This article discusses the sinking of the Titanic and presents new evidence and theories about the cause of the disaster. The traditional explanation that the ship hit an iceberg is disputed, and a journalist who has studied the Titanic for over 30 years suggests that a fire on board may have weakened the ship's metal structure, making it more vulnerable to damage.
The article also highlights several other factors that contributed to the tragedy, including:
* The ship's high speed in an area known to have icebergs
* The lack of binoculars on the bridge, which made it harder for the crew to spot the iceberg in time
* The insufficient number of lifeboats, which was technically legal at the time but still inadequate
* The failure to conduct lifeboat drills, which may have contributed to the delay in launching the lifeboats
* The phenomenon of thermal inversion, which may have caused the crew to miss the iceberg due to abnormal refraction of light
The article also notes that the captain of the ship, Edward John Smith, had failed his first navigation test and that the crew of the Californian, a nearby ship that ignored the Titanic's distress signals, was initially blamed for the tragedy but later exonerated.
Overall, the article suggests that the sinking of the Titanic was the result of a combination of factors, including human error, design flaws, and natural phenomena.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The RMS Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, at 2:20 a.m.
2. The Titanic was the largest ship of its era, measuring 269 meters long, 28 meters wide, and 53 meters high.
3. The ship had a tonnage of 46,328 tons.
4. The Titanic had four enormous chimneys, each weighing 60 tons and rising 25 meters above the deck.
5. The ship's construction required $5.5 million (approximately $160.6 million in 2016).
6. The Harland and Wolff shipyard hired 3,000 men to build the ship, which took 26 months to complete.
7. The workers received a competitive wage of pounds sterling per week, but eight people died during construction, and 246 were injured.
8. The Titanic had a crew of over 885 people and could accommodate over 2,200 passengers.
9. The ship's grand staircase gave access to seven of its ten decks.
10. The Titanic had a heated swimming pool, gym, squash court, and beauty salon for first-class passengers.
11. The ship had a special place for the dogs of first-class passengers, where they were fed, walked, and trained.
12. Meals for first-class passengers consisted of thirteen courses, each accompanied by its own wine.
13. The Titanic had a large reception that lasted about five hours, with 1,500 bottles of wine, 20,000 bottles of beer, and 8,000 cigars.
14. The ship did not have binoculars for the watchmen to use, which could have prevented the disaster.
15. The binoculars were locked in a special room, and the key was not available to the crew.
16. The ship was moving at a speed much higher than the speed limit, which contributed to the disaster.
17. The Titanic needed 60 lifeboats to accommodate all passengers, but it only had 20, which was technically legal at the time.
18. The lifeboats were not filled to capacity, with the first boat leaving with only 27 passengers, despite having 65 seats.
19. Captain Edward John Smith canceled the scheduled lifeboat exercise for the morning of the sinking, and the reasons for this decision are unknown.
20. The crew sent several distress signals, but the nearby ship, the Californian, ignored the emergency flares.
21. The Californian's captain lost his job after the incident, but modern researchers later proved his innocence.
22. The reason why no one noticed the signals sent by the Titanic could be due to the phenomenon of refraction of light, which causes mirages.
23. The sinking of the Titanic took the lives of over 1,500 people.
24. The disaster continues to intrigue scientists and researchers even today.