This may be of interest to a few folks...
Best, MEH
###########################################################
Study says bad rivets helped sink the Titanic
William J. Broad, New York Times
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Printable VersionEmail This Article del.icio.us
Digg
Technorati
Reddit
Facebook Slashdot
Fark
Newsvine
Google Bookmarks
(0) Georgia (default)
Verdana
Times New Roman
Arial
Scientists have discovered that the builder of the Titanic struggled for
years to obtain enough rivets and riveters and ultimately settled on
faulty materials that doomed the ship, which sank 96 years ago today.
The builder's own archive, the two scientists say, harbors evidence of a
deadly mix of low-quality rivets and lofty ambition as the builder
labored to construct the world's three biggest ships at once - the
Titanic and two sisters, Olympic and Britannic.
For a decade, scientists have argued that the storied liner went down
fast after hitting the iceberg because the ship's builder used
substandard rivets that popped their heads and let tons of icy seawater
rush in. More than 1,500 people died.
When the safety of the rivets was first questioned 10 years ago, the
builder ignored the accusation and said it did not have an archivist who
could address the issue. Historians say that the new evidence uncovered
in the archive of Harland & Wolff, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, settles
the argument and finally solves the riddle of one of the most famous
sinkings of all time. The company now insists that the findings are
deeply flawed.
rest at
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/15/MN9N105E0U.DTL&hw=Titanic&sn=001&sc=1000
|