Titanic: Project management - Lessons from history SDA Bod Introduction The White Star Line (WSL) was originally founded in Liverpool in 1845 by John Pilkington and Henry Wilson. The company's initial focus was on the Australian gold mine trade. In the early 1850's if you had sound ships and ran the Australian route, it would almost be difficult to not succeed. Pilkington and Wilson's initial business plan for the White Star Line included leasing and chartering as opposed to purchasing vessels. As business increased and capital was established, they would purchase vessels.\\ In 1857, a 19 year old by the name of Thomas Henry Ismay, struggling to claim his stake in the business world, met up with a retired ship captain named Phillip Nelson. Nelson owned a ship, the Anne Nelson, named after his wife. The two became friends and decided to go into business together as shipbrokers. After five years the partnership broke up and Ismay founded the TH. Ismay and Company in Liverpool. After a few quick years, deciding it was time to make some outside investments, Thomas Ismay began purchasing shares in the WSL. In 1861, Pilkington decided to retire from WSI and Henry Wilson took on a new associate named John Cunningham, another large shareholder. In an attempt to expand its services, WSL merged with the Black Ball and Eagle Lines, a venture that was financially doomed from the start. In 1867 WSL was facing forced bankruptcy. In addition the WSL fleet as a whole needed replacing. The shipping world at that time was very competitive and clipper ships were becoming obsolete. They simply could not compete with the faster, non-wind dependent steamships. With the WSL on its last leg, thirty year-old Thomas Henry Ismay saw an opportunity for the taking and quickly swooped in and purchased the WSL from the near penniless Henry Wilson. Ismay began selling the old slow clipper ships, utilizing the original practice of leasing and chartering first, then purchasing as capital was accumulated. Under the new WSL ownership, Harland and Wolff of Dublin, one of the most famous and prestigious shipbuilders, received its first vessel construction orders on July 30, 1869. On August 20, 1870, what many believe to be White Star's "Greatest Triumph, " the liner Oceanic was launched. Speed was not as much of a concern to Thomas Ismay as comfort was. A transatlantic crossing was often a one way trip in those days, a trip that did not always reach its destination. Passengers were apprehensive of transatlantic ships in the early years. Safety was not a big concern and many vessels had horrendous passenger accommodations. Most of the ships that carried livestock were simply hosed out for the return trip with immigrant traffic. This is where they earned the nickname "cattle boats." Following the building of Teutonic, White Star (and the Teutonic) won the Blue Ribband award for setting a speed record crossing the Atlantic. This became the incentive Ismay needed to really begin expansion of the company. First class accommodations on the new ships were placed amidships (center of the ship) unlike competitive ships that had them located at the stern where engine noise and vibration were bothersome. A grand dining saloon was added, designated passenger walkways on deck called promenades, were featured. These new vessels even had running water and electricity in the passenger cabins. Sir Edward Harland had died in 1895 and thirty-eight year old Joseph Bruce Ismay, having always worked in the family business, succeeded his father's position upon his death in 1899. A new partnership would soon take place. A partnership between Bruce Ismay and the new Harland and Wolff chairman Lord W.J. Pirrie, bringing a whole new management style to the White Star Line. By the early 1900's, the shipping companies were involved in a vicious rate war which was hurting all parties involved. American financier and multi-millionaire John Pierpont (JP) Morgan, saw this as a tremendous opportunity to expand his capital. Morgan purchased all of White Star Line's rival shipping companies and placed them under one controlling trust with fixed shipping prices. He called this trust the International Mercantile Marine, (IMM). Bruce Ismay would remain as White Star Line's managing director and chairman. The British shipping companies considered this conglomeration a definite threat to their business and the formation of IMM inspired the Cunard line to make a quick move. Hence the birth of two of Cunard's greatest achievements, the Lusitania and the Mauritania. These two ships would be the largest and fastest ships the world had ever seen. The Lusitania quickly grabbed the famed Blue Ribband award from WSL's Teutonic.The Maiden Voyage The ship could hold 2,453 passengers (plus around 900 crew members). 1324 passengers' (plus $75 crew members) were on board when Titanic set sail for New York. Of the passengers, 329 were first-class travelers, 285 were second-class travelers and 710 were third-class travelers. The ship set sail from its launching site in Belfast to Southampton, England, on April 3, 1912. Operations to prepare the ship (food, coal etc.) took 1 week. Titanic picked up its passengers from Southampton on April 10, then moved along to Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown, Ireland, to collect the rest. During the first miles from Cherbourg to Queenstown an irregular course was being taken in order to test the compasses. A passenger described it as "winding pathway o'er the waters". Queenstown was the last port before crossing the Atlantic. As part of the final readiness check, a lifeboat drill was carried out in front of the inspectors of the Board of Trade. During the drill, two of the twenty lifeboats were lowered but without reaching the water. The drill outlined that it took 8 to 10 well-trained men to prepare and lower a lifeboat. Inspectors considered the test successful. On April 11, 2:00 PM, Titanic left Queenstown and sets sail to New York As on every important maiden voyage, the ship's owner, Ismay, was on board. Following his personality and with the aim to provide the perfect experience to his passengers, Ismay asked to be aligned on all the activities that the officers were carrying out and provided many directions either to officers, mariners, or other crew members. Since the luxury angle had already been promoted widely when Olympic was launched, Titanic needed a new angle to raise the interest around her. Ismay had the idea to add speed to luxury and he put an announcement into the New York Times, just before leaving Queenstown, to be printed on Monday, April 15. This announced that Titanic would arrive on Tuesday 16 rather than the published schedule Wednesday 17 morning The Captain and officers were fully aware of the iceberg dangers ahead. The winter of 1912 had been exceptionally mild, and many icebergs had broken. All through late March and early April ice warnings had been appearing in the newspapers and passing from ship to ship, indicating heavy field ice and icebergs in the area (the so called iceberg alley) through which Olympic, Titanic and other liners were expected to pass to and from the United States. White Star had taken a partial preventive action by re- routing the Titanic a further 10 miles south. On April 10, the French liner Niagara struck ice; she slid along, buckling plates below the waterline, and immediately sent out a distress call (CQD"). Within a short time, the CQD was canceled; her captain had discovered that Niagara was not badly damaged, and could continue without assistance. Captain Smith handed the Niagara telegram to Ismay, Ismay read it and then put it in his pocket. At dinner Ismay showed off the message to his diners. On April 12th, the Allen liner Corsican struck an iceberg; no position was given for the collision, but on April 12th it is possible that she was within reach of Titanic's powerful wireless. During April 13 to 14 Titanic received $ warnings reporting ice, icebergs, and ice floes. Among the preventive actions the ice detection test was usually carried out by testing the temperature of the seawater frequently when approaching ice fields, as a noticeable temperature change is a good indicator that large ice floes are near. The test involved drawing seawater from over the side of the ship with bucket and testing the temperature of this water with a thermometer. It has been reported that one of the passengers noticed a mariner filling a bucket with tap water and asked why he was doing that. The mariner explained that he was supposed to take the seawater's temperature, but then complained that the rope was not long enough to reach the sea. The remaining part of the case presents the timeline for April 14 and April 15, 1912, when the dramatic events took place.Sunday, April 14, 1912 09:00 am. The Caronia reported ice at Latitude: 42" N and Longitude: 50" W. The message was delivered to the bridge and posted on the chart room so that the other officers could read it. 01:42 pm. The Baltic reported ice. Captain Smith forwarded it to Ismay that pocketed it and later he showed it to several passengers. 01:45 pm. The Amerika reported 2 large icebergs at Latitude: 41 27' N and Longitude: 50 08' W. This message was not sent directly to the Titanic, but was supposed to be passed on later when the Titanic came within range of a transmitter. 07:15 pm. Temperature dropped to 3.9'C (39"F). Captain Smith asked to Ismay to return the ice report of the Baltic in order to post it on the chart room. 07:30 pm. The Californian reported passing 3 large icebergs at Latitude: 42 03' N and Longitude: 49 09' W. The message was sent to Antillia but overheard by Titanic's radio operator Bride. This was delivered by Bride to the bridge. Captain Smith was not aware of it since he was dining at the restaurant having a party organized in his honor. Normally he had dinner on a small table in the dining saloon or in his cabin. The message was not posted on the chart room. 09:00 pm Temperature dropped to 0.5 C (33'F). The crow's nest was ordered by Second Officer Lightoller to "keep a sharp lookout for ice". Normally if the ice risk increased more lookouts were called to their duties. 09:20 pm. Lightoller was keeping watch and discussed the temperature with Smith for a while. Smith told Lightoller to alert him immediately if he was at all concerned. He then retired to bed. 09:40 pm. The Mesaba reported pack ice, field ice and icebergs in the location where the Titanic was traveling. There is no evidence that this message ever reached Captain Smith or Titanic's bridge. 10:00 pm. Temperature dropped to O'C (32"F). The Titanic was traveling at 22.5 knots. The sea was calm, the sky was perfectly clear and the stars appeared as brilliant points of light. There was no moon. Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee took over lookout duty in the crow's nest. Lookouts did not have binoculars, even though during the various precedent shifts they repeatedly asked for them. Answers ranged from the statement that they were assigned to officers on the bridge to that someone stowed them away and was unable to find them in such a large ship. 10:50 pm. The Californian sent a wireless message directly to the Titanic telling them that they decided to stop for the night since they were surrounded by ice. Before the Californian could relay their position (about 20 miles north of Titanic), wireless operator Jack Phillips, after 14 hours of continuous service, angrily responded, "Shut up, shut up. You're jamming my signal. I'm busy. I'm working Cape Race". The Californian's wireless operator, Cyril Furmstone Evans, waited patiently and then finally gave up, turned off his equipment and went to bed. The ocean water temperature was about -2"C (28-F). 11:30 pm. There was no moonlight but stars brightly illuminated the sky. Lookouts Fleet and Lee noticed a low-lying mist ahead, but did not see any icebergs. The calm sea did not support the recognition of icebergs since waves did not break against them producing foam. 11:39 pm. Lookout Frederick Fleet picked up a phone that is directly connected to the bridge. Sixth Officer Moody answers the call and was told "Iceberg Right Ahead!" Officer Murdoch took the call and checked how Titanic was approaching the iceberg in order to decide the best maneuver. He noticed that the iceberg was at about 900 yards ahead and immediately sent a "Stop" signal to the engine room. This was followed by "Full Astern". Quartermaster Robert Hitchins was urgently ordered to turn the ship "Hard-a- starboard". The Titanic turned to the left.From 11:40 pm to 11:59 pm. Titanic struck the iceberg. The Titanic began to flood. First Officer William Murdoch closed the watertight doors as a precaution. Fourth Officer Boxhall arrived on the bridge. Captain Smith returned to the bridge after the collision and asked First Officer Murdoch, "What have we struck?" Murdoch confirmed that Titanic had struck an iceberg. Passengers did not fill a "crash stop" but only a grinding noise that lasted a few seconds, as if the ship was rolling over a thousand marbles. Smith sent two search parties to estimate the damages. One was sent to the front, the other on mid-ship. After 10 minutes the first party returned with a positive report of no major damage or flooding. Before the second party retuned Ismay decided to sail forward and telegraphed the engine room "dead slow ahead". A grinding noise followed the maneuver. The second search party, with the architect Thomas Andrews and the carpenter John Hutchinson, returned with a more accurate assessment of the situation. The first search party had not descended enough decks to see the full extent of the damage. Flooding had occurred in the coal bunkers and boiler room n.5. Suction lines were set up right away and the pumping seemed to be coping with the rate of flooding to keep the ship afloat. After restarting the ship, boiler room n. 6 had started to flood. Monday, April 15, 1912 12:00 am It was apparent that the initial determination was grossly inaccurate and the pumps were not able to solve the situation. The mail room was soon lost to flooding. Thomas Andrews informs Captain Smith that the first 6 watertight compartments had been breached and predicts that Titanic will stay afloat at most 2 hours. 12:05 am. Captain Smith ordered his crew to prepare the lifeboats and requested that wireless operators Harold Bride and Jack Phillips sent the "CQD" distress signal. 12:15 am. Titanic's wireless distress signal was first received by the Cape Race wireless station and the ships Mount Temple and La Provence. The message gave Titanic's position. 12:25 am. Captain Smith realized the ship was lost and gave order to start filling lifeboats--"women and children first". No official "abandon the ship" command was given. The crew was not told the extent of the damages and the maximum time available before the ship sank. There was no one-to-many communication system that could warn all the passengers at once. Door-to-door communications and word-of-mouth had to be used. Distress signal was sent again using the corrected position. The call for help was received by the Cunard liner Carpathia. Between 12:45 am and 2:17 am. Lifeboats were launched. Many passengers arrived on deck but wandered back to their warm cabins. In addition the ship's officers believed the lifeboats were at risk of breaking apart if they were lowered while fully loaded. They intended that once the boats reached the water they would pick up passengers from doors in the ship's side or would pick up passengers in the water. The first did not happen at all and the second only happened in one instance. Moreover, Harland & Wolff's Edward Wilding testified that the lifeboats had in fact been tested safely with the equivalent of a full load of passengers. However, the results had not been passed on to the crew of Titanic. In some case the boat's progress down the side of the ship was slow and difficult The pulleys were covered in fresh paint and the lowering ropes were stiff, causing them to stick repeatedly as the boat was lowered in jerks towards the water. As a result 472 lifeboat spaces went unused. Especially the first lifeboats were more than half empty. Only $ lifeboats resulted full or a little over crowded. The last two collapsible lifeboats respectively floated off upside down and without having pulled up the canvas side thus embarking water and killing by hypothermia 7 passengers. 02:18 am. The lights blinked once and then went out. The forward funnel broke off and hit the water crushing anyone in its path 02:19 am. The Titanic broke into 2 pieces between the third and fourth funnels. As the bow sank further, the stem momentarily remained on the ocean surface. 02:20 am. Two hours and forty minutes after striking the iceberg, the "unsinkable" Titanic slipped into the sea and began its descent to the ocean floor. Only 711 people survived, 212 of them were crew member, including Ismay!'.Ismay and Pirrie decided that something had to be done about the competition that was currently threatening White Star. Namely, the Cunard Line and the German lines were also beginning to produce monster ships. During an intimate dinner in 1907. J. Bruce Ismay and Lord Pirrie could not stop talking about the Mauretania and the Lusitania. Ismay and Pirrie knew that they could create bigger and better ships so they came up with an idea of building two twin leviathans that would be larger than the new Cunard ships. This SDA Bocco new class of liners would be able to move even more passengers and freight. They would feature the last word in luxury rather than focus on speed. A third ship was to later join this special group called the Olympic Class Liners." The first ship would be named Olympic. The second ship, Titanic and the third. Gigantic. (Later renamed Britannic after the Titanic disaster). The Business Case The estimated cost of the Titanic was 7.5 million $ (now more than 400 million). The contract was cost plus fee. For the Titanic 75% of the revenues would have come from first class passengers. Besides passenger tickets, revenue would also be derived from cargo, and the delivery of mail. There would also be significant cost savings based on a reduced fleet size: from the current six ships to three larger ships. Economies of scale would derive from a reduced workforce, less fuel, and lower maintenance costs. As a result, Titanic (and Olympic too) would be paid for within two years of going into operation. The third ship would be built once the other two were in operation and there was a steady revenue stream. Design and Construction Olympic and Titanic (and later Britannic) shared a design plan and common themes: luxury and bigness. J. Bruce Ismay, White Star chairman, and Lord Pirie, chairman of shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, estimated that they would be about one-and-a-half times the size of the Cunard Line's largest ships. Titanic was $82.5 feet (268.8 meters) long and 92.5 feet (28.2 meters) wide with a gross weight of more than 40,000 tons. Olympic was almost identical. The astonishing size was sooner used as a marketing tool (see figure 1) Figure 1. Advertisement on The New York Times of the forthcoming WSI vessels. THE NEW YORK TIMER SUNDAY. MARCH 15. The. X THE THOUSAND-FOOT SHIP AND WHAT IT MEANS LUSITANIA 780 FE The first two ships had to be designed and built almost in parallel in 4 years (1 design +3 construction) As already introduced luxury was the most important goal. Luxury meant not only using the best materials for the interiors but also providing spacious accommodations and the latest comfort technology. For this reason a U-shaped hull design was selected against the traditional V shape, which would have created a faster ship but would also had less room for the passengers (-20% of capacity). In order to present the ships as more powerful, the architects added a dummy smokestack (the ships would only need three to function). It was later repurposed into a ventilation system.n' 13914 The design leveraged the last available technologies: Control Panel. Titanic had an electrical control panel that was 30 to 40 feet long. The panel controlled all of the fans, generators and lighting on the ship. It also controlled the condensers that turned steam back into water, along with the few machines that took salt out of ocean water to make it drinkable. SDA Boccon The Titanic also had a master-slave setup for all of the clocks onboard. The central clock was on the bridge, and as the captain adjusted the time on that one clock, all the clocks on the ship would register the change as the ship sailed through different time zones. . Elevators. Titanic had four elevators, which was fairly new technology on a ship. Telephones. A few first-class cabins also had telephones, although the phone could not make ship-to- shore calls. . Marconigramm. The crowning technical glory on the Titanic was the advanced wireless communication system which was considered the most powerful setup in use at the time. At that time, most ships could transmit messages a distance of 100 to 130 miles during the day however the Titanic's wireless system was capable of transmitting messages for 400 miles during the day and 1,500 miles at night. Double-hull. A double hull is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull, typically inboard by a few feet, which forms a redundant barrier to seawater in case the outer hull is damaged and leaks. . Multiple watertight compartments. Watertight subdivision limits loss of buoyancy and freeboard in the event of damage, and may protect vital machinery from flooding. A steel ship with no watertight subdivision will sink if water accumulates faster than pumps can remove it. Titanic had 16 watertight compartments (see figure 2 Electric doors. Watertight doors could be dropped automatically or by manual controls. Doors could close off flooded compartments in case of emergency. Water pumps. In case of water filling water pumps would have been able to suck the water out of compartments . Collision ram. The prow of the Titanic was reinforced in order to resist to collisions with other ships Innovative lifeboat. The special "Quadrant, Double-Acting" design was supposed to enable the stowage up to four boats per davit. Figure 2. The 15 bulkhead walls created the 16 watertight compartments. The project schedule was that the design for the first two ships would be generated between April 1907 and July 1908. Then the White Star directors would approve the final design and an agreement would be signed to start construction. The design process was iterative and subdivided into several phases, during which the design was developed in increasing degrees of detail. To test the design assumptions they also used a fifteen-foot long shipbuilder's model. The size of the Titanic in conjunction with the planned construction and safety technologies created the idea that the ship was practically unsinkable. On July 29, 1908, approaching the end of the design phase, Ismay, Lord Pirrie, and a few other White Star directors attended a review meeting. Although the design was approved in principle, several issues were raised. During the review meeting participants spoke between four to five hours about decor and fittingsFigure 3. Press release highlighting the unsinkableity of Olympic that the latter will make her maiden voyage July. 1911 : and as far as it is possible to do so, these two wonder- ful vessels are designed to be unsinkable. On June 14, 1911 she did the maiden voyage starting from Southampton and reaching New York on June 21. As the largest ship in the world and the first in a new class of superliners, Olympic's maiden voyage attracted considerable worldwide attention from the press and public. Following her arrival in New York, Olympic was opened up to the public and received over 8,000 visitors. More than 10,000 spectators watched her depart from New York harbor, for her first return trip. Olympic's first major mishap occurred on her fifth voyage on September 20, 1911, when she collided with a British warship, HMS Hawke off the Isle of Wight. The collision took place as Olympic and Hawke were running parallel to each other. As Olympic turned to starboard, the wide radius of her turn took the commander of the Hawke by surprise, and he was unable to take sufficient avoiding action. The Hawke's bow, which had been designed to sink ships by ramming them, collided with Olympic's starboard side near the stern, tearing two large holes in Olympic's hull, below and above the waterline respectively, resulting in the flooding of two of her watertight compartments and a twisted propeller shaft. HMS Hawke suffered severe damage (see figure 4) to her bow and nearly turned upside down. Despite this, Olympic was able to return to Southampton under her own power, and no one was seriously injured or killed. RepTest results were positive and at the end Titanic was ready. Titanic was able to carry 3547 people. The total number of passenger rooms was $40 (2453 passengers): First Class: 416 (833 passengers) Second Class: 162 (614 passengers) Third Class: 262 plus 40 open berthing areas (1006 passengers) Ticket prices were : First Class (parlor suite) $870/$4,350 ($83,200 today) First Class (berth) $30/$150 ($2975 today) Second Class $12/$60 ($1200 today) Third Class $3 to f8/540 ($298 to $793 today) Following the test performed by the shipbuilder, White Star tests should have followed. Olympic went under 4 weeks of extensive tests. However, since the maiden voyage of Titanic was very close and it was already been postponed once, tests were cut to 1 day. In fact, testing the Titanic longer was considered not very useful provided that Titanic was almost a perfect copy of the sister ship Olympic that positively passed all of them. On April 2, 1912 Titanic was tested on sea. Witnesses reported that Titanic followed mainly a circular path. Titanic performed the stop test by reaching the speed of nearly 21 knots (maximum speed was estimated at 24 knots) and then stopping in less than half a mile. The typical complex handling maneuvers like "S-turns" that are used to get around hazards in an emergency were not performed. Titanic was approaching the maiden voyage but a coal strike, ended on April 6, almost caused an additional schedule slip. White Star was forced to buy coal from other ships. The Crew Almost 900 people were necessary to operate the Titanic. The vast majority of them were involved in providing services to passengers (especially first class passengers) while $3 were mariners trained and capable to sail the vessel Apart from the Ship's officers, all the other people were paid once the ship was out at sea so no or limited land-based preparation was scheduled. Following a brief description of the crew. Ship's Officers pro There were $ ship's officers responsible for the navigation Smith Commander Edward John. Captain Smith had a reputation for being in command of White Star's newest ships on their maiden voyages, and he had become known as the "Millionaires' Captain". In 1907, during the maiden voyage of the Adriatic he had declared: "I cannot imagine any condition which can cause this ship to flounder... Modem shipping has gone beyond that." After the conclusion of the maiden voyage he released a press interview: "When anyone asks me how I can best describe my experiences in nearly 40 years at sea, I merely say, uneventful. Of course, there have been winter gales, and storms and fog and the like, but in all my experience I have never been in any accident of any sort worth speaking about. I have seen but one vessel in distress in all my years at sea - a brig, the crew of which were taken off in a small boat in charge of my third officer. I never saw a wreck and have never been wrecked, nor was I ever in any predicament that threatened to end in disaster of any sort. You see, I am not very good material for a story. Wilde, Lieutenant Henry Tingle. Chief Officer. On April 1912 Wilde may have been expecting to remain as Chief Officer on the Olympic under her new skipper Captain Herbert James Haddock but instead he was posted to Southampton to await orders. On April 3, 1912 the Olympic sailed out of Southampton; although it was Haddock's first command of a vessel so large as the Olympic he had been deprived of his Chief Officer, his First Officer William Murdoch, Chief Engineer Joseph Bell, Chief Surgeon WilliamO'Loughlin and Chief Purser Herbert McElroy as well as a great number of less senior crew in order to staff the Titanic for the maiden voyage Murdoch. Lieutenant William McMaster. First Officer. Captain Smith made last minute changes to the senior officers for the maiden voyage. William Murdoch had originally been assigned to Titanic as chief officer, but at the last minute, he was told to step aside to allow Henry Wilde, the chief officer from the Olympic, to take his role. Murdoch than took the role of first officer (the same he had on Olympic) and his salary was reduced according to the new role from $25 to $17. The knock-on effect was that the original first officer then become the second officer, making the second officer Blair redundant. He was asked to leave the ship. When Blair left the ship, he unintentionally forgot to report that binoculars were stowed in his cabin . Lightoller. Sub-Lieutenant Charles Herbert, Second Officer. Lightoller boarded the Titanic just two weeks before her maiden voyage, and sailed as First Officer for the sea trials. As sailing day approached, however, Captain Smith made the above mentioned changes. Previously he joined the SS Majestic under the command of Captain Smith in the Atlantic. From there, he was promoted to third officer on the RMS Oceanic, the flagship of the White Star Line. He returned to the Majestic as first officer and then back to the Oceanic as its first officer. Pitman, Mr. Herbert John, Third Officer. Pitman received a telegram early in 1912 directing him to report to White Star's Liverpool office at nine in the morning on 26 March of that year. There he collected his ticket for Belfast; he arrived there at noon the following day and reported to (then) Chief Officer William Murdoch. As the Titanic departed Southampton on 10 April, Pitman was assisting (now First) Officer Murdoch at the stern of the ship in supervising the casting-off of mooring ropes and taking on of tug lines. While the Titanic was at sea, Pitman's duties included working out celestial observation and compass deviation, general supervision of the decks, looking to the quartermasters, and relieving the bridge officers when necessary. Boxhall, Sub-Lieutenant Joseph Groves. Fourth Officer. He served on White Star's liners RMS Oceanic and Arabic. Like the ship's other junior officers, Boxhall reported to White Star's Liverpool offices at nine o'clock in the morning on 26 March 1912, and travelled to board the ship at Belfast the following day. After the RMS Titanic departed Southampton on 10 April, Boxhall settled into his regular duties; these included scheduled watches, aiding in navigation, and assisting passengers and crew when necessary. Lowe, Sub-Lieutenant Harold Godfrey, Fifth Officer. He served as third officer on White Star's the Belgic and the Tropic before being transferred to the Titanic as Fifth Officer in 1912. He joined the other officer on March 26 too. Despite his numerous years at sea, however, the maiden voyage of the Titanic was to be his first transatlantic crossing. On sailing day (10 April), Lowe assisted (among other things) in the lowering of two of the starboard lifeboats to satisfy the Board of Trade that the Titanic met safety regulations. Moody. Mr. James Paul, Sixth Officer. He served the White Star Line aboard the luxurious Oceanic. On Titanic's sailing day, 10 April, Moody assisted, among other things, in aiding Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in lowering two of the starboard lifeboats to satisfy the Board of Trade that Titanic met safety standards. He was also in charge of closing the last gangway, and most likely saved the lives of six crewmen who arrived too late to board by turning them away. Deck Crew The Titanic employed one Able Officer who had seniority over all the un-licensed deck crew. The Able Officer, an experienced crewman of the White Star Line, assisted Thomas Andrews in his daily inspections around the ship. The Titanic also employed 29 Able Bodied Seamen (ABS), who had gone through additional training and usually had seniority over other crew members. They carried out the day-to-day operations of the ship. In addition they were trained to operate the lifeboat davits and man the lifeboats themselves. Each ABS was assigned to a lifeboat and would be in charge of that boat if there was no officer present. The Titanic also employed two Boatswain Mates. These were experienced seamen who managed the deck lines, deck cranes, winches, lifeboard davits, etc. on the deck. The Titanic had two Master-at-Arms. They and the Chief Officer had the only keys to the firearms cabinet.Seven quartermasters were employed on the Titanic (all of whom survived). They were highly trained seamen who worked on and around the bridge to steer the ship (helmsman), manage signal flags and to stand watch on the bridge to assist the Duty Officer with general navigation. Six lookouts were employed on the Titanic (all of whom survived). They were able bodied seamen who worked two to a shift in the crow's nest, working shifts of only two hours at a time because of extremely cold winds which they were exposed to in the open crow's nest. The lookouts were normally supplied with binoculars to aid them in seeing over long distances. Engineering Crew The 25 engineers were responsible for keeping the engines, generators, and other mechanical equipment on the Titanic running. There were 13 leading firemen (Stoker Foremen) and 163 firemen (Stokers) assigned to the Titanic. There were also 73 trimmers, or coal trimmers and 33 greasers. Victualling Crew There were 421 men and women assigned to the Victualling Department on the Titanic/Of those, 322 were stewards who performed over 37 different functions in each class's dining saloon, public rooms, cabins and recreational facilities. The two radio operators, who were actually employed by the Marconi Company and not directly by the White Star Line, were also assigned to the Victualling Department. The radio operators provided a 24 hour service. At that time ship to shore wireless transmissions was in its infancy and was viewed as more of a convenience rather than a means of an integral part of the ships command. The operators were under the Captain's command, but only as far as receiving and transmitting messages of importance of the ship. Their main job was tending to the passengers telegrams while at sea. The ships weather reports and ship to ship telegrams came second as they were not paying customers. They were more interested paid for each commercial radio message sent. Fee to send a wireless telegram was 12 shillings and sixpence/$3.12 ($62 today), for the first 10 words, and 9 pence per word thereafter. Restaurant Staff The staff were composed of 66 people. Postal Clerks Reproduction The Titanic's five postal clerks were charged with the supervision and processing of all incoming and outgoing mail on board the ship. Guarantee Group Though the nine-member guarantee group were given passenger accommodation, they were also regarded as members of the crew. Headed by the ship's designer, Thomas Andrews, the group's responsibility was to accompany the ship on her maiden voyage to oversee any unfinished work or find and fix any problems that might arise during the voyage. Orchestra The ship's eight-member orchestra was contracted by White Star Line and travelled as second-class passengers.and a few minutes about technical topics. From the meeting emerged that Ismay was particular unhappy about these areas: Lifeboats: the design initially included 16 lifeboat stations, each carrying 4 lifeboats, making 64. The design had housed the lifeboats on the ship's highest deck, which was also the promenade deck where the first-class passengers could stroll. Ismay believed the panoramic views were a key feature so he had problems with quadruple-stacked lifeboats blocking those views. The compromise reduced the lifeboats SDA Bocco to 32 Dining room: Ismay wanted the dining room to be the largest room ever to go to sea (51.2 meters by 28 meters). He had in mind that it would seat $32 people and host a variety of balls and gala dinners. Architects did not accomplished Ismay's vision because they included sealed multiple compartments in the hull of the ship. For Ismay's vision to be realized, 3 out of 15 of the bulkhead walls would have to be shortened so they did not cut through the dining room. The bulkheads divided each ship into 16 watertight compartments. After adjusting, 3 of the bulkhead walls ended just below the dining room and 3 meters above the waterline. Double hull. The design included a double hull along the bottom of the ship, continuing up the sides and providing an all-around double skin. This offered extra-safety but it also reduced space (a double hull would take away 4.5 meters from a 28 meters beam). The compromise limited the double hull just to the bottom. The distance between the two hulls was 2.1 meters. Ismay participated to the maiden voyage of the Olympic. After that he returned to the Titanic project with the following requests: Reducing the number of lifeboats from 32 to 16 to provide more space for verandas, sundecks, and sports by having just one lifeboat hanging from each davit. The 16 lifeboats now planned were the minimum required by the regulations so 4 collapsible lifeboats (Engelhard) were added making the lifeboats capacity 25% above regulation standards. Carlisle', chief draftsman, resisted this further reduction in the number of lifeboats but shortly afterward left the company. The 20 lifeboats were the following: 2 emergency cutters, numbered 1 and 2, with a capacity of 40 persons each. O 14 standard wooden lifeboats, numbered 3 through 16, with a capacity of 65 persons each. 4 collapsible lifeboats, with a capacity of 47 persons each. They had wooden bottoms and canvas sides Carrying only 20 lifeboats, which provided enough seats for roughly 50% percent of the Titanic's passengers (crew not included), did not violate British Board of Trade laws regarding the number of lifeboats a ship must carry. According to the board's 1894 Merchant Shipping Act, the number of lifeboats required onboard a ship was in direct proportion to the ship's gross tonnage. Board laws stated that ships weighing more than 10,000 tons must carry at least 16 lifeboats with a capacity of 155 cubic meters. Converting one promenade to create extra first-class staterooms and suites, two of these with private verandas. He also wanted to create a trellised cafe overlooking the sea. Reducing the amount of ship vibrations by reinforcing the steel structure in key areas. When Carlisle left, Thomas Andrews became the general manager and took over the leading role in the project. He had been involved in the design of the Olympic-class ships from the beginning and had reported to Carlisle. Following the original plan, Olympic was ready before Titanic. The maiden voyage was anticipated by an intense press and marketing campaign that underlined the size, luxury, and the fact that she was unsinkable (see figure 3).SDA B The Hole In the "Olymple," the Damage Below the The Bow of the "Hawke," the Damage being so Great Waterline being Much Greater Than That Above That the Ram Has Been Mashed Flat At the subsequent inquiry the Royal Navy blamed Olympic for the incident, alleging that her large displacement generated a suction that pulled Hawke into her side. The Hawke incident was a financial disaster for Olympic's operator: the White Star Line was faced with large legal bills and the cost of repairing the ship, and keeping her out of revenue service made matters worse. However, the fact that Olympic endured such a serious collision and stayed afloat, appeared to vindicate the design of the Olympic-class liners and reinforced their "unsinkable" reputation, Captain Smith, during a voyage with Olympic, declared: "Anyhow, the Olympic is unsinkable, and Titanic will be the same when she is put in commission. Why either of these vessels could be cut in halves and each half would remain afloat indefinitely. The non-sinkable vessel has been reached in these two wonderful craft. I venture to add that even if the engines and boilers of these vessels were to fall through their bottoms the vessels would remain afloat " Olympic returned to Belfast for permanent repairs, which took just over six weeks to complete. To speed up the repairs, Harland and Wolff was forced to delay Titanic's completion in order to use her propeller shaft for Olympic. By 29 November she was back in service, however in February 1912, Olympic suffered another setback when she lost a propeller blade on an eastbound voyage from New York, and once again returned to her builder for repairs. To get her back to service as soon as possible, Harland and Wolff again had to pull resources from Titanic, delaying her maiden voyage from 20 March 1912 to 10 April 1912 with an announcement in the London Times. As Titanic neared completion, tests were planned by Harland and Wolff before she was passed over to White Star. Three main tests were done: Incline test, that checked the ship's weight and center of gravity using a simple inclining experiment; Machineries test, that checked the functioning of the equipment and the main and auxiliary machinery; Speed test, that checked if the ship was able to reach a certain speed under specific conditions