Inquiries into the SS Atlantic Disaster - Who was to Blame? 

I think that Second Officer Metcalf is the person who Bears the greatest responsibility. He was the one who ignored orders by continuing to steam ahead past Captain Williams specified time period. Metcalf was also the officer in command the ship at the time and he probably should have slowed the ship to half ahead in the event that they saw an obstacle they needed to avoid.

I blame Metcalf completely. His incompetence and negligence was totally unfounded. If your superior gives you an order, you should follow that order. Especially if you’re not familiar with your whereabouts. I wish he survived just so he could’ve faced the consequences of his actions. The captain was admirable in my opinion, given the situation he was in.

I always blamed Metcalfe the most. I know people put blame on William's for going to sleep. But as I recall it had been storming all day, William's was tired as his reasoning was he wanted to take a short rest before heading into port, as Halifax was known to be dangerous. It's not like he set out to avoid any of his responsibilities, he gave instructions to be awoken at a certain time and he never was. Metcalfe, I'm sorry I don't want to speak ill of the man, but I'm just calling it as I see it. Metcalfe, according to what we know comes off as arrogant. He think he knows better then the captain, he think he knows better the crew around him, and at the end of the day it was him that ignored warnings, crashed the ship, and got himself and others killed in the lifeboat. I guess White Star had no way of knowing it at the time. But honestly I question if Metcalfe even had any business of being in the position of second officer at all.

I would say that if any one person should shoulder "blame" for the incident, it would be Metcalf. His actions and, indeed, insubordination likely contributed the most to the final outcome, in the very least, and frankly his death in one of the very lifeboats he was so insistent on loading and launching almost reads like a dramatization in itself, further tarring him. Had he simply obeyed the orders of his captain to wake him at 3 AM and stop the ship, the disaster very likely would not have occurred. i won't say it's as "simple" as that, but it certainly points in that direction. The Coal tonnage question would have been moot had the ship not hit the rocks, as it would have safely arrived in Halifax the next day, as would any of the captain's shortcomings of leadership in the leadup to the incident.

Im surprised a full length film hasnt been made about this disaster....so much to be learned from it

Great video Tom. I believe that if the steward had shaken Captain Williams at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="165">02:45</a>, as he intended; Atlantic would not have sank.

Metcalf. It wasn’t like the titanic, where there were multiple instances of bad luck or points where the disaster could’ve been minimized or prevented. This one has an obvious point of failure. Yes, they shouldn’t have underestimated the coal, but it was initially done in good faith. Yes, the captain should’ve stayed awake, but you have to sleep at some point or you are going to make bigger mistakes as a captain others are depending on. Metcalf was insubordinate, and that is ESPECIALLY obvious when he decided not to wake the captain. And he ignored the information from the crew more familiar with the area. The lifeboat thing can be understood though…

When you pick an MVP for a sports team, you pick the athlete that had the most impact, not necessarily the one with the most scoring. In reverse, (when you’re looking to blame), of the four people you mentioned, if you remove any one of them, would it have made a difference? I strongly feel that Metcalf is that person. Without his interference, the Capt would be awake, on deck and would have listened to the one officer that said they were getting too close to shore. I feel he would’ve listened because it appears that he errs on the side of caution when it comes to passenger safety. He also argued with the captain on the lifeboat which resulted in his own death and others. Lastly, he’s already crashed a ship. Clearly he’s not a good sailor. Especially at such a crucial moment.

I agree with the other commentary. Officer Metcalfe disobeyed orders, pure & simple. He had already shown bad judgment prior to this disaster.

It sounds like a literal “perfect storm” of events that all led up to disaster. It sounds as if any one of the larger events being altered would have radically changed or even prevented the eventual outcome. Metcalfe however, certainly shoulders a sizable amount of blame. Although I don’t think any one person can have all the blame laid at their feet in this case. Fascinating event, despite its unfortunate outcome.

Excellent stuff! This is a situation where it feels like everyone owns a tiny bit of blame for a massive disaster. Also, if engineers typically underestimate coal supplies, captains should know this and should consider some more independent method of measurement, especially when this information detours a course.

The chief engineer may have misrepresented the coal remaining, but with competent piloting, the ship should still have been able to get into Halifax safely. Metcalf seemed to be the main factor here with his arrogant overestimation of his own abilities and his unwillingness to defer and consult with the captain. And if Metcalf's role wasn't fully examined in the inquiry (because he was a casualty), then the inquiry was heavily flawed.

I'm a bit late, but my thoughts are as follows: In almost every shipwreck, people try to find someone to blame, and while this allows us to know what happened and how to prevent it in future, we have to remember that nobody was trying to sink the ship or trying to kill people. I personally believe that blame could be dealt to several people in the case, including Officer Metcalf and the Chief Engineer, but we also have to remember the guilt that some of the crew probably felt after the sinking, probably wondering if they could have saved more or how they could have stopped it in the first place. As you said, Tom, Captain Williams was evidently overwhelmed with grief during the wreck inquires, and most likely blamed himself. While it's important to know what went wrong, we have to remember that many members of the Atlantic's crew probably suffered from tremendous guilt, a worse punishment than any inquiry or investigation could hand out.

Very fitting as a lead up to the anniversary of the disaster tomorrow. Be well Tom 🖖. I always look forward to your videos.

Excellent documentary!!! You're such a great presenter, voice and all! A very interesting story too. Thumbs up and look forward to more!

Absolutely love your work-each day there’s a new vid from you I drop all my other work, grab the coffee, and watch ☕️ Thank you for this one

I blame Metcalf for the wreck itself and I blame the Chief Engineer for putting them in that situation in the first place. All others I personally find to have either played such a small part that it isn't worth noting or to have played no part in the wreck whatsoever. But ultimately I blame Second Officer Metcalf for the tragedy.

Metcalf deliberately disobeyed an order to wake the captain. Thats all i need to know

what an amazing channel!! so glad this was in my recommended

Metcalf is probably the most responsible. He seemed like an arrogant man who overestimated his own importance, as demonstrated the decision that ended up killing him. What foxley did was standard practice, though choosing not to be truthful about the actual coal reserves was a major factor in the incident. And I hardly blame captain Williams at all. People may condemn him for going to sleep during those conditions, but a captain who was apparently very competent would trust his crew to manage without him, it's not his fault that his officer was so arrogant

Amazing video as always. Entertaining and informative. Keep up the great work!

I blame the rocks. They're the real villans here.

An extremely competent presentation of the events & circumstances of this terrible tragedy, Tom. As with any disaster that results in the loss of life, there is always plenty of blame to go around. Sometimes the guilty pay with their souls, and sometimes they are made to suffer with their guilt. Justice is mine, sayeth the Lord.

My vote is on Officer Metcalf. He disobeyed orders, stopped a steward from following through with the orders HE was supposed to be carrying out, and argued with the captain, ultimately leading to not only his death, but the death of most of the people on board.

I don't blame the captain. His engineer lied to him. His 2nd officer disobeyed a direct order to wake him up at 3 am or when they saw the lighthouse, whichever came first. He even told a steward to wake him at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="165">2:45</a> (ETA, that's the time the captain wanted awakened, not a timestamp!) & Metcalf stopped him! IDK how long the captain had been on duty, but one's judgement & decision-making are impaired when one is tired. I remember watching a video about sleep saying that people who are sleep deprived are as dangerous as drunk drivers. One shouldn't be allowed to drive when sleep deprived. Get someone else to drive home or let them sleep somewhere before driving. Just like someone drunk, sleep deprived people don't realize how impaired they are. I think recognizing one's limitations is wise. If Metcalf had recognized his limitations & woken the captain or heeded the advice of the other crew member who knew the coastline, he would have halted the ship until the captain woke up instead of stubbornly & arrogantly trusting his poor judgement. The captain seems to me to be the least culpable of the candidates. Metcalf was most to blame. The engineer shares a smaller portion of the blame. The men who only suspended Metcalf after he had run down another ship & then reinstated him deserve more blame than the captain!! If you worked for me & you did that, you'd never be on the crew of one of my ships again, much less being in command! It's unbelievable to me that they merely suspended him instead of firing & banning him from ever being an officer again. You'd think he'd have learned some humility, or shown extra caution or questioned his own abilities after causing a disaster, but no. He apparently never doubted himself. So the people who put him in that position are more to blame than the captain! All the captain did was to take a nap, which I consider wise when one is tired, esp. since he had set *2* "alarms" to wake him up before critical decisions needed to be made, and his intention was to drop anchor & wait until morning to approach land. If only Metcalf were not in charge, this tragedy could have been avoided. Although, if I was the steward & the captain had given me orders to wake him up & Metcalf told me to not wake him, I would have ignored Metcalf & wakened the captain. The steward needed assertiveness training. :o) I just had a thought. Maybe the captain was scapegoated b/c TPTB at the White Star Line didn't want to admit that they were wrong in not firing Metcalf outright instead of only suspending him! Blaming him would have made them look bad, esp. since this was his first command of a ship since his previous accident. Gamble with your own lives, fellows, not with the lives of others! Was Metcalf from a prominent or powerful family? I'm just wondering why his previous "accident" didn't cost him his job?

It truly is haunting hearing all this.

As with a large number of disasters, several strongly contributing factors came together to create this disaster. However in my opinion, officer Metcalf is the main person to have caused this disaster. It seems to me he had an ego issue. Firstly I think this is shown by stopping the steward from waking the captain and carrying on without him. Although you could argue he did this out of courtesy or miss understanding the orders. I don't think this is the case because of the following factors. Metcalf ignoring the concerns of the other officer on watch (who was the only officer to have sailed to Halifax). Along with the fact that Metcalf and the captain had a heated argument about the launching of the life boats. This suggests an ego issue to me, rather then stopping and think about the situation. Once again, this is only my personal opinion. BTW, love this channel and your documentaries :)

Just rewatched the whole hour documentary for the first time since its release. Before delving into my thoughts, myself and everyone else agrees that you did a smash-hit job, and if you ever get a job in the filmmaking business, I have little doubt you would excel. It was very haunting to come back to such a horrific tragedy which, for its time, was only exceeded by the abomination that was the La Bourgogne sinking. As for who I place responsibility on? Primarily, Chief Engineer Foxley. Say what you will about Captain Williams or Second Officer Metcalf: between the three, plenty of mistakes were made on their part which ultimately led up to the sinking, most especially though on Metcalf, of whom I have no doubt was operating on arrogance and not sense. As Ockham's Razor goes, the simplest solution is usually the best one. So, let's keep it simple and go straight to the root where all the trouble started. Underestimating the amount of coal that the ship had is understandable for all the reasons you listed. I don't fault Foxley for doing it. But he was not the captain, and it is not his place to determine how big or how little a risk should be taken. His only job is to monitor the engines and report to the captain *exactly* how much coal the ship had from beginning to end. He can make suggestions from there, but in the end, it is up to the captain as the master of the ship to make the call on whether to proceed or to divert. Just because most everyone else underestimates the coal supply does not mean that it is right, and most definitely doesn't mean that he should've gone along with it. Had he given Williams the precise amount of coal the ship had, they likely wouldn't have diverted to Halifax. They would've kept on going and, barring any more trouble, would've arrived in New York. Perhaps a bit late and banged up, but otherwise in one piece. The sinking of the Atlantic was yet another example of many little things coming together to create one large catastrophe. I find little fault with Captain Williams and place complete condemnation on Metcalf. Both of them especially the latter could have done plenty to prevent the domino effect from reaching the point of no return, but if we're talking about who caused the domino effect to begin with, then you have to point to Foxley. There is no getting around that.

(1a) I think Captain Williams bears some partial responsibility for the disaster. In hindsight, he should have taken command in navigating an unknown approach in dangerous circumstances over less experienced subordinate officers; (1b) at minimum, he could have left more specific and cautionary instructions for the watch, such as to conduct regular depth sounding. Perhaps he could have considered the possibility that the rough weather and current could have taken them off course and limited forward visibility. (2)With this in mind, it seems very hard to not make the argument that the vast majority of the blame lies with Metcalfe. (3) He was the chief watch officer at the bridge and was in charge for command and navigation of the ship in the Captain's absence. He had full responsibility as temporary captain. (4) Metcalfe had a history of neglectful command and wasn't even the most qualified officer to hold his rank. Third officer Bradly had much more experience but Metcalfe was slotted ahead, and possibly due to nepotism (Henry Metcalfe was Thomas Ismay's first cousin). (5) Metcalfe ignored William's explicit instructions to wake him up at the specified time (3 AM), and Williams might have made better judgements in those critical fifteen minutes. (6a) Metcalfe ignored Quartermaster Thomas's warnings and caution that they should have seen the Lighthouse by then and were probably close to shore, even though Thomas had experience with the Halifax approach in contrast with any other officers. (7b) Thomas may have been dismissed because of his rank, but it makes little sense to think that an officer could have disregarded the risks based on common sense. Overall, it's very strange to think that Metcalfe wasn't faulted at all by the inquiry in light of these facts (although I don't know if the investigators knew about his history); in fact, he was barely mentioned in the proceedings. All because he had the misfortune (or perhaps fortune, from a certain point of view) to not survive the accident.

I can understand why the engineer would underreport the coal because seeing as you mention that captains like to overuse the ship, this could've caused other accidents like them running out of coal completely. But it was still wrong to lie to cover his pride and risk going into unknown waters. Yet as many on here, I agree that the second officer's actions is probably what hit the hammer on the nail.

Awesome documentaries

Although there are significant proximate causes, the second officer's disobedience concerning a direct order is the immediate cause. That said, one can and must hold the captain responsible though for having allowed such a man to remain in the chain of command. A man who literally died disobeying yet another direct order from his captain. That time, literally during a life and death crises. But this is not a direct criticism of the captain. His judgment, though more of a gamble than he realized, should have seen his ship safe. It demonstrates with terrible clarity the impossible situation a captain at sea is often in. He has all the responsibility. Every single bit of it. It cannot be shared. It cannot be diminished. Yet he must share the power of his command. He cannot be at all places at all times during the voyage. Only too late will he discover if fate or incompetence will have made a mockery of even decisions, that otherwise would have proven sound. In this case the cursed luck of a captain who would have seen, a mile away in the dawn's light, a deadly shore coming no closer. If only his direct and unambiguous order had been followed. Instead of being actively disobeyed.

The first blame goes to the guy who lied about the coal, which in the hour long video you mentioned that they were not to give false coal amounts. This man lied to save his job, all along knowing they would have to turn around and enter dangerous territory. This man knew they had enough coal to reach their destination, but knew he would be caught in a lie. The second person to blame, would be Metcalfe, he deliberately disobeyed orders, and then stopped the steward from bringing him hot chocolate at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="165">2:45</a> a.m. Obviously Metcalfe was not concerned about the welfare of the soul's on board, but driven by ego, or jealousy. Had the captain been woke up, i agree that he would have stopped and waited until daylight. To blame the captain for catching some rest when he had sailed through many hour's of rough weather earlier seemed logical. Many of the passenger's couldn't eat for at least two day's because of the rough sea. The captain was probably exhausted and wanted to be more alert when deciding where to stop. Greed and jealousy have caused more death than anything else in this world, such a shame, and the captain lived with that nightmare for the rest of his life. G-d bless.

Metcalf in my opinion holds the blame. When the captain gives a order it's not up for interpretation. If he says 3am then you have a man or your self knocking at that time on the dot.

Error may lie with all involved, but the one whose error was gravest was Metcalf. The others did not put anyone in direct or unexpected danger, but Metcalf's hubris did. What he could have remedied, especially with simple caution, he sought to outright ignore. What he was instructed he disobeyed and what he committed to was unduly ambitious, reckless and contemptuous. At his final moment it can be argued was either self servient or vain glory before a literal fall from grace.

2nd officer was ill equipped and idiotic that he didn't wake up the captain knowing that there's a full scale emergency

is this what it feels like to be early...

I’ll lay the blame at Chief Engineer Foxleys feet. Everyone (rightfully) points to Metcalf for the events in the immediate lead up to the ships wreck, but who put them in that situation? Foxley. Had Foxley been accurate with his coal estimations (and not trying too hard to get Williams to conserve his speed and not push the engines as hard) they wouldnt have been in that position to divert to Nova Scotia. So for me personally, Foxley bears at least half of the responsibility for the disaster, maybe not full, but this mess could have been avoided had he actually reported the coal correctly

I thought engineer Foxley should have been punished severely for his behavior!!!! For him to continue the lie to save face is grounds for the severest punishment! Im so glad you sis this additional video because I wanted to know the tesults if the inquiry! I think Metcalfe should have been included in the blame way before the Captain! Life isn't fair. You do good work!!!!

I see parallels to the sinking of the steam sailer ''Deutschland'', a disaster which occurred under similar circumstances: bad weather, insufficient sight, lack of auxiliary navigation devices, etc: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Deutschland_(1866).

Foxley and Metcalf. The captain's actions were generally reasonable, it seems to me. As captain, I imagine it's normal to assume that you are not being lied to and that your orders will be followed. On the contrary, I find it crazy that Foxley didn't come clean when he was specifically told in that meeting that they would have to divert (to a dangerous and unfamiliar port) and that Metcalf just decided he knew better and ignored both the captain's orders and the warning of the other guy who had been there before.

If this were a movie (and it should be) Metcalf would certainly be the villain, getting his just desserts in ironically, a 'life' boat.

This is my opinion: Foxley should be blamed partially for one thing: 1. Diverting the ship to Halifax knowing that it had serious implications for the captain’s reputation. While he did indirectly cause the disaster, he wouldn’t have known what was going to happen. Metcalf should be blamed for purposely disobeying the captain’s orders and being wreckless due to his own personal ambitions. He should be the main person to blame for the disaster. I wouldn’t blame the captain as he trusted that Metcalf would follow his orders and be attentive.

hello im really sad that the old norris house was knocked down on december 2020

i feel like Metcalf may have misinterpreted the captains orders, he may have thought to wake him up IF/WHEN they see the lighthouse

Is there a way for me to get a copy of the inquiry? I am curious to see the original documents.

Can you explained the drama going on thg. Is it ending?

Is that stream gonna happen tonight?

I know there's a lot of talk about what happened with you and H&G, but I'll say your videos are compelling and you have a natural charisma and articulation that makes you easy to watch. I'll just separate the art from the artist.

I just watched both on Sunday! I think multiple parties are to blame. But primarily Metcalf is to blame he should have wakened the captain up not at 3am but possibly <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="170">2:50</a> am just to err on the side of caution.

It sounds as if Officer Metcalf bears the lion’s share of the blame, and a huge part of that blame was his outright insubordination. Of course the chief engineer should have told the truth about the coal, but the habit of underestimating the coal reserves was likely based in prior experiences. “I canna give you any more thrust, Jim, it will blow her apart!”

Not only did he disobeyed orders he did not wake up the captain

Another interesting fact is that the ratio of hull length to width is 10-1 on the Atlantic, unlike other ships of the day which were more like 3-10. Mr Harlan of Harlan n Wolf warned Mr Ismay that this 10-1, speedboat of sorts pencil design would make her cut tough the ocean at a blazing speed compared to older ships, but the designer warned Ismay if she ever hit ground shed capsize, but Thomas Ismay scratched his head and could not think of A confounded scenario where his magnificent state ofnthe Rt gloating palace ship would run aground😅, he balked at the warning. True history Imagine how hard it is to sail a big ship like that I mean the captain of the Concordia hit ground with sonar, gps U name it

For me there is no question. Metcalf was to blame. He disobeyed orders by not waking the captain, and even told the steward not to wake the Captain. Actually, the steward was wrong to listen to Metcalf. She should've ignored Metcalf. But had the captain been awake the ship would not have sunk. OR, if the Captain had been awake, and the ship had still sunk, then, and only then, the Captain would've been to blame. But this is not what happened. Metcalf is to blame, and was only held blameless because he was killed.

I honestly think that Metcalf displayed quite a bit of insubordinate behavior, and the lifeboat situation shows how he operated under stress, and this led him to be a key part of why disaster struck. If he followed the captains instructions to be awoken (captains and officers usually have sleep schedules in between watches and while it was a course diversion, the ship would still have a routine watch schedule) then the ship would have probably been slowed by the time it met Golden Rule rock (they knew they were approaching the shore soon anyway).

Honor and glory is dead.

Excellent

Foxley is first on my list and then Metcalf. Both I believe they both wanted to be a future Captain and dishonor the name of Captain Williams.

All officers are at fault. At the end of the day it's protocol and experience that keeps people safe. If mistakes are made, hopefully there is a stop gap from another person to keep things going. No one is perfect, and that's why it takes a team to run a liner...Or anything for that matter.

Who was to blame? It was Walpole.

Metcalf, Foxly for underestimating and the rock

Hi there, after watching both of the other videos there are two people that stand out as "blameable" in my opinion. Firstly it is the Chief Engineer and secondly it is the Captain. I pick these two poor souls because the ship never needed to divert in the first place as they had more than enough coal to make it to the U.S.. The Capitan should never have gone to sleep in circumstances as these, maybe had a quick nap. Dont get me wrong I see the short comings of the 2nd Officer, but there were other mistakes already at play in creating the disaster long before the incompetence of the 2nd Officer. These mistakes rest firmly on First Chief Engineer, Second on Captain.... there I said it.

I blame Chief Engineer Foxley because he underreported the ship's coal supplies, Captain Williams for going to sleep and running the ship at full speed, Second Officer Metcalf for ignoring the helmsman when said the ship was off course, not waking up the captain and stopping the steward who was sent to wake up Captain Williams, and the steward who decided to follow Metcalf's orders to not wake up the captain when the captain told him to

Is anything known about Metclafes prior engagements on other ships? Did he have a history of insubordination?

Random question: If I take my wife to stay at the RMS Queen Mary hotel once it reopens, what/where are the hidden gems that we should make sure to see in the ship? Thanks in advance!

As is usually the case, it wasn't a single event or mistake, but a series of errors, missteps, or misfortunes that resulted in all of the deaths. The manger in which cabins were assigned played a role in, not only this accident, but many of the accidents from this era. Metcalf would definitely have been arrested had he survived. Mutiny? Perhaps. It wasn't one single decision, but going against the captain's orders time and again. ,

Foxley was the person who could have prevented it. Metcalf was the person who made it worse. If Foxley didn’t do what he did, the disaster wouldn’t have happened. If Metcalf didn’t do what he did, the disaster wouldn’t have happened. If only one person did what they did, the disaster wouldn’t have happened. But both did, so the disaster happened.

I think metcalf and the engineer lying about the coal are responsible. The diversion would not have been necessary if the engineer had not lied about the coal and Metcalf was trying to act as if he was captain and not respecting the real captain.

I love your videos about Atlantic I learn so much. Oh wait Atlantic sank on April fool's day!?

I don’t believe the blame lies with the captain at all personally. He gave orders that weren’t followed. Had his orders been followed likely the disaster could have been avoided. On top of that, had Foxley not underestimated the coal by such a huge amount they wouldn’t have needed to divert in the first place. While the practice was semi standard and commonplace back then it was also a dangerous time consuming practice that lead directly to the sinking of the SS Atlantic.

As with everything there's always a chain of events and factors that lead to the disaster, nobody deliberately goes out of their way to cause such a disaster. 1, The captain bears ultimate responsiblitiy, It seems unlikely that he was drunk but he was in charge of the crew and their actions. Similarly if it was common practice to allow a "safety margin" of coal when doing the coal calculations he could have questioned his engineer regarding this. The engineer though bears some responsibility for not making it clear to the captain when the coal situation became marginal. Similarly the White star line could have had policies on this. Metcalf I do think bears some responsiblity, the captain should have been called on his orders and certainly the not stopping the steward from waking him, had everything been going to plan and far out at sea then perhaps allowing him extra sleep could be justified but in those conditions with an uncertain position it seems negligent. It would be interesting to know why the Quartermaster thought they were getting close to land - that seems a remarkable deduction.

Based on your telling of this tale, Metcalf appears to be the one who is the most blameworthy.

TLDR: I believe that there is blame to be had for Second Officer Metcalf, Captain William and Engineer Chief John Foxley. But Metcalf bears the most responsibility for the sinking. Second Officer Metcalf is most responsible for this disaster. The Chief Engineer and the Captain share some blame, but not nearly as much as Metcalf. Admittedly, I'm no sailor, let alone a captain, but it seems that given the available information, Captain William should only have gone to bed once he was sure the ship was safely moored for the night. But he clearly wasn't entirely reckless, due to him wisely setting himself two alarms to wake him up at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="180">03:00</a> and at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="165">02:45</a>, with both Metcalf and a steward, which indicates to me that he clearly didn't entirely trust Metcalf, because otherwise why set two alarms like that. It seems he was right to do so, seeing as Metcalf was the one who failed to wake him at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="180">03:00</a> and even stopped the Steward from doing so, outright disobeying a direct order from his superior. While he does bear some blame for going to bed while knowingly sailing to treacherous waters, he doesn't seem to have been irresponsible or entirely reckless, having taken measures to ensure he didn't oversleep. The fact that his alarms didn't wake him due to an officer acting insubordinately, doesn't demonstrate recklessness or irresponsible behaviour on his part. The Chief Engineer acquitted himself heroically during the sinking, even though his lie placed them there in the first place. He and his men maintained their posts and undoubtedly saved many lives. However, he knowingly placed the ship in danger by sending it towards Halifax by underestimating the coal reserves, choosing to cover up his earlier falsehoods and save his pride rather than ensure the safety of the ship and its passengers. In my view, he made a grave mistake here, and it would have been better to be honest with the Captain and take his lumps. But it must be said that I am making that judgement based on 20/20 hindsight. While he was knowingly putting the ship and passengers in danger by lying to his captain, I doubt he could have foreseen the terrible disaster that was about to unfold. It must also be recognized that he tried to prevent the capCaptainom from diverting to Halifax by convincing him that they could make it to New York. However, this was done without correcting his earlier lie, which led the captain to think they needed more coal to make it to New York. While Chief Engineer Foxley does, in my opinion, warrant some of the blame for the disaster, he is far from the most responsible, and he helped to make up for the error by manning his post and working hard to keep the ship afloat for as long as possible. Metcalf, on the other hand, is the one, in my opinion, who is the most responsible. Evidence indicates a man who is both reckless and insubordinate. Despite being given direct orders from Captain Williams to wake him at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="180">03:00</a>, he neglected them and disobeyed. And as Tom pointed out, there does seem to be deliberate action from Metcalf to be insubordinate. The earlier alarm set with the Steward by Williams was actively blocked by Metcalf, which does indicate that he was going out of his way to disobeCaptain'stain's oCaptain'sbit of speculation on my part here, but seeing as he stopped the Steward wakinCaptainaptain up, Captainparently was doing so 15 minutes before Metcalf was set to do so, then failed to wake William himself indicates a level of unprofessionalism. It's entirely possible, though we will likely never know for real, that he may have been offended by the captain's second alarm, which, as I said earlier, shows a level of mistrust towards his second officer. Perhaps he deliberately blocked the Steward from his orders and then defied him out of spite. But, as I said, that is pure speculation on my part. It's his conduct during the sinking that I find the most condemning for his character, openingly arguing witCaptainaptain durCaptainemergency and undermining his authority in front of the passengers and crew was the worst thing he could have done. He delayed evacuating the ship and even put people in danger, getting both them and himself killed by arguing instead of doing his job and focusing on getting the people to safety. Yes, he was technically doing that because he claimed the boats were the best way to get them to safety. Still, he was doing it in a way that feels like he was trying to provCaptainaptain arrogant and self-righteous for standing on the lifeboat arguing with was trying to put himself into a position of power over his superior officer. At the same time, everyone around them was in extreme and immediate danger. Ultimately, his attempt to prove himself right, in that the lifeboats were the safest way off the ship, proved ironic due to both him and the passengers already in the boat being killed when that wave destroyed it. It may seem like bad form to condem a man who can't defend himself, and may have died genuenly trying to save the lives of his passengers, I still believe that Metcalf, for his recklessness and insubordination, bares the most blame for this SS Atlantic's terrible sinking. I don't know if you'll see this, since this video is three years old upon writing this, but fantastic work on your documentary Tom. I thoroughly enjoyed your storytelling about the disaster both on the SS Atlantic and your other works. I don't normally shed tears will watching movies and documentaries, but you managed to make me cry. Fantastic work.👍

While tje Skipper is always ultimately accountable for safety, well being of his passengers, crew, & ship, I'd dare venture the engineer & Office Metcalf are more to blame for the tragedy that was SS Atlantic. No need to divert to NS & Metcalf willfully chose to disobey instructions. He also ignored concerns of an experienced helmsman, & took no soudings which would've warned of shallow waters. Likewise, they likely wete were moving too fast for the conditions. Sadly, hindsight's always 20/20.

I think officer Metcalf should be, as he discarded the quartermaster and continued sailing, a deadly choice do doubt

The officer and the guy who lied about the coal are responsible of the disaster.

This is a tough one. The chief engineer is at fault for the diversion. So they wouldn't have been in this situation if it weren't for his misleading report of the coal. But if the captain had been awakened as he ordered they would have probably not wrecked.

Officer Metcalfe is to blame

I do not care who to blame, only what to do better.

I blame Foxley simply cause he lied. If Captain knew he had 100 tons more coal than a clear voyage would call for instead of the, roughly, 70k he'd probably have gone for it. It's all on Foxley and his lie for why they had to divert and for that reason I cannot overlook his part in it

I believe second officer Medcaf and engineer foxley are both to blame.

I blame Foxley. It might be okay for him to underestimate the amount of coal they had as a precaution. But he forced the captain to make a stop in the powerful North Atlantic Sea at night, after the captain explicitly explained the dangers. He was willing to risk the ship to cover up lying to the captain. There were serious mistakes made after that, but they never would have been made if Foxley wasn't so concerned about covering his ass.

who was to blame GOLDEN RULE ROCK

I like his Lamb chops

Williams should not have been asleep; Metcalf should not have disobeyed orders by not waking him.

He crashed a ship before with his arrogance. Metcalf.

I do not think the captain was at fault. The officer that the captain told to wake him and he did not. Also, the person that told the captain the wrong amount of coal they had left and gave his opinion to make the stop to the island. I feel both of these men were responsible. If they had awakened the captain, he might have made decisions that would have kept the disaster from happening. Especially because of the experience the captain had. 😇

I'm certainly no expert when it comes to sailing or anything to do with captaining a ship..... However I do know this..... Fate.... Sometimes fate raises its ugly head and no matter what you do the course is already been set.

This is not an event that was taken by a sad providence. Captain Williams was no imbecile maybe he should not have slept but as one who deals with insomnia getting a few winks can maintain sober headedness. Had he been woken by either the steward, or Metcalfe, the disaster would have been averted. The Captain's speed may have been wreckless, but would have had no effect in the end had the Captain been woken. Foxley's creative management certainly played a small role. Both Williams and Foxley showed great courage in this tragedy, saving lives. Metcalfe gets the majority blame simply because of his arrogance and his failures to listen to the Quartermaster. What minor or medium mistakes made that led to the ship being where she was would have been moot had Metcalfe woken the captain or allowed the steward to do so.

The animation is almost half an hour long. Anyway, like others I think Metcalf is entirely to blame... How could he! I'm not surprised he died soon after.

Heavy lies the head that wears the crown!

Foxly is to blame if he had not LIED they never would have diverted and the ship would not have sunk

New Jersey not NYC

Metcalf. He was insubordinate.

I have noticed that Britain’s liners in the 19-20 century looked safer. Or just look good-

The chief engineer lying about the coal set them up for failure then the second officer disobeying orders and not listening to someone who had been there

I’d say Officer Metcalf is at fault. If he had done his job properly it wouldn’t have happened. Even though the engineer lied about the coal he didn’t cause an accident only a diversion which the Capt may have still decided to do anyway as they were still very tight on coal. The Capt was lied to by one of his officers and the other totally disobeyed his orders as well as stopped another carrying out the same order! The only thing you could say is he shouldn’t have gone to sleep but that seems unreasonable, He has to sleep and he ordered two people to wake him in time.

its the rocks fault. the rocks were responsible for scraping the hull. darn those rocks.

well the captain was crying so I don't blame him for rescuing humans

Metcalf by far