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October 20th 04, 01:14 AM

In article ,
(Brian Kelly) writes:

(N2EY) wrote in message
...
In article t,
"Dan/W4NTI"
w4nti@get rid of this mindspring.com writes:

Was not the Titanic designed and built by professionals?

Yes - but there was nothing wrong with its design and construction. In
fact, it
carried more lifeboats, and employed more modern safety equipment, than was
required by regulations at the time.

The Titanic's problem was improper operation. Steaming full speed into an
ice
field on a cold, calm, moonless night after receiving no less than six
warnings
of ice ahead was simply reckless. Doing so when the lookouts had no
binoculars
was even more reckless.

Trying to turn away, and in doing so exposing the side of the ship to the
danger, was the final mistake. That action can be understood, however,
because
the decision to do it was made in haste. (Later analysis showed that had
the
First Officer simply reversed engines and hit the 'berg head-on, the ship
would
have stayed afloat and few if any lives would have been lost).

No officer in their right mind is going to plow straight ahead into an
iceberg to "save the ship".

Sure they would - if they knew that the ship could not turn in time, and would
sink as a result.

The rudder was grossly undersized so the
Titanic did not respond to the helm soon enough and swiped the ice.

Titanic's sister ship, Olympic, was essentiaaly the same ship. A few feet
shorter and less luxurious, but the same basic design. Olympic went into
service first, and much of her crew was transferred to Titanic because of their
experience.

No complaints of a grossly undersized rudder.

Other ships of that era with properly designed rudders would have
turned away from the berg and missed it with room to spare.

Perhaps if the rudder had been larger, the Titanic might have turned away
quicker and missed the berg. But that's really irrelevant. The ship was clearly
going too fast for conditions.

73 de Jim, N2EY