In a word, the Titanic sank because of occurrences in both natural events and human errors made by the ship’s operators. At that time in 1912, the Titanic was the biggest ship in the world and was indeed referred to as the unsinkable. However, as you know, the ship struck an iceberg in the dead of night and sunk in less than three hours, taking the lives of over 1,500 passengers. However, virtually all of the romantic films made about this ship failed to address the specific reasons why it sunk and sunk so quickly. I think there is not one but four major reasons for this tragedy:
1. The Poor Design of the Ship
Many people say that if the Titanic were built stronger, it would have survived the impact of the crash. The rivets on the ship were not arranged uniformly, so that some part was weaker than the rest.
In the magazine Physics World, Richard Corfield suggested the idea that the poor design and installation of the rivets was a cost-cutting move that led to the disaster. The rivets, which are small, cylindrical fasteners, were designed to hold the hull of the ship together.
Much of the impact from the crash was found near the rivets at the ship’s bow. According to Corfield, the rivets near the bow and stern were not hydraulically installed in the same design found in the rest of the ship. Therefore, the first major flaw of the Titanic was the poor design made by the ship’s manufacturers.
2. The Unusual Field of Ice
Corfield states that the Titanic plunged full steam ahead into a dangerous minefield of ice that was not expected in the region. The ship sunk in a large field of icebergs found near the Gulf Stream and the Labrador Current. These icebergs were created by unexpected seasonal conditions that occurred thousands of miles away. In the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, there was a particularly hot summer that pushed a strong Gulf Stream upward. So another cause of the Titanic sinking was the unpredictable weather.
3. Illusions at Sea
Some people suggest that illusions at sea contributed to the sinking of the Titanic. Thermal inversion, a phenomenon that is little known to many people, is a light refraction that makes an object appear closer and higher than its actual position. The lookout crew was unable to see the iceberg until it was too close to the ship.
4. The Cold Labrador Current
Tim Maltin, a British historian, claims that the coldness of the Labrador Current was a factor that interfered with the communication signals of the Titanic. The Morse lamp codes of both the Titanic and the Californian were unable to be seen properly. Also, the distress rocket signals made the ship appear like it was moving away.
As any good historian will tell you, the Titanic disaster was caused by a series of natural events and mistakes made by the ship’s crew. Due to these reasons, no one can blame one person or event for the sinking of a ship that was once known as unsinkable.