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HiTekRedNek
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Accountants Sank the Titanic

04/14/2025 11:24 AM

IMHO:(To which I am currently entitled):

The reason the Titanic sank so fast, and so many people perished was because of accountants. The original plans called for the water tight doors coming all the way to the ceiling, but the bean counters decided the water would never get that high so they only approved for the walls to go 8 feet high. Of course anyone with common sense know that was purely ignorance on the accountants' part. Same thing with life boats. There were not enough life boats because they were too expensive, so a minimum number were on board.

The captain could have escaped with his life, but he felt guilty because he let the accountants override sound engineering principles .He went down with the ship because of this.

Accountants have there useful purposes, but they should not make decisions based on purely cost basis overriding all engineering designs.

The ship may have sunk regardless, but there would have been more time to evacuate.

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phoenix911
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#1

Re: Accountants sank the Titanic

04/14/2025 12:07 PM

its has always been that way.

There were engineering mistakes made due to lack of understanding such as Tacoma Narrows bridge. Which is now used to train engineers.

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HiTekRedNek
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#2
In reply to #1

Re: Accountants sank the Titanic

04/14/2025 12:41 PM

The engineering of the Titanic was sound, but the bean counters overrode the engineers and would not approve of the original design.

The bean counters lacked understanding of basic hydraulic principles.

I think accountants of mission critical jobs should be required to take a basic course on the field in which they have approval power.

Hubris also played a part, because they said it was unsinkable. It is true that the steel used was inferior to today's steel (too many impurities, Sulphur, etc.), but it was the best they had at the time.

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phoenix911
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#3
In reply to #2

Re: Accountants sank the Titanic

04/14/2025 12:55 PM

That’s the same with the space shuttle Challenger, engineers knew there were issues with the o-rings during a cold launch.

unfortunate there were engineers that folded when pressured, (probably because the engineers that did pushed back was,… handled…)

I hate giving examples of other project, but if you look at architects that design building, and the structural engineer that nixes the aesthetics aspects. It is different because the engineers did the change.

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HiTekRedNek
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#6
In reply to #3

Re: Accountants sank the Titanic

04/14/2025 1:49 PM

"Do you know how long and how much money it will cost to replace those o rings?

Time is money. Money is money. Launch will proceed as scheduled"

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#8
In reply to #6

Re: Accountants sank the Titanic

04/14/2025 2:48 PM

That’s was the defense, having the shuttle locked down for over a year doesn’t count.

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Rixter
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#4

Re: Accountants Sank the Titanic

04/14/2025 1:19 PM

I think there is enough blame to go around. The swiss cheese holes lined up...

Ten causes that all went wrong together:

https://www.nbcnews.com/sciencemain/10-causes-titanic-tragedy-620220
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HiTekRedNek
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#5
In reply to #4

Re: Accountants Sank the Titanic

04/14/2025 1:45 PM

Murphy is universal. If it can happen...

Russia sent a probe to Venus. It could only survive the intense heat for a vey short period, and it only had enough time to take one picture of the surroundings when it landed on the surface. They were elated when it sent back the picture, but not so happy when they discovered that it had taken a picture of the end cap that was ejected on landing. It did not survive long enough to take another picture.

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HiTekRedNek
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#7

Re: Accountants Sank the Titanic

04/14/2025 2:02 PM

We are all human, as far as I know, and we all make mistakes but when engineering mission critical components, extra care should be taken and reviewed by multiple areas of expertise. Review thrice, launch once.

It can be done. Voyager one and 2 are a good example.

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#9

Re: Accountants Sank the Titanic

04/14/2025 9:43 PM

I believe the Captain would be the one to blame, if you limit the blame to just one person, which would be better argued in a court of law, and I believe there is enough blame to go around, but in the end the

Captain is responsible for the safety of his passengers...

..."No one was prosecuted for the Titanic disaster, though several individuals and organizations faced criticism and inquiries. The U.S. and British inquiries into the disaster identified shortcomings in safety regulations and practices, but no criminal charges were brought. "....

So in the end it was determined that no one was to blame....really?! no one?! were they then attacked by the iceberg?!...was it an act of God?... The sea police would have given them a ticket for driving too fast for conditions....

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#10

Re: Accountants Sank the Titanic

04/15/2025 2:57 AM

So, it has got nothing to do with the thing being hurled headlong into a glancing blow with a blummin' great iceberg, then? And nothing to do with its ability to detect, manoeuvre and slow down?

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Stef
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#11

Re: Accountants Sank the Titanic

04/15/2025 5:53 AM

You have the optimists who say the glass is half full and the pessimists say the glass is half empty.

But accountants say the glass is twice as big as it needs to be, so sell the unused portion and realize the profit!

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HiTekRedNek
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#15
In reply to #11

Re: Accountants Sank the Titanic

04/15/2025 8:50 AM

Accountants also think if 1 ship can cross the Atlantic in 2 days, then two ships can cross it in one day.

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HiTekRedNek
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#12

Re: Accountants Sank the Titanic

04/15/2025 8:26 AM

OOPS again! (nervous fingers, I guess).. posted wrong link.. I will be back later with right link.

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HiTekRedNek
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#13
In reply to #12

Re: Accountants Sank the Titanic

04/15/2025 8:32 AM

OK! Here is the link I tried to post before.

Seems that the fate was sealed for the Titanic many years before.

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/invisible-iceberg-the-mirage-that-sank-the-titanic/1640392

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HiTekRedNek
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#14
In reply to #12

Re: Accountants Sank the Titanic

04/15/2025 8:48 AM

I never could kick the coffee habit since I worked in the sewing machine factory.

My job was to thread the machines as they came down the line, and they were running at the time.

Had to drink a lot of coffee to make production demands.

Hands have been shaky ever since.

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MV-5286
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#16

Re: Accountants Sank the Titanic

04/15/2025 9:48 AM

Or if you believe every story on X/ Twitter, it was JP Morgan who sank the Titanic. All his investor competition was on the Titanic and he decided not to go. ; )
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rlindey
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#17
In reply to #16

Re: Accountants Sank the Titanic

04/15/2025 10:10 AM

A more likely cause. There were 3 important bakers on that trip that were trying to stop the creation of a central bank (the Fed in US). How convenient that they were all on the same boat.

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#18
In reply to #17

Re: Accountants Sank the Titanic

04/15/2025 11:26 AM

This made more sense after I discovered the typographic error.

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