Could the Titanic have been saved?

The Titanic shipwreck is one of the most infamous tragedies of the twentieth century, and people are still fascinated by what happened. More than 1,500 lives were lost -- but some argue that could have been avoided.

According to a recent post on Reddit, another ship was close by and could have saved the doomed passengers. The SS Californian was not only in the range of the Titanic, but crew members saw their flares and that the ship was uneven.

The crew notified Captain Stanley Lord, but he did not think they were actually in distress. The color of the flares could have been mistaken for fireworks. Despite not thinking they were in trouble, the Californian radioed the Titanic to alert them of the iceberg, as they almost collided with it mere hours before.

Another Reddit thread, however, says that the Californian may have not been able to help. One historian explained that it may have been close, but to reach the Titanic it would have had to wade through dozens of more icebergs -- which of course was not safe. The historian said:

Even if the Californian managed to make it to the sinking ship, it did not have many resources to help. We may never know if the Titanic could have been saved, but it still makes us think over 100 years later.

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