How would you survive the titanic?

[Civ001]

Suppose you were placed on the RMS Titanic the night before the sinking of the ship. You must find a way to get off the titanic before she sinks. How do you do that?

 

[Tee Kay]

You'd think the sinking would've been averted due to Butterfly Effects

Otherwise, I'd force the ship to stop or change course somehow.

 

[bhsup]

In all probability, I would not. If I were on the Titanic, it is unlikely I would be in the wealthy sections, so I'd probably get trapped and drown in the motel 6 section.

 

[History_Buff]

If you have foreknowledge of what's going to go down, you could probably steal a lifeboat.

 

[sophie]

I would not draw Kate Winslet like one of my French Girls.

 

[SoupJuice]

Run around looking for Kathy Bates and never leave her side...?

Being neither a woman nor child, I do not think I'd get a spot on a lifeboat so it'd be ride out the sinking and swim for your life? If we are fully-aware of what will happen, maybe it's best to quickly gather some friends and head off in a lifeboat before the drama.

 

[r16]

write a letter to certain locations in London suggesting if their dumb captain insists on looking for an iceberg to run into ; they too will end up in the drink . If you are that good to see the future and end up in such a location . Arranging an empty transatlantic would also do nicely . Ignore the night before edict to compensate for the ship (the Californian) ignoring all the emergency flares .

 

[Masada]

Hop off the boat before it left port?

 

[r16]

so unknightly . Wouldn't we supposed to do good in being placed in such a place ?

 

[Masada]

I suppose. I guess all I'd have to hint that there was an IRA bomb on board or something? A delay of an hour ought to help it well and truly avoid that particular iceberg.

 

[Louis XXIV]

I have none of the advantages that would let me get off. I'm not wealthy, I'm not a woman, and I'm not a child. If I have any meaningful money on hand, I suppose I could bribe someone to let me on a lifeboat and I'd certainly hang out near them. If it were possible to sneak aboard and hide in one, I'd do that too, but I don't think it is. Really, I'd have limited options.

 

[daft]

if I was in the upper class section then I'd get my hands on some kind of an iron bar or other object which I could use to knock out the captain, short time before the disaster was to happen. I'd be locked up but there'd be hope that the acting captain wouldn't be so foolish.
If amongst the poor on the lower deck, perhaps getting into and somehow causing fire or a malfunction in the engine/turbine area/room shortly before the big event could cause a fortunate distraction thus avoiding the accident?

 

[Antilogic]

I have none of the advantages that would let me get off. I'm not wealthy, I'm not a woman, and I'm not a child. If I have any meaningful money on hand, I suppose I could bribe someone to let me on a lifeboat and I'd certainly hang out near them. If it were possible to sneak aboard and hide in one, I'd do that too, but I don't think it is. Really, I'd have limited options.

Yeah, this.

Sabotage is a personally risky option, avoiding the ship or sneaking off early in a lifeboat seem like winning options.

 

[Cutlass]

Put a gun to the head of the captain and tell him to slow the $^$#% down when there's no visibility in icy waters.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I have none of the lifeboat worthy attributes, but I do have a fair amount of experience in the engineering end of ships. With 24 hours lead time I could stop her. Unfortunately the trick would be stopping her and not getting caught. I'm pretty sure 'I am from the future and if I hadn't stopped us we would have hit an iceberg, sunk, and become the subject of a really long movie' is not going to play well.

 

[timtofly]

I would find a drill first thing and put a nice hole or a couple in some hard to get to spaces. It would sink slower than the rip from the iceberg.

 

[Gori the Grey]

There's a great poem by David Slavitt:

Who does not love the Titanic?
If they sold passage tomorrow for that same crossing,
who would not buy?

To go down...We all go down, mostly
alone. But with crowds of people, friends, servants,
well fed, with music, with lights!Ah!

And the world, shocked, mourns, as it ought to do
and almost never does. There will be the books and movies
to remind our grandchildren who we were
and how we died, and give them a good cry.

Not so bad, after all. The cold
water is anesthetic and very quick.
The cries on all sides must be a comfort.

We all go: only a few, first class.

So, I'd die, but it's a good way to go, all things considered.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Follow up question: What would you do if you did survive?

Whether you managed to slow the ship down to avoid the disaster or hid out in a lifeboat to beat the crowds, you end up in New York in 1912. I'd have to guess you are penniless, have no living relatives (that would recognize you at least), no documentation of any kind, and no particularly good explanation of where you came from. Your only asset would be knowledge of the somewhat uncertain future, which becomes more uncertain with every move you make.

For my part, 1912 New York is quite possibly the worst point in space time that I could land. Early 20th century is not my strong suit by any stretch, so I wouldn't even have much knowledge to work with, though I might be able to 'invent' something useful, if I could acquire some resources.

 

[Wrymouth3]

How would I survive it? There is nobody that could possibly survive watching what Stephen Ross and Fergie are doing to the Dolphins.

 

[Traitorfish]

I suppose. I guess all I'd have to hint that there was an IRA bomb on board or something? A delay of an hour ought to help it well and truly avoid that particular iceberg.

IRB bomb. 1912, remember?