The Titanic sunk in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. Among the estimated 1,635 victims were 119 American citizens – some of them very rich, very influential. Even at the time it was an incontrovertible fact that there were not enough lifeboats and flotation devices on the Titanic for men like Guggenheim and Astor to survive.
Congress Acts
Shortly after the sinking, Congress sprang into action. The Senate sponsored a bill to require every ship that flew under an American flag be equipped with enough lifeboats, life belts, and other flotation devices to accommodate 75% it’s passengers.
Great, noble idea. There was, however, a problem with it: ship owners, engineers, captains, and others testified that the law should not apply to lake and river vessels as they had much shallower drafts than their ocean-going brethren.
It was, they explained, simple mathematics: the more weight added to the topsides of a shallow draft ship the higher the chance of the ship turning turtle at the first opportunity.
Then, as now, Congress wasn't about to let all that science stand in the way of a good law. The final bill made no distinction between ocean going and inland vessels. It was signed into effect by President Wilson in early 1915.