Titanic Tragedy free essay sample

Who was responsible for the loss of life with the sinking of the Titanic? By Rebecca Gutteridge Year 9 RMS Titanic, so called the ‘unsinkable ship’, became the largest maritime disaster in history when she hit an iceberg on her maiden voyage through the North Atlantic. Much indecision surrounds the blame circle of the sinking of the largest vessel ever built and there are many theories which divide experts even today. However many believe it is an accident which could have been averted. I believe that a combination of factors are at fault. Harland and Wolff Harland and Wolff had difficulty finding enough  workers, and in an effort to save money employed poor riveters from small forges; the work needed was very skilled and each rivet was hand crafted. In the British inquiry Harland and Wolff were accused of importing less rivets than were needed and sub- ­? standard iron to save money. We will write a custom essay sample on Titanic Tragedy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The rivets used for the majority of the ship were only crafted from iron which is weaker than steel – considered state of the art at the time. Only the central hull used steel rivets as wrought iron was easier to work by hand. The iceberg ripped along the hull which pinpoints that even the strongest rivets were not a match against  the force of the collision. Recent scientific analysis of rivets found in the wreckage showed that the iron rivets contained large amounts of molten slag, which would have made them weak and brittle causing the heads to crack on impact; therefore weakening Titanic’s resistance against the iceberg. However the velocity of the impact was predicted at 1 million tonnes per second which although cannot be proven I think would have fatally damaged even a modern ship as the recent sinking of the Costa Concordia shows. So I think this is not the cause of the ships sinking. Environmental factors The shipping lane Titanic  took on the night crossed the Labrador Current: a very cold band of water which carried icebergs from Greenland along the North Atlantic. Between November 1911 and Titanic’s sinking 20 boats had sunk across the shores of Newfoundland. In 1912 it had been exceptionally mild and roughly 1000 entered the shipping lanes when the average was 500. This should have been taken into account and the captain should have prepared for this. Also in testimonies given during the inquiry passengers and crew commented on how â€Å"unnaturally cold† the night had been and that the sea had been so calm it was â€Å"hard to distinguish