6 ms·

What 20 pound load could have saved the Titanic? Why wouldn't such a miraculous tool or part have been brought aboard already as a precaution?

infraruby 8y ago
Binoculars.
- onetimemanytime 8y ago
  or coffee for the watchers :)
  - kalleboo 8y ago
    Maybe a gigantic one of these? https://youtu.be/0xzN6FM5x_E?t=9 https://youtu.be/0xzN6FM5x_E?t=9
Broken_Hippo 8y ago
At the time, probably nothing. At best they could have sent out life jackets or something similar, though I don't know how much they weighed at the time. But if that happened today, we could minimally start getting inflatable lifeboats out to the people, supplementing afterwards with blankets for heat, life preservers, food, and so on. If you kept some on the ship in a slightly similar tragedy, the drones could offship as the sinking is happening and then immediately deliver goods to survivors. This last option seems more useful.
- haser_au 8y ago
  https://www.amazon.com/Sevylor-Colossus-2-Person-Inflatable-Boat/dp/B0032GT9X8 https://www.amazon.com/Sevylor-Colossus-2-Person-Inflatable-... Weight: 9.5 pounds each. They're not for long term use, but it would have kept people out of the water until proper rescue boats arrived. Obviously these didn't exist back in 1912, but then again, neither did these drones.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- skywhopper 8y ago
  Not sure how these drones would perform this task better than human pilots on full-sized aircraft. Or how pre-stocking the Titanic with these drones would be better than just having duplicate radio equipment or more lifeboats.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
baxtr 8y ago
I think many things we have today, would have saved the Titanic back then...
merinowool 8y ago
They could drop the load on the captain before Titanic sailed off. That would delay the journey and probably save it from the incident (if we of course don't take into account insurance scam conspiracy)
stephen_g 8y ago
Not to mention it was 600km (370 miles) off the coast of Newfoundland, and took less than three hours to sink from hitting the iceberg. So if you happened to have drones in exactly the right place (assuming they’re based at an airbase on land), and sent them right when the ship started sinking, they’d get there just about as the last part was going under.
spodek 8y ago
Flotation devices. They wouldn't save the boat but could help people in the water and don't weigh much. Not sure the technology then for self-inflating boats for people to get out of the cold water, but today you could make self-inflating rafts under 20 pounds.
- thunfischbrot 8y ago
  Which would be better put onto any sea-going vessel before you leave.
  - orthecreedence 8y ago
    On an unsinkable ship? That's ludicrous.
wayanon 8y ago
Exactly what I thought - the Titanic had radio/flares/lifeboats all of which seem more useful than a drone.
mafm 8y ago
Binoculars
ovi256 8y ago
It's probably a reference to radio parts. Their radio was down for a lot of time, and they missed iceberg warnings issued by other ships.
tejtm 8y ago
A warning beacon for the iceberg
melling 8y ago
A key or a pair of binoculars: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1561604/Key-that-could-have-saved-the-Titanic.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1561604/Key-that-cou...

infraruby 8y ago

Binoculars.

onetimemanytime 8y ago
or coffee for the watchers :)
- kalleboo 8y ago
  Maybe a gigantic one of these? https://youtu.be/0xzN6FM5x_E?t=9 https://youtu.be/0xzN6FM5x_E?t=9

Broken_Hippo 8y ago

At the time, probably nothing. At best they could have sent out life jackets or something similar, though I don't know how much they weighed at the time. But if that happened today, we could minimally start getting inflatable lifeboats out to the people, supplementing afterwards with blankets for heat, life preservers, food, and so on. If you kept some on the ship in a slightly similar tragedy, the drones could offship as the sinking is happening and then immediately deliver goods to survivors. This last option seems more useful.

haser_au 8y ago
https://www.amazon.com/Sevylor-Colossus-2-Person-Inflatable-Boat/dp/B0032GT9X8 https://www.amazon.com/Sevylor-Colossus-2-Person-Inflatable-... Weight: 9.5 pounds each. They're not for long term use, but it would have kept people out of the water until proper rescue boats arrived. Obviously these didn't exist back in 1912, but then again, neither did these drones.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
skywhopper 8y ago
Not sure how these drones would perform this task better than human pilots on full-sized aircraft. Or how pre-stocking the Titanic with these drones would be better than just having duplicate radio equipment or more lifeboats.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

baxtr 8y ago

I think many things we have today, would have saved the Titanic back then...

merinowool 8y ago

They could drop the load on the captain before Titanic sailed off. That would delay the journey and probably save it from the incident (if we of course don't take into account insurance scam conspiracy)

stephen_g 8y ago

Not to mention it was 600km (370 miles) off the coast of Newfoundland, and took less than three hours to sink from hitting the iceberg. So if you happened to have drones in exactly the right place (assuming they’re based at an airbase on land), and sent them right when the ship started sinking, they’d get there just about as the last part was going under.

spodek 8y ago

Flotation devices. They wouldn't save the boat but could help people in the water and don't weigh much. Not sure the technology then for self-inflating boats for people to get out of the cold water, but today you could make self-inflating rafts under 20 pounds.

thunfischbrot 8y ago
Which would be better put onto any sea-going vessel before you leave.
- orthecreedence 8y ago
  On an unsinkable ship? That's ludicrous.

wayanon 8y ago

Exactly what I thought - the Titanic had radio/flares/lifeboats all of which seem more useful than a drone.

mafm 8y ago

Binoculars

ovi256 8y ago

It's probably a reference to radio parts. Their radio was down for a lot of time, and they missed iceberg warnings issued by other ships.

tejtm 8y ago

A warning beacon for the iceberg

melling 8y ago

A key or a pair of binoculars: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1561604/Key-that-could-have-saved-the-Titanic.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1561604/Key-that-cou...