Such was the Great Eastern, a marvel in her time and an object lesson, even to-day, in safe and unsinkable construction. That her valuable qualities were not obtained at the cost of extravagance in the use of material is one of the most meritorious features of her design and construction. On this point we cannot do better than quote from the address of Sir William White, delivered when he was President of the Institution of Civil Engineers: "I have most thoroughly investigated the question of the weight absorbed in the structure of the Great Eastern, and my conclusion is that it is considerably less than that of steel-built ships of approximately the same dimensions and of the most recent construction. Of course these vessels are much faster, have more powerful engines, and have superstructures for passenger accommodation towering above the upper deck. These and other features involve additional weight; and the Great Eastern has the advantage of being deeper in relation to her length than the modern ships. After making full allowance for these differences, my conclusion is that the Great Eastern was a relatively lighter structure, although at the time she was built only iron plates of very moderate size were available."
CHAPTER VI
THE SINKABLE TITANIC
In all the long record of disasters involving the loss of human life there is none which appeals so strongly to the imagination as those which have occurred upon the high seas, and among these the loss of the Titanic stands out preëminent as the most stupendous and heartrending tragedy of them all. The ship itself was not only the latest and largest of those magnificent ocean liners which, because of their size and speed and luxurious appointments, have taken such a strong hold upon the public imagination, but it was popularly believed that because of her huge proportions, and the special precautions which had been taken to render her unsinkable, the Titanic was so far proof against the ordinary accidents of the sea as to survive the severest disaster and bring her passengers safely into port.
The belief that the Titanic stood for the "last word" in naval architecture certainly seemed to be justified by the facts. She was not a contract-built ship in the commonly accepted sense of that term. On the contrary, she was built under a system which conduces to high-class workmanship and eliminates the temptations to cheap work, which must always exist when a contract is secured in the face of keen competition.
The famous White Star Company have pointed with pride to the fact that the excellence of their ships was due largely to the fact that they had been built in the same shipbuilding yard and under an arrangement which encouraged the builders to embody in the ships the most careful design and workmanship. Under this arrangement, Messrs. Harland & Wolff, of Belfast, build the White Star vessels without entering into any hard and fast agreement as to the price: the only stipulation of this character being that, when the ship is accepted, they shall be paid for the cost of the ship, plus a certain profit, which is commonly believed to be ten per cent.
GREAT EASTERN 1858
FOUR WATERTIGHT COMPARTMENTS
TITANIC 1912
ONE WATERTIGHT COMPARTMENT
Titanic shows omission of inner skin, longitudinal bulkheads, and watertight decks. Transverse bulkheads are lower by 20 feet.