Ethical Decisions Made In Recovering Of The Titanic

On April 15, 1912 at 11:40 P.M. the Titanic collided with an iceberg and by 2:20 A.M. it was at the bottom of the ocean; over 1,500 people died. The massive loss of life was a shock to the world. The “unsinkable” ship had sunk. Despite the Titanic’s claims about being “unsinkable” and completely safe, many avoidable things led to the immense number of fatalities, such as the shortage of lifeboats, lowered bulkheads, and the lack of binoculars. Bruce Ismay, the designer of the Titanic and director of Whitestar line, often chose the comfort of his passengers over their safety. While Ismay was designing the Titanic he thought that the deck was too cluttered so he decided to keep only a third of the lifeboats needed to save all of the passengers

You’ve heard of the Titanic’s sinking, right? Well, do you know who is exactly is responsible though? The captain of the R.M.S. Titanic is to blame, which was Captain Edward J. Smith and he was a popular leader. He had a total of 38 years of working with the White Star Line, the company that owned the Titanic. Captain Smith should have had full control of the ship and obviously, that night, he did not. Therefore, Captain Smith is the the person to blame for the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic because he cancelled a lifeboat drill on the Titanic, he allowed lifeboats to leave partially full and not at the correct time, and lastly, he ignored seven different iceberg warnings.

Why did the Titanic sink? Who’s to blame for this imprint on the timeline of humanity? How could the guilty let this happen? All of these questions could be answered with one man, Captain Edward J. Smith. As Ballard’s Exploring the Titanic says, “(Captain Smith) was a natural leader and was popular with both crew and passengers… thirty-eight years’ service with the White Star Line… had an excellent safety record.” This seems like the guy you would want to captain a great ship like the Titanic, and at first he was. But, as the ship’s voyage progressed he started to forget his duties and take this trip as some getaway time for himself to enjoy. This idea of his endorsed his mind until he only visited the bridge every couple hours. When the iceberg

The Titanic tragedy was not a very happy event, but I am here to share my opinion on the causes of the sinking of it.

There were many factors to why the ship sunk, however the three main ones are, that the ship didn’t slow down while approaching the iceberg, a few of the crew members ignored the warning, and the iceberg that struck the ship affected it majorly. In the article, titled “R.M.S. Titanic” by Hanson W. Baldwin, he states a quote from a crewman from the Titanic saying, “ Shut up, Shut up; keep out. I am talking to Cape Race; you are jamming my signals.” Since he ignored the warning a few moments later at about 11:40 p.m. the ship came in contact with the iceberg. Baldwin also stated that there was a, “... three-hundred-foot slash in the bottom of the great Titanic.”

The Titanic was a passenger ship, not a battleship, so it was not built to take on huge icebergs. It states in the article that nothing was wrong in the building of the Titanic, but anything is possible. Man’s error could have been a big factor with the sinking. The ship was built among time pressures, not because of cost, which put a huge strain on the shipyard. If the builders were given more time, then mayne the ship would have been stronger and could have withstanded more. Higher quality rivets and thicker hulls might have kept the Titanic afloat for much longer.

The White Star Line was owner of the Titanic, which was the largest and most luxurious ship in the world at the time. On April 10th, 1912, the Titanic left from Southampton, England with 2,227 passengers aboard bound for New York City. On April 14th, the ship struck an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland and sank about 2 ½ hours later. Passengers, mostly women and children, were loaded into lifeboats, however only 705 passengers survived as many lifeboats left partially full.

Have you ever wondered who was responsible for the sinking of the Titanic?Read this paragraph and you will find out. This is important because if the Titanic never thrusted. They would still have the same safety equipment and the ships would still be made the same. Captain Smith is responsible for the sinking of the Titanic because,he did not slow down or stop the ship when he heard the iceberg warnings. Finally , Captain Smith was responsible for the sinking of the Titanic because he did not slow down the ship when he heard the iceberg warnings.

“Out on the decks, most passengers now began to move toward the stern area, which was slowly lifting out of the water.” confirms author Robert D. Ballard in Exploring the Titanic. But, why were these conditions crucial, and why did people have to take charge during the dreadful night of the Titanic's sinking. Who was to blame for the sinking. It could’ve perhaps been the messenger, the ship's builder, or maybe the captain. It could've just been one of them or it could’ve all three of them. The designer was experienced but maybe just not enough.

During the time of her construction, Titanic was the largest, grandest, safest, and most technologically advanced ship during her time. Her designers and engineers set out to build a class of ocean liners that could compete against White Star Line’s rival company, Cunard. However, when Titanic, the second of her sister ships sunk on her maiden voyage, it shook the world and it had a major impact on the world and its people. One of the main effects was the effect on safety regulations. Titanic only carried enough lifeboats to sustain roughly half of the passengers and crew on board. At the time, Titanic actually exceeded the amount of the lifeboats required by the British Board of Trade regulations by 10 percent.

Regarding the well-known thought experiment, ‘Lifeboat Ethics' that was popularized by Garrett Hardin, some viewpoints are available. Consequently, the decision regarding what to do with the extra capacity for ten passengers on the lifeboat can be made through the lens of five different ethical approaches. These include Kantianism, Divine Command standpoint, Egoism, Utilitarianism, and Natural Law. In this essay, each of the five possible ethical decisions that can arise (as informed by the five points of view) are discussed. Moreover, the most desirable approach is then chosen, and the influences that informed such choice are detailed.

Identity, is the consciousness of who you are, culture is what influences it, and reasoning is the byproduct. A wealthy countries identity is set aside from the many cultures within it (take the U.S. for example), the countries identity determines what is considered just and unjust from within its own territory, and for the territories around. As with Hardin’s “Lifeboat Ethics” article, Hardin attempts to analyze the many options that a wealthy country has in aiding poorer countries. Hardin attempts to denounce the idea of the ‘spaceship ‘metaphor in which the spaceship has substantial resources, and ethical operation. Instead, to discredit the spaceship earth metaphor, he comes up with the idea of the lifeboat. With lifeboats, some are roomy, and some are tight, ill equipped and filled to maximum capacity.

Along with putting pressure on capin Smith Ismay also rushed through the building and testing of the ship. Let’s put this in perspective titanic was biggest most luxurious ship of its time and it only took two years to build. On such short notice iron was all they could get to build the ship. If a little bit of longer testing was done on titanic the ship could of been safe from this disaster.

Thomas Andrews designed the Titanic, and he had also approved it for he was a well-known shipbuilder. Before the sinking, the Titanic had started to take test runs. The test runs had gone great there were no signs that something might’ve been wrong with the ship so there was nothing to worry about except weather. The design of the titanic and the approving of it were so important because if the Titanic design was never approved then it would’ve never been out at sea. If the test runs wouldn’t have gone good then it wouldn’t have been at sea either. I believe that the captain was a little careless because considering the iceberg it hit was so big he could’ve seen it and stopped way before hitting it. The Titanic is still being talked about today because over 1,500 people were killed in its sinking. Because of the Titanic’s sinking people have found ways to help prevent anything as major as that sinking. People have invented different safety items on ships, and have made ships have more lifeboats. The second, third, and some first class people were not saved. The only ones saved were most part of the first class riders. The Titanic affected many families, for their relatives were the ones killed on the ship. There were many technological advances to prevent this again

Lifeboat ethics centers on the ideology of, an increase in the population diminishes the financial capacity of the country to provide for its needs. Contrarily, a stabilized, if not dwindling population spells economic prosperity. Yet the problem is no one can claim will full force that a country’s limit is to only this or that extent. To claim that any “excess baggage” in the population is an anathema to welfare does not provide an ethical argument for the curtailment of population.