tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1836424929140738524.post4794497992584398179..comments2023-10-29T12:58:50.292+00:00Comments on The Ginger Liberal from Medway: Sinking of Titanic and The banking crisis.Chris Samshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06042471123646388825noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1836424929140738524.post-6902983642662965832012-04-25T12:15:04.756+01:002012-04-25T12:15:04.756+01:00Absolutely, its all down to ratios and with such a...Absolutely, its all down to ratios and with such a high amount of steerage and the small amount of lifeboat spaces (even though she carried more life boats than she was lawfully told to) they were never going to all escape. <br /><br />Another often forgotten fact is that some of the boats were detailed to go to the rear of the ship to the openning ports and take people at sea level from below decks. Third Officer Pittman took his boat down there but no one ever openned the hatches so to avoid suction they left for a safe distance!<br /><br />I'm a bit rusty but I was a bit of a Titanic geek in my teenage years too!!!Chris Samshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06042471123646388825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1836424929140738524.post-57984215290814419212012-04-24T00:33:49.453+01:002012-04-24T00:33:49.453+01:00An interesting comparison - certainly not one I ca...An interesting comparison - certainly not one I can really add to.<br /><br />Except...<br /><br />Given the Titanic fanatic that I am, I feel compelled to correct a couple of famous misconceptions (popularised by film - in particular James Cameron's <em>Titanic</em>).<br /><br />"<em>...there was always going to be a small amount of lower classes getting off the ship as she foundered...</em>"<br /><br />The key word that is often missed when considering the class divide in fatalities is <em>comparatively</em>. Numerically, 202 First Class souls were saved whilst 178 Third Class souls were saved - not a lot of difference in the number of survivors. What is key, though, is the survival <em>rate</em>: 62% of First Class passengers survived whilst just 25% of Third Class passengers survived. That's where the gulf lies.<br /><br />Similarly, the Third Class passengers were hampered in their survival by the maze of passageways far below decks - trying to find their way past the locked gates separating the classes to the gates leading to their deck.<br /><br />Whilst the fact that the gates were not unlocked due to the gravity of the situation not being recognised by the crew, the idea that they were locked to stop the lower classes "escaping" was wrong. American paranoia (shock horror!) meant migrant ships were forced to keep migrants (in steerage) separate from the First and Second Class passengers for fear of spreading lice.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03242554278793786471noreply@blogger.com