chuck wrote:This isn't about what they did when they were 10 minutes from the ice berg. This is the:
Designer
not using full water tight bulkheads (because what did happen wasn't supposed to happen)
Titanic's bulkhead design was state of the art at the time.
chuck wrote:Builder
using iron rivets on the stern and bow areas to save money/time.
using second "best" instead of "Best Best" iron rivets (to save money and time)
First I've heard of this aspect.
chuck wrote:Owner
Removing safety gear (life boats) to save weight (more $$$ for cargo) and it made the ship more aesthetically pleasing (we won't need that gear because she can't sink)
The school of thought (obviously incorrect) was that with the water tight compartments Titanic was its own lifeboat. Existing maritime law did not require ships to carry lifeboats for all aboard. Even so, Titanic carried more lifeboats than the minimum requirement.
chuck wrote:Insisting on more northerly (aka shorter) route to save fuel and maybe break the time record (at the expense of putting the ship at further risk)
Insisting on going at max speed (same reason)
Captain
Agree to the above two items. I understand you don't want to PO your boss but this cost the captain and a lot of other people their lives
I recall reading somewhere that White Star was short of funds and that Titanic had the minimum amount of coal aboard to reach New York, which may have dictated the route used. Winning the Blue Ribbon (for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic) was also an important public-relations and financial consideration.
That said, it's also my understanding that Captain Smith had a reputation as a hard driver and speed demon. His luck finally ran out.
chuck wrote:Officers and Crew
They knew she was sinking. They should have put every effort into deploying ALL of the available safety resources effectively instead of trying to "avoid panic". There was enough material on board with people with the correct skill sets to rig up additional flotation material. They may not have been able to save everyone but they could have saved a lot more than they did.
I seem to recall that early on passengers refused to get in the lifeboats.
It's important to remember that no ship had ever side-swiped an iceberg before. It hasn't happened since, either. Had Titanic hit the iceberg head on, it's likely she would have remained afloat. Titanic was sunk by an unlikely collection of random events (including the cold weather mirage) that no one could have predicted.
George
(I know you're being playful.) 
