The sad thing is that if the Titanic has simply rammed the iceberg head on she would probably not have sank.
No Probably about it Woody, the way the ship was designed & built would have ensured that.
(Computer simulations of a head-on ram into the iceberg at Harland & Wolff in Belfast,the Titanics builders,have consistently shown this I'm reliably informed)
Edward Wilding was asked about the possible result of hitting the berg head on. His figures were considered valid.
In a head-on collision, the bow would have compacted some 80-100 feet, flooding the first two compartments. If three compartments were breached, you still have a ship afloat.
For Mr. Murdoch, charged with making a decision, a head-on collision means you condemn the crewmen in the forward crew spaces and possibly some third class passengers in the forward spaces.
Without KNOWING the outcome in advance, no court on the planet would have exonerated Murdoch for the loss of life without trying to avoid the collision. The shock of the collision would have been similar to stopping your car from 25mph in an 80 to 100 foot distance. Sleeping passengers probably wouldn't have noticed. Other passengers would have felt a minor lurch forward. Try it in a car park.
On the other hand, such a collision does send shock waves through the length of the ship and this can pop rivets and even streamline fittings in the center of the ship. The hull will bend and compress in a sudden stop and produce a great deal of unexpected damage. This has been found to be the case in ships suffering near misses by bombs and shells during war. The shock to the hull from a near miss can play havoc in the engine spaces.
Ultimately, if you were on the Bridge, when the berg was spotted, would you just plough straight into it?
Posting drivel here since Jan 31st, 2002. - That long!
"He who laughs last, thinks slowest."
