Lifeboats of the RMS Titanic the ship. The boats were supposed to be stocked with emergency supplies, but "Titanic"s passengers later found that they had only been partially provisioned. No lifeboat or fire drills had been carried out since "Titanic" left Southampton. A lifeboat drill had been scheduled for the morning before the ship sank, but was cancelled, allegedly because the ship's captain, Edward Smith, wanted to deliver one last Sunday service before he went into full retirement. Lists had been posted on the ship allocating crew members to particular lifeboat stations, but few appeared to have read them or to have known what they
United States Senate inquiry into the sinking of the RMS Titanic the time "Carpathia" reached New York, it had become clear that "Titanic", reputed to be unsinkable, had sunk and many had died. Official inquiries were set up in both countries to investigate the circumstances of the disaster. When news of the disaster reached Senator William Alden Smith, he saw an opportunity to establish an inquiry to investigate marine safety issues. Smith, who was a Republican Senator for Michigan, had previously investigated railroad safety issues and had sponsored many of the safety and operating regulations passed by Congress to govern the operations of the American rail industry. He realised the need