titanic – 100 years later

Titanic – 100 Years LaterA History Channel Special

April 2012

© 2017 Exponent, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Rhonda Abbott et alv.

Harland & Wolff

An American Bar AssociationSection of Litigation

Mock TrialAugust 1998


At 11:40 PM on Sunday, April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg. Just under three hours later, the “unsinkable” ship went down in the frigid North Atlantic. Over 1500 lives were lost.


Theories of Liability•Non-”watertight” compartments• Insufficient number of lifeboats•Hull design and materials selection• Inadequate training and instruction•No permanently affixed or

bolted-on binoculars or telescopes•Steerage class trapped below


Gross tonnage 45,000 tonsDisplacement 52,000 tonsDecks 9Crew 899 (est.)Passengers 1,324 (est.)Lifeboat capacity 1,178Total lifeboats 20


Titanic Design• Used state-of-the-art process for making steel• They needed so much steel that they took what

they could get – so the quality wasn’t always consistent

• They used 3M rivets to fasten the hull together -very brittle – especially the wrought iron

• They used hydraulic riveting and manual labor to insert the rivets


Hull Structure• Steel from the Titanic was about 10 times more brittle than

modern steel when tested at freezing temperature -- the estimated temperature of the water at the time the Titanic struck the iceberg.

• High oxygen content leads to an increased ductile-to-brittle transition temperature, which was determined as 25 to 35°C for the Titanic steel. Most modern steels would need to be chilled below -60°C before they exhibited similar behavior.

• Tests of the steel's chemical composition also showed a high content of sulfur, oxygen and phosphorus. High levels of those elements cause steel to be more brittle.

• The chemical analysis also revealed a low level of manganese -- another symptom of brittle steel. Steel with a higher level of manganese is more ductile and less likely to break.


Experience Effort Execution• 16 watertight compartments• Watertight doors• Stronger lifeboat davits• Recommended more lifeboats• Most powerful wireless radio• 24 hour fire detection• Special lighting for emergencies• Hull exceeds regulations• Double bottom• Rivets driven by hydraulics


“Watertight”• Although the compartments were called

watertight, they were actually only watertight horizontally; their tops were open and the walls extended only a few feet above the waterline [

• If the transverse bulkheads (the walls of the watertight compartments that are positioned across the width of the ship) had been a few feet taller, the water would have been better contained within the damaged compartments.

• Consequently, the sinking would have been slowed, possibly allowing enough time for nearby ships to help.


“The current Board of Trade regulation (1894), requiring a maximum of 16 lifeboats is outdated and inadequate. We recommend greatly exceeding that regulation and equipping 64 boats, giving a capacity of 4,160. “

Harland & Wolff, January 3, 1910


Harland& Wolff

Recommended64 lifeboats

for a capacity of 4,160

Directed 16 lifeboats plus 4 collapsibles for

a capacity of 1,178

IMM/White Star


Weather Played A Factor


Icebergs, growlers and field icereported by CARONIA42N: from 49 to 51 W

0900


Icebergs and field ice reportedby ATHINAI via BALTIC 41 51’N: 49 52’W

1342


Three large icebergs reportedby CALIFORNIAN42 3’N: 49 9’W

1940


Heavy pack ice and large number oficebergs reported by MESABA42 N to 41 25’N: 49 W to 50 30’W

2130


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