We have been talking about the RMS Titanic and the myths which surround the greatest of maritime disasters. We mentioned the size and speed of the ship, her watertight compartments, and the grade of steel from which she was made. But there is so much more surrounding this ship and the people who sailed on her.

      One of the subjects often discussed about Titanic is her lifeboats and that, had she had enough boats for all, everyone would have been saved. There is only some truth to this. There were approximately 2201 passengers and crew. There were lifeboats for just half that many, about 1100 people, yet only 705 people were saved. Three problems explained this low number of people saved.

     First, people were reluctant to get into the boats. One boat left with only 12 people because Officer Murdoch was unable to convince anyone else to get in, even going against the "women and children only" rule and allowing some newlywed couples in. Why? Most people just could not accept that a ship as large as Titanic would really be in any kind of danger. Towards the end, boats were loaded much close to full capacity because it soon became quite obvious that the unsinkable was indeed going to sink. Most of the boats which left were instructed to either hang around by the gangway doors to pick up additional passengers, or to come back after she went down to pick up survivors. That is not what happened. The boats rowed away, and only one, the boat with Officer Lowe in charge, came back. Wives who had earlier wailed because their husband were not allowed into the boats, were now wailing for their boats not to go back! Would more boats have helped? No, it is not likely. Titanic literally floated off the last boat minutes before the ship went down. There would not have been time to load boats had there been more, and given that boats refused to come back, it is doubtful more would have been saved.What would have helped the situation greatly (and in this case  more boats would have also helped) is had the crew been more familar with the equipment. They did a gallant job and much praise should be due them because Captain Smith cancelled the usual Sunday boat drill and so for many, if not most, of the crew, this emergency was their first exposure to the new boat davits.

     Was there an unusual amount of ice that year? The answer to that is without a doubt, yes. Officer Charles Lightoller, the highest ranking officer who survived had been at sea for nearly thirty years and had never seen this amount of ice this far south. What had happened was that an unusually warm winter had caused a good deal of ice to break free and large packs of it were in the shipping lanes.  Titanic may have been going full steam that night, but it was the usual for steamships, not the exception. There were tight schedules to be met and the passengers were ever pressuring for faster crossings. Captain Smith of the Titanic was just doing what other captains of his time did. He and his officers did not receive all the ice warning which were coming in, because there was no procedure for marconiograms which were new at the time. The officers believed they were south of the worst ice and they believed they would spot any ice they did come across with enough time to get around it, and this was where the biggest mistake came.

     Ships had been growing by startling leaps and bounds. Less than a year before Titanic's 46,000 tons, most ships had been about 15,000 tons. There is a world of difference between maneuvering 15,000 tons and 46,000 tons. Smith greatly overestimated what Titanic was capable of. Her sea trials were brief, just a few turns and stops at various speeds. Smith did learn that, steaming at 18 knots, then throwing the engines in reverse, it took Titanic 3000 feet to stop. She would have nothing like that 12 days later.

     The night of the 14th, Titanic was steaming at about 22 knots. It was a clear, windless and moonless night. A moon would have helped them see the bergs, and some wind would have made the water breaking around the bergs visible. Titanic struck a glancing blow, making very tiny gashes along nearly 300 feet of her starboard side. It took her from 11:40pm to 2:20 am to sink.

     For most of the time between 1912 and 1985, Titanic was an occasional topic. Many books were written but it was not until 1985 that Titanic began making headlines around the world. It was then that Robert Ballard of Woods Hole oceanographic institute found the wreck. To say that it made news, is an understatement. More books, documentaries, computer games and such were created. Many people who had not known much about her, suddenly became fascinated by Titanic. This in itself was nice in a way, a way of remembering the ship and those who sailed her. But, as too often happens, there were those who wished to profit from Titanic.

     RMS Titanic Inc, a publicly traded stock, became the first to rob Titanic of her dignity. They removed over 5000 artifacts, claiming to treat the wreck with the greatest care. They neglected to mention that they bashed in the crow's nest while trying to get at the telephone there. While some people see this as a way of preserving history, many more feel it is little more than grave robbing.  I would have to agree. Ballard tried his best to protect Titanic and though a few laws were passed, RMS Titanic Inc. fought legally to become Salvor in Possession.

     What seemed far more harmless was James Cemeron's 1997 film Titanic, in which an imaginary couple practiced forbidden love on the stricken liner. Cameron even built a partial reconstruction of one side of Titanic in the movie, taking great pains to recreate the ship. One must wonder, why then, would he invent imaginary people. Some answer for the story to be good, but those who know Titanic well, know far better stories which are true. What about the Strausses? The elderly couple refused to be parted after their long years together, preferring to die together rather than one go on alone. There were several other couples who felt the same. But Cameron invented a blue heart diamond and a Rose and Jack to go with it. I suppose I could accept that, if it were not for Camerone's near criminal treatment of Officer Murdoch.

  
Officer Murdoch, played by Ewan Stewart, was the officer on watch when Titanic struck the iceberg. Murdoch put the engines hard astern hoping to port around the ice but failed to do so. Cameron portrays Murdoch being distracted on the bridge and not seeing the berg right away. He later has Murdoch accept money from a passenger trying to buy a seat on the lifeboat. Later, Cameron has Murdoch shoot several steerage passengers and then committing suicide.  What is so criminal about his is that there weren't even rumors that Murdoch took a bribe and no  one turned up at the hearing which took place after the accident, who testified that Murdoch shot anyone or himself. In fact, Lightoller testified, as did two other passengers and crew, that Murdoch was knocked overboard when the bow took a sudden dip. This treatment of Murdoch is made worse by the fact that the real Officer Murdoch has an elderly nephew alive today in Scottland, and he is more than upset over the treatment of his uncle.

     It is not always easy to see beyond myth, legend and romance to the real truth. It is always sad when the decision is made to profit on someone else's misfortune, even when it was long ago. There could still be a good deal to learn about Titanic, and the era from which she came and it can still be learned with the liner where she remains. There is no need to wreck the shipwreck.

The beautiful painting of Titanic on the top of this page was done by master artist Stuart Williamson. Please visit Stuart's website and view this and other painitings of Titanic, Empress of Ireland, Lusitania and other ocean liners. Prints are available.