Would the Titanic have survived a head on collision?

[stratego]

If the Titanic didn't try to turn, but instead went for a head on collision would it have survived?

 

[zjl56]

Really depends on how high it would have struck the iceberg. It was designed so it could close off different compartments that were flooded.

 

[Esckey]

I don't think it would of made it. Wasn't it already moving at like it's top speed?

 

[Mrogreturns]

That would largely depend on what it had a head-on collision with.

 

[Serutan]

I know it is thought that Titanic could have dodged the iceberg if it had sped up
rather than tried to slow down, because the the steering would have been more
responsive at higher speed. As far as head on goes; perhaps. Depends on how many
compartments get flooded that way.

 

[zjl56]

The reason locking compartments didn't work is because when it hit the iceberg more compartments were flooded then the ship could just shut off.

 

[citizen001]

they said the titanic only sunk because it tried to turn after it saw the iceberg.

 

[steviejay]

if I remember correctly another reason why it sank was because it ruptured too many compartments (well that and the fact that the air tight doors didn't go up all the way) the iceberg just kind of ripped the side open, allowing too much water to get in so............. yeah, I'd probably say it could, sure you'd crumble the bow which would make sailing it a complete beast but I suppose it could still float

 

[FriendlyFire]

correct

Once it collided with the iceberge it sheared opened a long gash.

As for a head on collision not likely its hull shapes isnt designed like the wide flat hulls of ice breakers which if u know use there special hull to slice through ice. the titance would have likey opened a massive gash in the front of a hull.

 

[steviejay]

but would a massive gash at the front of the ship have made her sink as quickly as she did. if she ruptured her bow that would have opened up a few compartments to sea water rather than a large amount if the iceberg ripped along her side. If thats the case it would have taken longer to sink, allowing for more people to get off and also perhaps for help to arrive.

 

[onejayhawk]

This is a valid question. The ship could stay afloat with only 7 of 16 compartments flooded. The unspoken proviso was that the flooding be generalized. What caused the sinking was that when the 4 of the 5 foremost compartments ruptured at once, the resulting flooding pulled the bow low enough for the water to spill from flooded compartments to dry ones.

If the ship had been steared into the floe, the most that would likely have happened was that the forward two compartments would flood, which was survivable. If the ship had stayed on course, and not attempted evasive maneuvers, or merely reversed speed, there is a fair likelihood that it would have survived.

J

 

[General Brown]

I've also heard that it might've stayed afloat longer if the compartments were left open, to let water level out, and also, didn't the water go up and over the compartment doors?

 

[Esckey]

Yes it did brown, the compartment doors only went up like half way.

I thought the biggest problem it had was because the hull was brittle, specifically the bolts

 

[Gelion]

If they hit the iceberg dozens of people might have died. But only the first 3 compartments would be breached and Titanic would float. Other ships were noly 3 hrs away so I think many more might have survived (its late here, sorry for the grammar)

 

[Adler17]

I think a frontal crash would have meant the damage of the RMS Titanic but not the loss. There was so many stupidity and bad luck with her...

Adler

 

[Plotinus]

Once it collided with the iceberge it sheared opened a long gash.

Actually it was a series of relatively small gashes. It was more of a graze than a gash - very minor damage, apart from the fact that it opened up a number of compartments.

 

[sabo]

they said the titanic only sunk because it tried to turn after it saw the iceberg.

THat's what I heard, I heard that if it would have hit head on it would have only flooded one or two compartments, not the many it did by scraping all along the side which flooded many more

 

[Kamilian]

This may be a stupid question, but:
How did the watertight bulkheads work?

I mean I saw the most-recent Titanic (the one with DeCaprio and Winslet) and at the beginning they had a digital scenario of the sinking and in the background one of those salvage/explorers said that the bulkheads went up to only E Deck (and I know that the Titanic's decks went, from top to bottom, Boat Deck, A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, and then the engine and boiler rooms) which means that they went only up to the 3rd-from-the-bottom deck. Does that mean that the front parts of E, F, and G decks (Third-class, if I remember correctly) were not used? I mean wouldn't the bulkheads completely isolate those front 3 or 4 sections of those decks from the rest of the ship?

Just wondering because I never really understood that.

 

[Gelion]

I never read it, but: http://titanic-model.com/ga-plans/ - may be intersting....