why did the titanic sink even though it was called unsinkable?
414351
when the Titanic was designed, it was made to stay afloat if the first four water tight bulkheads were full, thus making it seem "unsinkable." However, when it hit a 'berg on that night, it filled up 5+ watertight bulkheads, thus not being able to stay afloat. If the captain hit it head on, the bow would of crumbled, but the time for it to sink would take a lot longer, more lives would be saved, etc. And no matter what your ship is made of, it's not unsinkable. It was made of iron and steel, like many ships, but that does not make any ship unsinkable. The builders deemed in "unsinkable" because of the pride they took in it in the early technology of the early 20th century, and many believed it would be the best and the fastest.\n\nNew evidence shows that it also was struck from the bottom of the ship from the iceberg, thus allowing water to rise up faster than it was coming in.\n\nThe loss of life was due to the shortage of lifeboats, which was 8 starboard, 8 port, and then 4 collapsable boats (think little rafts) for a grand total of 20. It was planned to have 64 followed by 32 then 16 with 4 more was the final solution.
713258
Overconfidence.Because Titanic hull's made of very thick steel and they thought it was strong enought to deal with little iceberg.\n\nOn the night of Sunday, April 14, the temperature had dropped to near freezing and the ocean was completely calm. Surviving 2nd Officer Charles Lightoller later wrote "the sea was like glass". There was no moon and the sky was clear. Captain Edward Smith, perhaps in response to iceberg warnings received via wireless over the last few days, had altered Titanic's course around 10 miles (18 km) south of the normal shipping route. That Sunday at 1:45 PM, a message from the steamer SS Amerika warned that large icebergs lay south of Titanic's path but the warning was addressed to the USN Hydrographic office and was never relayed to the bridge. Iceberg warnings were received throughout the day and were quite normal for that time of year. Later that evening at 9:30pm, another report of numerous, large icebergs in Titanic's path came to Jack Phillips and Harold Bride in the radio room, this time from the Mesaba, but also failed to reach the bridge. Although there were warnings, there was no operational and safety reason to slow down or alter course. The Titanic had three teams of two lookouts high up in the "Crow's nest" who rotated every two hours. On any other night, it is almost certain they would have been able to see the berg in time. With no moon, no wind and the dark side of the berg facing the ship, a conglomeration of factors that might occur once in a lifetime came together. Had they spotted the iceberg 10 seconds later or 10 seconds earlier or even had simply hit it straight on, the ship likely would not have foundered. As Lightoller later said at the American inquiry "Everything was against us that night."\n\nAt 11:40 PM while sailing south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, lookouts Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee spotted a large iceberg directly ahead of the ship. Fleet sounded the ship's bell three times and telephoned the bridge. Sixth Officer Moody answered, "Yes, what do you see?", only to hear Fleet exclaiming, "Iceberg, right ahead!", to which Moody responded, "thank you", before informing First Officer Murdoch of the call. Murdoch (who had now already seen the iceberg) ordered an abrupt turn to port (left) and full speed astern, which stopped and then reversed the ship's reciprocating engines driving the wing propellers (the center shaft stopped as the turbine was not reversible. In reverse configuration the residual steam from the reciprocating engines was channeled directly to the condensers). A collision turned out to be inevitable, and the ship's starboard (right) side brushed the iceberg, buckling the hull in several places and popping out rivets below the waterline, creating a total of six leaks in the first five watertight compartments. The 5th compartment was breeched for only 10-15 feet. Murdoch then ordered the ship hard right rudder which swung Titanic's stern away from the iceberg. The watertight doors were shut as water started filling the five compartments --one more than Titanic could stay afloat with. Captain Smith, alerted by the jolt of the impact, ordered "all-stop" once he arrived on the bridge. Following an inspection by the ship's senior officers, the ship's carpenter and Thomas Andrews, which included a survey of the half flooded two-deck postel room, it was apparent that the Titanic would sink. 45 minutes after the collision, at approximetly 12:30pm the Captain ordered the lifeboats prepped. At approximetly 12:45pm, a full hour after the collision, the first white distress rocket was fired by 4th Officer Joseph Boxhall.
987612
Many of the events there can be attributed to underwater pockets of methane gas that are suddenly released due to underwater landslides or micro-quakes. The gas rises causing ships under it to loose boyency and sink.\n\nOnce it is in the air, it becomes a combustible and can often cause airplane engines to ignite. It can also cause some instrumentation malfunctions and sudden poor visibility.\n\nThis accounts for many "triangle" stories but most of them I'd say are coincidence. If you look at the frequency of travel in that region, it is much higher than most shipping regions thus accounting for a larger number of incidents.
518424
titanic!!! i will nvr forget that
487982
I'd say physics rather than chemistry.  When you squeeze a bottle full of water containing a gas-filled "diver", the water is not compressed.  Only the gas in the diver compresses causing the diver to displace less water.  The cartesian diver is carefully made to be just barely buoyant, so when compressed its reduced displacement causes it to sink.
795940
Density has to do with the physical makeup of a given object. Buoyancy is the property of displacing water in being able to float. The reason a large steel carrier can float in the water is due to its density characteristics and the resulting floating properties as expressed in its buoyancy. The fact that the ship being a steel shell, weighs less than the amount of displaced water, therefore resulting in the resistance of the water causing the steel superstructure to float. \n\nDarryl S.
322792
It's still there, but now we know the most likely culprit of all the troubles there was caused because of a huge methane gas field in that area.  When the gas is released and it comes to the surface of the water, the water density is changed and ships are no longer able to stay afloat.  When it comes to Aircraft, it also changes the density of the air, and the aircraft fall out of the sky because they no longer are able to obtain lift.  I can't remember what they said it exactly does to the primitive navigation systems, but essentially it screws them up to.  \nNowadays we know what to be looking for when in that area, and how to avoid trouble.
59443
technology was responsible,\nat the time the "TITANIC" was fitted out with the best technology of the times.And with that in mind you know how people like to boast, well what was said is between the dimensions, and the best available technology, it would be impossible for this ship to sink.and you know the rest...
675436
It exists, but there's no real mystery about it anymore. The main theory is that it's just pockets of methane gas under the ocean floor. When the gas escapes, it lowers he density of the water big time and any ship caught in it's path will sink almost instantaneously, it also messes with plane engines if enough of it enters the air in dense enough pockets.
87829
Of the ~1500 people who died, only about 900 bodies were recovered.  For months after, life-jacketed decomposing bodies were spotted by ships takinga similar route.  Perhaps the most famous person to dieon Titanic, John Jacob Astor wasnt pulled from the untill several months after he died, badly decomposed.  No bodies actually washed ashore, but many were lost at sea.
251316
It expands.  \n\nHere's an interesting point... becauase it expands, the same molecules of water take up more space as a solid than as a liquid, so it's less dense.  If it contracted (like most other things do when they go from liquid to solid) it would take up less space and be more dense... so frozen water would be heavier than liquid water.  If that were the case, ice would sink, which would be a serious bummer for fish.  As it is, since water expands, solid water (ice) is lighter than liquid water, so it floats - a serious bummer for the Titanic, but a good thing for cold drinks and fishies.\n\nI love this stuff.
998666
INcredible.. The first question I've seen where everyone is right.\nYes, they are connected to the ship through strapping and bolts at the corners..\nThey do fall off. but very rarely and some are neutral buoyancy and the cause of many small ships foundering.. Usually, whale attacks get the blame.
254
At 02:20 am on April 15th, 1912, the "unsinkable" Titanic slipped into the sea and began its descent to the ocean floor.
321722
Wow!  Apparently because people have very different opinions as to what percentage of the iceberg is below the surface.\nMy own recollection is 7/8 of the thing, but 90% is close enough to get a real good idea, too.\nAnother reason may be that if you get close enough to get a really good estimate...well, you'd need a well stocked lifeboat for all aboard.
141728
I'm not sure if there really *was* a Jack and a Rose on the original Titanic, so it may just be a figment of the writer's mind.
177066
I cant verify this, but i "heard" that it originated because a polish ship designer had a plan to build ships quicker and cheaper and stronger using concrete. now this was a good idea(ww2 time frame), because ships could just be poured from a mold, and we needed a lot of ships quickly. Well anyway, the people using his design made some form of error and the ship sank, and everyone, not understanding the guys theories, just said "of course it sank, concrete doesnt float" and he was a "dumb polack". again, i cant verify that, it was a story one of my elementary teachers told me.
620475
from what ive heard titanic sink because the maker of it boasted that due to its magnificients make, even God cant sink it. Thou shall not test God.\n\n\nWhen the Titanic struck the iceberg, six of its 16 watertight compartments were damaged. The ship started taking on water in the bow through openings about 20 feet below the water line. \nAs the liner nosed down, water flooded compartments one after another and the ship's stern began rising out of the water. \n As the stern rose ever higher, the stress amidships was more than the vessel could bear. It broke apart just forward of the third funnel. The bow began to sink. \nWith the bow gone, the stern temporarily settled back to nearly level. The stern then rapidly flooded and rose out of the water, pivoting on the surface. It held that vertical position about a minute and then slowly slipped beneath the surface. \nThe bow section sank gently and plowed into the mud. The stern's impact was more traumatic: when it hit bottom, it buried itself some 50 feet, crumpling the steel hull.