There was a program on last night that talked about the possibility that burning coal ultimately resulted in the Titanic sinking.

Interesting viewing. The suggestion was that a fire in the coal bunker not only made the ship a bit weaker, but in order to get rid of the burning coal, they burned more of it, which explained why they were doing such a fast speed in an area where there were icebergs.

They surmise that the owners had a choice. They had a minimal amount of coal due to a coal miners strike, so they didn't have any in reserve, but they had to burn it to use up the coal that was on fire. Running out of fuel on the crossing would have been a PR disaster for them.

So, was this another example of just human decision processes resulting in a mistake? The most prudent thing would have been to delay the crossing until the fire was out, or even to change the course to avoid the dangerous area, but they would most likely run out of fuel.

I had not seen this theory before, but when they looked at photos taken of the ship before it was launched, it showed a smear on the hull, which they are suggesting is evidence of the fire. Surprisingly there is testimony of firemen that the ship was on fire, but it was ignored as people concentrated on the iceberg as the main cause of the disaster.