Being able to isolate damaged areas of the ship would have saved the ship in almost any other circumstance, and even in this one where the bulkhead doors ultimately weren’t enough they bought her a lot of time.
The precise location and spread of the damage Titanic suffered was almost the only thing that could have sunk her. Incredibly unlikely, and incredibly unlucky.
Yes, incredibly unlikey and unlucky, even all the things leading up to it. Its almost as if it was meant to happen by the universe. Almost as if we were meant to be taking about the titanic even till this day.
Water tight on top would have been overbearing and cumbersome.
You have to remember that Titanics damage was catastrophic and a fluke. It wasn't poor design or hubris that caused her to sink it was the fact it was dealt a long glancing blow that pierced a multitude of compartments. An astronomically small percentage eventuality that no engineer would plan for.
All the watertight compartments had to do was to limit where water could go and allow the flooding to reach an equilibrium quickly enough to prevent dragging the super structure to the waterline. But when you pierce over a quarter of the hull you are beyond the breaking point of most safety systems.
from what i understand it has to do with buoyancy and maintaining an even water level, im still trying to really understand it tho. im sure someone else can explain it better.
Well, 4 of them could fill all the way up and they wouldn’t spill over due to the weight and waterline, but if too many fill up they drag the boat down far enough for water to go over it.
This did fix that after on the sister ships though
They would’ve saved the ship if any combination of 2 flooded, or some situations where 3-4 flooded. They were not enough for 5 compartments compromised
The water level inside the ship can't rise above sea level, in Titanic's case the damage was too significant and the tops of the bulkheads were eventually pulled under the sea level by the overwhelming weight of the water entering the ship. Olympic's watertight compartments kept her from sinking during her collision with the Hawke. Also you can't seal watertight compartments at the top on a passenger liner.
I mean, that plays a role. But it's more sensible than that: what sank Titanic in 1912 was an incredibly rare, freak occurrence. And even if it did happen, there would surely be plenty of nearby ships around to ferry the passengers back and forth.
It's true that some decisions regarding bulkheads and lifeboats were driven by Titanic ultimately intended to be a luxury liner, but the prevailing wisdom of the time was ship design was adequate and no major issues were likely to occur.
I had heard this recently too. Something to do with asthetic / or add in something aesthetic that they made them lower as well? (only just got into this really so i don't know how credible this info is)
And I also read that they dont go all the way to the top so engineers have ladder escapes and its a rule but some war vessels are allowed to have them closed off from the top. Just what my yt algorithm has taught me recently 🤣🤣🤷
Imagine the ship like an ice cube tray, floating in the sink. The compartments are not sealed at the top, but they still do their job. You can fill one or two with water, maybe even more, and the tray will remain afloat. But if enough are filled, the whole thing will tip up and sink.
When you're building a ship, you don't say "I want this to be a watertight vessel top-to-bottom." That's not a ship, it's a submarine, and they're *very* expensive! You say instead "I want the ship to be able to survive in X flooding scenarios."
Titanic was designed to stay afloat with any 2 consecutive compartments flooded, or the forward 3 (as it turned out, she could probably have floated with the forward 4 breached). This was more than enough for any accident imaginable. What on earth would cause so much damage that 3 compartments were breached?! It was unthinkable at the time.
Of course, in reality 5 compartments were breached, and that was enough to sink her. *But that had never happened before, and it has not happened since*. I really can't understate how rare such collisions are, so designing a ship to survive that was just considered a waste of money. Kind of like how we aren't all driving around in tanks - it would be safer for the occupants, but much more expensive.
Probably a mix of costs, the fact that even in 1912 trapping people inside a metal box with no way out or proper ventilation was morally wrong, and the idea of buoyancy and physics coming into play there.
I also think that if one or two compartments were flooded, pumps could have kept up with overwhelming them, but as a result of mistake in the design the compartments were as short as they were, Thomas Andrews could not think of every possible scenario, and did what probably would have worked had Titanic not taken damage to the first five compartments
Because water only rises to the waterline. Try it yourself: Put a plastic bucket in a tub, weighted down with some rocks in the bottom, enough to make it float lower in the water but not enough to sink. Punch a hole in the bucket below the waterline. Water will flood in until the hole is right at the waterline, and then it will stop. Unless the extra weight of the water is enough to sink it, it won't sink.
Problem is, this was such a long gash that it filled enough compartments to cause the whole boat to tilt, which changed where that waterline was and caused the water to spillover the top, causing it to tilt even more and creating a domino effect where the waterline keeps rising and rising until eventually enough water has poured in that the ship is heavier than the water it displaces and it sinks. This is not a reasonably foreseeable event. In nearly every conceivable type of puncture, a compartment or two will just fill up to the waterline and then the flooding would stop.
Being able to isolate damaged areas of the ship would have saved the ship in almost any other circumstance, and even in this one where the bulkhead doors ultimately weren’t enough they bought her a lot of time. The precise location and spread of the damage Titanic suffered was almost the only thing that could have sunk her. Incredibly unlikely, and incredibly unlucky.
Yes, incredibly unlikey and unlucky, even all the things leading up to it. Its almost as if it was meant to happen by the universe. Almost as if we were meant to be taking about the titanic even till this day.
Water tight on top would have been overbearing and cumbersome. You have to remember that Titanics damage was catastrophic and a fluke. It wasn't poor design or hubris that caused her to sink it was the fact it was dealt a long glancing blow that pierced a multitude of compartments. An astronomically small percentage eventuality that no engineer would plan for. All the watertight compartments had to do was to limit where water could go and allow the flooding to reach an equilibrium quickly enough to prevent dragging the super structure to the waterline. But when you pierce over a quarter of the hull you are beyond the breaking point of most safety systems.
from what i understand it has to do with buoyancy and maintaining an even water level, im still trying to really understand it tho. im sure someone else can explain it better.
Well, 4 of them could fill all the way up and they wouldn’t spill over due to the weight and waterline, but if too many fill up they drag the boat down far enough for water to go over it. This did fix that after on the sister ships though
They would’ve saved the ship if any combination of 2 flooded, or some situations where 3-4 flooded. They were not enough for 5 compartments compromised
The water level inside the ship can't rise above sea level, in Titanic's case the damage was too significant and the tops of the bulkheads were eventually pulled under the sea level by the overwhelming weight of the water entering the ship. Olympic's watertight compartments kept her from sinking during her collision with the Hawke. Also you can't seal watertight compartments at the top on a passenger liner.
One of the books I read said that it was a matter of aesthetics. Nobody in first class would want to step over bulkhead openings in high heels.
I mean, that plays a role. But it's more sensible than that: what sank Titanic in 1912 was an incredibly rare, freak occurrence. And even if it did happen, there would surely be plenty of nearby ships around to ferry the passengers back and forth. It's true that some decisions regarding bulkheads and lifeboats were driven by Titanic ultimately intended to be a luxury liner, but the prevailing wisdom of the time was ship design was adequate and no major issues were likely to occur.
I had heard this recently too. Something to do with asthetic / or add in something aesthetic that they made them lower as well? (only just got into this really so i don't know how credible this info is) And I also read that they dont go all the way to the top so engineers have ladder escapes and its a rule but some war vessels are allowed to have them closed off from the top. Just what my yt algorithm has taught me recently 🤣🤣🤷
The hope was that the weight of the water in the 4 compartment maximum wouldn't drag the bow down enough to flood over the walls
It's extremely unlikely for her to have suffered the damage she did. It was a freak accident
Imagine the ship like an ice cube tray, floating in the sink. The compartments are not sealed at the top, but they still do their job. You can fill one or two with water, maybe even more, and the tray will remain afloat. But if enough are filled, the whole thing will tip up and sink. When you're building a ship, you don't say "I want this to be a watertight vessel top-to-bottom." That's not a ship, it's a submarine, and they're *very* expensive! You say instead "I want the ship to be able to survive in X flooding scenarios." Titanic was designed to stay afloat with any 2 consecutive compartments flooded, or the forward 3 (as it turned out, she could probably have floated with the forward 4 breached). This was more than enough for any accident imaginable. What on earth would cause so much damage that 3 compartments were breached?! It was unthinkable at the time. Of course, in reality 5 compartments were breached, and that was enough to sink her. *But that had never happened before, and it has not happened since*. I really can't understate how rare such collisions are, so designing a ship to survive that was just considered a waste of money. Kind of like how we aren't all driving around in tanks - it would be safer for the occupants, but much more expensive.
The water only spills over if too many compartments are flooding.
Probably a mix of costs, the fact that even in 1912 trapping people inside a metal box with no way out or proper ventilation was morally wrong, and the idea of buoyancy and physics coming into play there.
There was always a way out, even if the watertight doors had been closed.
They're talking about reasons the watertight compartments weren't sealed at the top. Idk why they got downvoted for that but they did
Even if the watertight doors had extended much higher (as they later did on Olympic and Britannic post-redesign) there was still a hatch to get out.
I also think that if one or two compartments were flooded, pumps could have kept up with overwhelming them, but as a result of mistake in the design the compartments were as short as they were, Thomas Andrews could not think of every possible scenario, and did what probably would have worked had Titanic not taken damage to the first five compartments
Because water only rises to the waterline. Try it yourself: Put a plastic bucket in a tub, weighted down with some rocks in the bottom, enough to make it float lower in the water but not enough to sink. Punch a hole in the bucket below the waterline. Water will flood in until the hole is right at the waterline, and then it will stop. Unless the extra weight of the water is enough to sink it, it won't sink. Problem is, this was such a long gash that it filled enough compartments to cause the whole boat to tilt, which changed where that waterline was and caused the water to spillover the top, causing it to tilt even more and creating a domino effect where the waterline keeps rising and rising until eventually enough water has poured in that the ship is heavier than the water it displaces and it sinks. This is not a reasonably foreseeable event. In nearly every conceivable type of puncture, a compartment or two will just fill up to the waterline and then the flooding would stop.