Was Titanic sunk by a flaw in its construction?

Local & National

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

By Linda McKee

The Titanic was doomed before it ever set off on its maiden voyage, according to the makers of a new history documentary.

They say structural flaws in the legendary Belfast-built ocean liner would have made her vulnerable to stormy seas - even if she hadn't struck the iceberg on her maiden voyage.

The flaws were uncovered by researchers who filmed and analysed previously undiscovered sections of keel. They insist these would have reduced the length of time the vessel could have remained afloat after hitting the iceberg on April 14 1912, condemning hundreds of passengers and crew to the icy waters before rescue craft could arrive.

Until now, it was believed that after Titanic struck the iceberg, the weight of water flooding the ship and the weight of the water on the bow forced her stern to rise to a 45 degree angle, at which point the ship broke in half.

The findings of the latest research project, a collaboration between the History Channel and film company Lone Wolf suggest Titanic broke in half when her stern had risen to just 10 degrees - which could have happened in any heavy seas.

Project leader Rushmore De Nooyer said: "Titanic broke at a very shallow angle, yet ships experience shallow angles like this in storms when they are tilted up by large waves.

"So perhaps Titanic wasn't designed strongly enough. If the force that broke it was no greater than the force it would have faced in a hurricane, ergo, it could have been broken in a hurricane."

The researchers calculated this angle after analysing footage of newly-discovered sections of wreck two years ago. They also found parts of the rearmost of the vessel's two expansion joints fitted near the bow and stern, which were designed to allow the hull to flex in heavy seas.

It suggests poor design may have contributed to the ship breaking at a 10-degree angle.

Naval architect Roger Long, one of the team, described the design of the joints as "so unimaginably crude".

The team has also dived on the wreck of Titanic's sister ship Britannic, also built at Harland & Wolff. The vessel sank in the Mediterranean in 1916 after hitting a mine. They found the design had been altered and an extra expansion joint fitted - suggesting the yard could have been aware of Titanic's flaws.

Titanic foundered two hours and 40 minutes after the collision. Mr Long said: "The Titanic would have continued to float for a finite amount of time if it had not experienced this structural failure.

"So if the ship's sinking was hastened by the early breaking, then there are almost certainly people who died because it broke. It only needed to float for a few more hours before the Carpathia arrived and one more hour could have given the lifeboats time to go back and get more people, as they were half full."

The findings will be broadcast in a documentary, Titanic's Achilles Heel, to be broadcast in America at the weekend.