|
RMS Titanic
|
The Symposia will report on the latest research and understanding of the Titanic disaster.
New understanding are coming from the exploration and analysis of survivor testimony. An active hypothesis is that the hull failed in a “bottom up” mode. One possibility is that the testimony of 2nd Officer Lightoller (often disputed as inaccurate and self-serving by a loyal employee of Cunard) was correct when he noted the main deck appeared intact as the ship began to plunge by the bow. Lightoller abandoned the ship from a position well forward. Other survivors viewing the disaster from the beam were in a better position to observe the ship beginning to break up as it sank.
Weakness of two-row riveted joints was a key factor in the ship’s structural failures. By 1909, after construction of Titanic was well advanced, revised Lloyd’s Rules would have mandated stronger three-row riveted joints. By the time of World War II, riveted design practices were much improved. Riveted joint failures were a key factor in many historic ship losses.
|