Why couldn't the titanic slow down and avoid the iceberg?

Answer 1

They tried to, but the night watchers didn't notice in time so they where unable to steer away from the iceberg in time before it crashed. Actually just as in any disaster there seems to be multiple errors that led ultimately to the ship striking the berg. The lions share of the blame must go to First Officer Murdoch who had the bridge at the time of the accident. according to the testimony he had up to 15 minutes of advanced warning. There is testimony of his not answering the lookouts call in time. The second mistake in my opinion was reversing the engines and trying to steer to port. As any yachtsman can tell you when you reverse the propeller the vessel has a tendency to steer opposite of the helm position. That in combination to the cavitation of the center prop would explain why Titanic would not answer the helm right away. Basically you must have water pressure on the rudder for any effective control. In my opinion the hydrodynamics of Murdoch's decision doomed the ship.

Answer 2

There are several reasons why the iceberg was not seen in time:

1) It was night and there was a light fog - icebergs could only be seen at a few hundred yards away.*

2) The men on lookout were not issued binoculars (might not have seen icebergs any more easily).

3) The water was so still that there were no waves bouncing off of the iceberg.

4) They were moving too quickly to be able to do anything if they saw it.

5) It was extremely cold, so the lookouts were taking breaks to warm themselves.

It was a moonless night with light fog, and most of the icebergs are below water. The only way to see them is by spotting surface splashes and ripples, and the light wind did not create large waves. Although the iceberg was indeed spotted, the ship's speed made it impossible to turn completely away in time. The iceberg jutted out sharply below the waterline. In fact, had the Titanic hit it straight on, the damage to the ship's bow might have been survivable.

*Contrary to film depictions, icebergs at night are not seen against the water at a far distance unless the moon is very bright. Even then, many smaller icebergs (called small ice) are completely invisible.

Answer 3

The lookouts only spotted the berg with less than forty seconds till impact.

That's barely enough time to turn and no time to stop.

At its speed of about 23 knots it would have taken some 4 miles to stop and half a mile to turn - The 40 seconds did not allow for any real evasive actions

Answer 4

Titanic did not have time.

The iceberg was only spotted less than forty seconds before the collision. At a speed of between 19 and 25 knots (about 23 at the time of impact) it would have taken about a mile to 4 miles to slow the vessel. Even turning to port still would have, because of the initial forward momentum have caused the vessel to keep going forward. Unlike a road vehicle shipping takes a greater distance to turn or to stop

Answer 5

Titanic had less than forty seconds between the sighting and the collision with the iceberg. She could steer but not slow down.

Even modern ships with diesels take minutes to reverse at the best of times.

Large ships typically move anywhere between 12 knots and 20 knot. This was about the speed of the Titanic just prior to the look outs identifying the iceberg So it was likely to be dangerously close to it in n a matter of minutes. With so much momentum, it would take two to four miles for her to stop. And even slowing, stopping, or backing would have put her at risk of losing steerage. In short, there's not much they can have done to change their heading or speed.

Answer 6

Titanic couldn't turn fast enough because the time between the sighting of the iceberg and the collision was less than forty seconds.

Answer 7

They weren't watching were they were going so they ran into it