Titanic Sank Due to Bad Rivets, Book Says

Legal History

Posted Apr 14, 2008, 06:15 pm CDT
By Martha Neil

It's too late to make the case for extra damages for some 1,500 people who died when the Titantic sank 96 years ago, just before midnight on April 14, 1912.

But a scientific investigative team reports in a new book that they know why the ship sank so disastrously, after hitting an iceberg: bad rivets. A shortage of metal and skilled workers led the company responsible for building the Titantic to rely on substandard rivets that may have been badly installed to boot, reports the New York Times.

"The scientists argue that better rivets would have probably kept the Titanic afloat long enough for rescuers to have arrived before the icy plunge, saving hundreds of lives," the newspaper reports.

The team's conclusions are detailed in a new book by Citadel Press, What Really Sank the Titanic.

Additional information:

MSN Encarta: "Titanic Disaster"

Titanic Inquiry Project: "Electronic Copies of the Inquiries into the Disaster"

Court TV: "Web site creates mock trial involving the world's most famous ship disaster"

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