1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, welcome to the podcast. I'm 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: editor Candice Gibson, joined by staff writer Jane McGrath. Jane, 4 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:24,640 Speaker 1: I don't think that there's anything as big and posh 5 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: and attention catching in the annals of naval history as 6 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:31,160 Speaker 1: the Titanic, but it's true. I don't think many people 7 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: who do not have up. I guess I should say 8 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,879 Speaker 1: a marine history rather than naval history. So it was 9 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: a seagoing vessel, and it was almost like a hotel 10 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: on the water. And the idea behind it was precisely 11 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: that Jay Bruce is May and Lord Pierry of Harlem 12 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: and Wolf shipbuilders. They were at dinner one night and 13 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: they were talking about the Cunard lines newest liners, the 14 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: Mauritania and Lusitania, and they said to themselves, we can 15 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: make one or three. Even with their plan, we're gonna 16 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: have a triumvirate of ships that were even bigger and 17 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: better the Olympic, the Gigantic and the Titanic. That's right. 18 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: And they wanted to make these not only fast like 19 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: the Kuniard line, but but luxurious and attractive for for 20 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: the you know, the aristocratic passengers have spend you know, 21 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: a pretty penny to go on exactly the idea of 22 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: being that the more comfortable and luxurious the ship, the 23 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 1: longer distance people would be willing to travel. And so 24 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: they weren't just selling you know, a couple of dollars 25 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:33,679 Speaker 1: worth of tickets to people. We're talking about a first 26 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: class ticket then in today's dollars, is equivalent to about 27 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: forty three thousand dollars to about eighty thousand dollars, which 28 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: is a ton of money. I mean, I don't even 29 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,320 Speaker 1: know people who spend that on airfare, you know, flying 30 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: halfway across the world. A good point. Maybe you do, 31 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: if you do, write me because I want to travel 32 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: with you. So then what made the Titanic so special? Well, 33 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: it's interesting because it was so incredibly lush, and you 34 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: know the first class passengers, you know, they were they 35 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: were used to being treated nicely, but not as nicely 36 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: as on this as on this ship, I mean they 37 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:08,359 Speaker 1: had such Uh they had a squash court, I think, 38 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:12,119 Speaker 1: and that you mentioned in the article, and uh there's 39 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: gem there were a Turkish baths. Yeah, that and these 40 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:16,919 Speaker 1: things are amenities that people had to pay a little 41 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: bit extra for But you bring up an important point 42 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 1: about the first class and what they had access to. 43 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: And I'm sure that all of you know this, but 44 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:29,239 Speaker 1: there were three distinct classes on board the Titanic, first, second, 45 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: and steerage, and so it's really important to sort of 46 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: go ahead in your mind as you're picturing the Titanic 47 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,080 Speaker 1: and that I think the nine different deck levels of it, 48 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: that it was very stratified. There were places that first 49 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 1: class were permitted to go. I mean, they could go 50 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: anywhere they wanted, really because they paid that much, but 51 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: they weren't going to wander down to steerage cabins. But 52 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: then the third class was pretty much restricted to the 53 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 1: bottom of the boat. Second class sort of in the middle. 54 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: And this was such a gigantic ship that it required 55 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: some really special engineering to make it go. And I'm 56 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:01,760 Speaker 1: not gonna lie to you. I'm no engineer. I'm not 57 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,079 Speaker 1: going to profess to know everything about horsepower, etcetera, etcetera. 58 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,800 Speaker 1: But I do know that it had two giant engines 59 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: that were about four stories tall and these two three 60 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 1: blade propellers that were like twenty three ft across, and 61 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: so that's big and it enabled the ship to go 62 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 1: about twenty four knots, and that may sound slow to 63 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: us today, but back then it was really fast, that's true. 64 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: And they put it in the running against the Juniord Line, 65 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: which is the ships that they wanted to compete against, 66 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 1: and it was faster than them. But it's sort of 67 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,639 Speaker 1: broke down in the process. But we'll get see that 68 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: in a minute. Yeah, it was interesting you mentioned with 69 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: the class distinctions, you know that might strike our modern sensibilities. 70 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: Is classism, which I yeah, it is. But it's interesting 71 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: to notice that UM the third class were even treated, 72 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: maybe even better than other ships UM of the time 73 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: because they had their own enclosed rooms and that was 74 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: kind of a luxury in itself. It was a lot 75 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: of them didn't even have that where they were coming from. 76 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: And the White Star Line, which was the manufacturer of 77 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: these three ships, knew that many of the Steerage members 78 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: were European immigrants who were going to New York to 79 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: start a new life, and they really sort of approached 80 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: this with a delicate sensibility and they wanted to make 81 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: this a very special and memorable passage for them. And 82 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 1: to that end, the quarters they had aboard the Titanic 83 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:18,719 Speaker 1: were so much nicer than anything they would have seen 84 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,480 Speaker 1: in any other ship. For instance, there were real mattresses, 85 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: whereas on other ships steerage would have had straw filled 86 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: sacks to sleep on. Now that's not to say that 87 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: it compared with the private and semi private baths of 88 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: the upper class ducks, but I think that there was 89 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: sort of a continuous design and feeling that pervaded the 90 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: entirity of the ship. But it wasn't just the third 91 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: class it had top of the line, it was everyone. 92 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: That's true. If you look at the China and and 93 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: everything like they had this the whole ship had the 94 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: sort of airy designed to it, with palm trees. Everything 95 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: was lush, and you know, they wanted to promote this 96 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,840 Speaker 1: this luxurious atmosphere so much that if you look at 97 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: like the decks, they didn't want to clutter them up 98 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:05,479 Speaker 1: too much with even safety equipment for instance fatal mistake. Yes, 99 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:09,359 Speaker 1: so we have these wide open swaths of gleaming wood 100 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: decks and Thomas Andrews, who was the ship's designer, he 101 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: designed this ship to be unsinkable. And it's interesting too. 102 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,239 Speaker 1: I mean you look at both the engineers and the 103 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:24,679 Speaker 1: passengers aboard were pretty confident. Um just the sheer size 104 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: of the Titanic. It was so gigantic that they felt 105 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,040 Speaker 1: really comfortable there that you know, it was a safe rode, 106 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 1: sort of like when you're an evolving station wagon. Yeah, nothing, 107 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,719 Speaker 1: nothing can harm you. It's just so large. And it 108 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:39,600 Speaker 1: wasn't just the size of the ship that made people 109 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,279 Speaker 1: think it was unsinkable. The ship's designer, Thomas Andrews, designed 110 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:47,440 Speaker 1: watertight doors to drop down between each of the sixteen 111 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:50,479 Speaker 1: compartments and the bottom of the ship, the idea being 112 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: that if something happened to the ship, up to three 113 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 1: of those compartments could flood and the ship wouldn't sink, 114 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: And even in a stretch, four could take on some 115 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: water and the ship would still stay afloats. And that 116 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: makes me feel pretty secure, I mean, and we go 117 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: back to the idea that they didn't have a lot 118 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: of safety equipment on the decks, and that leads me 119 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,839 Speaker 1: to my question actually that I have for you, is 120 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 1: that is it true? A lot of people say that 121 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:16,599 Speaker 1: if they did have enough life boasts, they would have 122 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: been able to save a lot more people from the sinking. 123 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:23,599 Speaker 1: That sadly is fiction. Really Yeah, And it's funny because 124 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: that's a point that people really harp on and attached 125 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: to it, that there were not enough lifeboats to save 126 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: everyone on the Titanic. I think people really latch onto 127 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: this idea because we would like to think that history 128 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:36,280 Speaker 1: could be changed if there were more precautions. But the 129 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: fact of the matter is, there were so many things 130 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:40,760 Speaker 1: that went wrong with the Titanic even before I picked 131 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: up passengers that I think it was doomed to sink 132 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:44,720 Speaker 1: from the start. That's right, even if you look as 133 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:46,799 Speaker 1: far back as the construction of it. I mean people 134 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:51,160 Speaker 1: say that, um, the constructors used substandard iron, even in 135 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: in the materials to you to bank to make the 136 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: ship and uh, and even the the technology, the Marconi 137 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: wireless telegraphy, it was seen as maybe two cutting in 138 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: because a lot of people out there on the boats 139 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: they didn't know how to use it necessarily or to 140 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: decipher it right. So when the Titanic was sinking and 141 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: it sent out it's distress calls, people couldn't interpret it. 142 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: It was like speaking a totally different language. And there's 143 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: some information out there about there not being enough for 144 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: rivets and the ship or the rivets weren't tightened properly, 145 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:25,239 Speaker 1: and we know for a fact that it only underwent 146 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: about six or seven hours worth of testing, and I 147 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 1: think it turned once or twice, but it was never 148 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 1: even sailed at its top speed. And what's more, a 149 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: lot of the crew didn't get on board until an 150 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: hour or say, before the passengers did, and they weren't 151 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: even told what their jobs were until after they got 152 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: on the ship. So how can you be a proper 153 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: lookout for a ship when you haven't been trained in 154 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: that post. That's sure, it doesn't leave a lot of 155 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: time for training. And also if you look at the 156 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: design of the ship, even um I read that the 157 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: rudder was actually kind of an old fashioned design and 158 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: it was smaller even the competition's rudders, And so this 159 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: made it so the ship itself a little less maneuverable, 160 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: and they couldn't shift out of an emergency situation as 161 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: fast as they should have. So when you have something 162 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:12,960 Speaker 1: that large, it's like if you're you're driving an RV 163 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: and all of a sudden you're you're nearing a stop sign. 164 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: You need to know ahead of time that you need 165 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: to go ahead and start breaking slowly You can't just 166 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: slam on the brakes and expect things do okay. It's 167 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: not like you know, my idi bety Honda Civic, where 168 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 1: I haven't have time to do that. The Titanic was 169 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 1: the same way. If they saw something in the water 170 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: that they needed to avoid um and Iceberg, they had 171 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: to think about it a couple of miles ahead. And 172 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: the same goes for turning. You still need you know, 173 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 1: a bigger radius to turn something that large. And what 174 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 1: of my favorite points about how ill prepared the Titanic 175 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,439 Speaker 1: was for this voyage, and it's just smacks of conspiracy, 176 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 1: is that JP Morgan was one of the big financial backers, 177 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,840 Speaker 1: and there's some recent evidence lightly that he kept encouraging 178 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: the shipbuilders to use cheaper and cheaper materials because he 179 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: wanted as much bang for his buck as he could get. 180 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 1: Scandalous scandalous. Well, here's where it gets even juiced here. 181 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:07,080 Speaker 1: He was supposed to be on the maiden voyage and 182 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: then just a couple of hours beforehand, Summa business came 183 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: up and he didn't ride. It's a little suspicious, I know, 184 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: I know, But all that aside back to the live 185 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:18,960 Speaker 1: boats in question. So I'm gonna give you guys some 186 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: numbers just so you can help visualize it. And I 187 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:24,320 Speaker 1: wanted to clarify too that there are so many numbers 188 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: out there when it comes to the Titanic, because Parliament 189 00:09:26,559 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: conducted an inquiry since it sets sail from England, but 190 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: the US Senate also conducted an inquiry. And that may 191 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:34,959 Speaker 1: sound kind of funny, and it kind of is. One 192 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: of the senators, Senator William Smith, knew the captain of 193 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:43,199 Speaker 1: the Titanic, John Smith, and he'd sailed with him before 194 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: and thought, he said, to get captain, how could this 195 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 1: have happened? And so the Senate got involved to again 196 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 1: kind of marking conspiratorial. So did the different investigations come 197 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: up with different different results? No, just about the same thing, 198 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: but the numbers are a little bit different. So we 199 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:02,320 Speaker 1: know that there were enough lifeboats to hold one thousand, 200 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 1: one seventy six passengers, and that's only if they were 201 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,079 Speaker 1: filled to capacity. So on board again numbers from the 202 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:11,960 Speaker 1: U S and it we know there were two thousand 203 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:15,719 Speaker 1: people and eight crew members. So even if you're doing 204 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:18,560 Speaker 1: the math that fast, you know that's not enough. If 205 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 1: you can't get all those people into boats and The 206 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 1: reason why they had so few lifeboats on board sixteen 207 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:28,360 Speaker 1: is that the Board of Trade was the governing body 208 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:31,679 Speaker 1: that set the rules for ocean liners at this time, 209 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: and the number of requisite lifeboats for ships up to 210 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 1: ten thousand tons was sixteen. Well, the Titanic was forty 211 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 1: five thousand tons, but no one had bothered to sit 212 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: down and do the math and say we need this 213 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 1: many more lifeboats to combinate that difference. So the Board 214 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,200 Speaker 1: of Trades regulations sort of went up to it was 215 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: sort of an old fashioned maximum. They weren't sort of 216 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:54,800 Speaker 1: expecting something as big as a Titanic needing regulation exactly. 217 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:56,439 Speaker 1: And you hit on the point earlier day when you 218 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:58,440 Speaker 1: were talking about not wanting to clutter up the decks. 219 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: I think that Titanic X builders and designers conveniently misinterpreted 220 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 1: the guidelines. They could have filled in the number they needed, 221 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:09,679 Speaker 1: but they didn't because they wanted their their decks to 222 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:13,200 Speaker 1: look shiny and open and clean. But okay, so you asked, 223 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 1: could everyone have been saved if there have been enough 224 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: life But it didn't matter now, not really, because when 225 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:21,160 Speaker 1: I was talking about how inefficient the crew wise and 226 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:23,079 Speaker 1: how ill prepared they were and how little testing this 227 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: ship had undergone. I think they only practice lowering what 228 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:29,079 Speaker 1: two to four lifeboats? Is that right? I think yeah, 229 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 1: I think I remember hearing those stuff. So they didn't 230 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:33,440 Speaker 1: have an accurate time estimation for how long it would 231 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:36,439 Speaker 1: take to get that many people ever board. And if 232 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 1: you you look at the survivors talk about it, you'll 233 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:43,440 Speaker 1: notice that not even all of the lifeboats, they weren't 234 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 1: filled to capacity some of them, and that's pretty scandalous. Um. 235 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:51,160 Speaker 1: There was one survivor who wrote um that passengers saw 236 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: that these lofe boats would have to take a fifty 237 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 1: foot drop, and I kind of scared them, and they thought, well, 238 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 1: I'm gonna stick on the unsinkable Titanic. You guys can 239 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 1: go ahead. And this one survivor claims that he asked 240 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: to be on this this on on the filled lifeboat, 241 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: and they said women and children first, see you later, 242 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: and they lowered the boat. And so that's it's a 243 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: kind of testament too. They didn't really know what they 244 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:15,200 Speaker 1: were doing when they were flowering these boats. No one did. 245 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,000 Speaker 1: And there were two evacuations on either side of the ship, 246 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: and one of the people conducting the investigation on one 247 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:23,760 Speaker 1: side said women and children first. The guy on the 248 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: other side was letting anyone who could get in get in. 249 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,320 Speaker 1: But when we say anyone, we mean first class and 250 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:32,679 Speaker 1: then second class. Third class wasn't even told that the 251 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 1: ship was sinking until well after the fact. And it 252 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,920 Speaker 1: was such a quiet disaster. When the ship scraped the iceberg. 253 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 1: It happens so quickly and so quietly that no one 254 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:47,040 Speaker 1: really realized any damage had been done until Thomas Andrews 255 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:50,880 Speaker 1: inspected and said, yeah, it's certain it's going to sink. 256 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:53,080 Speaker 1: And it's sort of scary to think about the panic 257 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:55,679 Speaker 1: that must have ensued down to the steerage decks because 258 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: even if people saw water filling up their cabins, like 259 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:00,960 Speaker 1: we said, they weren't allowed is free room over the 260 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:03,640 Speaker 1: ship like the other class passengers were. Can you imagine 261 00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:05,720 Speaker 1: them just getting lost in the bottom as you know, 262 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,280 Speaker 1: imagine they'd be riots and and you know, fights all 263 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 1: over the place. It was crazy, It was, I mean, 264 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 1: it was essentially a struggle to survive. And later on 265 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 1: when White Star Line sent out rescue craft to search 266 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: for the bodies or any survivors, they got really confused 267 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 1: because they saw so many corpses wearing garments of first 268 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:31,040 Speaker 1: class passengers, but essentially crew and steerage had raided the 269 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:33,480 Speaker 1: cabins and put on whatever they could to stay warm. 270 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,120 Speaker 1: As a terrible it sounds like they went through a 271 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:40,199 Speaker 1: lot of havoc and panics. Yeah, I can't even imagine 272 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,679 Speaker 1: how scary it was. And the recovery efforts for disasters too. 273 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: I mean, when the news broke that the Titanic had sunk, 274 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:48,720 Speaker 1: the world was stunned. I mean, this was the unsinkable ship, 275 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: and I think it took nearly a week to even 276 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:54,439 Speaker 1: compile a list of all the survivors and all that deceased. 277 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:57,560 Speaker 1: So and it sort of captures the imagination even to today. 278 00:13:57,679 --> 00:14:01,080 Speaker 1: I mean, people are obsessed with no what actually happened, 279 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 1: you know, um people they have deferring historical accounts, whose 280 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: to blame and and it's it's a pretty intense debate 281 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 1: all around the board. And people are obsessed with the 282 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: story of the titan The Titanic. Yeah, and that's because 283 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:16,439 Speaker 1: there were so many passengers on board, and everyone had 284 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,000 Speaker 1: a different story, and everyone had a different eye witness account. 285 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 1: There were people who said that the ship broke in 286 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,480 Speaker 1: half before I sink. There are people who didn't report that, 287 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: and later on I think people called it a litigation 288 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:31,920 Speaker 1: nightmare because, like we said, Parliament and the Senate conducted investigations, 289 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 1: but any lawsuits that were brought on the White Star 290 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 1: Line were brought on by families of the individual passengers 291 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:41,360 Speaker 1: for either people lost or property lost. And how I mean, 292 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: how could you even prove anything with all the different testimonies. 293 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: That's right, And one uh, one scandal that people disagree 294 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:52,240 Speaker 1: on is about the chairman and managing director of the 295 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:55,600 Speaker 1: Star the White Star is that it the White Star Line. 296 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:57,600 Speaker 1: There was always start line. His name was Bruce is May, 297 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 1: as you said, and he actually jumped on one of 298 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: these not quite filled lifeboats, and um, people say, oh, 299 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,320 Speaker 1: what a coward, like he took someone else's space when 300 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 1: really like it would not have been taken by by 301 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 1: another person. At least some organizations like the Titanic Historical 302 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: Society tried to defend him and say, like he had 303 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: a wife and kids and no one else was around, 304 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 1: and he just took his opportunity to save his life 305 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:21,600 Speaker 1: and otherwise he just would have been, you know, sunk 306 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:24,600 Speaker 1: with the ship. And it was sad because after he 307 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 1: he survived, and after he got to America he was 308 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,280 Speaker 1: sort of ridiculed by uh like William Randolph Hurst and 309 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:35,400 Speaker 1: his newspapers. And in England sort of they accepted him, 310 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,400 Speaker 1: but America he got maligned. I'm sure he did. And 311 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:41,960 Speaker 1: if you look at the other two arguably other important 312 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 1: figures on board from like Thomas Andrews, the ship's designer, 313 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,040 Speaker 1: and then the captain of the ship, Captain Smith, they 314 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: both sort of quietly waited on board and went down 315 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: with the ship. And Thomas Andrews in particular. I mean, 316 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: even if you think about James Cameron's Titanic, that really 317 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: poignant scene where he says, I wish I could have 318 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 1: reality a better ship ms Rose, that really is sort 319 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:02,920 Speaker 1: of how it happened that which where it is necessarily 320 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 1: but he didn't put on a life vest and he 321 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:07,480 Speaker 1: sat in one of the first class lounges and just 322 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:11,920 Speaker 1: quietly waited. And it's just so eerie even today if 323 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: you go and you look at pictures of artifacts that 324 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:19,080 Speaker 1: have been um like photographed underneath the surface of the water, 325 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:21,520 Speaker 1: or artifacts that have been brought up like one of 326 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: the most haunting things I saw that UM there's a 327 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: traveling Titanic exhibit called Titanic Aquatic, and you can see 328 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: all these things that are ms. Titanic has recovered that 329 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:35,320 Speaker 1: particular society and they have sole ownership over the shipwreck. 330 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: And one of them, it's just um. It was a 331 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,080 Speaker 1: China hutch that went down and was made of wood 332 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 1: and it had these porcelain and gratten dishes in it. 333 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:48,800 Speaker 1: And over time the wood from the China cabinet disintegrated, 334 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: but the gratten dishes were left perfectly stacked and neat 335 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,280 Speaker 1: Little Rose And that's how they are of right now 336 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 1: in the display. They're stacked and neat Little Rose. And 337 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 1: it's so creepy. That is fascinating because like the best 338 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 1: of the Titanic and you just see like even the 339 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 1: exterior of the ship underwater. It's it's really creepy to 340 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: see because of what what the pressure and the water 341 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:09,960 Speaker 1: has done to it. Um. But to see something that 342 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 1: has survived that is that's really weird. It is And 343 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: I know what you're talking about. Like if you see pictures, 344 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 1: haven't you see this sort of like weird seaweed things 345 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 1: sort of waving in the water off the ship's rail 346 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: archaeologists have a word for them. They're called rusticles, because 347 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:28,200 Speaker 1: essentially all these little tiny microbs underwater are just feasting 348 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:32,520 Speaker 1: on the ship, and they suspect that in another I think, 349 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:34,879 Speaker 1: like fifty to ninety years time, the ship is just 350 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:37,400 Speaker 1: going to collapse and implode in on itself and it's 351 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:39,879 Speaker 1: going to be over. So there's a lot of argument 352 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,520 Speaker 1: right now about whether or not we should actually raise 353 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:46,120 Speaker 1: what's left of the hall. That's that's really interesting because 354 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 1: I mean, as someone who's fascinated with the story, I 355 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:50,879 Speaker 1: of course like I want to be in supportive, like 356 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 1: bring it up, because I don't want to see such 357 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 1: an interesting artifact of history destroyed just by you know, nature, 358 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:58,960 Speaker 1: And I think I'm going to take a SHMV on 359 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,640 Speaker 1: the other side, and not even just to play Devil's advocate. 360 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,720 Speaker 1: I really feel that that's where it belongs. Because even 361 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:07,960 Speaker 1: in the recovery efforts of those bodies, not all of 362 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 1: them were brought up, and a lot of the steerage 363 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,399 Speaker 1: and crew members that were recovered, their bodies were actually 364 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: tied to iron rods and thrown beneath the water, so 365 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,679 Speaker 1: they were in essence buried at sea. And so I 366 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:26,000 Speaker 1: think that you know, that's where the ship belongs to them. Yeah, 367 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 1: that's true. There's so much history about the Titanic, and 368 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:30,959 Speaker 1: there's so much that we haven't covered, and you can 369 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,960 Speaker 1: learn even more when you read How Titanic Worked on 370 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:38,960 Speaker 1: how stuff work dot com for moralness and thousands of 371 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,480 Speaker 1: other topics because it how stuff works dot com. Let 372 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,159 Speaker 1: us know what should be Send an email to podcast 373 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: at how stuff works dot com.