Customer Reviews

What Really Sank the Titanic: New Forensic Discoveries

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Far too often, books dealing with the sinking of RMS Titanic contain little more than old information covered with groundless speculation. "What Really Sank the Titanic: New Forensic Discoveries" is entirely different. Both McCarty and Foecke have doctorates in Materials Science, and both have long been engaged with testing metal samples recovered in the past two decades from the Titanic wreck site. Although in passing they examine various previously discussed facts and theories (such as the speed of the vessel on the fatal night, a fire in a coal bunker, and the variability of witness testimony), the heart of their book revolves around the testing and analysis of rivets used to hold together the ship's steel hull plates. I suppose that the ideal audience for this book is a Titanic buff with a technical background (I qualify on both grounds), and although I found myself reflecting back to my single college metallury course, I think it written lucidly enough for any intelligent reader. The authors present a convincing case that many of the rivets used in the Titanic's construction were of inferior material and many probably not optimally installed. The result was that, under stress from the glancing blow against the iceberg, too many rivets failed and allowed the seams between some of the hull plates to open, admitting water and causing the ship to sink before any help could arrive. Along the way, McCarty and Foecke refute the formerly popular theory that the hull plate material itself was overly brittle and failed during the collision.

I have a few minor nits here and there (including a too brief and too simplistic overview of rusticle biology); but not even all of them put together are of such magnitude as to preclude a five-star rating. Even the sidebars (or long foot notes) are not only must reading on this subject, but fascinating reading as well. New data are presented requiring, among other things, a re-examination of questions surrounding the coal bunker fire, and whether or not the steel was sufficiently damaged at a critical bulkbead to make any difference in the rate of the ship's sinking - or even to determine whether or not she floated through the crisis altogether.

Just when you thought there was nothing really new or interesting (or sane) to be written about the Titanic, Hooper and Foecke come along.

The authors did a superb job on assessing the quality and workmanship issues regarding the steel and rivets used in the construction of the Titanic and her sister ships. I especially liked the way they explained some of the complexities of steel making and the riveting process in the early part of the 20th century. All the explanations of technical matters were written so that someone without a technical background is able to appreciate and understand them. I especially liked the many analogies that are used throughout the book, and some of the sidebar issues that were brought up. The authors did an excellent job in assessing the claims of others, and in presenting their own assessment of the various issues involved and work that they did in the search for answers. They fully supported their conclusions, and made a very clear and logical case for what contributed to the sinking of this great ship.

Absolutly fascinating!! The authors provide a detailed, yet highly readable and enjoyable(and understandable) theory for the sinking of the Titanic. The book focuses of metallurgic analysis of the rivets used in the construction of the ship. The book gives short, informative background in the different processing methods involved in making the different types of metals used in the rivet construction (and how these may have affected the ultimate sinking of Titanic) so the average reader is not lost in "techno-speak". Now I know that sounds a bit dry, but the authors explain it in such a way that it is absolutely fascinating. The book also conatin several sidebars with little known facts and non-sequitors to the main story. I found the book very entertaining. It is definatley worth buying!

Both authors have provided an excellent study into what really caused the White Star Liner to sink after colliding with an iceberg on her Maiden Voyage. It all boiled down to the various inferior metals used in her construction. After careful analysis of recovered metals from the wreck site the conclusions reached by the authors is that corners were cut at the shipyard of Harland & Wolff to save money. The book also reveals a close look at shipbuilding techniques used at the turn of the last century. While highly technical in style this book offers very interesting conclusions as to why the world's largest ocean liner sank so quickly on her first and only voyage. I Highly recommend it as a worthy addition to your maritime libraries.
Mike Ralph,
Co-Founder of Titanic International Society

Very interesting. I went to UM Rolla so I was particularly interested in the work done there. It was a little technical and not for someone wanting a sensationalized description of the sinking.

What Really Sank the Titanic: New Forensic Discoveries
OK, right off the bat I must admit that I am a (now retired) mechanical engineer, so I'm not afraid of a little metallurgy. I have also been something of a "Titanic nut" since I began diving on shipwrecks in the early 1970's (Titanic is, after all, the ultimate shipwreck). All that said, this is a very readable book that keeps the technobabble to an absolute minimum. It is written in an easy style that presents the necessary technical background like the differences between iron, wrought iron and steel and how they are made in only 12 pages, with pictures. The authors use simple, everyday analogies to help the reader understand the concepts being explained and they also introduce many interesting sidebar items. Their theory is that sub-par (even for 1912) rivets in the hull are main cause of the sinking. They relate the labor conditions of the early 1900's and the testimony of the survivors with the known details of both the construction and the current condition of Titanic in a very convincing manner. Unless you are so hopelessly non-mechanical that filling your cars gas tank is a technological challenge, you will find this book to be a very good read.

A fascinating mixture of history and science by two scientists who
spent 10 years studying what went wrong.
A well-written story that is hard to put down for anyone interested
in the Titanic.
Filled with interesting new ideas you will want to think over and
interesting new facts you will want to remember.
You shake you head at the many little decisions that could have
averted the tragedy but were made the wrong way, from design, to
construction, to operation of the Titanic.
By the end, you feel like you were there, from the blueprints to
the inquest.
A must-read for any Titanic fan.

This book is a fascinating study of the production processes involved in building the Titanic and a strongly argued theory as to why those processes help explain the rapid rate at which the Titanic sank.

The basic argument is that the Titanic's collision with the iceberg caused the riveted seams in the ship's hull plating to fail, which led to the fatal flooding of the first six compartments of the ship's hull. More specifically, the authors argue that the rivets failed because they were made of wrought iron and substandard wrought iron at that. They do not argue that the ship necessarily would not have sunk but for the faulty rivets, only that the faulty rivets caused the ship to sink more rapidly than it would have had the builders employed better materials. The rapid sinking of course led to the great loss of life which has made the Titanic such a compelling tragedy over the years.

Harland and Wolff, the builders of the Titanic, employed hydraulically driven steel rivets in the middle "three fifths length" of the ship's hull, where bending stresses were greatest. They used hand driven wrought iron rivets in the remaining two fifths of the ship's hull (that is, at the bow and the stern), because of the difficulties of employing mechanical riveting machines in the more confined spaces at the ships ends.

The authors metallurgically tested wrought iron rivets recovered from the Titanic and found that the rivets were prone to pop out if subjected to the kind of stress involved in the collision with the iceberg. The steel rivets, on the other hand, were much less prone to failure because of their superior strength and ductility. The authors point out that underwater photography reveals missing rivets from a seam in the outer plating in the area of Number 5 and 6 boiler rooms, an area where a surviving eyewitness, Fireman Barret, reported seeing flooding. The missing rivets would appear to support the authors' theory. More especially because they seem to argue that this seam was in the "outer fifths length" of the ship, the area where the builders used wrought iron rivets.

However, it would appear from a cursory examination of the plans and elevations of the Titanic that Number 5 and 6 boiler rooms lay in the middle three fifths length of the ships hull, the area where the authors claim the builders used steel rivets. The forward bulkhead of boiler room Number 6 (the one nearest the bow or front of the ship) would appear to lie just within the middle three fifths length of the hull; the forward bulkhead of boiler room number 6 well with the middle three fifths length.

Hence it is not so clear that the wrought iron rivets were at fault. Still, the authors appear to shed a lot of new light on nature of the building materials and methods used in the construction of the Titanic. I enjoyed reading the book, and I would give it 3.5 stars.

What Really Sank the Titanic: New Forensic Discoveries

I do not claim to be any kind of "authority" or "expert", I am more of a serious Titanic aficionado, or buff, or"student", and I have been fascinated by the Titanic ever since reading Walter Lord's "A Night To Remember" in High School. I found "What Really Sank The Titanic: New Forensic Discoveries" to be a very interesting and engaging book. The balanced scholarly, in-depth and multifaceted forensic investigation and analysis of the causes of the world's greatest shipwreck has all the look and feel of a Doctoral Dissertation. (both authors hold octorates in Material Sciences, according to other reviews.. This book is not just another Titanic "yarn", but a good read for "dyed-in-the-wool" Titanic aficionados, buffs, and students, like me,IMHO. (Pardon the Pun.); While this book may seem a bit "slow" in some places, I found that this book to be thoroughly enjoyable and interesting read; I could not put the book down... The several fresh research perspectives (Scientific, Social,Historical Navigational, Nationalistic, and and Economic, as well as others), with minimal Folklore, Legend and Myth, give this book a depth and breadth of "richness" which raises it head-and-shoulders above many other books on this fascinating subject,IMHO. "What Really Sank The Titanic: New Forensic Discoveries" indeed lives up to its title, IMHO, and gets an unqualified Five Stars: *****, from me!