The Washington herald., 1912-04-17
MARINER FORETOLD
TITANIC TRAGEDY
A Startling Analysis of Marine Con-
ditions Was Made Last No
vember in Navy Magazine.

A remarkable article, in which the IT,
tanic tragedy is forecasted with almost
startling fidelity to the facts as they are
now known to the world, was contrib
uted to the November. 1911. issue OF The
Navy Magazine by Capt. En- K. Roden,
safety appliance expert
Under the heading Luxury or Safety
Capt. Roden deals with the general lax
ity and carelessness prevalent among
shipbuilders in regard to protection
against the dangers Of the deep. and fol-
lows Il with a discussion OF the modern
buIkhead, or water-tight compartment.
The following is an excerpt from the ar
tlcles
No ship UnsInkable.
Notwithstanding the many water
ment Of 1ong-arm' and other systems
for closing the water-tight doors. ex-
perience teaches US that up to date no
one can guarantee to build an unsink-
able ship. even when such superior con-
struction and design as is adopted in
modern war vessels is considered. This
is corroborated by the fact that no one
would deem II advisable to send a ship
TO sea without life boats, life RATS. and
life preservers, even though the various
governments might sanction such a
course. Unsuitable ships, like fireproor
buildings, are dreams we hope some time
to realize.
That splendid trans-PaciHc liner Da-
kota was equipped with no less than
twelve bulkheads. yet she went down OF
the coast Of Japan and proved total
loss.
Perhaps the most striking example Of
the falIibiity OF bulkheads as they are
constructed to-day is the loss of the
White Star liner Republic. after her coll
lision with the Florida on Nantucket
Shoals. on January ., 1903. The Re-
public was a ship of modern construc-
ton, and her bulkheads and devices for
closing the water-tight doors were OF the
standard types and in perfect working
order; yet very soon after the collision
a supposedly intact bulkhead, separating
the after engine room from the stern
portion Of the ship, gave way, causing
the ship TO settle gradually by the stern
until she finally went down.
''Bulkheads greatly increase the safety
OF 4 ship. but do not always prevent
sinking. Lifeboats CT SUFFICIENT capacity
should. therefore, as already stated.
form the main auxiliary on which de-
pendence can be placed in cases OF emer-
gency. The maritime laws of all nations
prescribe this, and yet It Is doubtful, in
nine cases out Of ten. II this provision
is carried out by the owners Of passenger
ships.
'The new steamers. respectively, the
Olympic and Titanic, will be the finest
vessels afoat. Are their equipment of
life boats all that is desirable? In many
great ships not over two-thirds of all
~. "a %
boats and RATS In case Of disaster.
That such Is the case was amply
demonstrated at the time OF the collision
between the Republic and the Florida.
A letter written by a passenger on the
Baltic, the rescuing steamer. and pub
lished in the New York Herald, January
Is, 1909. stated. among other things, that
the Baltic's inspection certificate author
ized her to carry 2.0H passengers. in ad-
dition to her crew of SO, or a total OF
III persons. but that her boat capacity
was sufficient for only L572 persons, so
that Los persons would have had to be
left to their fate.
The LIfeboat Question.
Take, for example, the vessel referred
to in the first paragraph Of this article.
She carries from her davits sixteen life
boats, eight on each side. arranged IN
groups of four. The dimensions Of these
boats vary slightly, but not enough to
affect their carrying capacity. the aver
age Of all boats being: Length, 30 feet;
beam, "a feet; depth. 81 feet. According
tc rules Of computation of the United
States Steamboat Inspection Service, the
number of persons that can be carried
in a boat of such dimensions is sixty
two: therefore, the sixteen life boats in
question will accommodate s92 persons in
all. Her passenger list, however. when
fully Booked, is $50 frst-class. 4,64s sec
ond-class. and Lib third-class, or a total
OF 2,l6O persons, besides her crew Of Sl2.
This leaves balance of some odd
1850 persons that will have to depend
or their ability as long distance SWIM
mers. should the vessel meet with a fate
similar to that Of the Republic and go
down before the arrival OF help"