We all know that quote, and after the 1997 box office hit Titanic, perhaps there’s not much left to be learnt about the Titanic. One common misconception however is why the ships collision with the iceberg happened in the first place. In the film much of the blame is attributed to the dastardly Mr. Ismay for ordering the vessel to go faster. Well according to maritime historian and yachtmaster Graham Anthony, not necessarily so. He explained the Titanic’s sister ship the Carpathia was travelling at the same speed at the Titanic, 30 miles an hour, when it successfully travelled through exactly the same area, avoiding six icebergs on the way. Instead he says the iceberg should crucially have been spotted faster. The problem he claims wasn’t that the watchmen didn’t have binoculars, but because they were not taught how to effectively use their eyes in the dark.
It is surprising, but our eyes actually have a remarkable ability to see in the dark. They are simply not used to having to do so as in this modern world, with electricity and artificial light we rarely need to. With regards to the Titanic, Mr Anthony believes the naked eye is best for spotting hazards on a dark night. What’s important is to keep ones eye’s still allowing them to focus, something the watchmen failed to do . At the inquest one said ‘We were looking all over the place, all around.’ This would have enabled their peripheral vision to recognise at least the outline of the iceberg.
