How Long Till She Hit the Bottom

The pieces went almost straight down, quickly reaching a maximum velocity of about 30 mph. They would cover the 2½ miles to the sea bed in about 5 minutes.

I'm just wondering, but how long was it before the bow section hit the sea-bed?

At a probable terminal velocity of 30 mph, six minutes is a good ballpark.

And in Ballard's book, The Discovery of the Titanic, Chapter 10, he = also estimated 25 to 30 mph and 6 minutes. Capt. Collins, however, has a = theory that would take the hull 2 hours to descend, spending most of the time = with 300-400 feet of the surface. See https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/discus/messages/5664/84847.html?107= 7556 449 .

well, don't the submersibles freefall, and that takes over an hour?

I read one book- 'Titanic Revisited'; I believe, a pre discovery book, that suggested Titanic hit the sea bottom at the speed of sound....

How that could happen with the resistance of the water is beyond me...

regards


Tarn Stephanos

The subs are only slightly negative buoyant (and only slightly positive when they dump their ballast). It takes two to three hours each way.

>>How that could happen with the resistance of the water is beyond me... <<

Don't worry, Tarn. It can't.

What is the liklihood anyone could have lived at the point when the Titanic hit the bottom? And if so, for how long? I know there were supposed to be rather large walk in refrigerators and smaller units that perhaps a panicing person could have in in, or perhaps somewhere else.

>>What is the liklihood anyone could have lived at the point when the Titanic hit the bottom? <<

None whatever. The pressure of the water increases the deepeer you go. At 12,500 feet, the pressure is 3 1/2 tons per square inch. You just don't survive something like that. As to the spaces you mentioned, in all likelihood, they imploded when the stern section was only a few hundred feet down. That would certainly explain why cork...a common insulating material...was found in the wreckage that bobbed back up to the top. Anyone inside one of those things would have been killed instantly.

My guess is that it took her about 5 to 10 minutes(at least for the bow; the stern might have been faster). I don't think the bow went straight down, otherwise the wreck would have crumpled somewhat like an accordion, which is sort of what happened to the stern.

Like what Michael said, the water pressure is way too high. Submarines that explore the ship have to have really thick hull to prevent them from imploding. And no one would design some sealed room on a ship that can withstand such a high water pressure; it's just not necessary.

Alicia's graphic presentation of the facts of the case are - and I have come to always expect them to be - 'sci-en-tif-ic-al-ly' (as Isaiah Berlin pronounced it) sound. So highly informed. And yet so very accessible.

You're right Alicia, I failed to consider that. I'm not arguing that the bow drifted under the ocean before coming to rest, but i feel the bow's descent is not as straight down as the stern because the bow actually plowed into an embankment once it settled, signifying that it must have deviated somewhat from a straight-down course. When the bow hit the bottom, the forecastle was bent downward, not upward, like what would of happened if it hit a sloped bottom straight down. If the bow really went straight down, it would have been of equal distance from the debris field from the stern, but in real life it's not.

For what it's worth, tank tests performed for the Discovery Channel's documentary "Answers From the Abyss" showed the bow section going down in a seesawing motion while planing away on an angle from the point where it left the surface.

Caveat: I don't know how valid these tests were. We can't know whether every assumption made was accurate, but it's out there.