On A Sea Of Glass Real Time Sinking Animation

[Kyle Naber]

That's the impression that I got when I tried to collate known survivor accounts with the final events. I discussed this with one of the authors of OASOG but he felt that was how it most likely happened.

Another point that I was (and still am) unconvinced is the degree of righting of the port list in the final 2 minutes or so. I accept that the port list reduced by a couple of degrees just before the final plunge, but I find it had to believe that the ship came back on "an almost even keel".

They probably thought it was the most reasonable cause of the “rising deck” that occupants on the port side noticed.

In my opinion, I think this animation was one of the few to portray how long the stern sat horizontally and near vertically. Apparently there was some discussion in the boats that the stern might float after all! I think the amount of time they set it to allows for this kind of impression for someone in a lifeboat.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

They probably thought it was the most reasonable cause of the “rising deck” that occupants on the port side noticed.

I agree that the survivor accounts of the 'rising deck' were due to a slight correction of the port list in the final couple of minutes or so. But considering the angle of vision from a lifeboat close enough to the sinking Titanic, the perspective would change significantly with only 2 degrees of reduction in the port list and IMO that's likely what happened.

I think this animation was one of the few to portray how long the stern sat horizontally and near vertically

True. But as Auratkachakkar says, the lights out was probably shown some 30 seconds too soon and the final break-up IMO about a minute earlier than it actually happened. That timeframe of almost 90 seconds then got added on to the separated stern section's sinking maneuvers.

 

[Kyle Naber]

But considering the angle of vision from a lifeboat close enough to the sinking Titanic, the perspective would change significantly with only 2 degrees of reduction in the port list and IMO that's likely what happened.

I was referring more to those actually standing on the deck. I don’t remember the exact quote, but someone mentioned that they were knee deep in water and then the deck became dry for a quick moment. I might be mistaken, but I’ll see if I can find the source of that.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

I don’t remember the exact quote, but someone mentioned that they were knee deep in water and then the deck became dry for a quick moment

It would be good to find the source of that quote. If true, it would depend on where on the deck they were standing at the time. Depending on the observer's position, even a 2-degree correction of the port list might have shifted the water level momentarily and caused their part of the deck to become almost dry before the final plunge began.

 

[Kyle Naber]

IMO the lights failure is probably shown about 30 seconds too early and the break-up once again too soon afterwards.

I’m under the impression that the breakup itself caused the lights to go out. Even thought he doesn’t mention the ship coming apart, Lightoller said that the lights went out during a “huge rumbling roar.” His theory was that the boilers were sliding into the bow and made everything go dark. We now know this wasn’t the case.

 

[Samuel Halpern]

"I stood and watched it till I heard two sharp explosions in the ship. What they were I could not say. Then she suddenly took a top cant, her stern came well out of the water then...You know what I mean to say, she took a heavy cant and her bow went down clear...Head down, and that is the time when I saw her lights go out, all her lights. The next thing I saw was her poop. As she went down like that so her poop righted itself and I thought to myself, 'The poop is going to float.'”

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Then she suddenly took a top cant, her stern came well out of the water then...You know what I mean to say, she took a heavy cant and her bow went down clear...Head down, and that is the time when I saw her lights go out, all her lights.

Sam, could that have been the moment when the Titanic's longitudinal stability failed resulting in the sudden downward lurch of the bow, which then generated that 'wave'?

 

[Samuel Halpern]

Sam, could that have been the moment when the Titanic's longitudinal stability failed resulting in the sudden downward lurch of the bow, which then generated that 'wave'?

Yes.

 

[Lancastrian Navigator]

This animation is an excellent work which portrays the events of that night in exceptional detail, provided that you don't look above the horizon.

Given the 'decades of research and thousands of hours of programming and rendering' that was undertaken, did none of the authors consider downloading some free planetarium software to enable a realistic sky to be shown? After all, that would be the one part of the scene that is incontrovertible.