The RMS titanic: 100 years later

The article discusses how the sinking of the RMS Titanic on the night of April 14-15, 1912 provides a fascinating account of the nexus of human error, ship construction, and metallurgical behavior. Ship Captain Edward John Smith, a seasoned sailor on his last transatlantic trip and ready to retire from the White Star Line, was warned by 'wireless' numerous times by passing ships that there was a massive field of icebergs. However, Smith continued at normal speed of about 21 knots. The 46,329-ton ship, traveling at almost full speed, hit the iceberg at the bow on its starboard side just below the waterline. If Captain Smith reduced the speed or had he stopped the ship until daylight, this tragedy would have been avoided. A fatal error in the construction of the ship was the fact that the bulkheads were not completely extended upward to the top deck, sealing each compartment from one another. During the collision, the ship hit the iceberg in several distinct glancing impacts, about 20 feet below the ship's waterline.