The Hidden Truth of the Titanic

It’s common knowledge that the Titanic sank because of the notorious iceberg. While an iceberg collision was the final straw for the world’s unsinkable ship, it most definitely isn’t the entirety of the truth. There were many aspects that led to the Titanic sinking other than the iceberg which, of course, was what led to the immediate sinking of the ship. However, other factors played bigger roles than you could suspect, and this is why I am going to explain the full truth of why the Titanic hit the ocean floor with 1,496 other helpless people. 

A common mystery surrounding the Titanic is why the iceberg wasn’t spotted earlier, leaving more time for the ship to slow down and turn away from the iceberg. Yet, it wasn’t spotted until the last second. Even though it was nighttime and slightly foggy, the two men that sat in the Titanic’s crow's nest finishing their shift should have seen the iceberg coming from way earlier. With their set of binoculars, they should have spotted the iceberg with enough time to spare to take a dip in the Olympic sized swimming pool on the Titanic (OK that last bit may have been an exaggeration). Except they didn’t have the binoculars thanks to the second officer: David Blair. David Blair had been transferred to a different ship at the last minute and, in his haste, had taken the key to the locker containing the binoculars in the crow’s nest. This blunder left the lookouts without binoculars and as a result, they didn’t see the iceberg until it was much too late and only one of the lookouts made it out with his life. Could the collision have been prevented if the ship’s crew still had the key? Would they have spotted the iceberg in time to stop the crash? We will never truly know. 

But the most asked question was, didn’t the Titanic know there were icebergs in the area? The short answer would be no, but why not? Weren’t there other ships in the region that should have signaled the Titanic? Yes, there were, and most importantly they did. The British merchant steamship SS Mesaba had sent out a warning radio message to the Titanic on April 14 while crossing the Atlantic. The message was received by wireless operator Jack Phillips. By 7:30 p.m. the Titanic had received five warnings from nearby ships, but Phillips never passed any of them on to any officers. At 10:55 p.m., another ship, the Californian, radioed to say it had come to a full stop amid dense field ice. Phillips was not in the mood for interruptions. The Californian’s electric signal was so close it nearly deafened Phillips. “Shut up, shut up!” he radioed back. “I am busy!” A while later, the Californian’s radio operator shut down for the night with the message never passed on to the bridge. 

Despite these errors in planning, the most notorious aspect is seldom heard of. Few people know that the Titanic actually had a fire while it was being constructed in stokehold 9, Boiler room 5 approximately 10 days prior to the disastrous voyage and was only reported to have stopped by the 13th of April. It was alleged that as a result of the fire, some warping to a bulkhead had occurred but the voyage couldn’t be postponed since all the tickets had already been sold. Coincidentally, the iceberg hit the Titanic exactly where the fire had been burning just days before and allowed sea water to flood into 6 of the 16 major watertight compartments, which sadly would have sunk the ship even if all the floodgates had been shut immediately. 

Any of these reasons could have been crucial in the demise of the unsinkable ship, or all of these things together could have led to an inevitable catastrophe, either way we will never know the truth and the 1,496 lives lost will remain a reminder of how careful we must still be against natures forces for centuries to come.