Final answer:
The key difference between the disasters on Titanic and Lusitania lay in the manner and speed at which the ships sank. The Titanic iceberg collision resulted in a slow sink, allowing for an evacuation that favored wealthier passengers, whereas the torpedo hit on Lusitania led to a quick and chaotic sink, with more equal death rates among passengers.
Step-by-step explanation:
In examining the question on why certain groups on each ship were more likely to survive than others, but the overall death rates were the same between the RMS Titanic and the RMS Lusitania, it is important to consider the key differences between these two maritime disasters.
The Titanic struck an iceberg, which caused it to sink slowly over several hours. This allowed for a more organized evacuation, and thus, higher class passengers had more access to lifeboats, resulting in their higher survival rates. On the other hand, the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank in under 18 minutes. The rapid sinking and panic led to more equal death rates among all passengers, regardless of their shipboard status.
An additional factor contributing to different survival rates was the location of the passengers' cabins. On both ships, wealthier passengers, whose cabins were closer to the deck, generally had greater chances of survival than those below deck, who were predominantly poor.
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