[BITList] Titanic safety officer warned ship needed '50 per centmore lifeboats' - Telegraph

[HUGH]

Mike,

I read:

"In the event, the Titanic left Southampton for New York with the legal minimum 20 lifeboats that had a capacity for 1,178 people." 

and,
"In hindsight, there was a very strong case to bring charges of corporate manslaughter against White Star Line over the disaster." 

Assuming she was built to Lloyds Rules, I'd have to read those current during her gestation and build, but "legal minima" are a new concept to me.  Were/are classification society Rules subject to the law?  Is there a higher authority than the various sets of Rules for the design and construction of ships?  If so, how did I manage to participate in the design of a few dozen ships without coming across it? Of course it was and is quite permissible for owners to ask for and pay for stuff that is over and above the Rule requirements, but it beggars belief that they might be considered negligent by not doing so. In hindsight (to coin a phrase) there is a strong case for considering the 1910-12 Rules deficient, insofar as they didn't take into account the possibility that Titanic would hit an iceberg while only having the "minimum" number of lifeboats.  Have we to assume the high seas at the time were stiff with boats carrying more lifeboats than anyone could shake a stick at?

Hugh.

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