The Titanic and SCI

In the weeks following the Titanic disaster, the United States Senate and the British Board of Trade both carried out inquiries into the cause of the accident. Officers, crewmembers, and passengers provided testimony, as did officials from the White Star Line. Both inquiries resulted in a list of recommendations that had a significant impact on legislation between 1912-1915. SCI's J. Augustus Johnson, head of the Seamen's Branch of the Legal Aid Society, led the Institute's advocacy efforts on behalf of seafarers' working rights and safety at sea reform. With the lessons of the Titanic freshly learned, a string of bills passed that would improve conditions within the maritime commerce industry. The Radio Act of 1912 established standards requiring qualified operators and communication between the radio room and the bridge. The United States Coast Guard established the International Ice Patrol in 1914 to identify and observe the movement of potentially dangerous ice floes close to shipping lanes. And in 1915 the Seamen's Act, known as the Magna Carta of seafarers' rights, passed, establishing standards for accommodations and provision of food, as well as setting a nine hour work day while in port and strengthening a clause prohibiting the imprisonment of seamen who desert their vessel. Pictured above are Senator Robert Lafollete (center), who sponsored the bill, Andrew Furuseth (left), west coast seamen's union leader, and journalist Lincoln Steffens (right).