Were most of the Titanic's lights on during the Sinking?

[James T. Shorter]

A lot of survivors claimed that every porthole was lit up even as the bridge went under. But the problem with this is that the Titanic wasn’t fully booked, therefore not every single cabin would have the need to have a light on. Another problem I see with this is the way people generally act. I don’t know about everyone else, but when I leave a room, I turn off the light. I can see why public spaces would have remained lit, but I think only a few of the PORTHOLES were lit. The promenade and boat decks would have been bright, but the funnels would have been black, the poop deck would have probably been very dark, and things of that sort. However, compared to the night sky, the Titanic was very bright. I think some of the survivors were basically saying this, while dramatizing subconsciously.

It probably looked something like this:
View attachment 39303

I do turn the lights off but not on a sinking ship heck I am getting to safety you can forget about a light that's about to be at the bottom of the sea in a couple of hours

 

[marina_irc]

Anakin, the emergency dynamos were main line steam powered just like the main set. The only emergency aspect was that they were sited further up in the hull to be above possible flooding. Once the steam lines were lost then they would rapidly spool down. The only lights that could have remained visible were any oil lamps and there were none of those in the main body of the ship. Possibly one at a mast head?

There is another possibility, though--Titanic's steam system ran partially at sub-atmospheric pressures, so distribution lines to auxiliary machinery may have had vacuum breakers. That would keep the emergency dynamos running for a brief period of time in addition to the spin-down.

 

[Zirnitra]

if titanic dynamo flywheel was pretty heavy it could spin for few minutes thus still giving some power and this can explain why titanic lights were going dimmer and dimmer

 

[marina_irc]

if titanic dynamo flywheel was pretty heavy it could spin for few minutes thus still giving some power and this can explain why titanic lights were going dimmer and dimmer

"Could", but it wasn't. Nobody designs a dynamo
that way. The mass of a flywheel that large is much more substantial than you think, and rotational energy can have gyroscopic effects on a ship's stability.

 

[Richard C Elliott]

Nobody designs a dynamo that way.

Ah, but they do! The generators supplying the cooling pumps at Chernobyl come to mind as an example. That is what they were testing when the reactor exploded. The 'flywheel' effect (a designed safety feature) worked fine. That was not the problem they ran into.

I totally agree with you though that the majority of generators are not designed that way, and certainly not on ships.

 

[marina_irc]

Ah, but they do! The generators supplying the cooling pumps at Chernobyl come to mind as an example. That is what they were testing when the reactor exploded. The 'flywheel' effect (a designed safety feature) worked fine. That was not the problem they ran into.

I totally agree with you though that the majority of generators are not designed that way, and certainly not on ships.

Those were turbogenerators, not dynamos, and the steam pressure was part of the rundown.

 

[Richard C Elliott]

Those were turbogenerators, not dynamos ...

I know, but I couldn't resist the temptation

They were also, of course, very massive which supports your comment about why the idea would never be applicable on ships.

 

[marina_irc]

I know, but I couldn't resist the temptation

They were also, of course, very massive which supports your comment about why the idea would never be applicable on ships.

Fair, fair, that was awfully pedantic of me anyhow.

Do you know if Titanic's steam lines had vacuum fuses, though?

 

[Richard C Elliott]

Do you know if Titanic's steam lines had vacuum fuses, though?

Sorry, I don't know.