
Arun Vajpey
Member
When the Titanic broke-up, the inter-deck spaces in the stern were exposed to the sea which would start flooding in very rapidly. But could the several bulkheads between the exposed area and the extreme aft section of the broken stern have temporarily slow down the flooding? If so, in those 20 or 30 seconds, the water-laden and sinking bow dragged down on the stern section at the still attached keel, forcing the stern into a near upright position. When that happened, would not any trapped air in the stern section displace to the extreme aft part? Then, when the stern itself started to sink, a lot of this air would escape through open portholes and other exposed spaces allowing water to flood in, but in the central-rear areas without an outer ‘hull wall’ might air be trapped a bit longer due to a “dive bell effect”? If so, could someone trapped in such spaces have remained alive for another 1 or 2 minutes after the stern sank beneath the surface before becoming overwhelmed by the flooding and/or implosion?