Blog #4 Sank by a Mirage?!!

On April 15, 1912, the H.M.S. Titanic struck an ice berg and sank. It was one of the biggest disasters of its time. In February of 1992 I sat down in the high school library and began my research on the Titanic, for my senior term paper. Little did I know that I would follow the Titanic's story from that point onward. I have watched just about every documentary that has been produced about the disaster. They have always ended with the questions “Why did the lookouts not see the ice berg until it was too late, and why did the ship in the distance not render aid?” 

                In April of 2012 National Geographic followed Tim Maltin on his journey to test his theories and try to reconstruct the events that lead up to the disaster,Titanic case closed. What he finds is that is that the best answer to the mysteries was due to a mirage.  Most people think that mirages only happen in the desert. However, there are also mirages on the open water. They can create a false horizon line. Sailors call this a soft horizon.  Over a great distance a mirage can give the illusion that a steady light can flicker.

                Tim reviews the survivor testimonials as well as comparing several different captains’ logs from other ships that had been in the area where the Titanic sank. He discovered that there were several commits about refraction.  He concludes that the conditions were perfect for this soft horizon.  The lookouts of the time used the stars of the night skies to make out the outline of an iceberg usually giving them enough time to warn the pilot. However, with a soft horizon the skyline is not where it should be therefore, the lookouts did not see the iceberg until it was too late.

                This soft horizon made it difficult for a signal light operator to decipher weather a light in the distance is flashing Morse code or if it’s just the flickering from the refraction. This was the reason Tim gives for the other ship not coming to the Titanic’s aid when it was signaled.

                There were several areas that “if” could have saved the Titanic. If the lookouts had requested the captain to slow down due to the difficulty of seeing with a soft horizon. If the Telegraph operators had made a stronger attempt to contact each other. The design of the ship meant that, if the Titanic had struck the iceberg head on then she would have remained afloat, and might even been able to limp to a near port.

                They claimed that the Titanic was unsinkable; because they believed that there design was good. However, you have to always keep in mind no matter how strong or how well built our visions are, mother nature will remind us that she is still more powerful.