It is a day that haunts people as well as fascinates them. A day that no one has forgot in almost one hundred years. April 14, 1914 the day the Titanic hit and iceberg shortly before midnight.
When the last lifeboat had been launched, only two choices remained for those left behind: to go down with the ship or jump into the icy black waters of the sea. “Until I die, the cries of those wretched men and women who went down clinging helplessly to the Titanic’s rail will ring in my ears,” one survivor wrote. “Groans, shrieks and sounds that were almost inhuman came across the waters” to torment those afraid to rescue those in the water for fear of being sucked into the vortex or swamped.
The Titanic carried far too few lifeboats to accommodate its passengers and crew, which totalled 2,207. There were 20 lifeboats in all, including 14 with a capacity of 65, two emergency boats that could accommodate 40 each, and four collapsible boats that were designed to carry 47 apiece. The odds a male passenger would make it into one of these boats were 1 in 5.91. The odds for a woman or child were four times higher—1 in 1.44 (69%).
Two of the collapsible lifeboats were never launched. If the remaining boats had been filled to capacity, 1,084 passengers (49%) could have been saved. But the crew was on its first sailing together and had not been properly drilled on the emergency procedures. Any passengers did not know where the lifeboats were, and some of those who did manage to make it to the upper decks were reluctant to leave a ship with watertight compartments and a steel hull for a tiny boat on the North Atlantic. There were enough life vests for everyone on board, but since hypothermia occurred quickly in the cold waters (survivors reported no voices after an hour and most froze within 15 minutes) they were useless for survival. In all, only approximately 705 people (32%) survived.
Captain Edward J. Smith went down with the ship. It was soon revealed that a friend who had crossed paths with Smith when he was captain of the sister ship Olympic, had queried the captain as to why there were so few lifeboats aboard the Titanic. Smith himself deplored the fact, and claimed to have gone to Belfast where the Titanic was being built to plead for additional boats. He was rebuffed, though not, he believed, because of the greed of White Star officials, but because they truly regarded their ships as virtually indestructible.
The hearings conducted by the United States Senate and the British Board of Trade exposed the depth of both the the tragic miscalculations and the lack of preparation.
· With sixteen watertight compartments that could be closed off if the hull was punctured, White Star officials believed that the ship would take many hours, if not days, to sink. One official went further when news began to arrive from wireless reports of a collision. “We believe the boat is absolutely unsinkable, and although the hull may have sunk at the bow, we know she will remain afloat.”
· The Titanic was equipped with wireless technology that would allow it to contact other ships on the heavily traveled ship route on which it traveled between Southampton and New York City. Help would soon be at hand.
· British regulations had not been updated since 1898 and did not take into account the large numbers of passengers on modern ships. The number of lifeboats was based on tonnage, and in fact the Titanic carried two more boats than were required.
· Since most shipwrecks happen during storms, it was not thought possible for the crew to launch more boats. Ironically, the Titanic sank into a calm sea.
· Although there was room on the deck for 12 to 20 more boats, it was decided that would make the deck appear cluttered.
Within weeks of the disaster, Congress had ordered all ships docking in the United States to carry enough lifeboats for everyone on board. Compulsory drills were ordered as well. The one scheduled on the Titanichad been cancelled in favor of a church service, at which the following hymn had been sung:
Eternal Father strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave . . .
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
Throughout the investigation of why and how they Titanic sank one thing has been proven true, they were not prepared. The owners and builders of the massive ship believed that it could not be sunk even by God himself. They made a grave mistake in calculating how long the ship would stay afloat. Their mistake resulted in 1,502 people losing their lives.
In all aspects of our lives we have to prepare for anything. That is why we buy insurance for our car, our house, our health. We have insurance so that just in case something happens we will be prepared. In Matthew 25:1-13 Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins. Five of the ten were not prepared for the bridegroom to come. They had not made the right preparations to start off with, but they were not enough to sustain them through the night. Just like the Titanic they were not prepared in case something was to happen.
What about you? Are you prepared for the Day of the Lord? Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:44 that we are to be ready at all times! 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and 2 Peter 3:10 both echo the same idea that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. No one knows when that day will be here. We have to be prepared at all times for that day.
Are you ready?