Who's really to blame for the Titanic disaster? New Buried Evidence podcast revisits the infamous sinking with bestselling author Duncan Barrett to ask whose fateful decisions cost the most lives

On the latest episode of Buried Evidence, historian Rebecca Rideal and archaeologist Professor Raksha Dave sit down with bestselling author and Titanic expert Duncan Barrett to relitigate the disaster that unfolded 114 years ago.

Barrett is the creator of Titanic: Ship of Dreams, a 14 part narrative series that provides one of the most comprehensive accounts yet of the sinking of the supposedly unsinkable vessel.

On Buried Evidence, brought to you by The Crime Desk, Barrett examines the decisions taken by the men at the centre of the disaster, and asks which of them cost lives that might otherwise have been saved.

The Titanic sank on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic. The collision opened her starboard side along five compartments, one more than she had been built to survive.

One man in the frame for the more than 1,500 deaths of 15 April 1912 is Bruce Ismay, chairman and managing director of White Star, the line that owned the Titanic.

On the latest Buried Evidence, Rebecca Rideal and archaeologist Raksha Dave sit down with Titanic expert Duncan Barrett to relitigate the disaster that unfolded 114 years ago

Barrett is the creator of Titanic: Ship of Dreams, a 14 part narrative series that provides one of the most comprehensive accounts yet of the sinking of the supposedly unsinkable vessel

Barrett explained: 'There was a point [in the Titanic's development] where Ismay is basically asked: 'Shall we put some extra lifeboats on the ship?'

'He basically nixed it and said: 'No, we don't. No one is telling us to have extra lifeboats.'

'Ismay didn't like the way they looked. He thought they spoiled the sleek look of the ship and that they would take up space that the first class passengers could use for enjoying the open air.

'The fact is that they could have had more lifeboats and they chose not to.'

Ismay's decision looked egregious in the aftermath of the disaster, when it transpired he had taken up one of the limited places on a lifeboat himself.

However, as Barrett explained on the podcast, Ismay was acting within the law at the time. The Board of Trade demanded 16 lifeboats for a ship of the Titanic's size, and she sailed with 20. It is only with hindsight that the decision looks damning.

Another figure often blamed for the tragedy was the Titanic's veteran captain, 62-year-old Edward John Smith, White Star's most senior commander.

Smith was said to be nearing retirement, and had spent the evening as guest of honour at a dinner thrown by wealthy first class passengers. He was asleep in his cabin when the ship sustained catastrophic damage.

There were question marks over his ability to command such a large vessel, the biggest in the world at the time, from the outset.

Months earlier he had been in charge of the Titanic's sister ship Olympic when she collided with a Royal Navy cruiser, and he came close to hitting another liner while leaving Southampton on the Titanic's first day at sea.

Barrett suggested that while Smith was a capable sailor, he was not used to handling a ship of the Titanic's vast size. He pressed on at speed despite repeated warnings of ice ahead.

Nor did he coordinate the evacuation well, with officers interpreting his orders in different ways.

'There doesn't appear to be much management going on during the lifeboat loading,' Barrett said.

'The first officer on one side of the ship, William Murdoch, who's the one that actually hit the iceberg, and the second officer, Charles Lightoller, on the other side, had both been given this order: load the lifeboats with women and children first.

Another figure often blamed for the tragedy was the Titanic's veteran captain, 62-year-old Edward John Smith (pictured), White Star's most senior commander

Captain Smith was asleep in his cabin when the ship sustained catastrophic damage

'There was no consensus on what that meant. So you have Murdoch, who's basically saying: 'We'll prioritise women and children, but we'll fill the boats.'

'Then you have Lightoller, who becomes incredibly dogmatic and is turning away 13-year-old boys… as a result, he sends boats with empty seats because there were no more women and children.'

Smith, unlike Ismay, went down with the ship. Barrett notes that because the captain died alongside his passengers, criticism of him has always been softer.

Barrett returns finally to First Officer William Murdoch, the man on the bridge when the iceberg was first sighted.

He makes clear that although Murdoch's attempt to swerve around the iceberg was a gamble, new scientific analysis of the conditions that night may go some way to letting him off the hook.

Barrett said: 'People couldn't quite reconcile why they didn't see the iceberg sooner.

'Basically, this guy Tim Maltin came up with this idea that there was a kind of mirage effect. Essentially, because of the confluence of warmer and colder waters, it created a kind of haze that distorted what they were seeing.

'It may also explain why a nearby ship didn't come to their aid. What they were seeing was kind of misleading.'

Listen to Barrett's expert analysis of the Titanic disaster by searching for Buried Evidence wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to The Crime Desk to get exclusive access to new episodes one week early.