THE SINKABLE _TITANIC_
In all the long record of disasters involving the loss of human life
there is none which appeals so strongly to the imagination as those
which have occurred upon the high seas, and among these the loss of the
_Titanic_ stands out preëminent as the most stupendous and heartrending
tragedy of them all. The ship itself was not only the latest and largest
of those magnificent ocean liners which, because of their size and
speed and luxurious appointments, have taken such a strong hold upon the
public imagination, but it was popularly believed that because of her
huge proportions, and the special precautions which had been taken
to render her unsinkable, the _Titanic_ was so far proof against the
ordinary accidents of the sea as to survive the severest disaster and
bring her passengers safely into port.
The belief that the _Titanic_ stood for the "last word" in naval
architecture certainly seemed to be justified by the facts. She was not
a contract-built ship in the commonly accepted sense of that term. On
the contrary, she was built under a system which conduces to high-class
workmanship and eliminates the temptations to cheap work, which must
always exist when a contract is secured in the face of keen competition.
The famous White Star Company have pointed with pride to the fact that
the excellence of their ships was due largely to the fact that they had
been built in the same shipbuilding yard and under an arrangement which
encouraged the builders to embody in the ships the most careful design
and workmanship. Under this arrangement, Messrs. Harland & Wolff, of
Belfast, build the White Star vessels without entering into any hard and
fast agreement as to the price: the only stipulation of this character
being that, when the ship is accepted, they shall be paid for the cost
of the ship, plus a certain profit, which is commonly believed to be ten
per cent.
[Illustration:
GREAT EASTERN 1858
FOUR WATERTIGHT COMPARTMENTS
TITANIC 1912
ONE WATERTIGHT COMPARTMENT
_Titanic_ shows omission of inner skin, longitudinal bulkheads, and
watertight decks. Transverse bulkheads are lower by 20 feet.
FIFTY YEARS' DECLINE IN SAFETY CONSTRUCTION]
Of the strength of the _Titanic_ and the general high character of her
construction there can be no doubt whatever. Not only was she built to
the requirements of the Board of Trade and the insurance companies,
but, as we have noted, she was constructed by the leading shipbuilding
company of the world, under conditions which would inspire them to
put into the world's greatest steamship the very best that the long
experience and ample facilities of the yard could produce.
The principal dimensions of the _Titanic_, as furnished by her owners,
were as follows:
PARTICULARS OF THE _TITANIC_
Ft. Ins.
Length over all 882 9
Length between perpendiculars 850 0
Breadth extreme 92 6
Depth moulded to shelter deck 64 3
Depth moulded to bridge deck 73 3
Total height from keel to navigating bridge 104 0
Load draft 34 6
Gross tonnage 45,000
Displacement in tons 60,000
Indicated horsepower of reciprocating engines 38,000
Shaft horsepower of turbine engine 22,000
In this connection the following table, giving the dimensions of
the most notable steamships, from the _Great Eastern_ of 1858 to
the _Imperator_ of 1913, will be of interest. How rapidly the weight
(displacement) increases with the length of these large ships, is shown
by the fact that, although in length the _Titanic_ is only about 27 per
cent. greater than the _Great Eastern_, in displacement she exceeds her
by considerably over 100 per cent.
PARTICULARS OF NOTED TRANSATLANTIC LINERS
==============+======+========+======+=======+========+========+======
| |Length | | | | |
NAME | Date |between | Beam | Plated| Dis- | Horse- | Speed
| |Perpen- | | Depth | place- | power |
| |diculars| | | ment | |
--------------+------+--------+------+-------+--------+--------+------
| | Feet |Feet |Feet | Tons | | Knots
| | | Ins.| Ins.| | |
--------------+------+--------+------+-------+--------+--------+------
Great Eastern | 1858 | 680 | 83.0 | 58.0 | 27,000 | 7,650 | 14.0
City of Paris | 1888 | 528 | 63.0 | 41.9 | 13,000 | 20,700 | 21.8
Teutonic | 1890 | 565 | 57.6 | 42.2 | 12,000 | 19,500 | 21.0
Campania | 1893 | 600 | 65.0 | 41.6 | 18,000 | 30,000 | 22.01
St. Paul | 1895 | 536 | 63.0 | 42.0 | 16,000 | 18,000 | 21.08
K. Wilhelm | | | | | | |
der Grosse | 1897 | 625 | 66.0 | 43.0 | 20,890 | 30,000 | 22.5
Oceanic | 1899 | 685 | 68.5 | 49.0 | 28,500 | 27,000 | 20.7
Deutschland | 1900 | 663 | 67.0 | 44.0 | 23,600 | 36,000 | 23.5
Kaiser | | | | | | |
Wilhelm II | 1903 | 678 | 72.0 | 52.6 | 26,000 | 38,000 | 23.5
Adriatic | 1907 | 709 | 75.6 | 56.9 | 40,800 | 16,000 | 17.0
Mauretania | 1907 | 760 | 88.0 | 60.6 | 44,640 | 70,000 | 26.01
La France | 1912 | 685 | 75.5 | 52.10 | 27,000 | 45,000 | 23.5
Titanic | 1912 | 850 | 92.6 | 64.3 | 60,000 | 60,000 | 22.5
Imperator | 1913 | 880 | 96.0 | 62.0 | 65,000 | 70,000 | 23.0
--------------+------+--------+------+-------+--------+--------+------
The general structure of the _Titanic_ is shown by the midship section,
page 83, and the side elevation, page 129. For about 550 feet amidships
she contained 8 steel decks, the boat deck, promenade deck, bridge deck,
shelter deck, saloon deck, upper deck, middle deck, and lower deck. The
highest steel deck that extended continuously throughout the full length
of the ship was the shelter deck. For 550 feet amidships the sideplating
of the ship was carried up one deck higher to the bridge deck. The
moulded or plated depth of the ship to the shelter deck was 64 feet 3
inches and to the bridge deck 73 feet 3 inches. This great depth of over
73 feet, in conjunction with specially heavy steel decks on the bridge
and shelter decks, and the doubling of the plating at the bilges, (where
the bottom rounds up into the side,) conjoined with the deep and heavy
double bottom, served to give the _Titanic_ the necessary strength to
resist the bending stresses to which her long hull was subjected, when
steaming across the heavy seas of the Atlantic. The doubling of the
plating on the bridge and shelter decks served the same purpose as the
cellular steel construction which, as mentioned in the previous chapter,
was adopted for the upper deck of the _Great Eastern_.
[Illustration: Courtesy of the _Scientific American_
OLYMPIC, SISTER TO TITANIC, REACHING NEW YORK ON MAIDEN VOYAGE]
The dimensions of the frames and plating of the hull were determined by
the builder's long experience in the construction of large vessels. The
cellular double bottom, which extended the full width of the ship, was
of unusual depth and strength. Throughout the ship, its depth was 5 feet
3 inches; but in the reciprocating engine-room, it was increased to 6
feet 3 inches. The keel consisted of a single thickness of plating,
1½ inches thick, and a heavy, flat bar, 3 inches in thickness and 19½
inches wide. Generally speaking, the shell plates were 6 feet wide, 30
feet long, and 2½ to 3 tons in weight. The largest of these plates was
36 feet long and weighed 4¼ tons.
Amidships, the framing, which consisted of channel sections 10 inches
in depth, was spaced 3 feet apart. Throughout the boiler-room spaces,
additional frames, 2½ feet deep, were fitted 9 feet apart, and in the
engine- and turbine-rooms, similar deep frames were fitted on every
second frame, 6 feet apart. These heavy web-frames extended up to the
middle deck, a few feet above the water-line, and added greatly to the
strength and stiffness of the hull.
Had the inside plating of the double bottom been carried up the sides
and riveted on the inner flanges of these frames, as shown in the sketch
on page 107, it would have served the purpose of an inner skin; and when
the outer skin of her forward boiler-rooms was ruptured by the iceberg,
it would have served to prevent the inflow of water to these two large
compartments. Mr. Ismay, the President of the International Mercantile
Marine Company, in his testimony at the Senate Investigation, stated
that among the improvements, which would be made in the _Gigantic_, now
under construction for the company, would be the addition of an inner
skin. Doubtless he had in mind the construction above suggested.
The 10-inch channel frames extended from the double bottom to the bridge
deck, and some of these bars were 66 feet in length and weighed nearly 1
ton apiece. The frames were tied together along the full length of each
deck by the deck beams of channel section, which, throughout the middle
portion of the ship, were 10 inches deep and weighed as high as 1¼ tons
apiece. The transverse stiffness of the framing was assured by stout
bracket knees, riveted to the frames and deck beams at each point of
connection, and by the 15 watertight bulkheads, which were riveted
strongly to the bottom and sides of the ship, and also by 11
non-watertight bulkheads, which formed the inner walls of the coal
bunkers on each side of the main bulkheads.
The bridge, shelter, saloon, and upper decks were supported and
stiffened by four lines of heavy longitudinal girders, worked in between
the beams, which were themselves carried by solid round pillars placed
at every third deck beam. In the boiler-rooms, below the middle deck,
the load of the superincumbent decks was carried down to the double
bottom by means of heavy round pillars.
Such was the construction of the _Titanic_; and it will be agreed that,
so far as the strength and integrity of the hull were concerned, it
was admirably adapted to meet the heavy stresses which are involved in
driving so great and heavy a ship through the tempestuous weather of the
North Atlantic.
The first sight of such a gigantic vessel as the _Titanic_ produces
an impression of solidity and invulnerability, which is not altogether
justified by the facts. For, to tell the truth, the modern steamship is
a curious compound of strength and fragility. Her strength, as must be
evident from the foregoing description of the framing of the _Titanic_,
is enormous, and ample for safety. Her fragility and vulnerability lie
in the fact that her framework is overlaid with a relatively thin skin
of plating, an inch or so in thickness, which, while amply strong to
resist the inward pressure of the water, the impact of the seas, and
the tensile and compressive stresses due to the motion of the ship in a
seaway, etc., is readily fractured by the blow of a collision.
[Illustration: THE FRAMING AND SOME OF THE DECK BEAMS OF THE IMPERATOR,
AS SEEN FROM INSIDE THE BOW, BEFORE THE OUTSIDE PLATING WAS RIVETTED ON]
In a previous chapter it was shown that when the _Titanic_ is being
driven at a speed of 21 knots, she represents an energy of over
1,000,000 foot-tons. If this enormous energy is arrested, or sought to
be arrested, by some rigid obstruction, whether another ship, a rock,
or an iceberg, the delicate outside skin will be torn like a sheet of
paper.
It was shown in Chapter IV that protection against flooding of a ship
through damage below the water-line is obtained by subdividing the hull
into separate watertight compartments, and that, roughly speaking,
the degree of protection is proportionate to the extent to which this
subdivision is carried. Applying this to the _Titanic_, we find that she
was divided by 15 transverse bulkheads into 16 separate compartments.
But, in this connection it must be noted that these bulkheads did not
extend through the whole height of the ship to the shelter deck, as they
did in the case of the _Great Eastern_, and therefore it cannot be said
that the whole of the interior space of the hull received the benefit
of subdivision. As a matter of fact, only about two-thirds of the
total cubical space contained below the shelter deck was protected by
subdivision. Water, finding its way into the ship above the level of the
decks to which the bulkheads were carried, was free to flow the
whole length of her from stem to stern. Furthermore, the value of the
subdivision below the bulkhead deck depends largely upon the degree to
which this deck is made watertight. If the deck is pierced by hatchways,
stairways, and other openings, which are not provided with watertight
casings and hatch covers, the integrity of the deck is destroyed, and
the bulkhead subdivision below loses its value.
It was largely this most serious defect--the existence of many
unprotected openings in the bulkhead deck of the _Titanic_--that caused
her to go down so soon after the collision.
[Illustration: THIS DRAWING SHOWS HOW THE PLATING OF THE INNER BOTTOM OF
SUCH A SHIP AS THE TITANIC MAY BE CARRIED UP THE SIDE FRAMES TO FORM AN
INNER SKIN]
Referring now to the side elevation of the Titanic on page 129, it will
be noted that the only bulkhead which was carried up to the shelter deck
was the first, or collision bulkhead. The second bulkhead extended to
the saloon deck, and on the after side of this and immediately against
it was a spiral stairway for the accommodation of the crew, which led
from their quarters down to the floor of the ship. Here the stairway
terminated in a fireman's passage, which led aft through the third
and fourth bulkheads, and gave access through a watertight door to the
foremost boiler-room. The seven bulkheads, from No. 3 to No. 9, extended
only to the upper deck, which, at load draft, was only about 10 feet
above the water-line. Bulkhead No. 10 was carried up one deck higher to
the saloon deck, as were also bulkheads 11, 12, 13, and 14. Bulkhead No.
15 terminated at the upper deck.
Now, it will be asked: what was the factor in the calculations which
determined the height of these bulkheads? The answer is to be found in
the Board of Trade stipulations, to which reference was made in Chapter
IV, page 62. These stipulations establish an imaginary safety line,
below which a ship may not sink without danger of foundering. The
safety line represents the depth to which a ship will sink when any two
adjoining compartments are opened to the sea and therefore flooded. If
the two forward compartments are flooded, for instance, the bow may sink
with safety, until the water is only three one-hundredths of the
depth of the ship, at the side, from the bulkhead deck. If two central
compartments are flooded, the ship is supposed to settle with safety
until the bulkhead deck at that point is only three one-hundredths of
the depth of the side, at that place, above the water.
The raising of the height of the bulkheads, by one deck, at the
engine-room, is due to the operation of this rule; for here the two
adjoining compartments, those containing the reciprocating engines and
the turbine, are the largest in the ship, and their flooding would sink
the ship proportionately lower in the water.
Now it takes but a glance at the diagrams on page 66 to show that the
application of the Board of Trade rule brought the bulkhead line of the
_Titanic_ down to a lower level than that of any of the other notable
ships shown in comparison with her. It was the low bulkheads, acting in
connection with the non-watertight construction of the bulkhead deck,
that was largely answerable for the loss of this otherwise very fine
ship.
[Illustration: Courtesy of _Scientific American_
TWENTY OF THE TWENTY-NINE BOILERS OF THE TITANIC ASSEMBLED, READY FOR
PLACING IN THE SHIP]
Another grave defect in the _Titanic_ was the great size of the
individual compartments, coupled with the fact that the only protection
against their being flooded was the one-inch plating of the outside
skin. If this plating were ruptured or the rivets started along
the seams, there was nothing to prevent the flooding of the whole
compartment and the entry, at least throughout the middle portion of
the ship, of from 4,000 to 6,000 tons of water--this last being the
approximate capacity of the huge compartment which contained the two
reciprocating engines. Now, if safety lies in minute subdivision, it
is evident that in this ship safety was sacrificed to some other
considerations. The motive for the plan adopted was the desire to place
the coal-bunkers in the most convenient position with regard to the
boilers. By reference to the hold plan of the _Titanic_, page 129, it
will be seen that her 29 boilers were arranged transversely to the ship.
With the exception of the five in the aftermost compartment, they were
"double-ended," with the furnaces facing fore and aft. To facilitate
shovelling the coal into the furnaces, the coal-bunkers were placed one
on each side of each transverse watertight bulkhead. The coal supply was
thus placed immediately back of the firemen, and the work of getting
the coal from the bunkers to the furnaces was greatly facilitated. Now,
while this was an admirable arrangement for convenience of firing, it
was the worst possible plan as far as the safety of the _Titanic_ was
concerned; since any damage to the hull admitted water across the whole
width of the ship. The alternative plan, which should be made compulsory
on all large ocean-going passenger steamers, is the one adopted for
the _Mauretania_, _Kaiser Wilhelm II_, _Imperator_, and a few other
first-class ships, in which the coal-bunkers are placed at the sides
of the ship, where they serve to prevent the flooding of the main
boiler-room compartments. It is probable that any one of the ships
named would have survived even the terrific collision which sank the
_Titanic_.
The objection has been raised against longitudinal coal-bunkers, that
they are not so conveniently placed for the firemen. A large force of
"coal passers" has to be employed in wheeling the coal from the bunkers
to the front of the furnaces. This, of course, entails an increased
expense of operation.
The use of transverse coal-bunkers must be regarded as one among many
instances, in which the safety of passenger ships is sacrificed to
considerations of economy and convenience of operation.