Robert,
A lot depends on both the type of whistles and the atmospheric conditions. The Typhon whistles, which are more like an air horn on a large truck or diesel locomotive than they are a whistle, have a spring-loaded diaphragm at the back of the horn producing the sound and a flared, trumpet-like resonator which, in addition to helping control the pitch and to shape the sound of the device, serves to focus and project the sound waves. These devices are semi-directional in that even though you can hear the sound at all points around the ship, they project their sound most intensely in the direction the bell of the horn faces. The type of whistles used by the Titanic were omni-directional, with the sound waves radiating out in all directions and not augmented by being focused in any particular direction as in the case of a horn. Ignoring all other factors, it's easy to see how, at least in the direction dead ahead, a horn-type device may generate sound over greater distances than a whistle.
What they have in common is that the sound-projecting ability of either type is greatly improved or diminished by atmospheric conditions. Thin, cold, dry air will diminish the effectiveness of either type of whistle, while dense, moist air helps the sound to carry farther. Wind of any sort will also impact the ability of the sound to carry, either assisting the sound to carry or preventing it from being heard at all at a distance, depending upon wind speed and direction.
It is possible that the claims made for the carrying distance of 10 miles for the Typhon whistles are assuming under ideal conditions, i.e. dense, moist air (fog, anybody?) and that the listener is at some distance dead ahead of the ship, or at least not too many degrees either side, and in still air.
As for the ability of these whistles to shatter windows, even at close distance I would suspect that the natural resonant frequency of the window would have to be close to matching some part of the complex blend of tones which make up the single sound you hear from the whistle. In this respect, the triple-bell whistles of the Olympic-class may have a slight edge over the single-note Typhon, since the rather discordant trichord they produced caused generated a strong sub-sonic throb. I suppose this may go some way towards explaining the claims I've heard that at times, even when large whistles of this type could barely be heard, or couldn't be heard at all, they could sometimes be felt or sensed by those on other ships well before the audible part of their sound became apparent to the listener.
Regards,
Scott Andrews