Hi, I would be very interested in any information on how the Lusitania wreck has a huge fairly clean split in it just aft of the third funnel, which was included in dive sketches from around 1960.
I know this particular cross section was a distinct weak point in the ship as it included several large internal spaces; Boiler Room 3, the three story tall first class dining room above it and finally the large first class lounge on the superstructure.
It seems this split occurred at some point during the sinking so by the time the ship came to rest on the seabed she was already broken in two in 1915, the split didn't happen in the succeeding decades on the wreck unless I'm very much mistaken?.
Does anyone know how this happened? Did the ship sink in one piece and then the tapering stern end landed starboard side down on the seabed with enough force that the ship just snapped cleanly, around her wider waist?
I'm also wondering if alternatively could Boiler Room 3, Boiler Room 4, their adjoining coal bunkers and the Turbine rooms have all remained fairly dry until the final moments of the sinking when water could finally begin flooding those areas rapidly through the submerging vents and funnels?
If the bow half of the ship was already fully flooded and trying to settle side on onto the seabed but the stern was still full of air as it was being pulled under could those opposing forces have been enough to rip the starboard hull open, causing boiler room 3 to instantly flood in the process? Then when the stern finally landed on the sea floor the last remaining connection the port hull then severed in a clean break?
If anyone has any information about this split I'd be grateful and also if there's any confirmation that the split goes right through the whole ship or is it just a huge gash in the port side and the starboard side actually remained attached?
I know this particular cross section was a distinct weak point in the ship as it included several large internal spaces; Boiler Room 3, the three story tall first class dining room above it and finally the large first class lounge on the superstructure.
It seems this split occurred at some point during the sinking so by the time the ship came to rest on the seabed she was already broken in two in 1915, the split didn't happen in the succeeding decades on the wreck unless I'm very much mistaken?.
Does anyone know how this happened? Did the ship sink in one piece and then the tapering stern end landed starboard side down on the seabed with enough force that the ship just snapped cleanly, around her wider waist?
I'm also wondering if alternatively could Boiler Room 3, Boiler Room 4, their adjoining coal bunkers and the Turbine rooms have all remained fairly dry until the final moments of the sinking when water could finally begin flooding those areas rapidly through the submerging vents and funnels?
If the bow half of the ship was already fully flooded and trying to settle side on onto the seabed but the stern was still full of air as it was being pulled under could those opposing forces have been enough to rip the starboard hull open, causing boiler room 3 to instantly flood in the process? Then when the stern finally landed on the sea floor the last remaining connection the port hull then severed in a clean break?
If anyone has any information about this split I'd be grateful and also if there's any confirmation that the split goes right through the whole ship or is it just a huge gash in the port side and the starboard side actually remained attached?
