Answered Why does the Titanic's Stern look like it exploded

[Styledloki8]

i never thought of it, but someone said that titanic's stern blew up because of something.

 

[Cam Houseman]

i never thought of it, but someone said that titanic's stern blew up because of something.

The Stern went through a dramatic and spectacular free fall. The water entering the empty pockets of the ship tore apart support structures and walls. During the initial descent (probably from 200-400 feet), the Stern was vertical. The current caught the Poop Deck, curling it back on itself. Then the Stern somehow turned itself rightside up, and began to spiral to the Ocean Floor.

The Fore end was weakened due to the broken girders that ran fore n' aft of the ship. So large pieces began to be torn off, shell plating, machinery, and decking. Then when the Stern landed, it most likely impacted upwards of 45 MPH. The Stern was also continuing its rotational movement, and when the Rudder and aft end dug into the sediment, the Stern tried to continue the movement. That broke the keel and made a 5-10 degree bend in the middle, blowing out more decks and hull. The Hull blew off on the Starboard side, with every item on the starboard side, while the Portside hull is just splayed out.

I hope this helps.

 

[Ron Cole]

i never thought of it, but someone said that titanic's stern blew up because of something.

The stern contained refrigeration spaces and freezers. These had airtight doors. So, as the ship began to descend, the pressure on the outside of these spaces caused them to implode. All of that pressurized air traveled through the ship, tearing apart structural members which held it together. You can see that the pressurized air came up through the aft ladder way (stairs) and blew the after deck up, curling it back. When you look at the stern, you can see the bottom of that upper deck facing up, and the stairway is readily visible, torn up and enlarged. When that happened, much of the structural pieces and things attached to the upper deck came loose, and fell to the bottom along with the stern section. The stern section made a spiral-like turn, approximately 1.5 times, but fell straight, flat, downwards. So much of that debris landed on top of the section, and all around it. When I made the photomosaic of the wreck when we did the survey for the Discovery Channel (Titanic: Answers from the Abyss), the damage was very evident while looking at each photo, zoomed in so that I could see the detail. When you look at the assembled photomosaic, you can see things like a davit laying on its side and other things that are not actually attached to the deck.

 

[Stephen Carey]

Apparently there was an amount of cork insulation floating on the water post the disappearance of the ship, which would suggest the fridge rooms imploding quite early on in the plunge to the bottom.

 

[Ron Cole]

Apparently there was an amount of cork insulation floating on the water post the disappearance of the ship, which would suggest the fridge rooms imploding quite early on in the plunge to the bottom.

Cork would float to the top "almost regardless" of how deep it came loose, but it would be more dispersed over a larger area if it was extremely deep when they imploded. We estimated that the implosion took place at least 100 feet deep. There was a metallurigical expert in our team who estimated that based on the properties of the steel used and the fastening methods. It also corresponds with what he felt was the depth of the ship when it split in two. The twisting and turning in the stern section would have contributed to the implosion. It was the fact that the stern section had that extra buoyancy that helped to cause the ship splitting in two. The forward section was full of water and wanted to head to the bottom, but the stern was full of air, and wanted to stay at the surface. It must have been a very violent moment for that hull, when that occurred. That depth is not very far, compared to the 2.5 miles of water depth at that location. So your comment is in line with what we thought at the time.

 

[Cam Houseman]

The stern contained refrigeration spaces and freezers. These had airtight doors. So, as the ship began to descend, the pressure on the outside of these spaces caused them to implode. All of that pressurized air traveled through the ship, tearing apart structural members which held it together. You can see that the pressurized air came up through the aft ladder way (stairs) and blew the after deck up, curling it back. When you look at the stern, you can see the bottom of that upper deck facing up, and the stairway is readily visible, torn up and enlarged. When that happened, much of the structural pieces and things attached to the upper deck came loose, and fell to the bottom along with the stern section. The stern section made a spiral-like turn, approximately 1.5 times, but fell straight, flat, downwards. So much of that debris landed on top of the section, and all around it. When I made the photomosaic of the wreck when we did the survey for the Discovery Channel (Titanic: Answers from the Abyss), the damage was very evident while looking at each photo, zoomed in so that I could see the detail. When you look at the assembled photomosaic, you can see things like a davit laying on its side and other things that are not actually attached to the deck.

Woah, You made this mosaic?

 

[Ron Cole]

Woah, You made this mosaic?
View attachment 109739

Yes. I was working for Polaris Imaging as a contractor. I made that and the forward photomosaic.

 

[Ron Cole]

The Stern went through a dramatic and spectacular free fall. The water entering the empty pockets of the ship tore apart support structures and walls. During the initial descent (probably from 200-400 feet), the Stern was vertical. The current caught the Poop Deck, curling it back on itself. Then the Stern somehow turned itself rightside up, and began to spiral to the Ocean Floor.

The Fore end was weakened due to the broken girders that ran fore n' aft of the ship. So large pieces began to be torn off, shell plating, machinery, and decking. Then when the Stern landed, it most likely impacted upwards of 45 MPH. The Stern was also continuing its rotational movement, and when the Rudder and aft end dug into the sediment, the Stern tried to continue the movement. That broke the keel and made a 5-10 degree bend in the middle, blowing out more decks and hull. The Hull blew off on the Starboard side, with every item on the starboard side, while the Portside hull is just splayed out.

I hope this helps.

I have to disagree with some of that. The stern was likely not completely vertical. There was a twisting back and forth that was going on between the forward and aft sections, just a ways under the surface. The aft section most likely dropped in an angle to the surface, but not vertical. It did rotate, on a nearly horizontal axis, after it separated from the front and the refrigeration and freezer spaces blew out. The rear deck was flipped back because of the huge amount of air that blew through the after ladderway (stairs) and up, flipping it back like a sardine can. It stayed that way, because you can see the ribbing structure from underneath it, facing upward. I studied those photos closely, and that deck can be seen clearly, bent backwards the way it is.

 

[Cam Houseman]

I have to disagree with some of that. The stern was likely not completely vertical. There was a twisting back and forth that was going on between the forward and aft sections, just a ways under the surface. The aft section most likely dropped in an angle to the surface, but not vertical. It did rotate, on a nearly horizontal axis, after it separated from the front and the refrigeration and freezer spaces blew out. The rear deck was flipped back because of the huge amount of air that blew through the after ladderway (stairs) and up, flipping it back like a sardine can. It stayed that way, because you can see the ribbing structure from underneath it, facing upward. I studied those photos closely, and that deck can be seen clearly, bent backwards the way it is.

Completely agreed. The Blowing out of the decks due to the impact was a major component. From what I've heard, the Refrigeration walls were badly bent up, but I haven't seen that myself.

If I could ask a question, was the thought that the Stern didn't have a straight keel present when making the mosaic?

 

[James T. Shorter]

i never thought of it, but someone said that titanic's stern blew up because of something.

She imploded on the way down I believe you cans see this in the animation made by James Cameron



I know this is an Answered forum I just didn't see this mentioned I did see something about the fridges imploding but I don't think it would cause this big of an effect please correct me if I am wrong we are all trying to learn and I would like to know everyone's opinion on the matter because everyone has a valid opinion whether its right or wrong
The part I am talking about can be found at 00:02:15 if you were wondering