most controvertial aspect of the sinking?

[Aurélien WOLFF]

Hello, by curiosity, what would you consider the most contrversial aspect of the tragedy? I'd go for the californian affair, the salvage debate and the crew suicide . While there are multiple interpretation of his action, there doesn't seems to be much controversy with smith beside the theories on his fate . The break up debate can sometimes be controversial too.

Thanks for your answers!

 

[William Oakes]

The fact that over 1500 people died needlessly.
That fact never leaves me.
It is still very hard to fully comprehend.

 

[Pegglesworth]

The fact that over 1500 people died needlessly.
That fact never leaves me.
It is still very hard to fully comprehend.

The dictionary definition of controversial is: Controversial is used to describe someone or something that causes people to get upset and argue. Controversial is the adjective form of the noun controversy, which is a prolonged dispute, debate, or state of contention, especially one that unfolds in public and involves a stark difference of opinion.

I don't think controversial is the right word for the loss of life. Sad, Needless, Upsetting or maybe even Criminal (although this description might be controversial!!!)

I think the most controversial is the Californian incident as many people still argue or dispute the facts to this day!

 

[Arun Vajpey]

I think the fact that they did not have enough lifeboats for all those on board - or indeed if the Titanic had been filled to capacity - was also very controversial. Granted, in the 2 hours and 40 minutes that the Titanic took to sink, additional lifeboats would not have made much difference, especially if one considers that there wasn't enough time to launch 2 of the existing boats......but that is besides the point.

 

[William Oakes]

The dictionary definition of controversial is: Controversial is used to describe someone or something that causes people to get upset and argue. Controversial is the adjective form of the noun controversy, which is a prolonged dispute, debate, or state of contention, especially one that unfolds in public and involves a stark difference of opinion.

I don't think controversial is the right word for the loss of life. Sad, Needless, Upsetting or maybe even Criminal (although this description might be controversial!!!)

I think the most controversial is the Californian incident as many people still argue or dispute the facts to this day!

Bah, pure symantics..... The loss of life, as a result of the ship sinking, gave birth to all of the controversies, which are too numerous to list.
The controversies began the moment that the news reached both continents, that the Titanic had foundered.

 

[Samuel Halpern]

The Californian affair.

 

[Richard C Elliott]

The loss of life, as a result of the ship sinking, gave birth to all of the controversies, which are too numerous to list.
The controversies began the moment that the news reached both continents, that the Titanic had foundered.

I rather suspect that the news coverage and consequent public reaction was driven more by the high profile of many of the first class deaths than by the total numbers. If the ship had been carrying only immigrants I doubt if it would have got much coverage.

 

[Kyle Naber]

I think the fact that they did not have enough lifeboats for all those on board - or indeed if the Titanic had been filled to capacity - was also very controversial. Granted, in the 2 hours and 40 minutes that the Titanic took to sink, additional lifeboats would not have made much difference, especially if one considers that there wasn't enough time to launch 2 of the existing boats......but that is besides the point.

I think about this a lot too. It wasn’t the lack of boats, it was the excessive speed and lack of 24/7 wireless that cooked them.

 

[Wayne (Notso) Keen]

I think about this a lot too. It wasn’t the lack of boats, it was the excessive speed and lack of 24/7 wireless that cooked them.

And perhaps an understanding of how wireless could be used as a two way means of communicating important navigational information. One that even supported a query to the fleet on current sea status, rather than just being a novelty to keep the passengers happy.

 

[marina_irc]

I think the fact that they did not have enough lifeboats for all those on board - or indeed if the Titanic had been filled to capacity - was also very controversial. Granted, in the 2 hours and 40 minutes that the Titanic took to sink, additional lifeboats would not have made much difference, especially if one considers that there wasn't enough time to launch 2 of the existing boats......but that is besides the point.

From my perspective as an engineer the real crime was that Titanic had internal subdivision which was inferior to that of Great Eastern, built more than fifty years prior. The only real good safety measure against an allision of the type endured by Titanic is to extend a double hull to the waterline. This had been done in the past, was known, and would be absolutely effective. Titanic would have steamed in to New York at 18 kts* after the allision with the iceberg if she had possessed a double hull carried to the waterline.

*Captain Smith would have almost certainly chosen a lower speed for safety's sake, particularly since the bows might be flooded as it was rare to carry a double hull forward of the collision bulkhead, but she probably could have made 18kts with that damage.

 

[Aurélien WOLFF]

I've seen verry different opinion on the watertight compartment and one shouldn't forget how they were viewed at the time too, titanic wasn't some weak ship, 4 compartment could flooded (and even better waatertight compartment aren't a garante,britannic and costa concordia still sank).

 

[Michael H. Standart]

I think the most controversial is the Californian incident as many people still argue or dispute the facts to this day!

I think you would be right.

It's an aspect of the disaster I've mostly abandoned because of the Good Guy/Bad Guy narrative which has taken over and the real event just wasn't that neat or simple.

 

[marina_irc]

I've seen verry different opinion on the watertight compartment and one shouldn't forget how they were viewed at the time too, titanic wasn't some weak ship, 4 compartment could flooded (and even better waatertight compartment aren't a garante,britannic and costa concordia still sank).

It's not about watertight compartments. It's about damaged length. No ship is designed to survive that much damaged length without a double hull, while a double hull is almost foolproof against a sideswipe impact.

 

[Aurélien WOLFF]

Modern ship still sank despite them often having better safety measure so it's not a 100% garantee it's unsinkable.

 

[marina_irc]

Modern ship still sank despite them often having better safety measure so it's not a 100% garantee it's unsinkable.

Indeed, and? We're talking about the specific damage profile Titanic suffered.