Trevor Mathisen’s Reviews > Titanic > Status Update

“By the early 1900s, engineering technology had reached the point where White Star could commission, and Harland and Wolff build, ships of a scale and power hardly imaginable only 10 years before. But the management of these ships, both in the water and onboard, presented problems that had not been anticipated…Olympic was 307 feet longer than Edward Smith’s previous command, Majestic.”

“The night was a magnificent confirmation of ‘women and children first,’ yet somehow the loss rate was higher for third-class children than for first-class men.” -Walter Lord

Titanic was supposed to be carrying binoculars on the voyage, but it wasn’t. There’s much speculation about whether a pair of binoculars might have helped the lookouts see a dark object just a little sooner than they did.

“The answer is almost certainly no, as binoculars were normally used only to get a clearer view of something already spotted.”