(April 15, 2013 at 8:21 pm)Chuck Wrote:(April 15, 2013 at 7:54 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Poor design, shoddy construction and a lot of damned bad luck.
Actually, no. It's design was as good as any of the era and well above what was considered to be adequate. It's construction was also well above standard and probably as good as any. It's silly to say she would not meet 2010 Safety of Life at Sea standards and therefore a poor design for her time.
As it happens, she probably would have survived the damage that sank the 2006 Costia Concordia last year.
But very bad luck indeed.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/a...liner.html
Quote:In the rush to beat competition from Cunard, the White Star liner was supplied with a vessel that was made using substandard materials.
McCarty and Foecke tested 48 rivets recovered from the wreck and found they had high levels of slag, a result of smelting that can make the iron brittle. If put under intense pressure, the rivets made from it would have been liable to splinter.
Plus the bulkheads did not go all the way up (poor design) there were too few lifeboats ( criminally negligent homicide!) and rescue ships with radio capability were too far away...but they were only too far away because the ship sank so fast.
