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Why did so many people die on the Titanic?

Why did so many die on the Titanic?

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Page 1: Why did so many die on the Titanic?

Why did so many people die on the Titanic?

Page 2: Why did so many die on the Titanic?

The Gash

• Gash along the fore starboard

hull, popping rivets and springing plates

apart

• 5 compartments punctured and flooded

Bulkheads only as high as E deck

• Andrews gave the ship 2 hours before it

sank

Page 3: Why did so many die on the Titanic?

Lifeboats

Only 16 lifeboats and 4 collapsible boats

(capacity, 1,178)

The ship was unsinkable; lifeboats needed

only to ferry passengers to rescue ships

Ship owners wanted deck space

The Atlantic was no place to lower 50 to 60

lifeboats

People accepted the risk of going to sea

Page 4: Why did so many die on the Titanic?

Disorganisation

• Only 707 made it to the lifeboats; first boat lowered had 28;

boat 1 had only 12

• Reluctance to leave safety and warmth of ship

• No drill; passengers not assigned lifeboat stations so

manning of boats was haphazard

• Steerage (3rd class) held back

• Crew had no experience of handling davits; some believed

they could not lower full boats

• Lightoller on port loaded only women & children; Murdoch

on starboard loaded women and children first

• Panic at the end: officers fired warning shots and there

were accounts of two men shot dead

Page 5: Why did so many die on the Titanic?

The Water temperature

• 28 degrees Fahrenheit / -2 centigrade

• Most people froze to death

• Only a few people were pulled out of the

water alive

• The lifeboats rowed away from the scene;

• Swimmers were prevented from climbing

aboard the lifeboats

• The Carpathia was 4 hours away