The Downfall of the RMS Titanic

• Lauren B
• 0
• on Nov 03, 2022

Though in the end, Titanic did crash into an iceberg and sink, it was the luxuriousness and miscommunication issues that led to its downfall. People chose to believe that Titanic was unsinkable causing misinformation to circulate before and after the ship sunk.

Built from 1909 to 1911 and launching in 1912 Titanic was the most luxurious ship at the time. Its maiden voyage was from Southampton, England to New York, USA but the ship never made it this far. On April 14, 1912, at 11:40pm Titanic collided with an iceberg and subsequently sank at 2:20am. From this, roughly 1,513 people perished leaving 709 survivors on board the rescue ship, the Carpathia. (Hopkinson, Titanic).

Countless things went wrong onboard Titanic, aside from the iceberg damages, miscommunication onboard became an issue too. Shortly after the collisions, the wireless operators of the ship, Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, sent messages begging any ship nearby to help Titanic, but due to hysteria and the emergency of the situation, no one knew if anyone was coming to rescue survivors. Messages had the position of the ship, what was currently going on, as well as the acronyms CQD (all stations distress), MGY (meaning Titanic), and SOS (save our ship). At that point, SOS hadn’t previously been used and no one expected that Titanic would be the first. Everyone believed the ship was untouchable. The operators kept sending messages until Titanic’s power went out since they didn’t know what would happen next as the danger increased. (Titanic Telegrams Sent and Received). One of the last telegrams was sent to the SS Birma at 1:40am. It was similar to other messages sent that night, reading, “We are sinking fast passengers being put into boats.” (Letters of Note, Titanic). Since many thought that Titanic was incapable of sinking this belief set off an unpredictable series of events. The pressure of being an ‘unsinkable ship’ pushed Captain Smith to increase the ship’s speed to beat her sister ship, the Olympic’s time, and show the public that Titanic truly was the best ship. But this meant that when the ship was traveling through icefields Smith was more prone to making mistakes, causing the ship to collide with an iceberg. (Causes of Titanic tragedy). Additionally, telegrams didn’t start until thirty minutes after the collision. The crew was downplaying the severity of the collision because they saw Titanic as something that would withstand any event. It wasn’t until they could physically see the effect of the collision on the ship that they started to worry. By the time the Birma telegram was sent, only twelve lifeboats had been released and there was an ever-growing panic onboard the ship. Even though the operators were in danger they kept sending messages in hope that a rescue ship was en route. Due to the grandness of the ship, no one had expected any trouble to arise, thus when the collision occurred nothing was done. The difficulty of communication added to this problem, no one was contacted until the danger was already severe. In that way, everyone was doomed the minute they thought Titanic was unsinkable. 

No one expected Titanic to sink, so it came as a surprise when it happened. There was a widespread wave of misinformation so many telegrams and newspaper headlines incorrectly reported the number of those who perished. Sent April 21st by the White Star Line to the, “General Post Office of London (employers of the postal staff aboard RMS Titanic),” reported that the, “Virginian is standing by Titanic and that there is no danger of loss of life.” (Letters of Note, Titanic). It’s widely known that the Carpathia rescued Titanic’s survivors, so why does it say the Virginian? The Virginian was one of the ships that had been contacted by Phillips and Bride and was on its way to help. The Virginian also messaged Titanic back a few times but received no response due to the power on Titanic going out. Lost in time is the reason why people believed the Virginian had assisted Titanic even though she was 170 miles away but it can most likely be attributed to general misinformation and miscommunication. (RMS Virginian). Any ship contacted by Titanic could’ve been rumored to have the ship’s passengers. Taking into account that those on land had no idea what ice conditions were like that night it was plausible that everyone had lived and that Titanic was only damaged, not sunken. Through a chain of information, the White Star Line must’ve received false information and in their haste to reassure the post office sent it, believing it to be correct. They were never planning on needing to send a message like this, so they didn’t doubt its contents. Newspapers reported similar headlines concerning survival rates. The Reno Evening Gazette released a story on April 15th stating, “Liner Titanic Goes Down — Passengers are Safe – Twenty Boat Loads of Passengers Transferred to Cunarder — No One Lost.” (Titanic Headlines). In the face of tragedy and disaster, people are begging for any scrap of news they can get even if it’s false. Journalists are quick to comment on any event, especially for a high-profile one like Titanic. Since the ship was considered the most luxurious of the time, with well-known, wealthy passengers, as well as the unsinkable belief, any story about the ship would increase attention. It only made reporters more willing to publish sensationalized information. It didn’t matter if the information was false, even if they didn’t know then. It would get published anyway because incorrect information was still information. The tragedy made the public even more anxious for news about the ship because they wanted to know what had happened to the rich passengers. The public also had no reason to believe the number was false. They were still holding onto their belief of how safe Titanic was. But appearances do not equal safety. The opulence of Titanic had everyone convinced that Titanic was invincible. In turn, misinformation ran rampant, making people believe information about the ship that wasn’t true. 

According to 1894 regulations that were in place when Titanic launched, the number of lifeboats depended on the tonnage of the boat. For boats weighing over 10,000 tons, sixteen lifeboats were required. Titanic even went beyond this including four collapsible Engelhardt boats. (Failure to Update Law, Titanic) (Titanic—Not Enough Lifeboats). Though there were plans to include even more lifeboats this plan was scrapped. The luxuriousness convinced everyone, including the builders of the ship, that extra lifeboats, other than the four collapsible ones, wouldn’t be needed. They thought that having more lifeboats visible on the deck would make it too messy and ruin passengers’ view of the ocean. Essentially, they didn’t want to cheapen the ship. While yes, even if every lifeboat was filled to capacity it wouldn’t have been enough Titanic was up to code. They did what everyone else did at the time. Many were in disbelief that Titanic was sinking and didn’t want to leave but were forced to. Shortly after the collision, Captain Smith ordered officers to load women and children first into lifeboats but this message was interpreted in different ways. Officer Lightoller on the port side took it as women and children only and didn’t allow any men on. Contrasting, Officer Murdoch on the starboard side who, if he didn’t see any women and children nearby, would allow men onboard. (Women and Children First, Titanic). Passengers thought that nothing would sink Titanic so when it collided with the iceberg many discounted the event. They didn’t want to leave the ship because they regarded it as safe and secure, furthermore, no one wanted to leave their cozy rooms in exchange for the frigid weather. This caused a lack of activity on the deck following the collision. Even when lifeboats were loading and being released, not many were around. This resulted in lacklusterly filled lifeboats on both sides of the ship. It wasn’t until the final hour that the lifeboats were being properly filled once people realized the danger they were in but by then it was too late. Now, looking back at Titanic we believe we have all the answers for why the ship sank and why so many died, but that was never just it. Misinformation was just as prevalent a hundred years ago as it is now. We let that shape our perceptions instead of looking at the root cause; Titanic’s luxuriousness. 

For many, the Titanic is a cautionary tale of what can happen when you aren’t paying attention but it’s so much more. Misinformation holds a great deal of power over people’s perceptions and it can often impact how something is viewed after the event takes place. It makes you wonder if Titanic made headlines solely because of its luxuriousness and wealthy passengers. If the passengers weren’t as well known and the ship not as grand would this much attention still be given?

Works Cited

Boyle, Alan. “10 Causes of the Titanic Tragedy.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 2 Apr. 2012, https://www.nbcnews.com/sciencemain/10-causes-titanic-tragedy-620220.

Buchanan, Kelly. “Failure to Update the Law a Titanic Mistake.” Failure to Update the Law a Titanic Mistake | In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress, 13 Apr. 2012, https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2012/04/failure-to-update-the-law-a-titanic-mistake/#:~:text=The%20Titanic%20was%20provided%20with,persons%20each%2C%20or%20196%20persons.

Debczak, Michele. “Women and Children First: How a Rarely-Used Maritime Practice Caused Confusion on Board the ‘Titanic’.” Mental Floss, Mental Floss, 19 Apr. 2022, https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/women-and-children-first-origins-titanic.

Hopkinson, Deborah. Titanic: Voices from the Disaster. Scholastic Inc., 2014.

“RMS Virginian Postcards.” Titanic Museum, White Star Heritage LTD, 9 Oct. 2020, https://www.titanicmuseum.org/artefacts/rms-virginian-postcards/.

“Titanic in Black and White.” Titanic in Black and White – Headlines: Both Informative and Inaccurate Reporting, THE VIRGINIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT & THE LIBRARY OF VIRGINIA, https://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/titanic/headlines.php.

“Titanic Wireless Distress Messages Sent and Received April 14-15, 1912.” Wireless Distress Messages Sent and Received April 14-15, 1912, https://greatships.net/distress.

“We Are Sinking Fast.” Letters of Note, 28 June 2010, https://lettersofnote.com/2010/06/28/we-are-sinking-fast/.

Whiting, Jim. “Titanic-Not Enough Lifeboats.” NONFICTION MINUTE, 12 May 2022, https://www.nonfictionminute.org/the-nonfiction-minute/titanic-not-enough-lifeboats#:~:text=Titanic%27s%20original%20design%20called,the%20First%20Class%20passengers%27%20views.