What Really Happened to the RMS Titanic?

Laid down on March 31, 1909 and launched on May 31, 1911, the RMS Titanic sank on April 15, 1912 after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to the New York City. Lauded as being practically unsinkable by its owners, the British White Star Line, the sinking of the Titanic claimed approximately 1,500 passengers and crew, making it the deadliest maritime disaster in history up until that time. The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed description of this incident and its multiple causes as well as what lessons were learned and the consequences of this maritime disaster. Finally, an examination of salient social, cultural, or other factors that may have contributed to this disaster is followed by a summary of the research and key findings in the conclusion.

1. Description of the incident itself and detail about what occurred

It was on a Sunday, April 14, 1912 when the Titanic set sail for New York City. The chairman and managing director of White Star Line, Joseph Bruce Ismay, was on board for its maiden voyage. Despite the nearing spring season, the Atlantic Oceans temperature dropped to near freezing levels, but the night was calm and clear. Despite receiving multiple iceberg warnings, the captained continued on course until 11:40 p.m. at which time lookouts reported sighting a massive iceberg which was directly in the vessels path. Despite making an immediate sharp left turn in an effort to avoid it, the Titanic scraped the iceberg, ripping holes along its starboard side (Levinson, 2012).

After the impact, distress signals were radioed and the ships lifeboats were deployed at the direction of the captain. At 2:20 a.m., April 15, 1912, the Titanic succumbed to its mortal wounds and slipped below the frigid North Atlantic waters. claiming the lives of more than 1,500 people as well as fueling the publics morbid fascination with this disaster that persists to the present day (Levinson, 2012).

2. Description of the causes of the failure

Even by contemporary standards, some of the causes of the Titanics failure were obvious. In other cases, a seemingly literal perfect storm of individual failures combined to seal the Titanics fate. At the time of its launch, the Titanic was the largest object to move on water in history, and it was specifically designed to function as a highly competitive, large-capacity and luxurious alternative to the other ships of the day that were making the transatlantic trip between England and the United States. In addition, as its designation indicates, the Titanic was officially known as the RMS Titanic since it was also a Royal Mail Ship (RMS Titanic...…delay and concealment quickly emerged at White Star Line following the Titanics sinking, and Ismay even tried to evade questioning by U.S. authorities upon his arrival by telegraphing a coded message ahead of his arrival in New York by alternate means, calling himself Yamsi (Ismay spelled backwards). Several U.S. senators figured out Ismays ruse prior to his arrival in New York City, however, and confronted him while he was still onboard the Cunard liner that rescued him and others from the cold North Atlantic waters (Extraordinary group of eight telegrams sent by Bruce Ismay, 2022).

Conclusion

On April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic sank following a collision with a massive iceberg in the North Atlantic during its maiden voyage to New York City from Southampton, England. The damage that was caused by the Titanic striking the iceberg was compounded by a lack of lifeboats which meant that more than 1,500 people lost their lives needlessly due to the parsimonious managers of White Star Line. The research also showed that a number of significant design flaws also contributed to the disaster. Although this disaster resulted in changes to maritime laws, including most especially the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea that have largely prevented similar disasters since that time, the sinking of the Titanic was so severe and dramatic that it continues to fascinate people…