Crewmembers

Captain Edward J. Smith -Went to bed and ignored the seven warnings he had received about the ice field ahead (but couldn't be expected to stay awake the whole journey, and had a second in command whose reactions could have been the captain's). -Told Jack Phillips (Radio Operator) to ignore the ice warnings and to send the first class Easter messages instead. -Should have assured that binoculars were provided for lookouts (they had been lost). -The entire crew were not trained how to use lifeboats. -Listened to Bruce Ismay (the White Star Liner’s Owner), during the incident. Bruce was Captain Smith’s employer but not an official crewmember.

Bruce Ismay ( owner)

-Told Captain Smith to go full speed although they had received ice warnings (they were travelling too fast for the weather conditions). If they were going slower the ship may well have turned in time. -Told the ship designer to include 1/2 the number of lifeboats as passengers so the ship still looked good. -Although only a passenger, he put pressure on people, telling them to do things they didn't want to do -Saved himself by pushing past people and getting on a lifeboat himself.

Thomas Andrews (ship designer) -Should have designed the ship so that the plates weren't so fragile -Should have put pillars on the boat to make the boat more stable (this would have made it awkward getting around the ship) and given less space for First Class passengers. -Shouldn't have let Bruce Ismay persuade him to lower the number of lifeboats.

Harland & Wolff (shipbuilders) -Should have used a higher quality iron as the iron they used was too weak and the iron broke as soon as it hit the iceberg. -Should have sealed the iron correctly so water couldn’t get in. -Should have fitted the ship with a bigger rudder – it was too small to turn the ship quickly enough to avoid the iceberg. -Should have used better quality iron for the hull panels – they became very breakable in cold conditions.

Jack Phillips (radio operator) -Ignored ice messages and wasted time sending Easter messages (the captain told him to). -Sent the wrong distress signals CQD (Come Quick Distress) instead of SOS (Save Our Souls) - Upset the radio operator of the Californian so that he turned his radio off and went to bed! -Sent incorrect co-ordinates of the Titanic to another ship

Second Officer (the second in command)

-Should have not turned the ship when he saw the iceberg. -Should have hit the iceberg head-on instead it scraped the side of the ship for about 300 feet, rupturing six separate compartments of the hull – when 4 would have made the ship not sink. -Should have woken the Captain when icebergs were spotted.

Fredrick Fleet & (lookouts) -It was their job to report problems. -They couldn't do their job properly because they didn't have their binoculars (the captain should have made sure that they had them).

Captain (Captain of the Californian)

-Should have not ignored the distress signals of the Titanic – he thought the ship was throwing a party as he heard the noise. His ship was only 10 miles away! -Should have made his radio operator turn on his radio. If the Californian had turned on the radio she would have heard the distress messages from the Titanic and would have been able to reach the ship in time and save all her passengers.

The Crew -Should have filled all the lifeboats before lowering them into the sea – each could hold between 40 and 60 people, and one only had 12 passengers on board. -Should have organised a lifeboat drill on the first day of the voyage -Should have started filling the lifeboats earlier on during the sinking. -Should have given clear instructions and been calm during the evacuation. 3 men were shot by the crew as they were panicking too much.

The Board of Trade (The regulatory body who made decisions about how many lifeboats should be on board a ship) -Should have made the ship designers fit enough lifeboats for all the passengers and crew. -Should have made the ship complete more sea trials. The Titanic was passed fit for travel after less than 1 day at sea. Sea trials usually take over a week.