OT 15 April Titanic.

One hundred years ago today (15 April) the Titanic sank.

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3/4 of the passengers were drowned including several American millionaires.

Reply to
harry
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I thought it was too big to sink.

I always found it strange that there wasn't enough wood or other light-weight materials onboard that could have been scavanged to make ad-hoc rafts or other floatation aids.

Weren't there enough bathtubs in the staterooms that could have been used as one-person mini-boats?

Reply to
Home Guy

I can possibly agree with the wood theory, but removing tubs, plugging drain holes and getting them launched is quite the fantasy.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Weren't the tubs of the time heavy metal things that probably would have just sunk like a rock anyway.

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

The ship was carrying lots of cargo, so I'm sure there would have been lots of wood crates, etc.

I'm sure the tubs had plugs or stoppers as standard equipment.

And I'm sure there were plenty of axes and other tools on a ship like that.

And I think the staterooms were on the upper levels of the ship (not far below decks).

And I think there was enough time to hack or break out the tubs (didn't the ship take more than 2 hours to sink?).

And -> I would think there would have been enough life-or-death motivation to make all this happen.

Reply to
Home Guy

most passengers didnt believe there was real danger, after all it was advertised as unsinkable, and it went down fast.

recent news said most passengers thought it was safer to stay onboard

Reply to
bob haller

Wow, if only you were aboard, no lives would have been lost. Considering this took place 100 years ago and you've never seen the ship, you sure made a lot of suppositions. What wee the tubs made from? Used to be cast iron, but on the ship, I have no idea.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

My guess would be badly damaged as in torn apart and traumatized. Other wise they probably would have been talking about decomposition.

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

Eighty-five percent of the women and children survived; seventy-five percent of the men were lost.

It was a different time.

Reply to
HeyBub

You do know the water is rather chilly in the N. Atlantic in April?

Reply to
krw

Yes - hence the point about using any available materials or objects to make a raft or floation aid to stay above the water.

Including ripping out any handy bathtubs...

Reply to
Home Guy

Have you seen what the inside of that ship looked like?

They must have used several forests worth of wood.

Last I heard, wood floats...

Reply to
Home Guy

Lots of hungry fish in the sea.

Charlie

Reply to
Charlie

The comment did come from someone who lives in fantasy land...

Reply to
George

But you need to not only float but to stay out of the water. How would you go about doing that? Besides, it sank within 3 hours (~2:45 IIRC). Who would you pull off of manning lifeboats to get all this stuff? How would you move it from the hold, especially with many of the decks already flooded? How is all this supposed to happen in the small time frame?

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

there was plenty of stuff to grab onto not to mention they had on life vests. The main problem was the 29 degree water. A person only last a few min at that temp even if they are in good shape.

Reply to
Steve Barker

another major problem is that the situation was downplayed until the latter minutes and no one actually thought she would sink.

Reply to
Steve Barker

If you're going to drown nothing is out of the question. ;) Would a bathtub float with a person in it?

There have been studies done on "what they could have done" but unfortunanly that's Monday morning quarterbacking. I think many believed it wasn't going to sink, until it did.

One idea was to tie all the deck chairs together.

Reply to
gonjah

It is difficult to second guess...

One possible solution might have been to remain close to the iceberg, and find a way to climb aboard the iceberg. I imagine that is not easy but might be the best alternative. It was the only thing for miles around floating.

It's a real shame that the wireless (radio) safety rules were not in effect, there were other ships in the area but their radios were off for the night.

Mark

Reply to
MarkK

LOL! A raft wouldn't keep them warm.

No chance of swamping a bathtub, either. What a moron.

Reply to
krw

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