When thinking about the sinking of the Titanic, the majority of people assume that the iceberg was the only cause of the sinking.
In reality, numerous other issues led to the sinking of the Titanic, including some problems that existed before the ship even set sail.
Many decisions could have been made that would have altered the outcome of history.
It is possible that even if one of the issues mentioned in this post had been avoided, the death toll of the Titanic may not have been as high, or she may not have sunk at all.
Why Did The Titanic Sink?
The Titanic hit an iceberg on April 14, 1912, which caused considerable damage. This damage caused the ship to flood and eventually sink.
Overconfidence, speed, damaged bulkheads, poor-quality rivets, and delays in spotting the iceberg all contributed to the sinking.
It’s generally accepted that more than one person was to blame for the Titanic’s sinking. Many people made mistakes or were reckless in their actions.
Was The Titanic Sailing Too Fast?
At the time of the accident, the Titanic was sailing at 22 knots (25 MPH), which many historians believe was too fast, given the presence of icebergs in the area.
Captain Edward Smith was likely worried about arriving late in New York, and he did not slow down despite iceburg warnings.
When crossing the Atlantic, it isn’t uncommon for a ship to want to sail as fast as they can when the weather is good.
Fog is very common on the Atlantic, and if a ship is able to make up some time early in the journey, it has some leeway should it later encounter bad weather and slow down.
As this was the ship’s maiden voyage, arriving late would cause a lot of bad publicity.
Some accounts at the time said that the Titanic was trying to beat some sort of speed record, but this has since been dismissed.
Olympic and Titanic were sold on their luxury fittings rather than their speed. But despite this, they needed to maintain a timely schedule, so the ship travelled at its usual service speed to maintain that schedule.
“Neither that night nor that voyage, were we out for any records”
Charles Herbert Lightoller – source.
| Titanic Speed on The Night of The Sinking | Titanic Maximum Speed | Modern Cruise Ship Maximum Speed |
| 22 Knots (25 MPH) | 24 Knots (27 MPH) | 30 Knots (35 MPH) |
Although shipbuilding has changed a lot since the Titanic set sail, modern cruise ships only sail slightly faster than the Titanic.
The Titanic, however, did have a different function from the majority of modern cruise ships.
The Titanic was an ocean liner whose purpose was to take guests from A to B. Modern cruise ships don’t have the same purpose, instead emphasising the onboard experience.
To learn more about the differences between ocean liners and cruise ships, including why we no longer build ocean liners, check out this post:
Cruise Ships vs Ocean Liners – The Truth About How They Compare
I was lucky enough to take a transatlantic crossing on the last Ocean Liner at sea. We sailed close to where the Titanic sank. It was a great experience, but the seas were very rough
Find out all about that here:
Why Did They Think The Titanic Couldn’t Sink?
When the Titanic set sail in 1912, many people thought she was unsinkable, in part because her design featured watertight compartments.
The ‘unsinkable’ idea was promoted further by newspapers and magazines of the time.
The captain of the Titanic, 62-year-old Edward Smith, had previously been the captain of Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic. He had forty years of experience working at sea.
The Olympic had previously collided with a warship but managed to sail to port without too much difficulty.
This may have reinforced the ‘unsinkable’ idea and meant that the crew onboard the Titanic wasn’t worried about the risk of a collision.
Due to overconfidence, there were no safety drills on board the ship before she sank.
A safety drill was scheduled for the 14th April, but was replaced by a church service.
On all modern cruise ships, guests must complete a safety drill on the first day of their voyage, but this didn’t happen on the Titanic.
The passengers didn’t know where to go or what to do in the case of an emergency. More passengers may have been saved if there were proper emergency procedures in place.
Find out more about Muster Drills (safety drills) on modern cruise ships here:
Why Didn’t The Titanic Have Enough Life Boats?
In 1912, there were no laws requiring a ship to be equipped with enough lifeboats for every guest.
Titanic had enough space on the decks to carry enough lifeboats for each guest, but the ship’s designers felt that the lifeboats were unnecessary and unsightly.
| Titanic Total Capacity | Titanic Lifeboats | Titanic Lifeboat Capacity | Number of People Saved in Lifeboats |
| 3320 | 20 | 1178 | 705 |
The Titanic had a total capacity of 3320. She had 20 lifeboats onboard, which were enough to hold 1178 people. In reality, only 705 people were actually saved in lifeboats.
Thankfully, there are now laws that require cruise ships to have space in the lifeboats for every guest and plenty extra in case the lifeboats are damaged.
The first lifeboats to leave the Titanic were not even full. Many guests thought staying on the ‘unsinkable’ ship would be safer.
“The people on the boat never realized that the boat would sink, and not many people took the opportunity of going into the lifeboat. They thought it was a greater risk leaving the ship”.
TITANIC SURVIVOR – SOURCE.
The Titanic Was Already on Fire When She Left Southampton
In the days before the Titanic’s sinking, a fire broke out in the coal bunker in boiler room five.
This fire, reportedly caused by spontaneous combustion, burned from the time the ship left Southampton on April 10th until the day before the sinking.
According to firemen Frederick Barrett and Charles Hendrickson, they didn’t begin to dig out the coal until the ship had departed Southampton.
Fires in the coal bunkers weren’t uncommon at that time. They could weaken the ship’s hull.
The ‘Ships Rules and Uniform Regulations’ were in effect at the time, and they said:
The respective senior engineers of each watch, before going off duty, must go through the coal bunkers, and note their condition on the log-slate, and should there be any signs of spontaneous combustion taking place, they are at once to report same to the Chief Engineer, who is immediately to notify the Commander.
Ships Rules and Uniform Regulations – source.
The bunker was three stories high and was emptied on the 13th of April.
When the bunker was emptied, firemen on board said that they could see how the fire had warped the watertight bulkhead that ran along the side of the bunker.
The ignition point of coal is around 400 °C (750°F), so the temperature within the coal bunker would have been at least this high.
“You could see where it had been red hot; all the paint and everything was off. It was dented a bit…yes, warped…
Charles Hendrickson (fireman)
The watertight bunkers were designed to keep water in one area should the ship have an accident.
Some accounts say that the weakened bulkhead was already leaking water before the collision.
Rumours circulated that the fire had been going since the ship left Belfast, but in reality, this probably wasn’t the case.
The Titanic had 1880 tons of coal from Belfast, and another 4427 tons were loaded in Southampton.
Most historians agree that the crew wouldn’t have added more coal to an already smoldering bunker. The more likely situation is that the fire started in Southampton.
The Titanic Ignored Ice Warnings From Other Ships
During the day, other ships in the area issued ice warnings, which the captain reported and acted on accordingly. The ship was still travelling at 22 knots.
“As none of these bergs reported lay on our course, well they didn’t directly concern us.”
CHARLES HERBERT LIGHTOLLER – SOURCE.
In the evening a message came from the SS Mesaba who was sailing ahead of the Titanic. The message warned that the new route that Titanic was on would take her through an area full of dense ice. This message was never relayed to the captain.
If the message had been passed to the captain, Officer Charles Lightoller stated that the ship would have slowed considerably and possibly even stopped.
An hour later, at 10.30 pm, another warning came in from the Californian. The Californian had stopped sailing as she was surrounded by ice and didn’t feel it was safe to continue.
The radio operators working on the Titanic were busy at the time, so they sent a message back to the Californian, telling them that they were busy and couldn’t take their messages.
The Californian stopped communicating at this point.
Why Did Titanic Not See The Iceberg?
The lookouts on the Titanic didn’t see the Iceberg due to still weather conditions and a moonless night.
The Titanic had two lookouts, one located in the crow’s nest, 29 meters above the deck. Neither of them had binoculars.
On the night of the accident, two lookouts, Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee, were on duty to look for danger.
It was a calm night, and as a result, the water was incredibly still. If it had been a rougher night, the lookouts may have spotted waves breaking at the bottom of the iceberg.
“It was as smooth as the proverbial millpond. In any other circumstances, those conditions would have been ideal but those very conditions and the moonless night only render the detection of icebergs all the more difficult.”
CHARLES HERBERT LIGHTOLLER – SOURCE.
Second officer David Blair had the key to the binoculars storage box. David was transferred off the ship before it set sail across the Atlantic, but he forgot that he had the key, so he didn’t pass it over.
This meant the lookouts didn’t have binoculars, which may have helped them spot the iceberg sooner.
The iceberg wasn’t spotted until 11:40 PM. With modern radar technology, it’s estimated that it could have been spotted 80 miles away.
Many people imagine that the passengers felt a large crash when the Titanic hit the iceberg. That wasn’t the case; some passengers didn’t notice at all.
“It was a very slight bump, just a little jar, nothing at all. We thought nothing of it, we picked up the ice and most of us played snowballs.”
Titanic survivor – source.
Why Did Titanic Not Turn Quickly Enough?
After spotting the iceberg, William Murdoch ordered the engines to stop and made a hard left turn.
Due to the size and speed of the Titanic it was not able to avoid the iceberg.
Some historians suspect that if the order hadn’t been given to stop the engines, the Titanic may have been able to swing around and out of the way of the iceberg.
“Murdoch (officer of the watch) shouted “Hard-a-starboard, full speed astern.” His idea was to swing her bow clear and then put the helm hard over the other way and so swing her stern clear. Going at that speed it was too late.”
CHARLES HERBERT LIGHTOLLER – SOURCE.
When the engines stopped, the propellers stopped, and the rudders wouldn’t have had water pushing over them.
Perhaps if this had continued instead of stopping (just for a few seconds), this would have been enough to move the ship out of harm’s way or to at least minimize the damage.
Even after hitting the iceberg, the crew of the Titanic told guests that there was nothing to worry about.
*After hitting the iceberg* – I asked one of the officers if there was any danger, he said no and I went back to bed.
TITANIC SURVIVOR – SOURCE.
There are many theories that the Titanic’s damage would have been less if it had hit the iceberg straight on. The SS Kronprinz Wilhelm hit an iceberg head-on in 1907 and managed to sail to her destination with a crushed bow.
There are some rumours that helmsman Robert Hichens mistakenly turned the ship the wrong way in a panic, although this was never confirmed.
The Titanic’s Rivets May Have Been of Poor Quality and This May Have Accelerated The Sinking
It took 3 years to build the Titanic and cost over $7.5 million.
It’s estimated that 3 million rivets were used in the building of the Titanic. Rivets seal two pieces of metal together.
| Construction Cost (At The Time) | Cost (Adjusted for Inflation) | Cost to Build a Modern Cruise Ship |
| $7.5 Million | $200 Million | $500 Million – $1 Billion |
The rivets used to seal together each sheet of metal in the Titanic’s construction were not always of high quality.
Steel is the best material for rivets, but Iron had to be used in several places.
Riveting machines could not be used in many areas of the ship, so the ship had to have rivets inserted manually.
This meant inserting the rivet through the two pieces of metal and hammering down the top, which sealed the two pieces of metal together.
The Iron used in the rivets was prone to breaking at low temperatures, and this effect was even worse when sailing through the icy waters of the Atlantic. The ship’s hull would have been very cold.
When the Titanic hit the iceberg, many of the rivets holding the ship together failed.
Many historians believe the rivet quality didn’t affect the Titanic’s sinking. Olympic was built in the same way and never had any issues during her long career.
The Guests of The Titanic Opened Their Portholes
When the Titanic first hit the iceberg, many curious passengers opened the porthole windows to have a look.
On modern cruise ships, the porthole or oceanview windows in cabins do not open, but they did in 1912.
This likely caused the Titanic to sink faster, as water flooded into the ship when the passenger decks dipped below the water line.
The majority of passengers by this point were already up on the top decks.
This is just one of the differences between Titanic’s design and that of modern cruise ships.
To learn how modern cruise ships compare to the Titanic, check out this post:
titanic vs modern cruise ship size comparison decks
The Bulkheads on the Titanic Were Short
The bulkheads on the Titanic, which rose from the bottom of the ship, didn’t reach the passenger decks because they were too short.
This meant that in the rest of the ship above the bulkheads water could just flow over, there were no truly watertight compartments.
“I was standing there talking to 2 or 3 fellows and a carpenter came along, I heard him say ‘the mailroom’s full of water. I said ‘what about those bulkhead doors?’ and he said they’re not holding”
TITANIC SURVIVOR – SOURCE.
The ship was split into sixteen compartments. If four were flooded, it was said that the ship would still float. Six were damaged during the accident.
The bulkheads are shown on the bottom of the ship in the diagram below.
Distress Calls From The Titanic Were Ignored
Distress signals were sent from the Titanic sometime after the ship hit the iceberg, but this didn’t happen until after midnight.
The Carpathia responded, but she was over 3 hours from the Titanic.
It was 21-year-old Harold Cottam, the radio operator on board the Carpathia, who was about to turn in for the night, who fortunately heard the distress calls coming from the Titanic. SOURCE.
The Californian was nearby but did not respond to the Titanic’s signals as the radio operator had gone to bed.
“The reason why she didn’t answer our wireless calls, was because she only carried one wireless operator and when we struck the iceberg, he’d just gone off watch. So, it was no fault of his.”
CHARLES HERBERT LIGHTOLLER – SOURCE.
Since the sinking of the Titanic, it has become law that all ships must have a 24-hour radio watch to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
It is possible that if the Californian and Titanic had remained in contact, the Californian could have come to the aid of the Titanic sooner than it did.
The Californian did eventually come to the aid of the Titanic, but by this time, almost all passengers already in the water would have been dead.
If they had arrived earlier, they may have been able to save more passengers.
The Alarm Wasn’t Sounded by The Titanic
At no point was an emergency alarm sounded across the ship.
No lifeboat drill had been completed, so many passengers were simply unaware of the danger until it was too late.
Many of the crew members who were operating the lifeboats hadn’t done so before, meaning that the lowering of the lifeboats was often dangerous and less than efficient.
Many passengers had to jump from the Titanic into lifeboats.
If the alarm had been sounded, more passengers could have been saved.
The fact that the first few lifeboats were not at full capacity when launched shows just how confident the passengers and crew were that the Titanic would not sink.
The Lights Were One of The Last Things To Go Out
The technology onboard the Titanic was incredible for its time. Its backup generators kept the lights on until the last few moments as the ship sank.
The onboard engineers stayed at their posts until the very end to man the electrical systems. They helped save hundreds of lives, but all of them perished.
To learn more about the Electricity onboard the Titanic, including how they made it and what they used it for, check out this post:
The Titanic and Electricity – How Did They Generate it and What Was it For?
If you’d like to learn more about the Titanic, check out this fabulous video from Chris Frame:
Before You Go:
Titanic was split into separate areas for different classes of passengers. You may be wondering if modern cruise ships have first-class areas. Find out here
Do Modern Cruise Ships Have First Class? (History, Premium Areas – Cruise Line Guide)
Find out the real reason ships are referred to as “she” here:
The Real Reason Ships Are Called “She” – Language, History, and Myth
Book a Cruise (I’ve Launched My Own Travel Agency)
I’ve spent the last 10 years creating cruise content online and over that time I’ve learnt that having a great travel agent makes a HUGE difference.
That’s why in 2026, I launched my own agency and built a team of real cruise experts who love cruising as much as I do.
We combine great prices with personal service. Just click the button below and we’ll find you the perfect cruise. No request is too big or too small, we’re here to help.