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Joseph Bell, Chief Engineer on the R.M.S. Titanic 
February 10, 2016 at 1:13 am |
Interesting after the time that has past That the Chief Engineer of the largest ship in the world at the time was never considered a ships officer.. That class was for the Deck Officers only ..Engineers of the time were Engineers to be confined to there Eng Rooms..with little authority in the operation of the ship..If indeed He had the authority and knowledge of Hydro Dynamics of the time He would have Ordered Full Astern of the ship to force the water from breaching the fifth hold and dooming the ship And more importantly closing the Gap to the rescue ship…There was far more interest in Abandoning the ship than the interest of keeping the flooding under manageable reason and the closing of gap for rescue..But Factual BELL had little authority in such a decision while the Captain ordered stop and foolishly at one time ordered ahead ..Hydrodynamics was not a consideration at that time .But it could have saved the tragedy we all read of today..An Engineer reading of the sinking would perhaps realize that the water rushing by the bow could be slowed by the Astern forces if it would have only been ordered..And perhaps gained additional time for a rescue by the ship racing to there position ..
Frank Blackstone::Retired Merchant Engineer
February 10, 2016 at 9:44 am |
Thank you Frank for the points you make re Joseph Bell regarding his status on Titanic, as well as the historical knowledge on the subject of Hydrodynamics, that was not evident in the decision making on Titanic on that fateful night. Wonder when the subject of Hydrodynamics became part of the knowledge required for ships officers / engineers? I assume also, that the Edwardian class structure even in the Merchant Marine categorised ships engineers as horny handed individuals who should be kept down below and out of sight?
Best wishes, Barrie Bell Hodgson