Fire in Engine Room

Source 1: “A Coal Fire Might’ve Helped Sink The Titanic”

Researcher: Yaretzi Hurtado

By: Danny Lewis

From Smithsonian News

News Article: January 25, 2017

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-newus/coal-fire-may-have-helped-sink-titanic-180961699/

ABSTRACT

A new source claims the Titanic's hull was weakened before it struck an iceberg. It is a theory that the iceberg was not the only reason for the sinking of the Titanic, could the iceberg just have hit the exact same spot on the ship that was burned? Irish journalist Senan Monoly states that the hull of this enormous ship was compromised weeks before it was set to leave. Apparently, a fire inside one of the Titanic's coal bunkers weakened an important part of the ship's hull. Nowadays, ships have two hulls, but back then they only had one. Since the coal bunkers was right next to the hull, the heat from the fire damaged the Titanic's structural integrity. Monoly dug deep enough to discover pictures of the Titanic before setting sail. Monoly discovered a 30 foot long black streak in the ship's side. It is believed that the fire started three weeks before the ship's maiden voyage, but was ignored for fear of bad press and want to keep the voyage on schedule. It was the bad decisions of the company that built the Titanic which led to the mountainous ship's end.

QUOTED RESEARCH

"In "Titanic: The New Evidence," which airs on the Smithsonian Channel on January 21, Irish journalist Senan Molony argues that the hull of the infamous ship was compromised weeks before it set sail. Through researching photos and eyewitness testimony from the time, Molony contends that a fire spontaneously lit inside one of the Titanic’s enormous coal bunkers and critically weakened a crucial segment of the ship’s hull" ( Smithsonian News p 2).

"Just after survivors made landfall, several people who worked on the ship’s engines cited a coal fire as the cause of the shipwreck. An official inquiry by British officials in 1912 mentioned it, too, but Molony says the narrative was downplayed by the judge who oversaw it" (Smithsonian News p 3).

Source 3: Did a Fire in the Engine Room Contribute to the Sinking of the Titanic?

Researcher: Giovanni Guirnalda

By: Smithsonian Channel

January 22, 2017

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/coal-fire-may-have-helped-sink-titanic-180961699/

Editor's Note, January 22, 2017: This story originally referred to the source of this new research as being from the Royal College of London. They are from Imperial College London.

Abstract

A vital theory has just arose regarding the sinking of the RMS Titanic. This new source claims that the iceberg was not the only factor responsible for the sinking of the Titanic. It is believed that the ship's hull was damaged from a fire about 3 weeks before it's maiden voyage. This contributed deeply making the ship more vulnerable to any obstacles ahead.

Quoted Research

"Molony contends that a fire spontaneously lit inside one of the Titanic’s enormous coal bunkers and critically weakened a crucial segment of the ship’s hull" (Channel p. 2).

"Molony was shocked to see a 30-foot-long black streak documented on the outside of the Titanic’s hull, close to where the iceberg struck its starboard side." (Channel p. 4).

Source 5: Coal Fire, Not Just Iceberg, Doomed the Titanic, a Journalist Claims

Researcher: Phoebe Kim

By: The New York Times

Published Date: January 3, 2017

Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/03/world/europe/titanic-coal-fire-iceberg.html

Abstract / Summary

Senan Molony is an Irish journalist that has been studying about the cause of the Titanic sinking, for a long time. He said in a documentary that a fire in a three-story-high shelter next to the ship’s engine room, harmed the hull, which helped to cause the TItanic to sink. Molony was able to say that the fire caused the sinking because of the image that was found by Lord Pirrie’s descendant. In the image, they realized that there was a diagonal black mark near the ship that was pierced by the iceberg. The two men revealed that the fire in a coal bunker of the ship most likely caused that black mark. Overall, the fire in the engine room is another theory of the sinking of the Titanic.

Notable Quotes:

• “... an Irish journalist who has spent more than 30 years researching the Titanic, contends that the fire, in a three-story-high bunker next to one of the ship’s boiler rooms, damaged its hull, helping to seal its fate long before it slammed into the iceberg" (Bilefsky paragraph 5).
• “ An analysis by engineers at Imperial College London subsequently revealed that the mark was most likely caused by a fire in a coal bunker of the ship" (Bilefsky paragraph 9).