All true of course, though the ship's engineers also had the use of bilge pumps to at least buy more time even if not to save the ship entirely. It was mainly a combination of factors, each one individually survivable, that did for the ship; bear in mind that they were exceptional circumstances. For instance, it's likely that the extreme coldness of the air had a smothering effect on the distress rockets' report, dragging the soundwaves down to the sea before they got more than half a mile.
It has been postulated that, had First Officer William Murdoch (commanding at the time) ordered the ship to maintain course, albeit with engines full astern, instead of porting around it as he did, she would have rammed the berg head on, obviously killing everyone in the bow sections, but ultimately might have remained seaworthy long enough for a full rescue, Californian notwithstanding. However, simulations have since shown that she would have foundered much sooner than she did, possibly within the hour, with the loss of all aboard. Besides which, it would take a brave man indeed to deliberately order his ship directly into an iceberg.
As for safety, all this guff about being unsinkable seems to have sprung up as a popular rumour after the event; the White Star Line don't appear to have made any mention of such a thing in any of their literature*. It must be said that her older sister Olympic served right up to 1935, though after safety modifications demanded as a result of the Board of Trade and US Senate inquiries. However it took either a mine or a torpedo (no-one's sure which) to take down her younger sibling Britannic in 1916.
(* It's a bit like the tale of "Nearer My God To Thee" as the band played on. On the one hand, the hymn doesn't appear in the band's repertoire, which mostly consisted of ragtime numbers which many survivors spoke of hearing and which kept up their spirits. On the other hand, it was apparently the favourite hymn of bandleader Wallace Hartley, who could conceivably have requested it himself. So maybe the legend has some veracity after all.)
It has been postulated that, had First Officer William Murdoch (commanding at the time) ordered the ship to maintain course, albeit with engines full astern, instead of porting around it as he did, she would have rammed the berg head on, obviously killing everyone in the bow sections, but ultimately might have remained seaworthy long enough for a full rescue, Californian notwithstanding. However, simulations have since shown that she would have foundered much sooner than she did, possibly within the hour, with the loss of all aboard. Besides which, it would take a brave man indeed to deliberately order his ship directly into an iceberg.
As for safety, all this guff about being unsinkable seems to have sprung up as a popular rumour after the event; the White Star Line don't appear to have made any mention of such a thing in any of their literature*. It must be said that her older sister Olympic served right up to 1935, though after safety modifications demanded as a result of the Board of Trade and US Senate inquiries. However it took either a mine or a torpedo (no-one's sure which) to take down her younger sibling Britannic in 1916.
(* It's a bit like the tale of "Nearer My God To Thee" as the band played on. On the one hand, the hymn doesn't appear in the band's repertoire, which mostly consisted of ragtime numbers which many survivors spoke of hearing and which kept up their spirits. On the other hand, it was apparently the favourite hymn of bandleader Wallace Hartley, who could conceivably have requested it himself. So maybe the legend has some veracity after all.)
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
