Photo by Brown Bros., New York
Stoke-hole of a Transatlantic Liner
AN
UNSINKABLE
TITANIC
EVERY SHIP
ITS OWN LIFEBOAT
BY
J. BERNARD WALKER
Editor of the Scientific American
NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
1912
Copyright, 1912, by
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
Published, July, 1912
THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS
RAHWAY, N. J.
To
THE MEMORY OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE TITANIC,
JOHN BELL,
AND HIS STAFF OF THIRTY-THREE ASSISTANTS,
WHO STOOD AT THEIR POSTS IN THE ENGINE-
AND BOILER-ROOMS TO THE VERY LAST,
AND WENT DOWN WITH THE SHIP,
THIS WORK IS DEDICATED
PREFACE
It is the object of this work to show that, in oureagerness to make the ocean liner fast andluxurious, we have forgotten to make her safe.
The safest ocean liner was the Great Eastern;and she was built over fifty years ago.Her designer aimed to make the ship practicallyunsinkable—and he succeeded; for she passedthrough a more severe ordeal than the Titanic,survived it, and came into port under her ownsteam.
Since her day, the shipbuilder has eliminatedall but one of the safety devices which made theGreat Eastern a ship so difficult to sink. Nobody,not even the shipbuilders themselves,seemed to realise what was being done, until,suddenly, the world's finest vessel, in all thepride of her maiden voyage, struck an icebergand went to the bottom in something over twoand a half hours' time!
If we learn the lesson of this tragedy, weshall lose no time in getting back to first principles.We shall reintroduce in all future passenger ships those simple and effective elementsof safety—the double skin, the longitudinalbulkhead, and the watertight deck—whichwere conspicuous in the Great Eastern, andwhich alone can render such a ship as the Titanicunsinkable.
The author's acknowledgments are due to the"Scientific American" for many of the photographsand line drawings reproduced in this volume;to an article by Professor J. H. Biles,published in "Engineering," for material relatingto the Board of Trade stipulations as tobulkheads; to Sir George C. V. Holmes and theVictoria and Albert Museum for data regardingthe Great Eastern, published in "Ancient andModern Ships"; to Naval Constructor R. H.M. Robinson, U.S.N., for permission to reproducecertain drawings from his work, "NavalConstruction," and to Naval ConstructorHenry