The Titanic's Last Secret-- Part 2

Continued from Newsweek Oct. 13, 2008.

The reason these serious faults were overlooked was the race to get the Titanic to sea on time. An investigation was held after the wreck and the Harland and Wolff, the builders, allowed the full blame to fall onto the captain. Lawsuits by the families of the many victims would have bankrupted the owners, including J.P. Morgan.

Ocean liner shipwrecks were not uncommon at the time. As the Titanic was being built, a collision between luxury liners Republic and Florida near Nantucket, Massachusetts. Both sustained far greater damage than the Titanic, but the Florida was able to get to New York under its own power and the Republic stayed afloat for 38 hours before sinking and all 750 passengers were rescued.


TWO TITANIC HULL SECTIONS FOUND

In 2005, two large sections of the Titanic's hull were found, enough for forensic scientists to determine that the hull was flimsy and the rivets skimpy.

After that, Tom McCluskie, a retired Harland and Wolff archivist went through the company's 1912 investigation (which had been hidden until then). It showed that a stronger hull and rivets would have kept the ship afloat much longer and the resulting lower death toll.

Part of the problem was the profits to be made in the North Atlantic crossing trade. By making the hull a quarter of an inch thinner and the rivets an eighth of an inch thinner, the ship's weight would be decreased by 2,500 tons and make it faster

However, the thinner specifications did meet the standards of the day.

The Story That Still Keeps Us Interested. --DaCoot