Even God can't sink it, the 4 secrets from which the curtain could not be lifted even after 111 years of Titanic sinking.
Exactly 111 years ago today, the Titanic hit an iceberg on a dark night. At that time, most of the passengers on board were asleep.
At the time of the accident, the Titanic was traveling from Southampton, England to New York, America at a speed of 41 km/h and sank in the Atlantic Ocean within three hours between 14 and 15 April 1912.
The ship, which was said to be unsinkable, not only sank in the sea within hours, but around 1500 people also died in the accident.
Even after 111 years, it is considered the biggest maritime disaster. In September 1985, the wreckage of the plane was removed from the crash site in the Atlantic Ocean.
After the accident, the ship broke into two parts 650 km off Canada at a depth of 3,843 meters and the two parts were 800 meters apart.
111 years later there are still mysteries surrounding the crash, BBC News Brazil spoke to some experts to try to find answers to these mysteries.
1. 'This ship can never sink'
It was said about this huge ship that 'It cannot sink, even God cannot sink it.' There were some reasons for this belief.
"In terms of engineering, it was the first design-based ship," says engineer Alexandre de Pinho Alho, professor and engineer at the Department of Naval and Ocean Engineering at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Several watertight compartments were built, meaning that if one compartment of the ship filled with water, it could not sink the other compartments.
He explains that there were some difficulties during the construction of the ship, such as how high the ship should be kept so that the electrical wires and water pipes could work properly.
According to Professor Alhu, 'After considering this, the engineers of the time determined the height of the ship so that in the event of a flood, they assumed that the water would not reach the height of the roof. They also built safe compartments on the roof.
But then no one would have thought of a huge collision with an avalanche.
Professor Alho said that the impact was so strong that a hole was made in the main body of the plane up to half the length of the plane. In such a situation, the water had reached the deck.
"The ship was starting to fill with water. In such a situation, rescue is not possible. You can activate all the pumps in the ship to get the water out. You can try everything, but the speed at which the water is coming in is the same speed." Can't throw it back out.'
Shipbuilder and navigator civil engineer Thierry explains that 'Titanic was advertised as unsinkable. This was because many cellars were built with watertight walls and water could not enter them. Even if water entered the ship, water could not enter the cellars and compartments, but due to collision with the avalanche, the ship was badly damaged and many walls of the water-tight compartments were destroyed.
According to Fluminense Federal University professor and transport engineer Aurelio Souras-Murta, 'Titanic's watertight compartment closure system was also not working properly.'
The metal used to build ships at that time was not as strong as current steel.
Source Murta said that after the massive collision, the structure of the ship changed, the doors were not closing, they were stuck. The Titanic was also made of pure steel during this period but the steel of that time was not. It was not as strong as today's steel.
Metallurgical engineer and professor at Mackenzie Presbyterian University in São Paulo, John Witavok, explains that until the 1940s the main part of the ship was made of sheet metal.
However, later metals were melted down and used to make the main body of these ships.
"Technology and materials have changed a lot since then," Vitavok explains. Now the metal is melted and bonded together. The use of carbon in steelmaking has started to decrease and the use of manganese has started to increase. Today's steel is very strong.
According to John Witavok, today's ships are more adaptable to water, tidal fluctuations and hurricanes.
2. Race to get 'Blue Band'
Human error is always the cause of major accidents.
According to experts, he was under intense pressure to complete the journey quickly, despite the difficulties of traversing the iceberg-laden terrain.
In fact, this pressure was for achieving 'blue band'. Started in 1839, the honor was awarded to the fastest ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Titanic was considered the strongest contender for this honor.
Professor Alho says that the best engineering and technology was used to build the Titanic according to that time. At that time, there was a competition between the world's biggest companies to build ships. At that time there was a competition between England and Germany to build the biggest and fastest ships.
The biggest and fastest ship officially got the blue band. The maiden voyage was considered the most important for any ship to achieve this feat.
According to Alhu, "The condition of the ship is the best during the first voyage, the ship can achieve the fastest speed in the first voyage and tie."
The tank also tried to get the fastest speed.
Many of the survivors said that the ship's captain had been informed of an avalanche in the surrounding area but did not slow down the ship as it sped across the Atlantic. was trying
3. Titanic was not alone
The Titanic was not a single ship. The ship's operator, the White Star Line Company, ordered three ships to be built in the early 20th century by Harland and Wolff Shipyard in Belfast.
The three ships of world-class design were expected to be the largest, safest and most equipped in the world. Engineer Stump said that these projects were well publicized at that time.
These ships built between 1908 and 1915 were called Olympic class ships. Construction of the first two ships, the Olympic in 1908 and the Titanic in 1909, began. The construction of the third ship, The Gigantic, began in 1911, but all three ships were involved in some sort of accident.
Olympic was put to sea in June 1911, and in the same year she collided with a warship, but after repairs she resumed service.
During the First World War, the British Navy used it to transport soldiers from one place to another. In 1918 it collided with a German submarine. After repairs, it was used again from 1920. Considered old and reliable, this ship was used till 1935.
The Titanic began its maiden voyage on April 10, 1912. It narrowly avoided colliding with another ship outside the port of Southampton, England. It suffered a historic accident on April 14.
Even the gigantic Britannic could not be used much. It was renamed Britannic. The British Navy converted it into a hospital during the First World War. The ship was sunk in November 1916.
These three ships were huge in their time but would be considered very small compared to today.
"They were just a boat compared to the ships of today," Murta says.
Titanic was 269 meters long. There was accommodation for about 3300 people including crew and passengers. Today's largest passenger ship is Wonder of the Sea, which is 362 meters long and can carry 7,000 passengers with 2,300 crew members.
4. What was the cause of so many deaths?
Around 1,500 people died in the Titanic disaster, after which efforts were made to improve the safety systems of sea vessels. After this accident, equipment like radar was started to be developed to protect the ships.
Professor Alho explains that the use of radar only started after the Second World War. Before that, everything depended on the front view. A sailor was placed at a height from where he could alert about icebergs etc. ahead. This method was not safe when the ship was moving at high speed.
After the Titanic disaster, there was an emphasis on safety measures in ships. Many people died in the Titanic accident because there were no lifeboats for them.
Professor Alho explains that 'this ship can never sink, because of this belief, only half of the lifeboats were kept in the ship.'
Murta says that this accident proved to be an important milestone regarding the safety of sea vessels. Institutional framework for safety of seagoing vessels was created, safety parameters were taken care of during construction. A plan to continuously improve it was worked on.
Today, radar and sonar detect icebergs much earlier. Today, ocean mapping or navigational charts are very advanced during all voyages.
0 Comments