Titanic vs. Iceberg (1912)

    The story of the unsinkable Titanic is instantly recognizable. On its maiden voyage from England to the United States, the Titanic collided with an iceberg on Sunday, April 14, 1912 at 11:40 p.m. and sunk two-and-a-half hours later, resulting in over 1,500 deaths. The shipbuilding costs totaled $7.5 million, with an inflation-adjusted price of $168 million.



Groupthink and Overconfidence are Dangerous

Icebergs were not regarded as threats and the Titanic had inadequate lifeboats for all passengers and crew. These two main drivers caused the loss of life. At the time, however, the Titanic’s crew and captain were abiding by principles and standards that the majority of maritimers would have agreed with. And herein lies the rub, the Titanic failed not because rules were broken, but because the wrong rules were followed.

A United States Senate inquiry concluded with ruling the disaster an “act of God”. Other liners of the time had rammed icebergs without causing catastrophic damage, and ice warnings were seen as advisories, not meriting speed reductions. It was not mandated that ocean liners carry enough lifeboats for all passengers, as lifeboats were viewed primarily as a means of transporting passengers to another close-by vessel, as opposed to providing standalone support. While Captain Smith was quoted as saying in 1907 he could not “imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder . . . modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that”, his confidence was likely the result of groupthink and shared by the vast majority of shipbuilders and seamen. Ultimately, the best efforts of mankind were not enough.

Had Captain Smith doubted the strength of the vessel and reduced the speed in areas of heavy ice, it is likely the catastrophe would not have occurred. But Captain Smith would have had to justify this position, as it was the exception at the time. The general belief was ice posed little danger to large vessels. General beliefs can be wrong, commonly accepted practices can fail, and “acts of God” happen. The Titanic crew was not prepared for any of these.