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- Episode 11
Miss Unsinkable: Three Ships. Three Disasters. One Nurse.Episode 112:04
The Questions White Star Could Not Escape
The investigations transformed Titanic from an inexplicable tragedy into an indictment of safety practices, decisions, and unequal treatment.
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Transcript
Titanic sank. Investigators tried safety, speed, and passenger treatment.
Titanic left Southampton April 10th, 1912, sold as an unsinkable triumph.
It was also the largest and most sumptuous luxury liner then sailing.
Titanic's 20 lifeboats could carry only about half the 2,228 aboard.
Owners and builders rejected plans for as many as 64 lifeboats. Those 20 boats still exceeded the government standards then in force.
Ice reports were issued to the maritime world daily; ice was reported nearby. Amerika's report went through Titanic's radio room.
On the fourth day, Titanic fatally struck an iceberg off Newfoundland.
The ship sank about four hours later, at 2:20 a.m., April 15th.
On April 19th, 1912, Michigan Senator William A. Smith chaired hearings.
They began at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
Hearings later moved New York's Waldorf-Astoria to Washington's Russell Senate Office Building.
The hearings then used the building's first hearing room.
Senate probe examined treatment of passengers from different classes.
Many of those who died came from upper-class British and American society.
82 witnesses testified, published transcripts topped 1,100 pages.
The United States and British governments each investigated how it occurred.
The American report identified causes, criticizing negligent safety practices.
The sinking punctured the era’s confidence in humanity’s triumph over nature.
James Cameron extensively researched his Titanic film with Senate transcripts.
James Cameron wrote Senate records provided the exact words bridge officers spoke.
The U.S. Senate's final report helped drive industry changes.
Where it leaves off
Before the investigations were finished shaping policy, the catastrophe had already become a film made less than a month after the sinking.
Sources
- U.S. Senate: Titanic Disaster Hearings: The Official Transcripts of the 1912 Senate Investigationsenate.govsecondary
- Sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic | GovInfogovinfo.govsecondary
- Exhibit: Titanic Memorandumarchives.govsecondary
- The Titanic: A Warning Ignored | National Archivesarchives.govprimary
- Introduction - Wreck of the RMS Titanic: A Resource Guide - Research Guides at Library of Congressguides.loc.govsecondary
- Titanic Treasure Trove (May 1998) - Library of Congress Information Bulletinloc.govsecondary
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