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White Star Line is Founded
The company that made the Titanic, the White Star Line was founded in 1845 in Liverpool, England by John Pilkington and Henry Wilson -
Futility is Published
In 1898, American author Morgan Robertson’s novel ‘Futility’ was published. In the novel a British liner named Titan, whilst on her maiden voyage in April, strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic. This story of the novel has an interestingly similar plot to the true story of the Titanic -
Construction Flaw: Rivets
Harland Wolf were the builders of the Titanic. When deciding on what rivets to use in the ship, they used a majority of low-quality iron instead of steel while building them. This caused for rivets in the ship to be weak, especially in cold temperatures. These rivets did not hold after the collision and allowed for icey water to rush inside the ship dooming many passengers. -
Construction Flaw: Watertight Decks
The Titanic had 16 watertight decks. However, the bulkheads did not extend high enough. This made these watertight compartments less effective. If the ship's watertight decks had been engineer correctly, the ship would have either been able to withstand the blow from the iceburg, only taking minimal damage, or would have allowed to ship to stay afloat for longer. This design flaw was intention and made of out arrogance because the builders thought that the ship was unsinkable -
Construction Flaw: Rivets Continued
This is example of poor business ethics. With stronger rivets, many more passengers would have been able to escape the lower decks. There was trouble finding steel for rivets during construction. In order to not delay the ship maiden voyage and to save money, the builders used low-quality iron. This decision shows the theme of profit over safety -
Titanic Plan is Made
Design plans for the Titanic and her sister ship Olympic are agreed upon. Contruction began two days later -
Construction Flaw: Lifeboats
J. Bruce Ismay was the heir to the White Star Line. The Titanic was designed to have 64 lifeboats. Ismay decided to keep the minimum required of 20 lifeboats on the Titanic because he did not want too much clutter on the ship. This fatal move caused for many more people to die. This move illustrated poor business ethics. The decision was made to keep the aesthetics of the ship and to save money. This shows the theme of profit over safety