Titanic where are you

[John Farnell]

I just saw a Special on Titanic. And something that they sayed, bothers me.

"The other ships couldn't find Titanic because Titanic was way of course, about 30 or more miles. The ships, in 1912, navigation was very poor. If Titanic would have stayed on course, than the other ships would have found the Titanic with ease. And more lives would have been saved"

What bothers me about this line is that Captain Smith was no rookie with ships navigation, he knew the navigation of the ocean like you and I driving a car. The Wireless Operator, Jack Phillips told the other ships where the Titanic was located from the location that Captain Smith had given Phillips. And again Captain Smith knew.

I don't know if I misunderstood them on what they were saying, but this is what I had interpeted them as to saying.

The name of the Special.
TITANIC - 90 years below.
The History Channel,
Tuesday - 11/19/02

I'm puzzle about this - any help out there?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Unfortunately, it's not as much of a puzzle as you might think. The documentary got it wrong. Titanic's navigation was off by about 13.9 miles. That 30 miles thing is...IMO...a poorly researched crock.

The only reason I can think of that the Carpathia steamed right up to the boats was because the correct position was in a near streight line with the radioed position. However, the icefield as a roadblock notwithstanding, a ship going for the radioed position shouldn't have had a problem at least getting into the ballpark.

 

[Dave Gittins]

It sounds a right load of horsefeathers. All the ships that heard the distress calls were too far way to save more lives, even if they'd steered for the right spot. Carpathia was closest, at about 50 miles and she was too late to do anything except pick up survivors from the boats.

Californian was much closer, but didn't get the call. Even if she had, she could have done very little, though she might have saved a few.

(Let's not go into another thread about Californian.)

Navigation in 1912 was actually very good, Boxhall's little slip notwithstanding. The junior officers spent hours working celestial sights and usually got their fixes right to within a mile or two. They also made mistakes because they worked ridiculous hours, that are now illegal. That's probably why Boxhall got boxed up.

 

[Yuri Singleton]

Surely the officers responsible for the navigation of the ship would have access to some coffee, tea, or snacks while on duty. Right? Even airline pilots can get a cup of 'joe' if they want one.

And if the eyes get a bit heavy around midnight, then there's always a brisk walk around the deck in the cool air to perk you up I suppose.

I would tend to attribute any errors in calculation of Titanic's position by Boxhall, to the stress of the moment. That sudden rush to get the updated position as quickly as possible to the captain. Haste makes waste you know.

As far as the 30 miles off course bit, well that's just completely wrong, and it goes to show once again that one can't always believe something just because it shows up on TV.

Yuri

 

[Dave Gittins]

According to Boxhall, in an interview years later, he did get a cup of tea during his watch. On Californian, coffee was supplied to the watch.

That's all very nice, but Boxhall had been working four hours on and four hours off (plus dog watches) since leaving Southampton. He never slept for more than about 3½ hours. He'd just worked out a six star fix, by complex methods now long forgotten. He was possibly unwell. Whatever he did wrong, I'm not really surprised.

Captain Wood has recently posted an account of the problems officers have getting enough sleep even today. In 1912, navigation on the crack liners was very demanding, but they kept the watches of the days of sail, when it was far cruder.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Unfortunately, about the only thing that's changed regarding underway watch-keeping is that the tools are a lot better. Radio navigation aides, Ships Inertial Navigation Systems, GPS, etc...all of which in U.S. Navy practice is still backed up with the sextant and the charts and tables that go along with it.

In some ways, it's worse since both officers and enlisteds still have their respective jobs and collateral duties to attend to in addition to watch keeping. I've seen the captains of several of my ships up befor dawn and still on the run long after everyone else has turned in to their bunks, and it was little better for the troops who had to keep the underway watch.

Sleep? What's that?