Yes Sophie, from here on in, there will be many anniversaries to remember with WW1 centenary approaching. Did you know that Titanic's sister ship “Britannic” was used as a hospital ship during WW1? It was sunk off the Isle of Kew on its way to her sixth mission to collect the injured.

Germany always maintained that Britannic has arms on board and that is why it sunk in 55 minutes. The waters are not very deep compared to where her sister lies, the Titanic. However, the co-ordinates given by the British Navy were off by about 10 miles. Recently the Wreck of Britannic was dived on having been discovered by Jacques Cousteau in the 1970's. You will be delighted to hear that no arms were found in the wreck.

Just read back over the last post and regarding the fifth compartment, there was no side damage to that section of the ship but it did flood from underneath. Just to clarify.

Thank you Mya Elise, I would Love to see that article, if you do come across it or if you knew the publication, I can search on line maybe?

My own belief is it was a combination of events and mistakes and also sea faring practice 100 years ago. Conservative estimates have made the iceberg larger than Titanic, the night was dark without a moon and the iceberg did not have waves crashing about it, giving it away. Much is made of the look outs not having “spy glasses” but the White Star guidelines were to have them to hand and to search with the naked eye. The “spy glasses” are a fore runner of binoculars and do not give the same view or clarity. Binoculars have a prisms and give the impression of one complete circle, whereas the “Spy glasses” were two telescopes side by side, using standard refractor technology. I can guarantee you that they would have not helped on the night in question as it was so dark, it would have been impossible to view through them. While the night was still, as the ship was traveling at over 20 knots, goggles would have helped more against the created windshield factor in the lookouts eyes. There were just minutes between first sight of the iceberg and the collision with it, not enough time to turn the Titanic, however First Officer Murdoch almost pulled off the maneuver. Going on the Olympic accident, if Murdoch had slowed the ship and hit it dead on, only one compartment would have flooded and they would have been able to limp on or stay afloat until help arrived. By reversing the engines, in an effort to slow the ship, Murdoch created a local current around Titanic, that would have put Titanic's rudder under more pressure to turn and skirt the iceberg.The achilles heel of the Titanic may possibly have been some of the most forward rivets were made of iron instead of steel. There was a riveting machine used but it was too large for the shipyard to get into the narrower areas of the ships hull. With the coldness of the water, the iron would have been much weaker than the steel and would have easily popped on hitting the iceberg, thus allowing water to rush in.

Captain Edward J. Smith of the Titanic.
Born on January 27, 1850, in Hanley, Staffordshire, England. Captain Smith married Eleanor Pennington in 1887. The couple welcomed their only child, Helen, in 1902, so devoted a father was Captain Smith, the maiden voyage of Titanic was to be his last charge before retiring, the reason he gave, was to spend more time with Helen, his daughter. Leaving school at the age of 12, he signed on to the crew of the Senator Weber in 1867. Quickly rising through the ranks to attain the rank of first officer in 1875. The first vessel he commanded was the Lizzie Fennell, a 1,000-ton ship that moved goods to and from South America. Smith made the leap to passenger vessels in 1880 when he went to work for the White Star Line. At his new post he excelled and as White Star made bigger and bigger ships, they always called on Captain Smith to take charge. The trans-Atlantic sea travelling class, who often changed their sea passage to be on Captain Smith’s ship, also shared this confidence.
Captain smith went down with Titanic; he was last seen at the helm in the wheelhouse. Much maligned at the inquiries after, Captain Smith was not in charge of Titanic the night it sank. Titanic’s second in command William Murdoch was at the helm. Had Smith been at the helm, he might have elected to not avoid the iceberg, but instead reduce speed and hit dead on. Captain Smith had been at the helm of Olympic a few months previous and had seen first hand a collision between Olympic and HMS Hawke.
With the bow badly damaged, the ship was sound and made it back to Belfast for repairs. However, Captain Smith had a mistrust of Radio and perhaps did not try to contact other ships nearby early enough. The “Californian” was barely visible but steaming away from Titanic. If contact were made early enough, many more lives would most likely, have been saved.