“Not even God Himself could sink this ship.” said Edward John Smith, captain of the Titanic. The Ship's captain, also went down with the vessel. His last words were "Well boys, you've done your duty and done it well. I ask no more of you. I release you. You know the rule of the sea. It's every man for himself now, and God bless you.” This one who questioned the might of God, in his final hour, knew Him to be their only source of true strength.
Proverbs 19:21 “There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.”
Proverbs 16:2 “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.”
As we continue to look at different catastrophes in tandem with the Lord’s accomplished will we now must consider the arrogance of man connected with the great ship Titanic. Not only was it proven that it could be sunk but it took nearly 75 years for man to find the pieces. 1514 people died in total, but only 336 (22%) of the bodies were recovered. In fact, no skeletons remain at the wreck site. Any bodies carried to the seabed with the wreck were eaten by fish and crustaceans. Initial headlines of the Titanic disaster, to cover their shame, claimed all passengers survived and the Ship was being towed to land.
Proverbs 16:25 “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
The White Star Line was not blamed for Titanic’s sinking because the Board of Trade feared that this would result in lawsuits that would hurt the line’s profits, damage the reputation of British shipping, and cause thousands of customers to switch to German or French liners.
Proverbs 16:8 “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.”
As we consider the haughty and prideful nature of management of this ship let us considers some other lesser known facts of it’s demise:
The cost of most expensive First Class Parlor ticket to New York was $4,350. That's about $69,600 today.
Proverbs 16:19 “Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.”
There were not enough lifeboats for everyone on board; the available lifeboats could only accommodate a third of the passengers and crew. The Titanic originally was designed to carry 64 lifeboats. To save from cluttering decks, the ship ended up carrying 20 on her maiden voyage.
There were not enough bathtubs either. Despite the overall luxury, third-class passengers had to share only two bathtubs for the entire group of over 700 people.
A coal fire was burning in the ship's boiler rooms, which may have compromised the hull's strength before the iceberg collision, though this was a concealed fact. The ship burned around 600 tons of coal a day-hand shoveled into its furnaces by a team of 176 men. Almost 100 tons of ash were ejected into the sea each day.
Proverbs 16:11 “A just weight and balance are the LORD's: all the weights of the bag are his work.”
A warning about icebergs was never delivered to the captain. Some experts say that if the captain had even 30 seconds of notice the degree of damage would have been drastically different.
Proverbs 16:16 “How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!”
Only three of the four iconic smokestacks worked, the fourth was to make the ship look more impressive.
A ship named Californian was close by when the Titanic sent out distress signals, but the ship's wireless operator had already gone to bed.
The R.M.S Titanic is the only ocean liner ever sunk by an iceberg. God allowed for it’s destruction years before it’s conception. According to historians the Titanic launch was delayed by six weeks because her sister ship Olympic needed repairs in the same dry dock. That delay put seasonal icebergs right in the Titanic's path.
Proverbs 16:4-5 “The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.”
In the 1898 novel Futility, 14 years before the sinking of Titanic, Morgan Robertson penned a fictitious tale about a ship named Titan, which collided with an iceberg. Some of the uncanny similarities between the book and the Titanic disaster include the month (April), the length of the ship (Titanic 882.5 feet, Titan 800 feet), and the number of passengers on board (Titanic 2,200; Titan 2000).
The reader begs the question, what good could have come from this tragedy? We have a few improvements to consider for sure:
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS): First adopted in 1914, SOLAS is the most important treaty on maritime safety. Inspired by the Titanic disaster, it established international rules that mandate sufficient lifeboats for all passengers and crew, lifeboat drills, and ship inspections.
International Ice Patrol (IIP): Established in 1914 and currently run by the U.S. Coast Guard, the IIP monitors iceberg threats in the North Atlantic and broadcasts information to maritime vessels. This directly addresses the hazard that sank the Titanic.
Radio Act of 1912: Responding to the communication failures surrounding the sinking, this U.S. law mandated a 24-hour radio watch for all large ships and required radio operators to be licensed.
Vast improvements were made to the hull designs of major vessels. Modern cruise ships are substantially larger and heavier than the Titanic, with some being over 1,200 feet long compared to the Titanic's 882 feet, and carrying over 7,000 passengers versus the Titanic's 2,400. A modern ship like Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas has a gross tonnage over 250,000, while the Titanic's was around 46,000 gross tons, demonstrating that newer vessels are not just longer but also much wider, taller, and heavier, with a significantly greater internal volume.
Throughout this writing we have quoted from the 16th proverb. I offer to you now perhaps it’s most fitting verse and with it, the greatest blessing to have been received from this catastrophe, a warning against man’s pride:
Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
With great arrogance man stands before God and claims he has outsmarted Him. He claims that he has a greater strength than the Creator of all things. We all were of this same conversation before we knew the Lord. Each of us esteemed ourselves higher than He: Psalms 14 “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD. Where were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous. Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.”
There is no ship that can be built by man that shall stand against God.
