I Built the Titanic

"Truth be known, no ship is unsinkable. The bigger the ship, the easier it is to sink her. I proposed all the watertight compartments and the double hull to slow these ships from sinking. In that way, you get everyone off. There's time for help to arrive, and the ship's less likely to break apart and kill someone while she's goin' down."

"Control your Irish passions, Thomas. Your uncle here tells me you proposed 64 lifeboats and he had to pull your arm to get you down to 32. Now, I will remind you just as I reminded him - these are my ships. And, according to our contract, I have final say on the design. I'll not have so many little boats, as you call them, cluttering up my decks and putting fear into my passengers."

"You weren't there at my first meeting with Ismay. To see the little red marks all over the blueprints. First thing I thought was: 'Now here's a man who wants me to build him a ship that's gonna be sunk.' We're sending gilded egg shells out to sea."

"I know this isn't scientific, but this ship's warning me she's gonna die and take a lot of people with her."

"My naval architectural consultant here, has assured me that a ship this size can't sink. It would settle low in the water, but that's all. There would be no need to get everyone in a dither until help arrives."

"There's the question of the quality of the steel we've been usin' all these years. It's no good on the smaller boats, but use it on ships four times as big and your potential for structural compromise increases linearly. Now, this is why my Design Department is proposin' that the ships be built with double hulls. The hulls are gonna be bell-shaped. Puttin' in a double skin will act like a damper and cut down on the hull's vibration at sea."

"Mr. Ismay, what you propose here flies in the face of good naval architecture and good sense.... To begin, these transverse bulkheads are hardly above the waterline; they only go to E Deck. Ye have taken away the watertight subsections. Given sufficient damage, one of the main compartments could fill and spill over to the next. The stress on the entire structure of the ship, with two or more compartments filled, is tremendous. Secondly, I suggested a double hull, not a double bottom. Thirdly, I suggested a rudder a third again in mass as this. These are big ships. They must be maneuverable. There is potential for damage."

"Potential...potential," Ismay interrupted, "that's all I ever hear about from a wearisome chap like you. Your over-building is taking up valuable space for extra staterooms and cargo space. I will not be outdone by Cunard."

"A double hull ... will cut down vibration on the hull plates if the ship collides with a shoal or a berg. It works like the damper on a bell and, with a hull that big, you've got a very large bell. And bells are known to crack."

"There's a woeful cry coming from that hull. I even put my ear to the plates, and I heard it.... It sounds like the ringin' of a crystal glass right before it breaks ..."

"Even my dullest apprentice sees the way we're half-buildin' these ships. They're askin' me things like - 'Why do the bulkheads only go up to the waterline, Tommie? Why are we puttin' in electric watertight doors when the water's just goin' to pour over into another compartment, Tommie?' We all have a bad feelin' about it."

"We have one last chance to save these two ships [Olympic and Titanic]. They're too big. They're too heavy. If ye won't concede to more watertight compartments and more little boats, at least let's refit them both with double hulls."

"We've had no binoculars since we left Southampton.... Mr. Ismay ... had given them away as presents to visitors from the Board of Trade, on sailing day.... Messages have not passed to myself nor to my crew about the fires nor the ice fields, and now, this. He may be my superior, but he's made it bloody hard to run this ship safely."

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