The tragic shipwreck of the legendary Titanic cost more than 1,500 lives. The doomed ship, which was boldly and naively considered unsinkable, hit an iceberg late at night on April 14, 1912, and reportedly remained on the water for almost three hours before sinking completely, grunge.com reports.
The shocking story has been told over and over again, in various forms, while numerous factors that contributed to this tragic event have been investigated. A hot summer in the Caribbean has boosted the Gulf Stream and, according to author Richard Corfield, “created more icebergs in a smaller-than-usual area” in the area of Newfoundland where the deadly collision occurred, grunge.com reports. Efforts to reduce construction costs may also have made the ship’s huge hull vulnerable, and there were simply not enough lifeboats to carry the ship’s passengers. But why were the passengers of the first seat of the Titanic more likely to be saved?
It is noteworthy, then, that passengers who could afford to travel in the first place of the Titanic were much more likely to survive. In fact, 44% higher chances, according to History.
According to the Titanic Universe, the women and children had priority in lifeboats. The water temperature of the surrounding ocean was so low that one could survive for no more than 15 minutes. The Titanic Universe reports that more than half of third-class passengers died this way, as did 92% of second-class men.
Benno Torgler, a professor of economics at Queensland University of Technology in Australia, explains how this happened. According to Torgler, those with greater social status had better access to staff and details of events unfolding on the Titanic. They would have become accustomed to having priority in every sense of the word, and lifeboats were much closer to the first-class section of the ship. The Titanic Universe also adds that a locked gate prevented third-class passengers from escaping, and it is no surprise that the richer did better in their chaotic escape attempts.
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