lessonsfromthetitanic.docx
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lessonsfromthetitanic.docx
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lessonsfromthetitanic
LessonsfromtheTitanic
Fromthecomfortofourmodernliveswetendtolookbackattheturnofthetwentiethcenturyasadangeroustimeforseatravellers.Withlimitedcommunicationfacilities,andshippingtechnologystillinitsinfancyintheearlynineteenhundreds,weconsideroceantraveltohavebeenariskybusiness.Buttothepeopleofthetimeitwasoneofthesafestformsoftransport.AtthetimeoftheTitanic’smaidenvoyagein1912,therehadonlybeenfourliveslostinthepreviousfortyyearsonpassengershipsontheNorthAtlanticcrossing.AndtheTitanicwasconfidentlyproclaimedtobeunsinkable.Sherepresentedthepinnacleoftechnologicaladvanceat
thetime.Herbuilders,crewandpassengershadnodoubtthatshewasthefinestshipeverbuilt.ButstillshedidsinkonApril14,1912,taking1,517ofherpassengersandcrewwithher.
TheRMSTitanicleftSouthamptonforNewYorkonApril10,1912.
Onboardweresomeoftherichestandmostfamouspeopleofthetime,whohadpaidlargesumsofmoneytosailonthefirstvoyageofthemost
luxuriousshipintheworld.Imagineherplacedonherend:
shewaslargerat269metresthanmanyofthetallestbuildingsoftheday.Andwithnine
decks,shewasashighasanelevenstoreybuilding.TheTitaniccarried329firstclass,285secondclassand710thirdclasspassengerswith899crewmembers,underthecareoftheveryexperiencedCaptainEdwardJ.Smith.Shealsocarriedenoughfoodtofeedasmalltown,including40,000fresheggs,36,000apples,50,000kilosoffreshmeatand1,000kilosofcoffeeforthefivedayjourney.
RMSTitanicwasbelievedtobeunsinkablebecausethehullwasdividedintosixteenwatertightcompartments.Eveniftwoofthesecompartmentsflooded,theshipcouldstillfloat.Theship’sownerscouldnotimaginethat,inthecaseofanaccident,theTitanicwouldnotbeabletofloatuntilshewasrescued.Itwaslargelyasaresultofthisconfidence
intheshipandinthesafetyofoceantravelthatthedisastercouldclaimsuchagreatlossoflife.
InthetenhourspriortotheTitanic’sfatalcollisionwithanicebergat,sixwarningsoficebergsinherpathwerereceivedbytheTitanic'swirelessoperators.Onlyoneofthesemessageswasformally
postedonthebridge;theotherswereinvariouslocationsacrosstheship.Ifthecombinedinformationinthesemessagesoficebergpositionshadbeenplotted,theicefieldwhichlayacrosstheTitanic’spathwouldhavebeenapparent.Instead,thelackofformalproceduresfordealingwithinformationfromarelativelynewpieceoftechnology,thewireless,meantthatthedangerwasnotknownuntiltoolate.ThiswasnotthefaultoftheTitaniccrew.Proceduresfordealingwithwarningsreceivedthroughthe
wirelesshadnotbeenformalizedacrosstheshippingindustryatthetime.
ThefactthatthewirelessoperatorswerenotevenTitaniccrew,butrathercontractedworkersfromawirelesscompany,madetheirroleintheship’s
operationquiteunclear.
CaptainSmith’sseeminglycasualattitudeinincreasingthespeedonthisdaytoadangerous22knotsor41kilometersperhour,canthenbe
partlyexplainedbyhisignoranceofwhatlayahead.Butthisonlypartlyaccountsforhisactions,sincethespringweatherinGreenlandwasknown
tocausehugechunksoficetobreakofffromtheglaciers.CaptainSmithknewthattheseicebergswouldfloatsouthwardandhadalreadyacknowledgedthisdangerbytakingamoresoutherlyroutethanatothertimesoftheyear.SowhywastheTitanictravellingathighspeedwhenheknew,ifnotofthespecificrisk,atleastofthegeneralriskoficebergsinherpathAswiththelackofcoordinationofthewirelessmessages,itwassimplystandardoperatingprocedureatthetime.CaptainSmithwas
followingthepracticesacceptedontheNorthAtlantic,practiceswhichhadcoincidedwithfortyyearsofsafetravel.Hebelieved,wronglyaswenow
know,thattheshipcouldturnorstopintimeifanicebergwassightedbythelookouts.
TherewerearoundtwoandahalfhoursbetweenthetimetheTitanicrammedintotheiceberganditsfinalsubmersion.Inthistime705peoplewereloadedintothetwentylifeboats.Therewere473emptyseats
availableonlifeboatswhileover1,500peopledrowned.Thesefiguresraisetwoimportantissues.Firstly,whytherewerenotenoughlifeboatsto
seateverypassengerandcrewmemberonboard.Andsecondly,whythelifeboatswerenotfull.
TheTitanichadsixteenlifeboatsandfourcollapsibleboatswhichcouldcarryjustoverhalfthenumberofpeopleonboardhermaidenvoyageandonlyathirdoftheTitanic’stotalcapacity.Regulationsforthe
numberoflifeboatsrequiredwerebasedonoutdatedBritishBoardofTraderegulationswrittenin1894forshipsaquarteroftheTitanic’ssize,andhadneverbeenrevised.Undertheserequirements,theTitanicwasonlyobligedtocarryenoughlifeboatstoseat962people.Atdesignmeetingsin1910,theshipyard’smanagingdirector,AlexanderCarlisle,
hadproposedthatfortyeightlifeboatsbeinstalledontheTitanic,buttheideahadbeenquicklyrejectedastooexpensive.Discussionthenturned
totheship’sdécor,andasCarlislelaterdescribedtheincident…‘wespenttwohoursdiscussingcarpetforthefirstclasscabinsandfifteenminutesdiscussinglifeboats’.
ThebeliefthattheTitanicwasunsinkablewassostrongthatpassengersandcrewalikeclungtothebeliefevenasshewasactuallysinking.ThisattitudewasnothelpedbyCaptainSmith,whohadnot
acquaintedhisseniorofficerswiththefullsituation.Forthefirsthourafterthecollision,themajorityofpeopleaboardtheTitanic,includingsenior
crew,werenotawarethatshewouldsink,thattherewereinsufficientlifeboatsorthatthenearestshiprespondingtotheTitanic’sdistresscallswouldarrivetwohoursaftershewasonthebottomoftheocean.Asaresult,theofficersinchargeofloadingtheboatsreceivedaveryhalf-heartedresponsetotheirearlycallsforwomenandchildrentoboardthe
lifeboats.Peoplefeltthattheywouldbesafer,andcertainlywarmer,aboardtheTitanicthanperchedinalittleboatintheNorthAtlanticOcean.
Notrealizingthemagnitudeoftheimpendingdisasterthemselves,theofficersallowedseveralboatstobeloweredonlyhalffull.
Proceduresagainwereatfault,asanadditionalreasonfortheofficers’reluctancetolowerthelifeboatsatfullcapacitywasthattheyfearedthelifeboatswouldbuckleundertheweightof65people.Theyhadnotbeeninformedthatthelifeboatshadbeenfullytestedpriortodeparture.Suchproceduresasassigningpassengersandcrewtolifeboatsandlifeboatloadingdrillsweresimplynotpartofthestandardoperationofshipsnorweretheyincludedincrewtrainingatthistime.
AstheTitanicsank,anothership,believedtohavebeentheCalifornian,wasseenmotionlesslessthantwentymilesaway.TheshipfailedtorespondtotheTitanic’seightdistressrockets.Althoughthe
officersoftheCaliforniantriedtosignaltheTitanicwiththeirflashingMorselamp,theydidnotwakeuptheirradiooperatortolistenfora
distresscall.Atthistime,communicationatseathroughwirelesswasnew,andthebenefitsnotwellappreciated,sothewirelessonshipswasoften
notoperatedaroundtheclock.InthecaseoftheCalifornian,thewirelessoperatorsleptunawarewhile1,500Titanicpassengersandcrewdrowned
onlyafewmilesaway.
AftertheTitanicsank,investigationswereheldinbothWashingtonandLondon.Intheend,bothinquiriesdecidedthatnoonecouldbeblamedforthesinking.However,theydidaddressthefundamentalsafetyissueswhichhadcontributedtotheenormouslossoflife.Asaresult,internationalagreementsweredrawnuptoimprovesafetyproceduresatsea.Thenewregulationscovered24hourwirelessoperation,crewtraining,properlifeboatdrills,lifeboatcapacityforallonboardandthecreationofaninternationalicepatrol.
Readingtasktypeone:
summarycompletion
Taskdescription
Theinputforthistypeofquestionwillbeasummaryofallorpartofthe
readingtext.Thesummarywillcontainanumberofgaps.Allofthe
informationinthesummarywillbecontainedinthereadingtext,although
thewordsusedwillbedifferent.Youwillalsobeprovidedwithalistof
wordstousetofillthegaps.Therewillbemorewordsthangaps.These
wordshavebeenchosensothatonlyonewordwillbesuitableforeach
gap(theanswer)butotherwordsmayappearsuitable(distracters).
Yourtaskistocompletethesummaryusingonewordfromthelistfor
eachgap.Becausethesummaryisaparaphraseofthereadingtext
(ratherthananeditedversion),youwillneedtohaveagood
understandingoftheoverallmeaningandmainpointsofthesection
summarised,ratherthanadetailedunderstandingofthetext.
Whatisbeingtestedisyourabilityto:
♦=skimthetextforinformation
♦=paraphrasetheoriginaltext
©1999HolmesglenInstituteofTAFE7
Sampletask
Completethesummarybelow.Chooseyouranswersfromtheboxatthe
bottomofthepageandwritetheminboxes1-8onyouranswersheet.
NBTherearemorewordsthanspacessoyouwillnotusethemall.
Youmayuseanyofthewordsmorethanonce.
ListofWords
passengershappyfloatadvanced
lifeboatsconfidentdangersocean
worriedinadequateenormousexcitement
fasthandbookwaterafloat
recordfastproceduresorders
drownsizesinksafety
TheFinestShipEverBuilt
TheNorthAtlanticOceancrossingontheTitanicwasexpectedtoseta
newstandardfor…
(1)…travelintermsofcomfortand…
(2)…The
shippingindustryhadanexcellentsafety…(3)…ontheNorthAtlantic
Crossingovertheprev
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