Eli Dalangin
Jun Zhang
Capstone
18 November 2022
Engineering Failure in The Titanic
Eli Dalangin
Engineers are responsible for almost everything that people use in everyday life.
Buildings, bridges, cars, planes, are all used by billions of people every single day. All of these
things, if not properly doing their job, can result in not only catastrophic destruction but
catastrophic death. Some of the largest death events have been the failure of these structures or
machines. That is why it is so important for engineers to always follow a code of ethics while
they serve the public. The NSPE (National Society of Professional Engineers), has written “Code
of Ethics for Engineers.” In this code they present the ethical guidelines to follow as an engineer
to ensure the safety of those that will be using your product. The main code of ethics is stated as
“Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public; Perform services only in areas of
their competence; Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner; Act for each
employer or client as faithful agents or trustees; Avoid deceptive acts; Conduct themselves
honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and
usefulness of the profession.” It is essential that engineers follow this to ensure the safety of the
people using the product.
There have been many many engineering disasters in human history. Some of which have
resulted in the death of thousands. But one engineering failure has remained so “iconic” when it
comes to disasters because of the severity of the failure. On the morning of April 15, 1912, the
Titanic sank catastrophically and killed 1,500 people. The cause of the initial failure was the
impact of an ice break which breached the hull causing it to be rapidly filled with water. Now,
this impact from the iceberg couldn’t have been prevented, but many unethical engineering
practices committed by the engineers that designed the Titanic caused hundreds, maybe even a
thousand, unnecessary deaths. Some of these unethical practices include, removing safety boats
and precautions to allow the first class passengers to have a better view, using steel with high
sulfur content in cold water, and the main issue, the poor design of the transverse bulkheads of
the watertight compartments. These issues caused the Titanic to sink less than three hours after
impact. Even just a little more time could’ve allowed hundreds more people to survive if they
were able to last until help came.
After the sinking of the Titanic, scientists had been running tests on the remains, and it
was clear there was a major issue with the steel used. In an article titled “Flawed Steel Research
Finds Steel Used In Titanic Was High In Sulfur And Prone To Fracturing At Temperatures Of Icy
Seawater” it says that, “In a test designed to discover brittleness, a piece of steel from the Titanic
and a piece of ship steel were placed in a bath of alcohol with a temperature of 29 degrees, the
same temperature as the sea water the night the Titanic sank.” It is then followed up with after
each piece of steel is impacted by a pendulum weighing 67 lbs, the regular steel resisted the
pendulum. However, when the Titanic steel was tested it immediately fractures with little
resistance.
In summary, all engineers follow a specific code of ethics. The NSPE (National Society
of Professional Engineers), has written “Code of Ethics for Engineers.” In this code they present
the ethical guidelines to follow as an engineer to ensure the safety of those that will be using
your product. In the case of the Titanic, the engineers were negligent when it came to security
protocols. The engineers removed extra life boats which didn’t allow for as many people to
survive the cold water. The engineers also used a material that was not as structurally strong.
https://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics
https://www.mechead.com/engineering-approach-titanic-sink/#:~:text=The%20rapid%20sinking
%20of%20the%20Titanic%20was%20worsened%20by%20the,spill%20over%20into%20adjace
nt%20compartments.
https://www.engineeringpassion.com/disastrous-engineering-failures-unethical-engineering-pract
ices/
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/may/09/flawed-steel-research-finds-steel-used-in-titani
c/#:~:text=The%20tests%20made%20it%20clear,steel%20more%20subject%20to%20fracture.