Titanic: Why she collided, why she sank, why she should never have sailed

Senan Molony presents a fascinating insight into White Star Line’s conduct following the loss of their prize vessel “Titanic”. In his opinion, the ship should never have been allowed to sail whilst in such an unsafe condition.

It is a now accepted fact that “Titanic” was unfinished before sailing, a number of second and third class cabins were unfinished, sections of the ship were still being painted and many were experiencing problems with heating, so much so, that some passengers simply remained in bed to keep warm! The author states that workmen were still onboard even after the Southampton departure, and were taken off by another vessel en route to Cherbourg

What the author bases this book on, though, is the fact that she was allowed to commence her maiden voyage with a serious fire in a coal bunker. However, it is known that many ships left port with such fires burning, the question here is was it an “Inferno” as claimed by one witness, or “Smouldering” as claimed by another?

Mr Molony provides evidence that the fire was already burning before the ship departed Belfast for Southampton, yet nothing appears to have been done about it, had it been a serious fire, it should have been reported to the Board of Trade, but this never happened, and it was only following her Southampton departure that it was taken seriously.

We are left to decide for ourselves whether this “Inferno” or “Smouldering” fire caused a weakness in a bulkhead, or even if the metal bulkheads were sufficiently thick. Another suggested factor claimed by the author is the poor quality of the coal used owing to the ongoing coal strike. The usual top quality Welsh coal was unavailable, and the shipping line was forced to scavenge leftover coal from other ships in port.

What is truly startling, however, is that of the dozens of firemen, stokers etc. who brought the ship from Belfast, some 95.6% left the ship in Southampton. Surely this is an incredibly high percentage? Why was this? Were they unhappy about trusting their luck to a ship which could likely catch fire mid-Atlantic?

The author also makes the point that the “Rules of the road” were, as now, that when meeting another ship or obstruction, to pass starboard to starboard. Officers would have that edict ingrained in their psyche, yet at the last moment she swung to port to pass, which is why she struck the berg on the starboard side. Had she turned to port immediately, there is a strong chance that the iceberg could have been missed altogether.

One minor irritation for this reviewer is the number of premonitions quoted in the book. Every maritime disaster is rife with them; London (1866) Waratah (1909) Empress of Ireland (1914).

The reader will have to make up their own mind regarding the plethora of post sinking correspondence from the White Star Line and others, Mr Molony has certainly supplied plenty of it and much of it would seem to be suggestive of a cover-up.

Overall, this nicely illustrated book is certainly one to give cause for thought. The reader will disagree with some points, but from others there is no escape.

It is a well researched and easy to read book which I thoroughly recommend the serious “Titanic” researcher to add to their library.

Stoker — A fireman at work in the bunkers of a transatlantic liner.

SS Cairnrona — The *Cairnrona* which also put to sea with a coal bunker fire with devastating results.

Geoff Whitfield
April 2019.

Titanic Why she collided, Why she sank, Why she should never have sailed
Published by Mercier Press : ISBN: 9781781176375

Comment and discuss

Seumas

A good pal of mine (who i'm delighted to say is starting to get interested in Titanic) and I were talking and the subject of Titanic came up."Oh aye, I meant to tell you, the other day I watched a documentary on the internet about the Titanic that you'd love.""Great, what was it called ? what did it focus on ?""I can't remember what it was called but it was about how a coal fire basically snookered the ship and they covered it all up, oh and about how they cut corners during the construction too.""Aww fir f..........":mad:I did recommended that he watch the A&E series "Death of a Dream" and "The Legend Lives On" :cool:I have just done so....Captain Currie, have you ever thought of writing a book about Titanic ?Perhaps a professional's analysis on various examples of leadership, the chain of command, basic seamanship on the night of April 14/15 1912 ? Because if you did, I'd be going down to Waterstones to order my copy in a heartbeat ;)
Samuel Halpern

Recommend Tramps and Ladies by Cmdr James Bisset.He was there.
Jim Currie

If I remember correctly, Bisset was the man (who was there) and who said he saw Californian 10 miles to the northward of Carpathia that morning? We know she never could have been, because she started off from a position NNW of the Carpathia and increased her westerly longitude until she was near to the Mount Temple and even farther away from Carpathia. On the other hand, Bisset's captain (who was also there) and probably better placed than Bisset to keep a lookout, stated that he never saw Californian to recognise her by name until 8 am that morning and then. she was about 6 miles to the WSW.There was a great deal of what Senan might describe as shenanigan going on at that time and Bisset and his captain were up to their eyes in it.My reason for this response is basic. While the book may be worthy of recommendation as a piece of interesting literature, it can hardly be classed as a textbook source of facts concerning the Titanic disaster.
Jim Currie

A good pal of mine (who i'm delighted to say is starting to get interested in Titanic) and I were talking and the subject of Titanic came up."Oh aye, I meant to tell you, the other day I watched a documentary on the internet about the Titanic that you'd love.""Great, what was it called ? what did it focus on ?""I can't remember what it was called but it was about how a coal fire basically snookered the ship and they covered it all up, oh and about how they cut corners during the construction too.""Aww fir f..........":mad:I did recommended that he watch the A&E series "Death of a Dream" and "The Legend Lives On" :cool:Captain Currie, have you ever thought of writing a book about Titanic ?Perhaps a professional's analysis on various examples of leadership, the chain of command, basic seamanship on the night of April 14/15 1912 ?Because if you did, I'd be going down to Waterstones to order my copy in a heartbeat ;)In the "oven" at this very moment and exactly as you would like. (Are you looking over my shoulder?):oops:
Samuel Halpern

My reason for this response is basic. While the book may be worthy of recommendation as a piece of interesting literature, it can hardly be classed as a textbook source of facts concerning the Titanic disaster.Seumas wrote: "Perhaps a professional's analysis on various examples of leadership, the chain of command, basic seamanship on the night of April 14/15 1912." Tramps and Ladies gives a very insightful look into the question of leadership, the chain of command, and basic seamanship in the early era of the 20th century from one who worked his way up that chain of command. The involvement in the Titanic disaster is but a small part of the overall story. Stepping back earlear, the same author wrote about growing up and apprenticing in the days of sail before moving on to steamships. The name of that first book was Sail Ho! My Early Years at Sea.
Samuel Halpern

it [Tramps & Ladies] can hardly be classed as a textbook source of facts concerning the Titanic disaster.Never said it was, or was intended to be, but neither is: [SIZE=7]Titanic: Why she collided, why she sank, why she should never have sailed[/SIZE]which is what this thread is supposedly about.
Seumas

In the "oven" at this very moment and exactly as you would like. (Are you looking over my shoulder?):oops:Smashing ! Good luck with it and I very much look forward to it's publication :D[QUOTE="Samuel Halpern, post: 409081, member: 137378"]Seumas wrote: "Perhaps a professional's analysis on various examples of leadership, the chain of command, basic seamanship on the night of April 14/15 1912."Tramps and Ladies gives a very insightful look into the question of leadership, the chain of command, and basic seamanship in the early era of the 20th century from one who worked his way up that chain of command. The involvement in the Titanic disaster is but a small part of the overall story. Stepping back earlear, the same author wrote about growing up and apprenticing in the days of sail before moving on to steamships. The name of that first book was Sail Ho! My Early Years at Sea.Mr Halpern, I will definitely keep an eye out for Bissett's memoirs without a doubt. Thanks for that recommendation.I'm actually planning at some point this week on picking up a copy of "Report into the Loss of the SS Titanic" which you of course had a hand in. Very much looking forward to reading it ;)
Julian Atkins

For those of you who would like to read Bissett's 'Tramps and Ladies' for free...Full text of "TRAMPS AND LADIES" The Titanic and The Californian stuff is from p.284 onwards.It is well worth reading. One thing that crops up around p.289/290 is that Bissett states Cottam got Evans' ice warning message to The Antillian. I will need to have a look at the 'reconstituted' Carpathia PV on this.Happy reading!Cheers,Julian
Jim Currie

Quite posible, Julian. They would be, very roughtly, 130 miles apart at that time.