Reverse engines

[Gregory Sheppard]

I heard Ken Marchall say that if the Titanic continued full speed ahead and hard a starboard they would have missed the iceberg because the faster the screws turn the faster the ship turns.

 

[Alicia Coors]

There is little doubt that the ship hit the ice at cruise speed. There simply wasn't enough time to get commands to the engine room and have them carried out (much less take effect) before the collision.

Testimony from four who were in the engineering spaces confirms that receipt of the engine orders and impact occurred nearly simultaneously.

 

[Samuel Halpern]

Missing the iceberg has not too much to do with turning speed, but radius of turn. As it turns out, going at a slower speed does not significantly change the turning radius for the Titanic. That came from H&W engineer named Wilding. You would still hit the berg but do less damage.

 

[Erik Wood]

Sam forgot one thing, it would also change the location, and nature of damage.

In a normal vessel the slower the speed the more rudder it takes to quickly make a turn, the faster the vessel the opposite is of course true. In Titanic's case what Ken is saying is opinion not fact, we have no way of knowing how far away (in reality) Titanic was from the iceberg when it was spotted and how quickly Murdoch responded to the situation. Therefore we have no way of knowing with any certainty what would have worked and what wouldn't have in Titanic's case because we lack the necessary information to plug into a formula. The key information.

 

[Samuel Halpern]

Great having you back Capt. Erik. I fully agree with you about not knowing what would have worked or wouldn't have worked without knowing the distance at which it was first seen and when the order was given to turn the ship. For full rudder deflection, which was 40 degrees on the Titanic, it was reported that the turning circle of the Titanic was about the same at 11 knots as it was at 22 knots. The time it takes to turn a certain number of degrees about doubles at 11 knots compared to 22 knots for the Titanic. British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry - Day 29 - Final Arguments.. With that, if the berg was spotted at a distance too late to avoid by turning away at 22 knots, then it would not necessarily be avoided by turning away going at 11 knots for the same distance when the rudder is put over. You do have more reaction time distance ahead of you going at slower speed, and that might possibly make a difference. But again, not knowing exactly when it was spotted, it all comes down to speculation. It is, however, likely that the damage may not have been so great since the energy of impact goes as the square of the speed. So at 11 knots, for example, the impact energy would have been only 1/4th as great.

 

[Erik Wood]

Sam,

That is true if we are discussing a true collision or a side swipe. That is not necessarily true of a grounding or an allision.

 

[Samuel Halpern]

Good point!