"Mysteries at the Museum" Titanic: Mysteries at the Museum

1 00:00:11,612 --> 00:00:14,813 (Don) I'm heading across the continent... Wow, that's amazing. 2 00:00:14,849 --> 00:00:17,950 ...deep beneath the frigid waters of the North Atlantic Ocean... 3 00:00:21,489 --> 00:00:24,090 ...to get to the bottom of the most cataclysmic shipwreck 4 00:00:24,092 --> 00:00:27,092 in history-- the sinking of the Titanic. 5 00:00:27,128 --> 00:00:29,094 My mission? 6 00:00:29,130 --> 00:00:31,230 To explore the perfect storm of events 7 00:00:31,365 --> 00:00:33,699 that led to the Titanic's demise 8 00:00:33,701 --> 00:00:36,568 and to investigate advances that have been made 9 00:00:36,604 --> 00:00:39,105 to prevent a catastrophe of that magnitude 10 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:41,307 from ever happening again. 11 00:00:44,712 --> 00:00:46,311 I'm Don Wildman. 12 00:00:46,347 --> 00:00:48,781 I've explored the world's greatest mysteries, 13 00:00:48,783 --> 00:00:52,184 examined rare artifacts and epic monuments. That's amazing! 14 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,387 Now I'm digging deeper into some of the most perplexing 15 00:00:55,423 --> 00:00:57,723 and famous cases in history. 16 00:00:57,792 --> 00:01:01,126 My goal? To get closer to the truth. 17 00:01:01,162 --> 00:01:04,263 It's a totally alien environment down there. 18 00:01:04,265 --> 00:01:08,034 This is "Mysteries at the Museum: Titanic." 19 00:01:14,409 --> 00:01:16,675 The sinking of the Titanic was one of the greatest 20 00:01:16,678 --> 00:01:18,911 maritime disasters in history. 21 00:01:21,049 --> 00:01:24,216 Made of more than 24,000 tons of steel, 22 00:01:24,352 --> 00:01:27,285 this state-of-the-art ship was considered unsinkable. 23 00:01:27,322 --> 00:01:31,023 Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, 24 00:01:31,059 --> 00:01:34,493 bound for New York City, on April 10, 1912. 25 00:01:34,629 --> 00:01:36,896 Four days later, 26 00:01:37,031 --> 00:01:39,564 on a pitch-black night, the behemoth liner 27 00:01:39,601 --> 00:01:43,435 struck an iceberg, tearing apart its starboard hull. 28 00:01:43,471 --> 00:01:46,905 In less than three hours, the ship broke apart 29 00:01:46,941 --> 00:01:49,108 and sank to the bottom of the sea, 30 00:01:49,177 --> 00:01:51,577 killing more than 1,500 people. 31 00:01:51,712 --> 00:01:55,314 It was a disaster that rocked the world. 32 00:01:55,449 --> 00:01:59,318 For the past 100 years, experts from around the world 33 00:01:59,453 --> 00:02:02,922 have come up with theories as to how and why the Titanic sank. 34 00:02:03,057 --> 00:02:06,058 On the surface, the answer seems simple-- 35 00:02:06,060 --> 00:02:09,395 it struck an iceberg-- but that's not the whole story. 36 00:02:09,464 --> 00:02:13,199 So much about that night is still shrouded in mystery. 37 00:02:16,004 --> 00:02:18,604 I want to explore the factors that led to the sinking 38 00:02:18,673 --> 00:02:20,873 of this majestic ship and find out 39 00:02:20,875 --> 00:02:23,809 if any one of those events had not happened, 40 00:02:23,811 --> 00:02:26,078 would the Titanic have sunk? 41 00:02:28,082 --> 00:02:30,416 To start my investigation, I'm heading to the island 42 00:02:30,551 --> 00:02:33,219 of Newfoundland in Canada. 43 00:02:33,354 --> 00:02:36,355 It's the home of Iceberg Alley, a region that stretches 44 00:02:36,424 --> 00:02:39,491 from the coast of Labrador to the northeast coast of Newfoundland. 45 00:02:39,527 --> 00:02:41,893 Depending on the tides, 46 00:02:41,929 --> 00:02:44,229 this area is populated with hundreds 47 00:02:44,299 --> 00:02:46,899 or even thousands of icebergs. 48 00:02:46,968 --> 00:02:50,235 It was in these frigid waters of the North Atlantic Ocean 49 00:02:50,304 --> 00:02:54,206 that the revered Titanic met its fate. 50 00:02:57,244 --> 00:03:00,112 Newfoundland is the easternmost province of Canada 51 00:03:00,181 --> 00:03:02,581 and North America-- it has a population of about 52 00:03:02,617 --> 00:03:05,851 1/2 million people spread out over an immense area. 53 00:03:05,853 --> 00:03:08,120 But it's the shipping lanes 54 00:03:08,122 --> 00:03:10,389 off the coast that are so important, 55 00:03:10,391 --> 00:03:12,324 major thoroughfares for all the vessels 56 00:03:12,460 --> 00:03:14,994 transiting between Europe and the U.S., 57 00:03:15,129 --> 00:03:18,597 and it was on this very route the Titanic crashed into an iceberg. 58 00:03:18,633 --> 00:03:22,334 To find out exactly how this happened, I have to first 59 00:03:22,470 --> 00:03:24,736 find out all I can about icebergs, 60 00:03:24,806 --> 00:03:27,273 so I'm meeting with polar oceanographer 61 00:03:27,408 --> 00:03:31,010 and iceberg specialist, Dr. Alon Stern from Princeton University. 62 00:03:31,145 --> 00:03:34,213 The Titanic was the crown jewel 63 00:03:34,348 --> 00:03:36,281 of the White Star Line. 64 00:03:36,351 --> 00:03:39,351 This impressive ship took 3,000 people 65 00:03:39,420 --> 00:03:41,620 about three years to build 66 00:03:41,622 --> 00:03:43,823 and cost about $7.5 million. 67 00:03:43,958 --> 00:03:47,226 Today, that would be approximately $171 million. 68 00:03:47,295 --> 00:03:49,295 Pricey vessel. 69 00:03:51,899 --> 00:03:54,566 The lavishly appointed ship was transporting 70 00:03:54,635 --> 00:03:57,703 2,224 passengers and crew. 71 00:03:57,838 --> 00:04:01,507 The manifest included some of the world's wealthiest people 72 00:04:01,509 --> 00:04:05,244 as well as hundreds of emigrants in search of a new life in America. 73 00:04:05,313 --> 00:04:08,180 Just four days into its maiden voyage, 74 00:04:08,249 --> 00:04:10,416 disaster hit. 75 00:04:15,856 --> 00:04:19,592 The Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912. 76 00:04:19,727 --> 00:04:22,161 But how did this even happen? 77 00:04:22,263 --> 00:04:24,663 I need to find out more about these lethal objects 78 00:04:24,799 --> 00:04:26,832 floating in the water and why 79 00:04:26,868 --> 00:04:28,834 there might have been more of them that night. 80 00:04:31,338 --> 00:04:33,205 Alon? (Alon) Hey, Don. 81 00:04:33,340 --> 00:04:35,541 Nice to meet you. Welcome aboard. 82 00:04:35,543 --> 00:04:37,609 Thanks for the invite. Yeah, it's a pleasure to have you. 83 00:04:37,645 --> 00:04:41,213 So you've made a career out of studying these icebergs, right? Yeah. 84 00:04:41,249 --> 00:04:42,948 Why so fascinated? 85 00:04:43,083 --> 00:04:45,150 They're just so massive-- they're massive chunks of ice 86 00:04:45,153 --> 00:04:47,086 in the ocean, and the part we see above the water Right. 87 00:04:47,221 --> 00:04:49,354 is just the beginning-- like, to really get a sense 88 00:04:49,390 --> 00:04:52,290 of the scale, we're gonna put you out in the water today. Excellent. 89 00:04:52,326 --> 00:04:54,326 Let's go find ourselves some icebergs. [chuckles] 90 00:04:56,697 --> 00:04:59,365 (Don) One thing I've learned in my short time in Newfoundland-- 91 00:04:59,500 --> 00:05:02,101 the weather here is very unpredictable. 92 00:05:02,103 --> 00:05:04,503 One minute it's sunny, 93 00:05:04,505 --> 00:05:06,705 the next, you're socked in by fog. 94 00:05:09,510 --> 00:05:11,977 Somewhere out there is an iceberg. 95 00:05:13,981 --> 00:05:15,981 I can't wait to see it, you know? 96 00:05:18,219 --> 00:05:20,853 An iceberg is a mass of freshwater ice 97 00:05:20,988 --> 00:05:23,522 that has cracked off from a glacier or an ice shelf 98 00:05:23,657 --> 00:05:25,791 and is floating in the open ocean. 99 00:05:25,926 --> 00:05:27,927 The world's largest was B-15. 100 00:05:28,062 --> 00:05:31,530 It broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. 101 00:05:31,566 --> 00:05:35,200 It was around 183 miles long, 102 00:05:35,203 --> 00:05:38,804 23 miles wide, and had a surface area 103 00:05:38,873 --> 00:05:41,673 as big as the state of Connecticut. 104 00:05:41,709 --> 00:05:45,143 I feel like actually seeing an iceberg is gonna help me 105 00:05:45,179 --> 00:05:47,947 truly understand what happened to the Titanic. 106 00:05:52,353 --> 00:05:54,653 Wow, that is a pretty thing to see! 107 00:05:58,359 --> 00:06:00,425 Thousands of years of ice 108 00:06:00,528 --> 00:06:03,095 drifting down the coast very, very slowly. 109 00:06:05,966 --> 00:06:08,367 And look at the beautiful colors, this beautiful blue line 110 00:06:08,502 --> 00:06:11,503 sliced through-- it looks like a jewel almost. 111 00:06:11,505 --> 00:06:14,440 It's awesome and intimidating. 112 00:06:14,442 --> 00:06:17,910 It's one of these grand nature moments, you know? 113 00:06:17,912 --> 00:06:20,779 Like standing on the Grand Canyon. This is that level. 114 00:06:23,851 --> 00:06:26,585 They claim that the iceberg the Titanic struck was 115 00:06:26,654 --> 00:06:29,588 about 100 feet high and a few hundred feet wide. 116 00:06:29,723 --> 00:06:32,924 This one here is approximately half as high 117 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:35,394 and about 1/4-mile wide. 118 00:06:35,396 --> 00:06:37,663 But looks can be deceiving. 119 00:06:37,665 --> 00:06:40,732 Only a small fraction of the iceberg is visible 120 00:06:40,801 --> 00:06:43,868 above the surface of the water-- 90 percent of it 121 00:06:43,905 --> 00:06:47,072 is concealed in the watery depths, and from the surface, 122 00:06:47,108 --> 00:06:50,476 there's no way to know its true shape and scope. 123 00:06:50,478 --> 00:06:54,012 These gigantic floating blocks of ice can weigh in 124 00:06:54,048 --> 00:06:57,549 between 100,000 and 500,000 tons. 125 00:06:57,618 --> 00:07:01,086 For some perspective, Titanic was bigger 126 00:07:01,221 --> 00:07:03,689 than an 80-story building, and it weighed 127 00:07:03,758 --> 00:07:06,157 around 46,000 tons. 128 00:07:06,193 --> 00:07:08,594 Puts you in a state of awe. 129 00:07:10,731 --> 00:07:13,231 By diving this iceberg, I can get a fuller picture 130 00:07:13,267 --> 00:07:15,567 of what Titanic really faced. 131 00:07:15,636 --> 00:07:17,836 You ready for your dive? I am ready, yes. 132 00:07:17,905 --> 00:07:19,638 We're gonna be monitoring you from the top. 133 00:07:19,773 --> 00:07:21,640 (Don) You got me on coms? Yeah, I got you. 134 00:07:21,775 --> 00:07:23,442 Good luck, okay? All right, thank you very much. 135 00:07:23,444 --> 00:07:25,778 Enjoy. All right, let's get suited up here. 136 00:07:28,983 --> 00:07:32,184 [inhales sharply] Brrrrrr. 137 00:07:32,319 --> 00:07:34,787 For my safety, I'm going down with a team 138 00:07:34,789 --> 00:07:37,522 who specializes in iceberg dives. 139 00:07:37,558 --> 00:07:39,858 What is the temperature of this water, Nick? 140 00:07:39,927 --> 00:07:42,261 It's about 32 to 37 degrees Fahrenheit. 141 00:07:42,263 --> 00:07:45,130 (Don) Wow! (Nick) It's cold, very cold. 142 00:07:45,166 --> 00:07:49,001 (Don) If I went in there, how soon would I be killed in that water? 143 00:07:49,136 --> 00:07:51,103 Without the proper protection, minutes. 144 00:07:51,138 --> 00:07:54,940 So that's why we're doing a dry suit today. 145 00:07:54,942 --> 00:07:57,542 Yes, very much. Proper protection will keep you alive for sure. 146 00:07:57,578 --> 00:07:59,545 Okay, here we go. 147 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:02,480 (Don) The night the Titanic sank, the North Atlantic 148 00:08:02,516 --> 00:08:05,083 was 28 degrees Fahrenheit. 149 00:08:05,152 --> 00:08:08,620 When a human body is exposed to freezing water, 150 00:08:08,756 --> 00:08:11,289 hypothermia sets in. 151 00:08:11,325 --> 00:08:14,159 In a matter of minutes, internal organs shut down, 152 00:08:14,228 --> 00:08:16,628 and death quickly follows. 153 00:08:16,664 --> 00:08:20,032 This was the fate of the majority of the ship's souls who perished. 154 00:08:22,903 --> 00:08:25,036 I'm a pretty good diver, 155 00:08:25,072 --> 00:08:27,172 but this is a whole different thing than I've ever been used to. 156 00:08:27,208 --> 00:08:30,375 It's dangerous. It is very dangerous-- the iceberg is very unpredictable. 157 00:08:30,411 --> 00:08:33,978 It could break apart, it could roll over-- 158 00:08:34,014 --> 00:08:36,048 anything could happen in seconds. 159 00:08:36,050 --> 00:08:37,649 If there's any loud bangs or cracks, 160 00:08:37,718 --> 00:08:39,851 we have to swim away from the iceberg as quick as possible. 161 00:08:39,887 --> 00:08:41,853 (Don) Okay. 162 00:08:41,889 --> 00:08:44,723 Cold weather-- there's a lot more gear. Ooh! 163 00:08:44,792 --> 00:08:47,392 It's a workout, this thing. 164 00:08:47,461 --> 00:08:50,663 Unlike the passengers and crew of the Titanic, 165 00:08:50,798 --> 00:08:53,766 I get to wear a fleece base layer and will have 166 00:08:53,868 --> 00:08:56,402 waterproof gloves and a full facemask. 167 00:09:00,941 --> 00:09:03,242 (Nick) We're doing the helmet to help protect you. 168 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:11,074 169 00:09:23,764 --> 00:09:25,798 What's it look like down there? 170 00:09:36,443 --> 00:09:38,443 (Don) I've been reading about the Titanic tragedy 171 00:09:38,479 --> 00:09:40,846 for more than 40 years, but until this dive 172 00:09:40,981 --> 00:09:44,516 I have never fully grasped how much of an iceberg 173 00:09:44,518 --> 00:09:46,852 is truly underwater. 174 00:09:46,987 --> 00:09:50,855 It gives me such appreciation of what the crew of the Titanic 175 00:09:50,891 --> 00:09:53,025 faced over a century ago. 176 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,000 (Don) I'm four miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, 177 00:10:57,002 --> 00:11:00,137 investigating the sinking of the greatest ship in history, 178 00:11:00,272 --> 00:11:02,339 the Titanic. 179 00:11:02,341 --> 00:11:05,074 I'm trying to find out what brought this amazing ship down 180 00:11:05,110 --> 00:11:07,878 and if a tragedy like this could happen again today. 181 00:11:08,013 --> 00:11:10,613 To gain a better understanding 182 00:11:10,683 --> 00:11:12,883 of what caused the ship's demise, 183 00:11:12,885 --> 00:11:16,053 I'm iceberg diving in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. 184 00:11:19,425 --> 00:11:22,291 We went down another 40 feet, but we still couldn't see 185 00:11:22,328 --> 00:11:23,994 the end of the iceberg. 186 00:11:32,838 --> 00:11:35,972 This iceberg is wider than two football fields, 187 00:11:35,974 --> 00:11:38,108 and with 90 percent of it underwater, 188 00:11:38,110 --> 00:11:41,178 the crew of a ship would have no idea where it ends. 189 00:11:48,721 --> 00:11:50,387 Okay, good. 190 00:11:50,389 --> 00:11:52,522 Wow! 191 00:11:52,591 --> 00:11:54,591 All right, bring me up. 192 00:11:58,897 --> 00:12:02,399 One of the most intense experiences I've ever been through. 193 00:12:02,401 --> 00:12:04,934 So amazing. 194 00:12:05,004 --> 00:12:08,738 And that much ice--you can see how it would just rip the hull 195 00:12:08,774 --> 00:12:12,208 of the Titanic like it was a piece of tin foil. 196 00:12:12,244 --> 00:12:14,745 I mean, unbelievable. 197 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:17,747 So much confusion, so much disorientation. 198 00:12:17,750 --> 00:12:19,749 I mean, it's cold, it's, uh... 199 00:12:19,818 --> 00:12:22,986 it's a totally alien environment down there. 200 00:12:29,161 --> 00:12:33,029 So immense under the water-- I couldn't believe how much ice there was. 201 00:12:33,165 --> 00:12:35,298 Yeah, and if you think of a huge object like the Titanic, 202 00:12:35,434 --> 00:12:38,635 a huge ship, it really takes a big iceberg to knock it out, 203 00:12:38,770 --> 00:12:40,770 and these things are massive. 204 00:12:40,806 --> 00:12:43,106 (Don) I've never seen an iceberg so flat. 205 00:12:43,108 --> 00:12:45,375 Icebergs, broadly speaking, come in two types. 206 00:12:45,444 --> 00:12:48,378 There's the large, tabular icebergs which are big, long, flat ones. 207 00:12:48,513 --> 00:12:51,247 Okay. And this one that we're looking at is a tabular berg. 208 00:12:51,316 --> 00:12:54,184 And then there's the taller ones, the pinnacle icebergs. 209 00:12:54,186 --> 00:12:56,385 Titanic ran into one that was 100 feet tall. 210 00:12:56,422 --> 00:12:58,387 That's a pinnacle. Exactly. 211 00:12:58,424 --> 00:13:01,458 (Don) Pinnacled icebergs, also known as non-tabular, 212 00:13:01,593 --> 00:13:04,327 have spires-- other shapes include 213 00:13:04,329 --> 00:13:07,263 dome, the wedge, and the block. 214 00:13:07,332 --> 00:13:11,134 Regardless of the shapes, the true threat lies beneath 215 00:13:11,203 --> 00:13:14,471 the waterline-- the iceberg the Titanic hit 216 00:13:14,540 --> 00:13:16,606 was a massive block of ice 217 00:13:16,675 --> 00:13:19,376 descending about 900 feet below the surface. 218 00:13:22,047 --> 00:13:24,014 (Alon) And an iceberg like this, on average, would move at about 219 00:13:24,149 --> 00:13:26,550 1/2 mile per hour, which is pretty quick, Mmhm. 220 00:13:26,685 --> 00:13:29,419 but the biggest ones can get along at, like, two miles per hour. 221 00:13:29,488 --> 00:13:32,756 And that's dependent on current and the size of the berg. 222 00:13:32,758 --> 00:13:35,892 An iceberg is driven by ocean currents, it's driven by wind. 223 00:13:36,027 --> 00:13:38,828 Depending on the size, that will determine whether 224 00:13:38,864 --> 00:13:41,698 it's driven more by currents or by wind. 225 00:13:41,767 --> 00:13:44,634 (Don) The vast majority of icebergs in the North Atlantic Ocean, 226 00:13:44,703 --> 00:13:48,104 approximately 40,000 of them, originate from glaciers 227 00:13:48,107 --> 00:13:51,374 in western Greenland-- the glacial ice reaches 228 00:13:51,410 --> 00:13:54,711 the Greenland coast, and the end of the glaciers break off. 229 00:13:54,846 --> 00:13:58,582 This process is called cavving. 230 00:13:58,717 --> 00:14:02,519 The ocean current carries the icebergs south towards Newfoundland, 231 00:14:02,588 --> 00:14:04,654 creating Iceberg Alley. 232 00:14:04,656 --> 00:14:07,724 This is the only place in the world where this much floating ice 233 00:14:07,726 --> 00:14:10,227 intersects with the major shipping lanes. 234 00:14:13,265 --> 00:14:15,665 Now I have a much better understanding of icebergs, 235 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:19,001 but that still doesn't explain why Titanic hit one. 236 00:14:19,037 --> 00:14:22,539 Some people believe there were just a lot more icebergs 237 00:14:22,608 --> 00:14:25,609 in this area that year-- I need to understand 238 00:14:25,611 --> 00:14:27,577 why that was the case. 239 00:14:30,348 --> 00:14:32,415 So let's talk about that night, 1912. 240 00:14:32,484 --> 00:14:34,884 There were more icebergs in the shipping lanes, right? 241 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:37,620 There's a theory that the increased volume of icebergs 242 00:14:37,689 --> 00:14:40,624 was caused by an ultra-rare alignment 243 00:14:40,759 --> 00:14:43,760 of the Earth, the moon, and the sun. 244 00:14:43,762 --> 00:14:46,696 Firstly, the Earth, the moon, and the sun were all lined up. 245 00:14:46,765 --> 00:14:50,633 Secondly, at the same time, the moon was at the closest point 246 00:14:50,669 --> 00:14:52,635 in its orbit to the Earth. 247 00:14:52,671 --> 00:14:54,770 A supermoon. Exactly. 248 00:14:54,807 --> 00:14:57,707 (Don) And during a supermoon, the ocean tide is higher. 249 00:14:57,743 --> 00:15:00,243 At the same time as those two events happening, 250 00:15:00,378 --> 00:15:03,045 a third event was that the Earth was at the closest point 251 00:15:03,081 --> 00:15:06,049 in its orbit to the sun, and those three events 252 00:15:06,118 --> 00:15:08,451 happening all at the same time is exceptionally rare 253 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:11,655 and would've led to increased tides. 254 00:15:11,657 --> 00:15:15,659 (Don) If this theory is true, increased tides 255 00:15:15,661 --> 00:15:19,663 would've pulled more icebergs into the shipping lanes, 256 00:15:19,665 --> 00:15:22,866 and Titanic would've had to navigate an unusually large 257 00:15:22,868 --> 00:15:26,336 number of icebergs, increasing the probability of collision. 258 00:15:26,405 --> 00:15:29,138 If the tidal effect had never occurred, 259 00:15:29,208 --> 00:15:32,576 the ship, very likely, would've averted disaster. 260 00:15:39,751 --> 00:15:42,419 Well, to understand just how difficult it is to navigate 261 00:15:42,554 --> 00:15:45,222 in these obstructive waters, I'm gonna take the helm of the boat, 262 00:15:45,323 --> 00:15:48,959 and I'm gonna do it in the daytime, 'cause that's a better idea. 263 00:15:53,131 --> 00:15:56,299 Skipper Bill here has been navigating these waters for a good, long time. 264 00:15:56,335 --> 00:15:58,568 How long, Bill? Jeez, 17 years. 265 00:15:58,703 --> 00:16:01,705 Seventeen years. So--now granted, 266 00:16:01,707 --> 00:16:04,174 Titanic was a lot bigger than this boat, right? 267 00:16:04,309 --> 00:16:07,510 This was how big? This vessel here is 45 feet in length. 268 00:16:07,646 --> 00:16:11,113 Forty-five feet, Titanic, 883 feet. 269 00:16:11,149 --> 00:16:13,783 More than 20 times the size, right? Yeah. 270 00:16:13,819 --> 00:16:17,053 But no matter how big the boat... That's right, the danger's always there. 271 00:16:17,122 --> 00:16:19,856 You mind if I take the helm? Oh, no problem at all. 272 00:16:19,925 --> 00:16:22,359 Oh, you're very willing. Thank you very much. 273 00:16:24,463 --> 00:16:27,330 Captain Edward John Smith was the most experienced officer 274 00:16:27,332 --> 00:16:30,866 in the White Star Line, having sailed for 25 years. 275 00:16:30,902 --> 00:16:32,936 The Titanic's voyage 276 00:16:32,938 --> 00:16:35,338 was meant to be his last trip before retiring. 277 00:16:35,340 --> 00:16:38,874 In the wake of the wreck, Smith was criticized for going 278 00:16:38,911 --> 00:16:41,278 at full speed in a known ice field 279 00:16:41,379 --> 00:16:44,347 instead of slowing down or even stopping. 280 00:16:47,486 --> 00:16:51,087 According to records, he was traveling at 22.5 knots 281 00:16:51,156 --> 00:16:53,490 or 25 miles an hour. 282 00:16:53,492 --> 00:16:57,426 Boats respond to navigational commands based upon their size 283 00:16:57,462 --> 00:16:59,829 and the speed they're traveling. 284 00:16:59,964 --> 00:17:03,033 In fact, the captain of the ship nearest to Titanic, 285 00:17:03,168 --> 00:17:05,969 the Californian, deemed the waters too treacherous 286 00:17:06,104 --> 00:17:08,505 and stopped for the night. 287 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:11,641 (Don) All right, nice and slow. Yeah, go slow. 288 00:17:11,710 --> 00:17:15,111 (Don) What's my biggest concern? 289 00:17:15,180 --> 00:17:17,446 You've got quite a swell on right now, so... 290 00:17:17,482 --> 00:17:19,315 (Don) Oh, yeah, pull it out. Pull it out. 291 00:17:19,351 --> 00:17:21,918 I had to say, it's pretty difficult driving, 292 00:17:21,987 --> 00:17:24,787 and this boat is nothing compared to the Titanic. 293 00:17:24,823 --> 00:17:27,190 I can see how dangerous this is 294 00:17:27,325 --> 00:17:29,326 to even get a little bit too close. 295 00:17:29,461 --> 00:17:31,861 The swell hits you and pulls you in there. Yeah. 296 00:17:31,997 --> 00:17:34,530 That would be true at--at even farther out to sea, right? 297 00:17:34,566 --> 00:17:37,133 Yeah, certainly, and then you add the nightfall, you know. 298 00:17:37,202 --> 00:17:39,135 We're in daylight now, so you imagine the night, 299 00:17:39,204 --> 00:17:42,004 somethin' like that just lurking in front of you. Exactly. 300 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:44,741 That's crazy to even be running at night. Yeah. 301 00:17:46,745 --> 00:17:49,345 Even in my short experience steering this thing, 302 00:17:49,481 --> 00:17:52,816 if you saw an iceberg dead ahead late in the game, 303 00:17:52,951 --> 00:17:55,217 very tough to avoid it. 304 00:17:55,253 --> 00:17:59,422 By the time the Titanic's lookout finally alerted the bridge 305 00:17:59,424 --> 00:18:02,625 and the first office gave the order, "Hard to starboard," 306 00:18:02,627 --> 00:18:04,627 to turn the boat... 307 00:18:04,630 --> 00:18:06,763 they were too late. 308 00:18:06,832 --> 00:18:09,966 The unwieldy ship grazed the iceberg on its starboard, 309 00:18:09,968 --> 00:18:12,568 or righthand side. 310 00:18:12,604 --> 00:18:15,238 With so many more icebergs in the shipping lanes 311 00:18:15,373 --> 00:18:17,574 plus the conditions that night, 312 00:18:17,576 --> 00:18:19,976 the Titanic never had a chance, 313 00:18:20,045 --> 00:18:22,712 but even though the iceberg may not have been avoidable, 314 00:18:22,847 --> 00:18:25,982 some believe that what occurred in the hours leading up 315 00:18:26,051 --> 00:18:28,551 to this collision could have been prevented. 316 00:18:37,295 --> 00:18:39,996 (Don) I'm exploring why the Titanic sank, 317 00:18:40,065 --> 00:18:43,466 if it could've been prevented, and could it happen again today. 318 00:18:46,938 --> 00:18:49,405 The night the ship went down, there was a series of events 319 00:18:49,441 --> 00:18:51,608 that contributed to its fate. Hard to starboard! 320 00:18:51,610 --> 00:18:53,610 I wanna know what these were. 321 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:57,613 To find out, I have to go back 322 00:18:57,682 --> 00:19:00,550 to early 20th century radio communication. 323 00:19:00,619 --> 00:19:03,686 The Marconi Company held the maritime contract 324 00:19:03,722 --> 00:19:06,089 for the Titanic and other liners. 325 00:19:06,224 --> 00:19:09,225 They also operated land-based wireless stations. 326 00:19:09,294 --> 00:19:13,496 Beginning at 9am, the Titanic started receiving warnings 327 00:19:13,565 --> 00:19:16,632 of ice in its area-- over the course of the day, 328 00:19:16,668 --> 00:19:19,502 the Titanic received at least five warnings, 329 00:19:19,504 --> 00:19:23,106 but only two or three made their way to the bridge. 330 00:19:23,108 --> 00:19:26,309 The last and most critical alert, 331 00:19:26,311 --> 00:19:29,379 citing the exact location of the fateful iceberg, 332 00:19:29,381 --> 00:19:33,383 never made its way to the captain, so what happened to that alert? 333 00:19:33,385 --> 00:19:35,451 To try and find out, 334 00:19:35,487 --> 00:19:37,653 I'm heading to East Greenwich, Rhode Island. 335 00:19:37,722 --> 00:19:40,590 This small town is at the center of the state, 336 00:19:40,659 --> 00:19:43,459 along the western shore of Narragansett Bay. 337 00:19:43,495 --> 00:19:45,528 It also happens to be the home 338 00:19:45,530 --> 00:19:47,730 of the New England Wireless & Steam Museum. 339 00:19:47,866 --> 00:19:49,833 [exhales heavily] 340 00:19:52,270 --> 00:19:53,869 [exhales heavily] 341 00:19:53,905 --> 00:19:56,739 Look at this place, so cool! 342 00:19:58,443 --> 00:20:00,977 This is a private museum here 343 00:20:01,079 --> 00:20:04,146 that contains all this old radio equipment 344 00:20:04,182 --> 00:20:06,616 from the days of Titanic-- I wanna find out 345 00:20:06,685 --> 00:20:09,352 what role the communications problems had 346 00:20:09,487 --> 00:20:12,088 in the disaster. 347 00:20:12,090 --> 00:20:14,823 I'm meeting this guy here-- hey, how you doing? Hi--hi, Don. 348 00:20:14,860 --> 00:20:16,158 Nice to meet you-- Don Wildman. Craig Moody. 349 00:20:16,194 --> 00:20:17,493 Nice to meet you. Nice meeting you. 350 00:20:17,529 --> 00:20:20,230 Well, this is one hip place! Welcome, it sure is. 351 00:20:23,702 --> 00:20:26,302 This is a replica of a 1920 ship's radio room. 352 00:20:26,437 --> 00:20:28,304 (Don) Look at this! 353 00:20:28,439 --> 00:20:31,908 Look at this stuff--you have all the great names-- 354 00:20:32,043 --> 00:20:35,445 Crosley, Atwater Kent. Right. 355 00:20:35,447 --> 00:20:38,114 This is all the equipment that made 356 00:20:38,183 --> 00:20:40,650 wireless communication possible, right? Right. 357 00:20:40,652 --> 00:20:44,187 So how much did the newness of this technology have to do with the disaster? 358 00:20:44,322 --> 00:20:47,190 That I can show you in the other room. All right. 359 00:20:47,259 --> 00:20:50,593 Come on into the radio room and learn some Morse code. 360 00:20:50,629 --> 00:20:53,729 I set up a little training station for you. 361 00:20:53,798 --> 00:20:55,464 All right. 362 00:20:55,534 --> 00:20:59,401 And Morse code is a very simple means of communication. 363 00:20:59,437 --> 00:21:03,406 It's a series of dits and dahs, or short tones, long tones. 364 00:21:03,541 --> 00:21:07,076 (Don) Each Morse code symbol represents a letter, a numeral, 365 00:21:07,078 --> 00:21:10,279 or a small set of punctuation and procedural signals. 366 00:21:10,348 --> 00:21:14,083 The duration of the dots or dashes 367 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:16,219 is what determines the message. 368 00:21:18,290 --> 00:21:21,491 In 1844, Samuel Morse delivered his first message 369 00:21:21,493 --> 00:21:24,160 from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Maryland. 370 00:21:24,229 --> 00:21:27,429 Forty-six years later, 371 00:21:27,466 --> 00:21:29,565 Titanic used Morse code 372 00:21:29,601 --> 00:21:32,501 to communicate with other ships and land stations. 373 00:21:32,537 --> 00:21:35,437 This is a replica 374 00:21:35,473 --> 00:21:38,540 of the Titanic called a straight key. [buzzing noises] 375 00:21:38,577 --> 00:21:40,576 Today we have... [beeping noises] 376 00:21:40,579 --> 00:21:42,645 Okay. Nice, clear tones, but back in the day, 377 00:21:42,780 --> 00:21:45,714 you'd have quite a raw-sounding buzz. 378 00:21:45,750 --> 00:21:47,049 [buzzing noise] 379 00:21:47,085 --> 00:21:50,119 SOS, save our ship. 380 00:21:50,254 --> 00:21:52,455 Not necessarily. 381 00:21:52,524 --> 00:21:56,058 SOS is a very easy to remember series of dits and dahs. Okay. 382 00:21:56,127 --> 00:21:57,794 S is... [three short beeps] 383 00:21:57,796 --> 00:21:59,195 O is... [three long beeps] 384 00:21:59,330 --> 00:22:00,730 S... [three short beeps] 385 00:22:00,799 --> 00:22:04,334 You string it together... [three short, three long, three short beeps] 386 00:22:04,336 --> 00:22:06,602 Fascinating. [three short, three long, three short beeps] 387 00:22:06,671 --> 00:22:09,606 And you have what was an internationally agreed upon distress call. 388 00:22:09,741 --> 00:22:11,140 Let me try. 389 00:22:11,209 --> 00:22:14,010 [three short, three long, three short beeps] 390 00:22:14,145 --> 00:22:17,280 (Don) SOS became a worldwide standard distress signal 391 00:22:17,349 --> 00:22:20,015 effective July 1st, 1908, 392 00:22:20,051 --> 00:22:23,485 so it was less than four years old when Titanic set sail. 393 00:22:23,521 --> 00:22:26,089 So this was a new signal in those days, yeah? Right. 394 00:22:26,091 --> 00:22:28,224 Did SOS delay the rescue? 395 00:22:28,293 --> 00:22:30,760 The Marconi operators worked for Marconi Company. 396 00:22:30,762 --> 00:22:34,030 They weren't necessarily trained in maritime protocol. (Don) Oh, okay. 397 00:22:34,165 --> 00:22:36,432 For example, any message that came to the Titanic 398 00:22:36,567 --> 00:22:39,101 that was to be hand-delivered to the captain 399 00:22:39,137 --> 00:22:43,105 needed to be started with the letters MSG. 400 00:22:43,141 --> 00:22:47,043 (Don) At least two or three of the communications regarding 401 00:22:47,045 --> 00:22:50,113 icebergs in the area did not bear those letters, 402 00:22:50,115 --> 00:22:53,449 including the most important, the one that gave the latitude 403 00:22:53,451 --> 00:22:57,186 and longitude of the deadly iceberg directly in Titanic's path. 404 00:22:57,255 --> 00:23:00,590 So Captain Smith was never alerted that he was on 405 00:23:00,725 --> 00:23:03,659 a collision course with a massive iceberg, 406 00:23:03,695 --> 00:23:06,796 and this was not the only failed communication 407 00:23:06,865 --> 00:23:08,730 on that fateful night. 408 00:23:08,767 --> 00:23:11,801 The lack of MSG in front of some of the messages was not 409 00:23:11,936 --> 00:23:14,203 the only issue at hand. 410 00:23:14,239 --> 00:23:16,672 (Don) Craig has replicated the actual distress signals 411 00:23:16,775 --> 00:23:18,608 sent out by Titanic. 412 00:23:18,743 --> 00:23:21,677 (Craig) This is the Titanic sending out distress calls-- 413 00:23:21,713 --> 00:23:23,679 CQD first. 414 00:23:23,715 --> 00:23:26,416 And then you'll hear SOS. 415 00:23:26,418 --> 00:23:29,485 There were several ships in the vicinity. 416 00:23:29,554 --> 00:23:31,954 Oh, man, so I can hear the other ships... 417 00:23:31,990 --> 00:23:34,624 That's two ships, and now you're gonna hear three. 418 00:23:34,759 --> 00:23:38,694 (Don) Radio operators could talk over each other, 419 00:23:38,697 --> 00:23:42,298 which happened as soon as Titanic sent out its distress call 420 00:23:42,367 --> 00:23:44,967 and created havoc on the airwaves. 421 00:23:44,969 --> 00:23:47,770 One of the ships is saying, "Titanic is sending out a signal." 422 00:23:47,839 --> 00:23:50,105 He can't hear me, so they're telling other ships. 423 00:23:50,141 --> 00:23:52,441 It's chaos! It's chaos. 424 00:23:52,510 --> 00:23:55,844 [buzzing noises overlapping] 425 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,981 Wow! That's amazing. 426 00:23:59,050 --> 00:24:03,119 And also, Don, the Californian was only two hours away. 427 00:24:03,121 --> 00:24:06,655 Their radio operator had shut down for the night and already gone to bed. 428 00:24:06,691 --> 00:24:09,525 There was no requirement to be on duty 24 hours a day. 429 00:24:09,594 --> 00:24:12,862 The Titanic stays afloat for two hours and 40 minutes. Right. 430 00:24:12,864 --> 00:24:15,665 So they could've made it. They could've rescued those people. 431 00:24:15,667 --> 00:24:18,368 (Craig) That's what is widely believed. (Don) Man. 432 00:24:22,207 --> 00:24:25,741 Several communications factors played a part in this huge loss of life. 433 00:24:25,777 --> 00:24:30,079 If that crucial ice warning had reached the captain, 434 00:24:30,081 --> 00:24:32,882 he may have stopped and averted disaster. 435 00:24:32,951 --> 00:24:36,152 If the radios had not been shut down on the Californian, 436 00:24:36,287 --> 00:24:38,421 they may have reached them in time. 437 00:24:38,556 --> 00:24:41,958 If the operators were not operating in this cacophony of talk over, 438 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:44,360 they may have heard the distress signals... 439 00:24:44,362 --> 00:24:45,828 but they didn't. 440 00:24:45,897 --> 00:24:47,963 A lot of ifs, only one certainty-- 441 00:24:48,033 --> 00:24:50,166 a lot of people died. 442 00:24:50,301 --> 00:24:54,237 So now I know what role communication played, 443 00:24:54,239 --> 00:24:57,640 but what about the actual design of the ship? 444 00:24:57,775 --> 00:25:02,111 Was there something structurally wrong with the Titanic? 445 00:25:02,113 --> 00:25:05,381 [dramatic music] 446 00:25:13,958 --> 00:25:18,127 (Don) Conventional wisdom says that once the Titanic hit the massive iceberg 447 00:25:18,129 --> 00:25:20,462 on April 12, 1912, 448 00:25:20,498 --> 00:25:23,098 the disaster that followed was inevitable, 449 00:25:23,168 --> 00:25:26,669 but there are theories that say that design flaws on the ship itself 450 00:25:26,738 --> 00:25:29,404 made the tragedy worse than it needed to be. 451 00:25:29,441 --> 00:25:33,209 Some argue that even at the speed they were traveling, 452 00:25:33,211 --> 00:25:35,811 there's still a way they could have struck an iceberg 453 00:25:35,947 --> 00:25:37,679 and remained afloat. 454 00:25:37,715 --> 00:25:40,850 And to explore this theory, I'm headed for Seattle, Washington. 455 00:25:43,421 --> 00:25:45,888 The city of Seattle knows something about ships. 456 00:25:45,890 --> 00:25:49,025 It's home to the 14th largest port in North America 457 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:51,561 and the 57th largest in the world. 458 00:25:51,696 --> 00:25:54,497 The seaport division here 459 00:25:54,632 --> 00:25:57,200 handles over two million containers a year. 460 00:25:59,737 --> 00:26:02,504 One Coho! One Coho! 461 00:26:02,540 --> 00:26:05,708 [shouting] 462 00:26:05,843 --> 00:26:07,844 This is truly a maritime city, where fresh seafood 463 00:26:07,945 --> 00:26:10,913 is a way of life-- here at Pike Place Fish Market, 464 00:26:10,949 --> 00:26:14,916 they sell over 1.5 million pounds of seafood every year. 465 00:26:14,953 --> 00:26:17,853 There we go. (man) Look what we got! 466 00:26:17,989 --> 00:26:20,255 Look what we got! Whoo! 467 00:26:20,291 --> 00:26:23,526 As much as I would love to hang out with these guys, 468 00:26:23,528 --> 00:26:27,430 I'm here to investigate if Titanic had a disastrous design flaw. 469 00:26:30,401 --> 00:26:33,536 In its hull, Titanic had 16 watertight compartments 470 00:26:33,538 --> 00:26:36,339 separated by transverse bulkheads. 471 00:26:36,341 --> 00:26:39,875 It could stay afloat if four of them were flooded. 472 00:26:39,911 --> 00:26:43,880 Designers envisioned that a head-on collision was most likely, 473 00:26:44,015 --> 00:26:47,950 so the first two bulkheads, called the collision bulkheads, 474 00:26:48,019 --> 00:26:50,353 were tallest, to prevent water 475 00:26:50,355 --> 00:26:53,289 from overflowing into the other compartments. 476 00:26:53,291 --> 00:26:57,159 But no one envisioned a hit along the ship's side, 477 00:26:57,161 --> 00:27:01,564 so the next 14 bulkheads were shorter, only rising 10 feet 478 00:27:01,566 --> 00:27:05,034 above the waterline-- when the ship hit the iceberg, 479 00:27:05,036 --> 00:27:08,237 six of the compartments along its side were opened, 480 00:27:08,306 --> 00:27:11,974 and the water began to overflow from one compartment to the next. 481 00:27:12,043 --> 00:27:15,945 Water was flooding the ship at 400 tons a minute. 482 00:27:17,782 --> 00:27:20,449 Not only were the compartments not controlling the flooding, 483 00:27:20,485 --> 00:27:23,185 they were also containing the water in the bow, 484 00:27:23,254 --> 00:27:25,988 which increased the rate of sinking. 485 00:27:25,990 --> 00:27:29,791 If the ship had hit straight-on, many believed 486 00:27:29,827 --> 00:27:32,795 the impact would've been absorbed by the collision bulkheads, 487 00:27:32,864 --> 00:27:35,597 and the flooding would've been contained, saving the ship, 488 00:27:35,667 --> 00:27:39,135 but beyond the bulkheads, some believed the Titanic had 489 00:27:39,270 --> 00:27:41,937 an even greater structural flaw. 490 00:27:41,973 --> 00:27:45,540 Titanic was made of steel plates held together 491 00:27:45,576 --> 00:27:48,477 by three million rivets, and it's been proven 492 00:27:48,612 --> 00:27:51,880 a number of those rivets were made of iron and not steel. 493 00:27:51,949 --> 00:27:55,885 Iron is considered to be inferior in strength and quality, 494 00:27:55,887 --> 00:27:59,021 but if it isn't pure, it can be even weaker. 495 00:27:59,057 --> 00:28:02,692 Records show that a percentage of Titanic's rivets 496 00:28:02,694 --> 00:28:06,295 were low-grade wrought iron, which contains a large amount 497 00:28:06,297 --> 00:28:08,898 of impurities. 498 00:28:09,033 --> 00:28:12,634 Some scientists have developed a theory that because these rivets were used, 499 00:28:12,670 --> 00:28:15,371 they failed too easily during the collision. 500 00:28:15,373 --> 00:28:18,107 To test this theory, 501 00:28:18,242 --> 00:28:19,841 I am going to make a set 502 00:28:19,877 --> 00:28:22,511 of wrought iron rivets and a set of steel 503 00:28:22,547 --> 00:28:25,648 and subject them both to an intense amount of force. 504 00:28:25,650 --> 00:28:29,118 Dallas Puckett and his team specialize in fabricating 505 00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:31,787 marine hardware and are gonna help me make the rivets. 506 00:28:31,856 --> 00:28:34,656 All right, have at it. 507 00:28:34,692 --> 00:28:38,393 [loud metallic noises] 508 00:28:38,429 --> 00:28:41,097 Wow, it heats up fast! Yeah. 509 00:28:44,002 --> 00:28:46,201 (Don) What's amazing is that these vintage machines 510 00:28:46,270 --> 00:28:48,403 are from the early 20th century. 511 00:28:48,439 --> 00:28:50,072 And that one's ready. 512 00:28:50,141 --> 00:28:53,809 We're making rivets the same way they did in the age of Titanic. 513 00:28:53,878 --> 00:28:56,278 For the test, 514 00:28:56,414 --> 00:28:59,081 I need one set of iron and another of steel. 515 00:28:59,216 --> 00:29:01,483 That's cool! 516 00:29:01,519 --> 00:29:03,885 That's how you make a rivet! 517 00:29:03,921 --> 00:29:06,889 I'm driving each set into steel plates 518 00:29:06,891 --> 00:29:10,226 that are the same composition as Titanic's hull. 519 00:29:10,228 --> 00:29:12,628 You ready? Let's roll. 520 00:29:12,630 --> 00:29:14,664 Here we go--one, two, three! 521 00:29:16,733 --> 00:29:19,001 [pinging noise] There we go--oh, look at that. 522 00:29:22,073 --> 00:29:24,506 This is properly attached? All is well? Yes, yes it is. 523 00:29:24,575 --> 00:29:27,309 Okay, so I'm ready for my test. Mmhm. 524 00:29:29,113 --> 00:29:31,046 The Dwight Company just outside Seattle 525 00:29:31,115 --> 00:29:33,248 specializes in metal fatigue testing 526 00:29:33,284 --> 00:29:35,784 with big clients like the U.S. Navy. 527 00:29:35,820 --> 00:29:39,522 First, we're gonna put the iron rivets through a stress test 528 00:29:39,657 --> 00:29:42,658 at room temperature by subjecting them to a force 529 00:29:42,660 --> 00:29:45,194 similar to a ship hitting an iceberg. 530 00:29:45,263 --> 00:29:48,497 We'll start with wrought iron. All right. 531 00:29:51,936 --> 00:29:54,736 (Don) Using a tensile machine that pulls the steel plates 532 00:29:54,772 --> 00:29:57,405 in opposite directions, we're going to measure 533 00:29:57,442 --> 00:29:59,942 the amount of force that the rivets holding the plates together 534 00:30:00,077 --> 00:30:02,477 can withstand... The number's going up! 535 00:30:02,513 --> 00:30:04,212 ...before they fail. 536 00:30:04,248 --> 00:30:06,748 It's gonna break any moment now, isn't it? 537 00:30:06,784 --> 00:30:10,752 (Jay) 9,731...96... 538 00:30:10,788 --> 00:30:12,821 So that's 9,000...whoa! 539 00:30:12,824 --> 00:30:15,758 Oh, my goodness! 540 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:18,627 The max load on this 541 00:30:18,663 --> 00:30:22,031 was...10,031 pounds. 542 00:30:22,033 --> 00:30:25,834 (Don) So the iron rivets failed at 10,031 pounds. 543 00:30:25,870 --> 00:30:29,572 You can see they were brittle, like glass, and sheared right off. 544 00:30:29,707 --> 00:30:31,707 So now we test the steel. 545 00:30:31,842 --> 00:30:33,809 Let's do it. I've got it right here. 546 00:30:36,180 --> 00:30:40,182 [humming noises] 547 00:30:40,184 --> 00:30:42,251 [humming intensifies] 548 00:30:42,386 --> 00:30:44,920 We're at 9,000. Nine thousand pounds! 549 00:30:44,956 --> 00:30:48,323 [humming noises] 550 00:30:48,392 --> 00:30:50,526 (Don) Wow, it's really holding up! 551 00:30:50,661 --> 00:30:52,962 (Jay) Yeah, not bad. 552 00:30:55,233 --> 00:30:56,799 Holy... Here it goes, here it goes, here it goes. 553 00:30:56,934 --> 00:30:58,667 It's bending... there she is! 554 00:31:01,506 --> 00:31:05,274 Fifteen 122. (Jay) Yeah, 15,122.3. 555 00:31:06,477 --> 00:31:09,878 (Don) The steel rivets failed at a little over 15,000 pounds. 556 00:31:09,914 --> 00:31:13,883 Unlike the iron, these rivets were more elastic or ductile 557 00:31:14,018 --> 00:31:17,485 and actually bent from the force before they gave out. 558 00:31:17,522 --> 00:31:20,823 So this is conclusive. This is very conclusive. 559 00:31:20,958 --> 00:31:23,526 (Don) This test shows that the wrought iron rivets made 560 00:31:23,627 --> 00:31:26,695 to replicate the ones that held Titanic's hull together 561 00:31:26,731 --> 00:31:30,766 were roughly 1/3 weaker than steel rivets would've been. 562 00:31:30,768 --> 00:31:33,769 The steel showed superior strength and ductility. 563 00:31:33,904 --> 00:31:36,838 So this hypothesis might be true. 564 00:31:36,874 --> 00:31:40,576 If the Titanic had been constructed only of steel rivets, 565 00:31:40,711 --> 00:31:43,312 it might not've been torn apart, 566 00:31:43,381 --> 00:31:46,315 and it might not have sunk at all. 567 00:31:46,450 --> 00:31:49,318 But the bottom line is, Titanic ran into an iceberg, 568 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:53,121 a force of nature few structures could've withstood. 569 00:31:53,157 --> 00:31:55,391 A lot of people have criticized 570 00:31:55,526 --> 00:31:58,661 the materials used to manufacture the Titanic. 571 00:31:58,663 --> 00:32:00,996 On the flip side, some say the Titanic 572 00:32:01,131 --> 00:32:03,198 was designed so well 573 00:32:03,201 --> 00:32:06,068 that the ship didn't doom more than 1,500 people, 574 00:32:06,203 --> 00:32:09,338 it actually saved 705. 575 00:32:09,407 --> 00:32:11,340 Some of those same theorists 576 00:32:11,409 --> 00:32:13,475 believe that the Titanic's ultimate flaw 577 00:32:13,477 --> 00:32:15,443 wasn't what the ship was made of 578 00:32:15,479 --> 00:32:17,812 but rather the skill of its crew. 579 00:32:17,848 --> 00:32:21,816 The Titanic took two hours and 40 minutes to sink. 580 00:32:21,852 --> 00:32:25,287 That should've been more than enough time for the crew to mobilize 581 00:32:25,422 --> 00:32:28,223 and for all of the lifeboats to be launched. 582 00:32:28,259 --> 00:32:31,961 So with all this time, why weren't more people saved? 583 00:32:32,096 --> 00:32:34,597 [distant screaming] 584 00:32:44,508 --> 00:32:47,709 (Don) In 1912, the ill-fated Titanic hit an iceberg 585 00:32:47,745 --> 00:32:51,113 and sank in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. 586 00:32:51,182 --> 00:32:55,851 Of the 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, 587 00:32:55,887 --> 00:32:59,188 more than 1,500 died. 588 00:32:59,323 --> 00:33:02,657 I've been testing theories that bring the design of the ship 589 00:33:02,693 --> 00:33:06,061 into question, but some say the tragic loss of life 590 00:33:06,063 --> 00:33:08,597 was more the result of human error, 591 00:33:08,599 --> 00:33:11,934 but to examine this theory, we have to go all the way back 592 00:33:12,003 --> 00:33:15,337 to the very beginning, to before the ship was even made. 593 00:33:15,472 --> 00:33:19,007 When the Titanic was designed, the plans called for the ship 594 00:33:19,076 --> 00:33:21,677 to carry 64 wooden lifeboats 595 00:33:21,679 --> 00:33:24,279 that each held 65 passengers-- 596 00:33:24,315 --> 00:33:27,082 more than enough seats for the manifest. 597 00:33:27,118 --> 00:33:30,886 When the ship was completed, this number had plummeted. 598 00:33:30,888 --> 00:33:33,022 Rumors abound 599 00:33:33,024 --> 00:33:35,491 as to what actually transpired. 600 00:33:35,626 --> 00:33:38,961 One theory is that a top executive from the White Star Line 601 00:33:39,096 --> 00:33:42,564 saw the plans and was dissatisfied with the aesthetic 602 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:45,801 of that many lifeboats and demanded the number be reduced. 603 00:33:48,239 --> 00:33:50,439 Whatever the reason, when the ship set sail, 604 00:33:50,574 --> 00:33:53,842 there were 16 wooden lifeboats and four collapsible, 605 00:33:53,911 --> 00:33:57,245 only enough seats for roughly 1,100 606 00:33:57,281 --> 00:34:00,715 of the more than 2,200 passengers on board. 607 00:34:00,751 --> 00:34:03,852 But while the lack of lifeboats has long been discussed 608 00:34:03,854 --> 00:34:06,922 as a major part of this tragedy, I wanna examine 609 00:34:06,991 --> 00:34:09,124 another lesser-known theory, 610 00:34:09,260 --> 00:34:11,327 that it was untrained crewmembers 611 00:34:11,329 --> 00:34:14,196 who may have contributed substantially to this disaster. 612 00:34:14,331 --> 00:34:17,132 In addition to the lack thereof, 613 00:34:17,168 --> 00:34:20,068 the lifeboats that were launched were half full. 614 00:34:20,104 --> 00:34:23,672 Four hundred and 72 spaces went unused. 615 00:34:23,807 --> 00:34:27,876 On top of the boats being launched before they were at capacity, 616 00:34:27,945 --> 00:34:31,113 it also took a long time to get them in the water. 617 00:34:31,148 --> 00:34:33,348 To figure out 618 00:34:33,417 --> 00:34:35,818 how lack of skill would impact the efficiency 619 00:34:35,953 --> 00:34:38,887 of deploying lifeboats, I'm gonna test my ability, 620 00:34:38,923 --> 00:34:42,424 or lack thereof, and try my hand at operating a davit. 621 00:34:42,426 --> 00:34:45,694 Davit is a fancy name for a crane. 622 00:34:45,730 --> 00:34:49,832 Each lifeboat on the Titanic had two davit arms, one at each end. 623 00:34:49,967 --> 00:34:52,768 Using a rope pulley system, two men, 624 00:34:52,903 --> 00:34:55,671 one on each davit, lowered the passenger-filled boat 625 00:34:55,740 --> 00:34:58,707 into the ocean-- at the time of the Titanic, 626 00:34:58,776 --> 00:35:01,777 it should've taken about three minutes to launch 627 00:35:01,779 --> 00:35:05,046 occupied lifeboats from a ship that size. 628 00:35:05,082 --> 00:35:08,851 Nowadays, most davits use both gravity and hydraulics, 629 00:35:08,853 --> 00:35:12,454 so they're a lot quicker, but the davit we're using today 630 00:35:12,456 --> 00:35:15,924 still requires a fair amount of manual labor to operate, 631 00:35:15,993 --> 00:35:18,994 much like those used on the Titanic. 632 00:35:21,332 --> 00:35:23,999 Hey! Hey. Dave, this is Don. 633 00:35:24,134 --> 00:35:25,734 Don's gonna be watching us. Nice to meet you. 634 00:35:25,770 --> 00:35:27,803 Show me how it's done. 635 00:35:27,805 --> 00:35:30,405 (man) Forward brake is released. 636 00:35:30,441 --> 00:35:33,609 Boat plug is in, and the man ropes it down. 637 00:35:33,744 --> 00:35:36,011 Lower the boat! 638 00:35:36,047 --> 00:35:39,214 (Don) Here it comes! Here comes the lifeboat, she's comin' on down! 639 00:35:39,350 --> 00:35:41,683 'Cause you gotta get it 640 00:35:41,752 --> 00:35:44,219 down to the deck so that people can get in. Here we go. 641 00:35:44,288 --> 00:35:46,722 There she comes. 642 00:35:49,126 --> 00:35:52,560 And hold! Hold! 643 00:35:52,596 --> 00:35:54,896 (Don) It took these guys less than a minute 644 00:35:54,965 --> 00:35:58,433 to get the lifeboat lowered-- time to test my skills. 645 00:35:58,469 --> 00:36:00,568 (Dave) Make sure that the boat plug is in 646 00:36:00,604 --> 00:36:02,637 and the man ropes are down. 647 00:36:02,706 --> 00:36:04,639 All right! 648 00:36:04,708 --> 00:36:08,110 (Don) From the time the Titanic hit the iceberg... In the boat. 649 00:36:08,179 --> 00:36:12,114 ...a full 60 minutes went by before the first lifeboat was set afloat. 650 00:36:12,116 --> 00:36:15,250 Boat plug in! Why did it take so long? 651 00:36:15,286 --> 00:36:19,054 Several reports indicate that the crew onboard the Titanic 652 00:36:19,056 --> 00:36:22,323 was not trained properly on using lifeboat launching equipment, 653 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:25,994 so the launches were slower than they should've been. 654 00:36:25,996 --> 00:36:29,264 Ironically, there was a lifeboat safety drill 655 00:36:29,300 --> 00:36:31,733 scheduled the day the Titanic sank, 656 00:36:31,735 --> 00:36:35,203 but it was canceled by the captain. 657 00:36:35,272 --> 00:36:39,007 (man) Man ropes are down? Three man ropes down! 658 00:36:39,142 --> 00:36:42,377 (man) Come on down! [grunts] 659 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:44,679 Wow, this is stressful. 660 00:36:44,748 --> 00:36:46,881 I'm trying to be speedy. 661 00:36:46,917 --> 00:36:49,818 Pull the stern harbor pin! Pullin' stern harbor pin! 662 00:36:49,854 --> 00:36:52,554 (Don) Imagine what it would feel like on a ship that's sinking 663 00:36:52,556 --> 00:36:54,823 in the middle of the North Atlantic. 664 00:36:54,825 --> 00:36:56,558 Done! 665 00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:58,293 Lower the boat. 666 00:36:58,295 --> 00:37:00,295 (Don) During the evacuation, 667 00:37:00,364 --> 00:37:02,765 women and children were given priority, 668 00:37:02,900 --> 00:37:06,367 and while it wasn't an order to prioritize the first-class passengers, 669 00:37:06,403 --> 00:37:09,705 far more of them survived than second or third. 670 00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:13,909 Ninety-two percent of men in second class perished 671 00:37:13,978 --> 00:37:17,712 as did 76 percent of all third class passengers. 672 00:37:17,748 --> 00:37:20,715 Stop! 673 00:37:20,784 --> 00:37:23,652 You're in the water! 674 00:37:23,721 --> 00:37:26,455 Yes, we did it! We're in the water! 675 00:37:26,457 --> 00:37:28,991 I can't believe it took me ten minutes. 676 00:37:28,993 --> 00:37:32,394 Obviously, if you're not well trained in this kind of system, 677 00:37:32,529 --> 00:37:35,063 it can be a time-consuming debacle. 678 00:37:35,199 --> 00:37:37,732 And in the case of Titanic, 679 00:37:37,768 --> 00:37:40,068 it may have cost a lot of people their lives. 680 00:37:42,539 --> 00:37:44,873 There's a lot of reasons why the ship went down 681 00:37:44,942 --> 00:37:47,342 and also a lot of ways it could've been avoided. 682 00:37:47,478 --> 00:37:50,078 For me, only one real question remains-- 683 00:37:50,147 --> 00:37:52,814 could this disaster happen today? 684 00:38:05,368 --> 00:38:08,236 (Don) I started this journey by diving deep below sea level 685 00:38:08,238 --> 00:38:10,772 to get a better perspective on how an iceberg 686 00:38:10,774 --> 00:38:13,107 could've taken down the Titanic. 687 00:38:13,243 --> 00:38:16,578 Now, I'm going 10,000 feet up in the air to find out 688 00:38:16,713 --> 00:38:18,746 if it could happen again today. 689 00:38:22,085 --> 00:38:24,919 So that is the St. John's Airport, 690 00:38:24,988 --> 00:38:27,322 and this--check it out-- 691 00:38:27,324 --> 00:38:30,825 is the headquarters of the International Ice Patrol. 692 00:38:33,796 --> 00:38:35,997 Boat 2, I'm up. 693 00:38:35,999 --> 00:38:38,532 (man) Roger. 694 00:38:38,602 --> 00:38:40,768 We're on two. 695 00:38:43,940 --> 00:38:45,807 (Don) A year after the Titanic sank, 696 00:38:45,942 --> 00:38:48,276 this organization was created. 697 00:38:48,345 --> 00:38:50,611 Operated by the United States Coast Guard, 698 00:38:50,647 --> 00:38:53,013 their job is to monitor the shipping lanes 699 00:38:53,049 --> 00:38:55,350 off of Newfoundland for iceberg danger. 700 00:39:11,601 --> 00:39:16,570 Uh, position for it is 4-8-1-8 North 4-6-5-1. 701 00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:19,841 (Don) Every day during iceberg season, which runs from February 702 00:39:19,976 --> 00:39:22,910 until July or August, they run reconnaissance missions 703 00:39:23,046 --> 00:39:25,379 with multi-engine jets. 704 00:39:25,448 --> 00:39:27,915 Back when they originally started patrolling these waters, 705 00:39:27,918 --> 00:39:30,585 they used ships, but after World War II, 706 00:39:30,654 --> 00:39:33,121 they began to use aircraft. 707 00:39:33,123 --> 00:39:35,590 In the 1960s, they actually attempted 708 00:39:35,725 --> 00:39:38,192 to bomb the icebergs. 709 00:39:38,261 --> 00:39:41,061 Today, they use radar and visual reference 710 00:39:41,097 --> 00:39:43,131 to record what they see. 711 00:39:43,133 --> 00:39:45,199 Our goal is to cover where there's cold water. 712 00:39:45,335 --> 00:39:47,668 So this is Iceberg Alley right here. 713 00:39:47,671 --> 00:39:50,537 The current brings the icebergs directly to that small path. 714 00:39:50,573 --> 00:39:53,607 When we do our message results, it'll come out with all 715 00:39:53,643 --> 00:39:55,743 the positions of the icebergs that we found, 716 00:39:55,779 --> 00:39:57,945 and then we'll create our iceberg warning product 717 00:39:58,014 --> 00:40:00,148 that then is distributed to the maritime community. 718 00:40:00,283 --> 00:40:02,950 That's the mission, really, to clear these shipping lanes It is. 719 00:40:03,019 --> 00:40:04,952 and to keep them informed. Yes. 720 00:40:04,988 --> 00:40:07,755 (man) Small circle around there. 721 00:40:07,890 --> 00:40:11,492 How many icebergs a year do you see? 722 00:40:11,528 --> 00:40:13,961 So we typically track-- 723 00:40:13,964 --> 00:40:16,097 it could be up to approximately 10,000 icebergs. 724 00:40:16,099 --> 00:40:17,765 This year, we've had approximately-- 725 00:40:17,801 --> 00:40:20,034 almost 700 icebergs in the shipping lanes, 726 00:40:20,070 --> 00:40:23,438 a lot of icebergs getting into the region of where the Titanic sank. 727 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:26,840 So 100 years later, a direct descendent of the Titanic tragedy, 728 00:40:26,876 --> 00:40:29,777 that's why we're here today. Yes, it is. 729 00:40:29,912 --> 00:40:32,380 (man) I won't be able to see it. (woman) Can you give us a position on that? 730 00:40:32,449 --> 00:40:35,883 4-8-1-8-4-6-5-1. (woman) 5-1, okay. 731 00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:40,721 Fascinating, uh, intricate operation. 732 00:40:40,757 --> 00:40:44,258 Simply to make sure 733 00:40:44,260 --> 00:40:46,527 that boats know where these icebergs are. 734 00:40:46,596 --> 00:40:48,796 That's how this system has worked for a century, 735 00:40:48,798 --> 00:40:51,599 keeping boats safe up here in the North Atlantic. 736 00:40:51,668 --> 00:40:55,536 (Don) Since the formation of the International Ice Patrol, 737 00:40:55,572 --> 00:40:58,339 no vessel that has heeded their warnings 738 00:40:58,375 --> 00:41:00,874 has collided with an iceberg. 739 00:41:00,910 --> 00:41:03,511 That's a pretty good stat. 740 00:41:05,348 --> 00:41:08,149 In my quest to discover if the tragedy of the Titanic 741 00:41:08,218 --> 00:41:11,419 could've been avoided or if it could happen again today, 742 00:41:11,554 --> 00:41:13,554 I've tested several theories 743 00:41:13,689 --> 00:41:16,356 and explored a host of hypotheses. 744 00:41:16,393 --> 00:41:19,493 I have learned a lot about this famous maritime catastrophe, 745 00:41:19,562 --> 00:41:23,164 and a lot has changed since it happened. 746 00:41:23,299 --> 00:41:27,168 The 1914 International Safety of Life at Sea Convention 747 00:41:27,303 --> 00:41:30,304 enacted numerous rules to prevent a disaster 748 00:41:30,373 --> 00:41:32,774 like Titanic from ever reoccurring, 749 00:41:32,909 --> 00:41:35,443 specifically with regards to lifeboats. 750 00:41:35,578 --> 00:41:39,046 The law now strictly requires that there be enough lifeboats 751 00:41:39,082 --> 00:41:41,916 to accommodate everybody on board. 752 00:41:41,918 --> 00:41:45,252 There are mandatory drills, evacuation stations assigned 753 00:41:45,321 --> 00:41:48,723 for crews and passengers, and every lifeboat 754 00:41:48,725 --> 00:41:51,191 must clearly indicate capacity. 755 00:41:51,227 --> 00:41:53,594 Radio standards have also changed. 756 00:41:53,630 --> 00:41:55,796 The Radio Act of 1912 dictated 757 00:41:55,865 --> 00:41:58,800 that all wireless operators must be licensed, 758 00:41:58,935 --> 00:42:02,537 only use certain bandwidths, reserve channels for the Navy, 759 00:42:02,672 --> 00:42:05,606 man their posts 24 hours a day, 760 00:42:05,642 --> 00:42:08,543 and establish direct communications with the bridge. 761 00:42:08,678 --> 00:42:10,878 Given all these precautions, 762 00:42:10,947 --> 00:42:13,881 it's extremely unlikely that a disaster like Titanic 763 00:42:13,917 --> 00:42:16,884 could happen today, but, unfortunately, 764 00:42:16,886 --> 00:42:19,821 human error cannot be prevented and is still 765 00:42:19,823 --> 00:42:22,290 the number-one cause of maritime disasters. 766 00:42:22,391 --> 00:42:24,892 I'm Don Wildman-- thanks for watching 767 00:42:24,894 --> 00:42:27,161 "Mysteries at the Museum: The Titanic." 767 00:42:28,305 --> 00:43:28,327 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm