Britannic's condition

[Nick Rose]

how much of britannic has been "eaten" by undersea organisms? or are the organisms just living on the wreck?

 

[Nicolas Roughol]

Maybe Britannic specialists will correct me, but from what I understand, the condition of Britannic is far better than that of Titanic: no rusticles, much more wood such as decks is preserved but the ship is heavily encrusted with coral.

 

[Nick Rose]

If the ship is covered in coral and delicate items such as wood remain, would you consider the coral as actually protecting the ship?

 

[Nigel Bryant]

So why is Titanic in so much of a worse state than Britannic in deterioration? They both come from the same vintage, same steel etc There was only three or four years between the sinkings so why is Titanic so fragile nearing the state of collapse unlike the Britannic? On Titanic there are massive holes opening up in decks, windows are rusting away and the mast has totally gone, none can be said about Britannic. Is it because both ships sank in different seas which have different deterioration rates? How long to you think Britannic will last compared to Titanic? It seems that Britannic in 25 years time will still retain the graceful reconizable ship wreck look, whilst Titanic will hardly look like anything reconizable, like the Luistania wrecksite, maybe worse. What are your thoughts about this?

Cheers,

Nigel

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Different environments is the short answer. Coral reefs and barnacles don't grow at 12,500 feet, but they do grow at the depths at which the Britannic lies. The fact that a substantial portion of the hull is covered with both has the effect of preserving it against the elements for a longer period of time.

I suspect that the Lusitania would be in far better shape were it not for the ship being used as a target during the wars for ASW training. Have several destroyer loads of depth charges exploded over your head and you might not look too good either!

 

[Remco Hillen]

Well, it is not true that there is no deterioration on Britannic. Some of the more fragile things on the wreck seems to be deteriorating, I know that the outboard Boatdeck bulwarks are suffering from it (near the gymnasium IIRC). Also - as we know, the bridge is gone; and there was no long dive to the bottom which Titanic had to tear it up.
But Britannic is indeed in a better condition then Titanic; although the break-up and the trip to the bottom didn't really help preserving her of course. Guess it has to do with the enviroment; I assume that the marine growth is somehow protection her.

Anyway; there are only a few people who can tell more exact information on the condition of Britannic's wreck; sadly I'm not one of them!
Guess we'll have to wait till more information from the recent expedition comes out...

Regards,
Remco

 

[Jeremy Lee]

Does anyone know which year did Simon Mills buy the Britannic and what was the selling price? Thanks!

 

[Michail Michailakis]

Hello,

Regarding Britannic's condition all I can say is that the recent expedition showed that the wreck is more fragile than we think.Hopefully, the new documentary will answer many questions.

Remco,I have no internet connection because my modem failed a couple of days ago.I will write back as soon as possible.

Best regards,
Michail

 

[Daniel Hengstschläger]

Mr Simon Mills said to me, that the Britannic is in a very fine condition. I think, that the corals protect the steel of the vessel. This is my opinion. Maybe it isn't true.
Is it possible to put the organisms away from the hull?

When is the next expedition to the wreck?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Is it possible to put the organisms away from the hull?<<

Nope. Can't be done. Try figuring out the total area of the hull, then try figuring out the surface area of everything inside. Coral and barnacles are not the easiest thing to get rid of in any event. It takes specialized grinding equipment and trained divers to work it to get the job done. For a ship in drydock, this work is done by sandblasting.

I don't think you're going to get the Britannic in drydock any time soon.

 

[Jeremy Lee]

In this case, why are there iron-eating microrganisms eating away so much of the Titanic but the Britannic is still relatively intact at such a low level.

Do the corals and barnacles protect the iron?

 

[Daniel Hengstschläger]

Yes, I think that the corals protect the iron. For me it's like a crust. Maybe under this crust there is the blank steel. If that's not true, please correct me.
The problem is, that I don't know a lot of oceanography.

 

[Jeremy Lee]

>>The problem is, that I don't know a lot of oceanography.<<

Me too.

 

[Michael Kirkpatrick]

the only thing is brittanic's bow wouldn't stuff get in where its open?