Knots whilst her cruising speed was 25
Knots[8].
White Star Line chose to not compete with Cunards speed, but try to compete by building the
Titanic, Britannic and Olympic as far more luxurious liners than either of Cunards offerings. White
Star Lines ships would also be significantly bigger than Cunards, the Lusitania was 787 feet long
with a beam of 87 feet 6 inches compared to Titanic's length of 882 feet 9 inches and beam 92 feet
6 inches.[8]
RMS Lusitania [12]
It was imperative that White Star Line made sure its flagship Titanic was as luxurious and big as
possible as the company desperately needed to compete with Cunard, who, by the time White Star
Line had announced its new trio, also had a third ship on order which would follow the same idea
of being slower but bigger and more luxurious. Possibly, therefore, White Star needed to also build
the Titanic, Olympic and Britannic quickly in an effort to outdo Cunard. Indeed, the Aquitania,
Cunards third ship, was launched in 1913 and had the longest and most successful career of all sixcruise liners. White Star attempted to regain its losses after the Titanic sank, by refitting and
structurally altering the Olympic, which then served until an admirable 1934 (by which time the two
companies had merged), however the fact that Cunards Aquitania easily outlasted the Olympic
would possibly further the view that Cunards ships were better built. The pressure on White Star
Line to compete with Cunard, could well have been a contributing factor to what happened and the
two companies rivalry certainly made it of the utmost importance that Titanic, Olympic and
Britannic were the biggest and best ocean liners in the world.
Titanic Deck [13]
Chapter Three
The Events of April 14th 1912
RMS Titanic departed Southampton, England, at noon April 10th 1912 and was due to arrive in New
York City on April 17th. Along the way stops were made at Cherbourg, France to pick up continental
passengers and Queenstown (now Cobh) Ireland to pick up mail and additional passengers,
mainly third class emigrants to the USA. The simple story is that on April 14th at 11.40pm Titanic
struck an Iceberg. The ship sank at 2.20am on April 15th, splitting in two on the way down and
killing 1,517 or 1,490, depending whether you look at the US or British report findings after the
accident.
However, the story of the night is far from simple as there are many events during the night that
may or may not have contributed either wholly to the sinking or at least increased the likelihood
that the ship would sink.
The iceberg itself was initially spotted by lookouts Fredrick Fleet and Reginald Lee. Due to a mix
up, and possibly a catastrophic one, neither Fleet nor Lee in the Crows nest had binoculars, as
they had been left behind at Southampton. Fleet spotted the iceberg at 11.35pm, and immediately
informed the ships 6th officer.
After receiving this information, the crew tried to attempt to avoid the iceberg by steering away from
it, however there are two issues that could have turned this from a good decision to a deadly one.
Firstly, the design of the ship meant it had a very small rudder, so turning was difficult. This in turn
meant that completely avoiding the iceberg was impossible, and by striking the iceberg on the side
of the ship, the crew put at risk a far greater amount of the flood compartments that were designed
to stop the ship sinking. If the ship had hit the iceberg head on, it is entirely possible only the two
front watertight compartments would have flooded – and the ship would have not sunk. However,
by striking on the side, too many compartments were exposed and flooded, and hence Titanic
sunk.At the time she struck the iceberg, Titanic was going at 22 Knots. Although 2 Knots slower than her
full speed, the British enquiry into the accident concluded that the “excessive” speed of the ship
contributed to her sinking. However, it was often common practise to speed through ice fields in
those times as it was assumed any iceberg large enough to damage the ship would be seen in
sufficient time to be avoided. Unfortunately in the Titanic's case, the iceberg was not avoided.
At 12.05am, following Captain Smiths orders, lifeboats began to be lowered into the water. The
Ships squash courts, 30 feet above the keel, were now completely awash and the ships band
began to play to keep the spirits as first class passengers began to emerge, initially unaware of the
seriousness of the situation. When the boats began to fill, men were refused a place and had to
make way for women and children, a definite use of Utilitarianism because it is arguable that
saving women and children resulted in the greatest amount of good on the whole as children are
the future and women are essential in mothering them and bringing them up. It was a matter of
collective welfare of the entire group of people rather than individual needs. However, the fact that
most third class passengers did not get a chance to be saved and were left to last thought is
ethically wrong – they may have been poorer but as human beings they had equal rights.
It wasn't until nearly all the lifeboats were filled, yet many passengers were still aboard the boat,
that the ships serious listing proved to many that the ship was indeed sinking. As the ship sank
underwater, those who were thrown into the water perished from the cold and RMS Titanic had
sunk.
The ship Carpathia was four hours out. The ship made its way to the scene of the sinking, and
rescued those who had made it out alive. However, there was another ship, the Californian, which
was only a few miles from Titanic. At the time Titanic sank, Californians crews were asleep, and did
not respond.
Bibliography
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2. http://www.titanic-facts.com/titanic-construction.html 20th November Anon
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9. http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov 24h November Anon
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12. www.firstworldwar.com 25th November Anon
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