INERTIA IMPULSE AND RABBIT HOLES

TITANIC CONCLUSIONS

Titanic's Fatal Flaw
Mystery Unsolved  

Copyright August 2016 by Ronald D. Grose

What do rabbit holes have to do with inertia and impulse?  Very little actually, nor very little to do with the Titanic story either, but there is a commonality.  There are so many fascinating facets to the Titanic story that it is difficult for a person like me to keep on track.  I will call this tendency to wander off on side issues the “rabbit hole factor or by the acronym “RHF” (not to be confused with Rh Factor).  Since RHF is not a common acronym, its meaning will periodically be brought forth.  Some, who may not be rabbit hole knowledgeable, like myself, may want to know the significance of RHF.  This just happens to take us into the story of Alice In Wonder Land which is pretty far afield from the Titanic story.  But there you have it—an example of RHF.  I mean, have locked in urbanites even seen a large field let alone a rabbit hole in one ?  Relatively speaking I’m a rural kind of guy  and I’ve only seen one rabbit hole in my life and that was because it had a horse leg sticking out of it—but that leg story is probably an RHF on an RHF etc. etc.!

[For those of you who are too busy to look it up—a rabbit hole leads to a “borrow” which has a number of subsidiary passage ways for purposes we need not get into.  The borrows themselves can be interconnect into what are called “warrens”.]

So much for glowing examples of RHF—the rabbit hole factor.  I personally favor the Urban Dictionary definition of rabbit hole which in part states: “metaphor for conceptual paths to the true picture of reality, infinitesimally deep and complex….”  Infinitesimally is a bit strong for my tastes but the essence of this definition is what I’m endeavoring to accomplish in this writing on the Titanic. There just has to be a limitation established on the RHF(s).

INERTIA

We will consider two kinds of inertia.  Inertia obviously derives from the word inert which means, according to our English dictionary, powerless to move (in essence).  The etymology for inert is not helpful.  The two ways I wish to use the word inertial are physical and mental.  Here my large dictionary is even less helpful when it comes to inert and I quote “tendency to be physically or mentally inactive; dull, slow.  The synonyms chosen are equally negative—like lazy.  This is not the connotation I wish to express.  We do better with inertia- in summary it is a “resistance or disinclination to motion, action or change”.  This is not necessarily bad.  When it comes to mental we call inertia “mindset”.

Let’s consider mindset in context with the Titanic.  As mentioned previously, boiler explosion has not been considered in previous forensic analyses I have read and the reason for this seems to be best known to the analysists themselves.  Perhaps it may hark back to the inquiries held immediately after the tragedy in 1912..  Second Officer Lightoiler’s, testimony was held in high regard as well it should have been; after all he was the highest ranking officer to survive the sinking  He alone is mentioned by name in the British final report on the their investigation.  To illustrate, the following is an excerpt from the full report furnished in Ref. pg. ???:

“…..Very shortly afterwards, the vessel, according to Mr. Lightoiler’s account seemed to take a dive, and he just walked into the water.  When he came to the surface all the funnels were above the water.

Her stern was gradually rising out of the water and the propellers were clear of the water.  The ship did not break in two and she did eventually attain the perpendicular when the second funnel from aft about reached the water.  There were no lights burning then, though they kept alight practically until to the last

Before reaching the perpendicular when at an angle of 50 or 60 degrees, there was a rumbling sound which may be attributed to the boilers leaving their beds and crashing down on to or through the bulkheads….”

Three other witnesses agreed with Lightoiler’s recollection but fourteen other witnesses thought they had seen the ship split apart before it sank.  The fourteen were not navel experts and their view was obviously subordinated.

There you have it.  For almost seventy years that official view of the sinking held—Titanic sank intact (which implies no boiler explosion of significance), the funnels were intact (at least until it disappeared), the “roar” reported was due to the ship being perpendicular (hull keel vertical instead of horizontal) and equipment, e.g. boilers, falling through bulkheads.  This view held because the Brits were the foremost ship builders in the world. 

It held until 1985 when Dr. Ballard’s team made their famous discovery. Even up to the mid twentieth century artistic representations showed an intact vessel.  There was a book cover showing a salvaged Titanic shooting up out of the ocean surface bright and shiny as new with everything intact including the relatively delicate antennae wires strung between the two masts.  [I have made a post regarding artistic impression on my blog: lusitaniaconclusions.blogspot.com.]

The British experts were wrong; modern experts now agree --the Titanic broke apart near the surface; some funnels fell off before it sank completely; and the roar was not due to boilers falling through bulkheads.  Beyond that, there are competing theories on what really happened.   Still no boiler explosions though!

What is the boiler evidence discovered since 1985.  In summary it would appear that all boilers in the forward portion of the hull are intact—this would be boilers in rooms 3 through 6.  Five intact boilers lie on the sea floor well apart from other major wreckage pieces.  I presume these are the five double boilers from boiler room 2.  Others do not seem to agree and apparently think they are single ended boilers from boiler room 1. Is this disagreement a consequence of mindset?   If so—by whom?

Enough on mental inertia now consider the physical.  There are two kinds of physical—physical and physical.  As you can tell they are closely related like my two brothers; Bill and is identical twin sister Billy—just kidding; RHF.  For the most part we will be talking about the non-biological physical; and for those of you who majored on both kinds you will want to skip over this discourse; but for those of you, like me, who were deprived of this intellectual enterprise, the following is fundamental to understanding the dynamics of what happened to the handsome Titanic; (handsome would seem to me a mixed metamorphic adjective).  But then dear Violet said (wrote) it well.  Remember she had been on Titanic just a few days and was well ship acquainted; yet she already had formed a special attachment to it; quote: Then she went down by the head with a thundering roar of underwater explosions, our proud ship, our beautiful Titanic gone to her doom...   There it is—physical to physical.  But alas I have drifted off the subject.

Before we can get into the sinking scenario we have nagging questions which require the use of the physical side of inertia—Sir Isaac Newton’s inertia theory developed well before the ships of Titanic’s size were conceived.  Oh!; I’m sorry, I must apologize to those readers who don’t want to remember high school or college physics, I must also consider a topic related to inertia—namely “impulse”.  Those of you who know more about inertia and impulse than I do can skip over the next section, but I, and the rest of us, need to review the following or look it up on google.

TO BE CONTINUED

Background Part 4 Titanic's Final Moments w/ Violet Jessop

2.4  Titanic’s final moments w/ Violet Jessup

Now we go back to the actual sinking of the Titanic during its final moments.  A number of survivors recalled hearing a tremendous roar go up as the ship went under (including Violet).  Some have explained the “roar” having been caused by equipment (i.e. boilers) breaking loose and cascading down a vertical or nearly vertical hull destroying bulkheads in the process.  This will be discussed later.  One survivor sketched a view showing both the bow and stern pointing upward with the majority of the hull under water.  Other survivors remembered the stern portion first sinking then falling back to the surface giving them some hope for refuge, only to see it seemly pulled down almost vertically as depicted in the movie “Titanic”  These witness accounts will be addressed later.  Here is what Violet remembered as she wrote her memoir years later.  The following is her account of the initial impact:

”Crash!....Then a low, rending, crunching, ripping sound, as Titanic shivered a trifle and the sound of her engines gently ceased”; (page 125 of John’s book).

The accounts of what happened during and after the crash by other survivors differ in detail from Violet’s recollection she had years later.

 Next we have her remembrances aboard lifeboat #16:

“…… I sat paralyzed with cold and misery, as I watched Titanic give a lurch forward.  One of the huge funnels toppled off like a cardboard model, falling into the water with a fearful roar.  A few cries came to us across the water, then silence, as the ship seemed to right itself like a hurt animal with a broken back.  She settled for a few moments, but one more deck of lighted ports [portholes] disappeared.  Then she went down by the head with a thundering roar of underwater explosions, our proud ship, our beautiful Titanic gone to her doom.” (page 133 in John’s book).

Author Maxtone-Graham inserts an additional detail on page 140 of his book—(ref. 1): but first some remembrances by Violet that triggers his detail.

“It is only when something is over, when your mind is detached from immediate surroundings, that you visualize actual details. One of these surviving officers had gone down with the ship and then been blown up with the explosion; he somehow managed to get clear and was picked up by one of the boats. “

Maxtonel-Graham then inserts the following comment:

This was, of course, Second Officer Herbert "Lights" Lightoller who, struggling in the water near the sinking ship, had been drawn down and affixed atop an engine room grating as sea water flooded into it. But that same flow of water proved the instrument of his salvation. It apparently struck a still-hot boiler, fracturing it. The ensuing explosion miraculously blew Lightoller clear of the wreck and he managed to clamber aboard an overturned Englehardt collapsible lifeboat that had been launched inverted when Titanic went down. His subsequent leadership throughout the night on that overturned boat with thirty precarious survivors standing atop it remains one of the most heroic sagas of the wreck.

There you have it—a seasoned veteran of the seas using the words explosion(s) and an authoritarian naval historian backing her up with the same words.  These passages triggered my return to writing of this disaster and subsequent re-analysis based on the explosion premise.  It is ironic that it was Lightoller’s testimony during the hearings that the Titanic sank intact, and this is what I think led to the dismissal of boiler explosions being involved in the sinking.  I find it remarkable, perhaps even incredible, that the other technological experts, and there are many involved, refrain, for reasons best known to them, from even considering boiler explosions in their forensic analysis of the Titanic disaster. 

Background Part 2 Maritime Incidents w/ Violet Jessop

Background Part 2 Maritime Incidents w/ Violet Jessop

While the spotlight in this blog is on the Titanic, the personal, human interest spotlight is on our star witness Violet.  It will be helpful I think to have a list, a chronology, of the maritime incidents involving Violet that have a bearing on the unfolding of the Titanic drama.  This will give perspective on the timeline and tie together the Titanic story as well as the other disasters considered in my other blogs.  Violet spent some forty years at sea so there well have been other incidents in her long career that I am unaware of.  The following are the ones I know about and which have a bearing on my blogs.  First I should state that her maritime career began near the end of October in 1908 when, at age 21 she became a stewardess on the Royal Mail liner Orinoco.  A year later she  began employment with the White Star line on board the Olympic.

Incident 1 September 20, 1911  12:45 pm  (Olympic and Hawke)

Violet was now a stewardess on the almost brand new White Star liner Olympic that had been launched in 1910 and had its maiden voyage in May of 1911.  Leaving the port of Southampton in a tricky channel a string of bad luck for the White Star line began to unravel.  There was a collision between the Olympic, under the command of the port pilot, and the British warship HMS Hawke.  A cruiser, considerably smaller than the Olympic, Hawke had a reinforced bow designed for ramming and sinking enemy vessels.  Damage to the Hawke was extensive, but the Olympic barely quivered.  Violet never mentions the collision in her memoir probably because she was busy getting her passenger responsibilities taken care of and was not an eye witness.  There can be no doubt she later became aware because the voyage was canceled and Olympic had to return to South Hampton. Consequently Violet was transferred to the Titanic but not without losing several months’ pay.  While not in command during the collision, Captain Smith was on the bridge of the Olympic; he too was transferred to the Titanic.

The gash in the Olympic’s hull was large; not much different than from a torpedo of that era.  This damage will be considered relative to other shipwreck damage in section 2.3.

Besides the gash, the Hawke was turned like a toy after her bow pieced the Olympic’s hull and Hawke's hull then collided with Olympic’s starboard propeller damaging both it and the driveshaft.  The replacement driveshaft was taken from the Titanic during it’s construction, delaying Titanic’s launch by a month, thereby setting the stage for its disastrous sinking.  After Olympic repairs were completed, Violet made a number of “sailings” on the Olympic with Captain Smith to New York and back and then, with construction completed, they both had the honor of being selected for the Maiden Voyage

Incident 2  April 10, 1912  12:01 pm  (Titanic and New York)

Leaving the dock area in Southampton, the Titanic passes several ships moored semi- permanently because of a coal strike.  One, the New York, is pulled to the Titanic by the Titanic’s propeller suction and snaps its restraining hawsers.  The two ships nearly collide but quick thinking by Captain Smith (perhaps as a consequence of the Hawke collision) averts it.  No damage is done but the incident is given bad press by the superstitious.   Apparently Violet is not one of these because no mention of the incident is found in her memoir.  As was in the prior case, Violet would not have been an eye witness but it is very doubtful that she would not have heard about it.
   

Incident 3  April 14, 1912  11:45+  (Titanic and iceberg)

We know all about this one.  Violet was put into lifeboat 16 (furthest aft on the port side) to induce other reluctant women to climb aboard. One of the last to be launched, it was lowered about an hour and a half after the collision .

Incident 4     October 27, 1914   “early morning”    (Olympic and Audacious)

The HMS Audacious was a brand new battleship for the Royal Navy when during gunnery practice it struck a German mine which did more harm to the ship then it should have.  By chance, the Olympic with Violet onboard, was in the vicinity and was able to rescue most of the crew with her lifeboats (other nearby vessels also helped in the rescue).   Understandably, Violet must have thought that it could have just as well have been the Olympic hitting the mine instead of the Audacious.  With the Titanic sinking still a fresh memory, Violet decided to become a Red Cross nurse on land.

[Although she was not on board the Lusitania when it sank on May 7, 1915, the sinking may have influenced her employment decision.  On this part of her life I find John’s book a little confusing and it may be a consequence of wartime secrecy.  According to her memoir, incident 5 concluded her sailing on Olympic until after incident 6.  There is a gap in John’s listings from 4/25/14 to 11/12/16.  From 4/25/14 until 10/27/14 she sailed on both Olympic and Clyde.  Her memoir definitely states her being on board the Olympic in August of 1914.  It is unclear when she took up Red Cross nursing.]

Incident 5     November 21, 1916  8:12 am       (Britannic and underwater mine)

Violet’s star seems to be as cursed as that of the White Star.  She finds herself assigned to a hospital ship as a Red Cross nurse (refer to Introduction).  If she felt any apprehension about possible ship disasters her memoir doesn’t reveal it; instead she is looking forward to reuniting with her brother serving in the military.  Besides the ship reminds her of the Olympic—huge and safe looking; it’s the sister ship to the Olympic after all—it’s the Britannic.  Not to be so lucky!  The Britannic hits a mine, sinks out of sight in fifty five minutes and this time Violet is nearly killed.  Now she has had enough of sea dangers and human suffering so at this point in her life she takes a desk job on land.

 The details of the Britannic disaster are considered in my blog:

                                               “britannicconclusions.blogspot.com”.