The Key that could have saved the Titanic !

The infamous ship RMS Titanic sank in the Atlantic ocean after crashing into an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City. The Titanic was one of the most grandest and luxurious ships of its time: standing an incredible 882 feet long and 175 feet high, with amenities such as royal suites and electric baths on board. Various films and documentaries have been made on the story of the Titanic, perhaps the most famous one being the 1997 version starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet.

Titanic (1997)

The Crash

On the 10th of April, 1912, the Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage. The ship sailed normally for the first four days without seeing much action.

On the evening of 14th April, however, the Titanic received warnings from other ships about drifting ice near the Great Banks of Newfoundland. The captain chose to ignore these warnings and continue to move forward in full speed. He was immensely confident that a few pieces of ice could do no harm to the mighty Titanic. At 11.40 pm on the 14th, ship lookout Frederick Fleet spotted an iceberg immediately ahead in the Titanic's course. Fleet alerted his officers, and First Officer William Murdoch immediately ordered for the ship to be steered to the left and for the engines to be reversed. But, sadly, it was too late. The ship wasn't able to change course in time, and the starboard(right) side of the ship crashed into the iceberg.

Now, some of you may ask: 'why weren't they able to spot the iceberg before?'. This is because they didn't have the simple little instrument that would have enabled them to do so: Binoculars!

You see, the ship's set of binoculars was housed in a locker in the crow nest. And to open that locker you needed a key, which no one on the ship seemed to have. Where was that key?

The Titanic Sinking. Painting by William Stower (1912)

The Key

A day before the voyage began, the ship's second officer David Blair was replaced due to the arrival of a new, more experienced officer as the ship's chief and subsequent demotion of his superiors as per the operating company's instructions. When Blair left on the 9th of April, he accidentally took the keys to the crow nest locker with him, forgetting to hand it to his replacement.

This prevented the ship's lookouts from accessing the binoculars, thus preventing them to warn the bridge in time.

If Blair would've handed the keys to his replacement Charles Lightoller, then perhaps the lives of 1,500 unsuspecting people could have been saved. Maybe, the greatest sea catastrophes of all time could have been prevented.

Blair's Key (Original Version)

Comments

The Bombay Stock Exchange: How was it formed?

Little would a stranger looking at the subtle Phiroze Jeejeebhoy tower in the old part of Bombay know that the building houses about US$2.87 trillion in public wealth! The Bombay Stock exchange is one of the most reputed and renowned stock exchanges in the world and the oldest stock exchange in Asia. It has delivered sizeable returns to the investors in its products and has directly, or indirectly, employed hundreds of thousands of people over the years. The Story: In the 1850s British India, five stockbrokers decided to conduct daily sale meetings under a banyan tree in front of the Bombay town hall. Over the years many people were attracted by the profitability of the business and started joining the stockbrokers' group. Due to its increasing size, the group had to constantly keep shifting venues. Stockbrokers in downtown Bombay, c.a. 1865 Finally, in 1874, the group relocated to the place presently known as Dalal (Hindi for broker) street in South Bombay. A ye...

The Story Of Hemu: A Grocer who became the King of India

Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, or Hemu, was born in 1501 in the Alwar province of Rajputana(now Rajasthan) in a family of Dhusar Brahmins. Soon after his birth, his family shifted to the small town of Rewari(in present-day Haryana) in search of better prospects. Being a grocer's son, he was brought up to be a shopkeeper; but, of course, Hemu wasn't any ordinary tradesman--from a relatively young age, Hemu displayed remarkable intelligence and a fiery sense of ambition. During this time, following the death of the Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri (the founder of the Suri dynasty in India), his son Islam Shah Suri took over the empire. However, Islam Shah's brother Adil Khan resisted his rise to power and rebelled against the empire. In the battle that followed, Adil Khan's army was routed by Islam Shah and he had to flee for his life. Giving notice to this political development, Hemu realized that the Imperial Army chasing the rebels would soon pass through Rewari, and would sure...

A Brief Summary of Portuguese attempts to find a Sea Route to India (1450-1609)

Background For centuries, goods from the east were brought in by Arab merchants at Constantinople (now Istanbul), where they were sold off to European traders at profitable amounts. These traders, in turn, transported the goods, mostly spices and fabrics, across Europe. But this well-established trading cycle collapsed in 1453 when the Turks captured Constantinople and stopped the free passage of goods from the Indian subcontinent and the Far East. The Turks demanded unreasonably high taxes and didn't guarantee safety against pirates, making it very difficult for the Europeans to trade peacefully. Out of desperation, the Europeans started to look for an alternate route to India and beyond. Map of Trade Routes around Turkey, ca.1028 European Merchants (15th Century AD) The Journey begins... During the 1450s, Prince Henry, "The Navigator" of Portugal was making significant attempts to find a different route to India. He believed that going southwards along the African coa...

RethinKnoww

Search This Blog