WITH the sacrifice of another thousand human lives in the sinking of the Empress of Ireland the world has received one more tragic lesson in solving the problem of achieving safety at sea. Drastic rules governing navigation in narrow, much-frequented passages in times of fog are expected to result. Perhaps, as George Uhler, supervising inspector general in the service of the United States, said, “there is only one safe way for vessels to navigate a fog, and that is to stop until the weather clears.”
RESULT OF TITANIC DISASTER
The foundering of the Titanic in 1912 eclipsed all previous disasters and led to much searching of heart as to the means of providing better security at sea. Inquiries were conducted in New York under Senator W. A. Smith of Michigan, and in London under Lord Mersey sitting as Wreck Commissioner with five experts as assessors. In both cases recommendations were made that liners should have boats for all, regular boat drill, more efficient wireless telegraphy arrangements, and improved sub-division in construction. Lord Mersey’s report showed that six out of fifteen of the main compartments of the vessel were damaged, that the ship filled and went gradually down by the head without capsizing, and recommended improvements as mentioned and supervision of ship designs. The recommendations of improvements were generally endorsed by the Merchant Shipping Advisory Committee of the Board of Trade, who did not however concur in the matter of supervising ship designs. The Board of Trade appointed two committees,—one (Bulkheads), with Dr. Denny of Dumbarton as chairman, to consider the best means of improving the sub-division of new ships, the second (Boats and Davits), with Professor Biles as chairman, to consider questions relating to design and handling of boats, supply of motor boats, etc. The Board of Trade also laid draft rules before Parliament requiring (1) great increases in the number and capacity of boats to be carried by all classes of passenger vessels, and (2) the submission of the designs of new ships for examination of stability, proposed sub-division, etc.; and the Board also took steps to secure international agreement as to wireless telegraphy and all questions affecting safety at sea. The draft rules went considerably beyond the recommendation of the Advisory Committee, and met with very serious opposition from many quarters, but many steamship companies proceeded even before official action was taken to supply boats for all on board their vessels, while the White Star Company announced that improved sub-division would be built into the “Britannic,” and that the “Olympic” would be similarly improved.
LONDON CONFERENCE ON SAFETY AT SEA
As a later result of the Titanic disaster a conference of maritime nations was called in London and a safety-at-sea treaty drawn up. The question of submarine signals between vessels, such as might have prevented the latter catastrophe, was discussed in the conference; but the treaty adopted does not require the equipment of ships with these devices.
An important decision of this conference was that a continuous watch should be kept by all vessels of over thirteen knots speed carrying more than two hundred passengers and making voyages of more than five hundred miles between two ports, and by all other passenger ships when more than five hundred miles from land, and by all cargo boats on voyages that lead them more than a thousand miles from land.
When everything possible has been done to prevent accidents, it remains to reduce to a minimum the life and property loss attendant on such accidents as will happen even to the best of ships and navigators. There are three important items to be considered in this regard: first, means of calling help from shore or from other vessels; second, devices for escaping safely from a sinking vessel; and, third, means of so constructing a vessel that it will not sink no matter how hard hit.
EACH TRAGEDY HAS ITS LESSON
From each appalling tragedy of the sea we laboriously spell out some lessons which are to teach us how to escape these strokes of fate for the future. Then comes another tragedy, and shows us the futility of these dearly-bought lessons. From the Titanic, we deduced that what is needed is a plentiful supply of life-boats and life-rafts. Given enough of these to easily carry all the passengers and crew, and so terrible a disaster as that which engulfed this peerless ship would, we believed, become impossible. Then came the tragedy of the burning Volturno, and practically all those who were “fortunate” enough to get into the life-boats were drowned, and all who stayed with the burning ship were saved.