I highly doubt any sea captain would put to sea with a massive fire on board.
Nor would the company's head honcho come along for the ride.
I recall reading elsewhere that bunker fires onboard steam ships were fairly common. So it’s not too far fetched and the White Star Line wasn’t going to delay the maiden voyage with a couple thousand paid up passengers to solve a problem best kept quiet. But still, if the ship hadn’t hit an iceberg while trying to set an Atlantic crossing record for its maiden voyage she’d have steamed safely into port with no one thinking twice about a minor issue in the boiler room. And if she’d been designed with top sealed self contained sections instead of open topped the boat might have been able to survive long enough for rescue. And if her distress signals were recognized. And if .... the list is nearly endless.
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Read up a bit before posting!
Putting out to sea was mandatory when a fuel fire was burning.
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