It is Sunday, April 14, 1912, at 11:39 pm. The shout, “ICEBERG RIGHT AHEAD!!!!!!!” is heard. 37 seconds later, the Titanic hits an iceberg and starts to sink. The sinking lost more than half of the ship’s crew and passengers. Of around 2,228 people aboard, 1,503 died and 725 survived. Yet this tragic disaster improved safety for future ships. How?
The sinking of the Titanic during the night of April 14, 1912 and the early morning of April 15, 1912, was a tragic disaster. This was truly the first global disaster for mankind, with passengers from North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa. Dan Bender said,” [as of 2010] Everyone has heard about the ‘unsinkable’ RMS Titanic, but 98 years removed, we have little connection to the disaster other than watching a movie or documentary. In the time of 1912, the sinking of the world’s largest, most advanced ship shook the world” (Bender). The ship was totally unprepared for the iceberg it hit, but it improved ship safety in many ways. However, there were many things that could have been done to prevent the loss of so many lives.
First of all, the Titanic wasn’t fully prepared with the safety equipment in case anything went wrong. Maritime law stated that for every 10,000 tons a ship weighed, 16 lifeboats were required. The Titanic weighed 46,000 tons, and held 20. And those 20 weren’t used fully, due to lack of training and discipline. At least four of those 20 boats were filled to 50% capacity. One of the lifeboats that could have held 40 passengers only held 12. A lifeboat drill the day that the Titanic sunk was canceled. Had it been held, many hundred more lives could have been saved. Mandy Savage said,” The ship was short on safety equipment. Some of the officers on the bridge did not have binoculars or search lights. This fact, among many others, may have contributed to the officers only having 37 seconds to react before they hit the iceberg. Each minute gained potentially could have saved hundreds of lives.” Also, one other ship in the area, the Californian, didn’t respond to the flares they saw or the distress signals they received. In fact, one rumor states that the captain of the Californian ignored the signals and flares and went to bed. Had the Californian been trained to respond or chose to respond to this, many more lives might have been saved (Savage). In order to respond to …show more content…
The I.I.P still looks for ice around winter in the North Atlantic Ocean. They search from August 31 through February 1, on average. The I.C.S.L.S. still provides help in keeping passengers safe and sound. Also, many maritime laws and safety standards were created and updated to help keep everyone safe while on a ship (Bender).
In conclusion, many maritime laws and safety standards were created and updated to prevent the safety of passengers and keep as many people alive and safe at sea after the Titanic sunk, and even though it was a catastrophic event, we have learned much from it about safety. Marc Issacs, a maritime lawyer, said, ” The sinking [of the Titanic] wasn’t necessarily the wake-up call, but it was a big momentous event that reminded people that safety had to be dealt
The sinking of the Titanic during the night of April 14, 1912 and the early morning of April 15, 1912, was a tragic disaster. This was truly the first global disaster for mankind, with passengers from North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa. Dan Bender said,” [as of 2010] Everyone has heard about the ‘unsinkable’ RMS Titanic, but 98 years removed, we have little connection to the disaster other than watching a movie or documentary. In the time of 1912, the sinking of the world’s largest, most advanced ship shook the world” (Bender). The ship was totally unprepared for the iceberg it hit, but it improved ship safety in many ways. However, there were many things that could have been done to prevent the loss of so many lives.
First of all, the Titanic wasn’t fully prepared with the safety equipment in case anything went wrong. Maritime law stated that for every 10,000 tons a ship weighed, 16 lifeboats were required. The Titanic weighed 46,000 tons, and held 20. And those 20 weren’t used fully, due to lack of training and discipline. At least four of those 20 boats were filled to 50% capacity. One of the lifeboats that could have held 40 passengers only held 12. A lifeboat drill the day that the Titanic sunk was canceled. Had it been held, many hundred more lives could have been saved. Mandy Savage said,” The ship was short on safety equipment. Some of the officers on the bridge did not have binoculars or search lights. This fact, among many others, may have contributed to the officers only having 37 seconds to react before they hit the iceberg. Each minute gained potentially could have saved hundreds of lives.” Also, one other ship in the area, the Californian, didn’t respond to the flares they saw or the distress signals they received. In fact, one rumor states that the captain of the Californian ignored the signals and flares and went to bed. Had the Californian been trained to respond or chose to respond to this, many more lives might have been saved (Savage). In order to respond to …show more content…
The I.I.P still looks for ice around winter in the North Atlantic Ocean. They search from August 31 through February 1, on average. The I.C.S.L.S. still provides help in keeping passengers safe and sound. Also, many maritime laws and safety standards were created and updated to help keep everyone safe while on a ship (Bender).
In conclusion, many maritime laws and safety standards were created and updated to prevent the safety of passengers and keep as many people alive and safe at sea after the Titanic sunk, and even though it was a catastrophic event, we have learned much from it about safety. Marc Issacs, a maritime lawyer, said, ” The sinking [of the Titanic] wasn’t necessarily the wake-up call, but it was a big momentous event that reminded people that safety had to be dealt