Patric Corrocher

Mechanical Components

Engineering Failure Paper

12/6/17

The sinking of the Titanic was an American tragedy, and a well-known example of an
engineering failure. Despite the claims of the ship being “unsinkable”, the Titanic sank less than three
hours after hitting an iceberg. There were many different reasons that the Titanic sank and ended up
killing so many people, and many of these were engineering failures.

One engineering failure that caused the Titanic to sink was the quality and amount of rivets that
were used. The rivets used in the Titanic were made with wrought iron and contained averages of three
times more slag than should have been used. The low quality materials in the rivets became incredibly
brittle from the freezing water that the ship sailed through. The pressure to build Titanic as quickly as it
was constructed caused the company to order lesser quality iron, and to hire inexperienced workers to
forge and install the rivets. In the location where most of the damage from the iceberg collision
occurred, there were only two rows of rivets holding the ship’s walls together. Experts speculate that is
higher quality rivets were used, or even if there were three or four rows instead of two, the Titanic
might have delayed sinking by hours, or even could have potentially even reached land.

Another engineering failure that played a part in the sinking of the Titanic was the height of the
watertight compartments, the main bragging point of the “Unsinkable Ship”. The Titanic did have
multiple watertight compartments, but they were not tall enough. In order to make the watertight
compartments tall enough to be effective, the first class room space would have been compromised.
The designers of the ship decided to sacrifice safety and effective water-tight compartments for luxury
suites. Because the watertight compartments were not tall enough, they were open of the top, and they
did not prevent the water coming into the ship from getting to additional compartments, causing the
ship to fill with water and sink.

There were other various design flaws that caused the Titanic to sink and for so many people to
lose their lives. Other failures include the improper use of naval radios, the speed at which the ship was
traveling, and the tragic fact that there were only life boats for half of the ship’s passengers. After the
sinking of the Titanic, the White Star Line, which owned the Titanic, made several changes to their
existing ships and more laws and regulations were put into place to ensure other ships did not make the
same mistakes as the RMS Titanic. Rivets on existing ships were replaced, and companies began taking
their time when building ships, knowing not to compromise safety for deadlines. The watertight
compartments on the other White Star Line ships were increased and closed off, making them more
effective. According to Vicki Bassett, “At the 1948 Convention on Safety of Life at Sea, specifications for
the orientation, length, and number of watertight compartments in passenger ships were established”.
Many other rules and regulations were put into place at this convention in 1948. Proper radio use
became mandatory, enough lifeboats for all passengers became mandatory and more advanced iceberg
prevention rules were put into place. The sinking of the Titanic was a tragic event that caused the death
of over a thousand people, but the sinking created new rules and regulations to prevent a similar
tragedy from occurring again.
References

Bassett, V. (n.d.). Causes and Effects of the Rapid Sinking of the Titanic. Retrieved December 05, 2017,
from http://writing.engr.psu.edu/uer/bassett.html

What really sank the Titanic? (2015, April 07). Retrieved December 05, 2017, from
https://www.materialstoday.com/metals-alloys/news/what-really-sank-the-titanic/