Mistakes In The Night

Initial Distress Positions:

• The first distress position transmitted by Titanic was 41° 44’ N, 50° 24’ W, which was over 20 miles west of the wreck site.
• The revised position was 41° 46’ N, 50° 14’ W, about 13 miles west of the wreck site.

Speculations and Explanations:

• Various theories have been proposed to explain the errors, including overestimating the ship’s speed, errors in time, and calculation mistakes.
• Dr. Robert Ballard suggested an overestimation of Titanic’s speed by 2 knots.
• Dave Gittins proposed that Boxhall might have read from the wrong column of a traverse table.
• Captain L. Marmaduke Collins suggested the wreck drifted due to underwater currents.
• Samuel Halpern previously suggested a misreading of the chronometer by Third Officer Pitman.

Revised Explanation:

• Halpern re-examines the issue, suggesting that Boxhall’s error was due to reading from the wrong column of a traverse table, leading to a 14-minute error in longitude.
• He also proposes that Captain Smith made a simple mental arithmetic error, miscalculating the time difference by one hour.

Calculations and Derivations:

• Halpern works backward from the erroneous positions to derive the coordinates of the 7:30 p.m. celestial fix.
• He shows that Boxhall’s CQD position could have been derived from a misreading of the traverse table.
• He also demonstrates how Captain Smith’s initial CQD position could have resulted from a one-hour error in time calculation.

Conclusions:

• Simple mistakes in time calculation and reading from the wrong column of a table can lead to significant errors in position.
• The explanations provided are consistent with the navigation methods used in 1912 and the evidence from Titanic’s surviving officers.