Titanic

I have almost finished "The Wreck of the River of Stars". It got me thinking a lot about the Titanic (which I'm sure was the parallel the author had in mind).

As I remember it, there were a number of factors involved, any one of which might have reduced the magnitude of the disaster:

1. Ice cube tray effect - the bulkheads should have run higher, but were shortened for aesthetic effect
2. Running too fast (trying to break a speed record)
3. Reversing engines (their rudder design worked better in forward)
4. Poor utilization of lifeboats
5. Poor communication with other ships

Of course, Wikipedia is the wet blanket on many of these ideas:

1. "The height of the bulkhead deck above the water line in flooded condition was well above the requirements"
2. "Captain Smith to increase speed in order to make an early landfall... There is little evidence for this having happened"
3. "The Olympic using the same semi-oval shaped rudder as Titanic's was able to turn in a virtual moment's notice"
4. "The White Star Line actually exceeded the regulations by including four more collapsible lifeboats" (although regulations were out of date). Lifeboats were not intended for carrying everyone at once, but for ferrying to a rescue ship (so 1/3 capacity means three round trips).
   
5. "The closest ship to respond was Cunard Line's Carpathia 58 miles (93 km) away, which could arrive in an estimated four hours—too late to rescue all of Titanic's passengers"

Ahh, well.