After the sinking of Titanic, inquiries were held in the United States and the United Kingdom. The U.S. inquiry began on April 19, 1912, under Senator William Alden Smith, and the British inquiry began on May 2, 1912, under Lord Mersey.
Both inquiries reached similar conclusions:
- The regulations on the number of lifeboats that ships had to carry were out of date.
- Captain Smith had failed to take ice warnings seriously.
- The lifeboats had not been properly filled or crewed.
- The collision was the result of steaming into an area of danger at too high a speed.
- Both inquiries strongly criticized Captain Lord of the SS Californian for failing to render assistance to Titanic.
- Neither the White Star Line nor its parent company, International Mercantile Marine, were found at fault or negligent under existing maritime laws, as they had merely followed standard practice.
The US inquiry concluded that the crew had followed standard practice and that the disaster could be categorized as an "act of God".
The British inquiry concluded that Smith had followed long-standing practice, which had not previously been shown to be unsafe, and that he had done only what other skilled men would have done in the same position.
The British inquiry also stated that "what was a mistake in the case of the Titanic would without doubt be negligence in any similar case in the future".
AMERICAN INQUIRY
The final report was published on May 28, 1912.
The report's key findings were:
The report's key findings were:
- A lack of emergency preparations had left Titanic's passengers and crew in "a state of absolute unpreparedness", and the evacuation had been chaotic: "No general alarm was given, no ship's officers formally assembled, no orderly routine was attempted or organized system of safety begun."
- The ship's safety and life-saving equipment had not been properly tested.
- Titanic's Captain Edward Smith had shown an "indifference to danger and was one of the direct and contributing causes of this unnecessary tragedy."
- The lack of lifeboats was the fault of the British Board of Trade, "to whose laxity of regulation and hasty inspection the world is largely indebted for this awful tragedy."
- The SS Californian had been "much nearer to Titanic than the captain is willing to admit" and the British Government should take "drastic action" against him for his actions.
- J. Bruce Ismay had not ordered Captain Smith to put on extra speed, but Ismay's presence on board may have contributed to the captain's decision to do so.
- Third-class passengers had not been prevented from reaching the lifeboats but had in many cases not realized until it was too late that the ship was sinking.
The report was strongly critical of established seafaring practices and the roles that Titanic's builders, owners, and crew had played in contributing to the disaster. It highlighted the complacency that had been prevalent aboard the ship and more generally in the shipping industry and the British Board of Trade.
Recommendations:
- Ships should slow down on entering areas known to have drifting ice and should post extra lookouts.
- Navigational messages should be brought promptly to the bridge and disseminated as required.
- There should be enough lifeboats for all on board.
- All ships equipped with wireless sets should maintain communications at all times of the day and night.
- New regulations were needed to govern the use of radiotelegraphy.
- Adequate boat drills were to be carried out for passengers.
- Rockets should only be fired by ships at sea as distress signals, and not for any other purposes.
The presentation of the US report was accompanied by two speeches, one from Smith and one from Senator Isidor Rayner.
Towards the end of his speech, Senator Smith declared:
“The calamity through which we have just passed has left traces of sorrow everywhere; hearts have been broken and deep anguish unexpressed; art will typify with master hand its lavish contribution to the sea; soldiers of state and masters of trade will receive the homage which is their honest due; hills will be cleft in search of marble white enough to symbolize these heroic deeds, and, where kinship is the only tie that binds the lowly to the humble home bereft of son or mother or father, little groups of kinsfolk will recount, around the kitchen fire, the traits of human sympathy in those who went down with the ship. These are choice pictures in the treasure house of the affections, but even these will sometime fade; the sea is the place permanently to honor our dead; this should be the occasion for a new birth of vigilance, and future generations must accord to this event a crowning motive for better things.”
Senator Rayner's closing words drew applause from the assembly:
“The sounds of that awe-inspiring requiem that vibrated o'er the ocean have been drowned in the waters of the deep, the instruments that gave them birth are silenced as the harps were silenced on the willow tree, but if the melody that was rehearsed could only reverberate through this land "Nearer, My God, to Thee," and its echoes could be heard in these halls of legislation, and at every place where our rulers and representatives pass judgment and enact and administer laws, and at every home and fireside, from the mansions of the rich to the huts and hovels of the poor, and if we could be made to feel that there is a divine law of obedience and of adjustment, and of compensation that should demand our allegiance, far above the laws that we formulate in this presence, then, from the gloom of these fearful hours we shall pass into the dawn of a higher service and of a better day, and then, Mr. President, the lives that went down upon this fated night did not go down in vain.”
Senator Smith proposed three pieces of legislation:
- A joint resolution with the House of Representatives to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Captain Rostron of the Carpathia.
- A bill to re-evaluate existing maritime legislation.
- Establish a commission to enquire into the laws and regulations on the construction and equipment of maritime vessels.
The report's recommendations on the regulation of wireless telegraphy were implemented in the form of the Radio Act of 1912, which mandated that all radio stations in the US be licensed by the federal government, as well as mandating that seagoing vessels continuously monitor distress frequencies.
The existing Wireless Ship Act of 1910 was also amended to add new regulations governing how wireless telegraphy aboard ships was to be managed.
Public Receptions
The inquiry was heavily criticized in Britain, both for its conduct and style of questioning. Even though Titanic was indirectly owned by the American company, International Mercantile Marine, the inquiry was seen as an attack on the British shipping industry and was criticized for having the audacity to subpoena British subjects. Many saw it as a display of disrespect to British honor.
The American reaction was generally positive. The New York Herald published a supportive editorial commenting: "Nothing has been more sympathetic, more gentle in its highest sense than the conduct of the inquiry by the Senate committee, and yet self-complacent moguls in England call this impertinent ... This country intends to find out why so many American lives were wasted by the incompetency of British seamen, and why women and children were sent to their deaths while so many British crew have been saved."
The American press welcomed the findings of the inquiry and accepted its recommendations, commending Senator Smith for establishing the key facts of the disaster.
BRITISH INQUIRY
The final report was published on July 30, 1912.
The lines of questioning at the inquiry had resulted in a detailed description of the ship, an account of the ship's journey, a description of the damage caused by the iceberg, an account of the evacuation and rescue. There was also a special section devoted to the circumstances of the SS Californian.
The report's key findings were:
- Titanic's sinking was the result of colliding with the iceberg, not due to any inherent flaws with the ship, and that the collision had been brought about by a dangerously fast speed in icy waters.
- Inadequate lookouts given the navigational hazards Titanic faced.
- The ship's officers had been far too complacent about the ice warnings.
- There were too few lifeboats available, and they had not been properly filled or manned with trained crew members, despite being lowered correctly.
The inquiry also found that Captain Stanley Lord of the SS Californian "could have pushed through the ice to the open water without any serious risk and so have come to the assistance of the Titanic. Had she done so she might have saved many if not all of the lives that were lost."
The Board of Trade's representative suggested to Lord Mersey that a formal inquiry should be held into Captain Lord's "competency to continue as Master of a British ship" but no action was taken against him due to legal technicalities.
Public Receptions
The Board of Trade was criticized for its inadequate regulations, notably the failure to ensure that enough lifeboats were provided and that crews were given proper training in their use.
The report was well received by the British press. The Daily Telegraph commented that although "technically speaking, the report is not the last word, but in practice it would probably be treated as if it were."
The Daily Mail stated that it was "difficult to suppose that any court which had to inquire into the responsibility of the owners of the ship would disregard the expression of opinion of Lord Mersey and those who sat with him ... The report having, in effect, acquitted them of all blame, it is not likely that any attempt will be made hereafter to establish the contrary."
Others were more critical.
In his memoirs, Titanic’s 2nd Officer Charles Lightoller pointed out the inquiry's conflict of interest:
"A washing of dirty linen would help no one. The Board of Trade had passed that ship as in all respects fit for the sea ... Now the Board of Trade was holding an inquiry into the loss of that ship – hence the whitewash brush."
American Titanic historian Don Lynch notes the consequences:
"Apart from protecting itself, the Board of Trade had no interest in seeing the White Star Line found negligent. Any damage to White Star's reputation or balance sheet would be bad for British shipping – and there was considerable potential for both. Negligence on the part of the shipping company might pave the way for millions of dollars in damage claims and lawsuits that would tie up the courts for years, possibly break the White Star Line, and result in the loss of much of Britain's lucrative shipping traffic to the Germans and the French."
In the aftermath of both inquiries, major changes in maritime regulations implementing new safety measures, such as ensuring that more lifeboats were provided, that lifeboat drills were properly carried out and that radio equipment on passenger ships was manned around the clock.
Radio operators were to give priority to emergency and hazard messages over private messages. Rivaling international wireless networks, such as the British Marconi Company and the Telefunken Company of Germany, were required to handle all radio calls including those of the other network.
An International Ice Patrol was set up to monitor the presence of icebergs in the North Atlantic, and maritime safety regulations were standardized internationally through the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).
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