Titanic safety officer warned of need for more lifeboats

Private papers from the official responsible for making sure the Titanic was safe to sail have emerged that show he demanded 50% more lifeboats on board but was pressured by the White Star Line into backing down.

The documents have come to light a century after 1,500 people perished when Titanic sank into icy waters during her maiden voyage on Apr 15, 1912.

The notes, written by Captain Maurice Clarke, the board of trade safety and emigration official who inspected Titanic before she set sail, were not even presented to the inquiry into the disaster.

Henry Aldridge and Son will auction the notes on Nov 24. Andrew Aldridge said “the most damning documents in the archive” relate to Captain Clarke’s inspections on Apr 4, 9, and 10, 1912.

He said: “They give a detailed account of the lifeboat drills, tests and an inventory of the distress signals and equipment kept on board which bizarrely included only six life buoys — a staggering statistic considering Titanic could accommodate over 3,000 souls.

“Most controversially he states that he wanted 50% more lifeboats on board, suggestions ignored by the White Star Line.”

Captain Clarke noted: “To deviate from regulations which had been drawn up by the advisory committee of ships’ owners and approved by my department would leave me without support.

“I might be shifted as suggest to me by owners if I enforced my views as to efficiency.”

Mr Aldridge said this implies Clarke “felt pressurised by the White Star Line with regard to the subject of insufficient lifeboats — a previously unknown fact”.

“Quite simply to have a private company exerting this degree of influence over such a vital element of safety should have been headline news but it was not made public after the sinking.”

Captain Clarke gave evidence to the British Titanic inquiry on Jun 17, 1912, but nothing was mentioned about his request for more lifeboats.

“Was it a case of suppressing vital evidence or simply not being deemed of interest by the inquiry lawyers?” said Mr Aldridge.

“The judgment not to take Captain Clarke’s advice was to have calamitous results only five days later when Titanic sank.

“These documents effectively rewrite an important element of the Titanic story proving that even after 100 years, new facts are coming to light about the sinking.”