The Loss of the S.S. Titanic | Page 3

be exceeded. The Titanic, therefore, was
built on broader lines than the ocean racers, increasing the total
displacement; but because of the broader build, she was able to keep
within the draught limit at each port she visited. At the same time she
was able to accommodate more passengers and cargo, and thereby
increase largely her earning capacity. A comparison between the
Mauretania and the Titanic illustrates the difference in these respects:--
Displacement Horse power Speed in knots Mauretania 44,640 70,000
26 Titanic 60,000 46,000 21
The vessel when completed was 883 feet long, 92 1/2 feet broad; her
height from keel to bridge was 104 feet. She had 8 steel decks, a
cellular double bottom, 5 1/4 feet through (the inner and outer "skins"
so-called), and with bilge keels projecting 2 feet for 300 feet of her
length amidships. These latter were intended to lessen the tendency to
roll in a sea; they no doubt did so very well, but, as it happened, they
proved to be a weakness, for this was the first portion of the ship
touched by the iceberg and it has been suggested that the keels were
forced inwards by the collision and made the work of smashing in the
two "skins" a more simple matter. Not that the final result would have
been any different.
Her machinery was an expression of the latest progress in marine
engineering, being a combination of reciprocating engines with
Parsons's low-pressure turbine engine,--a combination which gives
increased power with the same steam consumption, an advance on the
use of reciprocating engines alone. The reciprocating engines drove the
wing-propellers and the turbine a mid-propeller, making her a
triple-screw vessel. To drive these engines she had 29 enormous boilers
and 159 furnaces. Three elliptical funnels, 24 feet 6 inches in the widest
diameter, took away smoke and water gases; the fourth one was a
dummy for ventilation.
She was fitted with 16 lifeboats 30 feet long, swung on davits of the
Welin double-acting type. These davits are specially designed for
dealing with two, and, where necessary, three, sets of lifeboats,--i.e., 48

altogether; more than enough to have saved every soul on board on the
night of the collision. She was divided into 16 compartments by 15
transverse watertight bulkheads reaching from the double bottom to the
upper deck in the forward end and to the saloon deck in the after end
(Fig. 2), in both cases well above the water line. Communication
between the engine rooms and boiler rooms was through watertight
doors, which could all be closed instantly from the captain's bridge: a
single switch, controlling powerful electro-magnets, operated them.
They could also be closed by hand with a lever, and in case the floor
below them was flooded by accident, a float underneath the flooring
shut them automatically. These compartments were so designed that if
the two largest were flooded with water--a most unlikely contingency
in the ordinary way--the ship would still be quite safe. Of course, more
than two were flooded the night of the collision, but exactly how many
is not yet thoroughly established.
Her crew had a complement of 860, made up of 475 stewards, cooks,
etc., 320 engineers, and 65 engaged in her navigation. The machinery
and equipment of the Titanic was the finest obtainable and represented
the last word in marine construction. All her structure was of steel, of a
weight, size, and thickness greater than that of any ship yet known: the
girders, beams, bulkheads, and floors all of exceptional strength. It
would hardly seem necessary to mention this, were it not that there is
an impression among a portion of the general public that the provision
of Turkish baths, gymnasiums, and other so-called luxuries involved a
sacrifice of some more essential things, the absence of which was
responsible for the loss of so many lives. But this is quite an erroneous
impression. All these things were an additional provision for the
comfort and convenience of passengers, and there is no more reason
why they should not be provided on these ships than in a large hotel.
There were places on the Titanic's deck where more boats and rafts
could have been stored without sacrificing these things. The fault lay in
not providing them, not in designing the ship without places to put
them. On whom the responsibility must rest for their not being
provided is another matter and must be left until later.
When arranging a tour round the United States, I had decided to cross

in the Titanic for several reasons--one, that it was rather a novelty to be
on board the largest ship yet launched, and another that friends who had
crossed in the Olympic described her as a most comfortable boat in a
seaway, and it was reported that the Titanic