WHY DID IT TAKE TITANIC SO LONG TO SINK?!?! 

HATS OFF to the Titanic crew working so hard......risking and LOSING their lives to give the survivors as much time as possible to abandon ship......BRAVE MEN, RIP - you guys are THE true world Heros.

One thing that wasn't mentioned in this video. After Titanic sank, Olympic and Britannic were dramatically upgraded. They installed electric davits. They raised the water tight doors from E-deck all the way up to B-deck. They installed a double-hull. Titanic only had a double-bottom. After these upgrades, Britannic and Olympic could stay afloat even if 6 compartments were breached. The double-hull alone would have saved Titanic though since it only grazed the iceberg.

I think its amazing how we havent really forgotten about the titanic. Ive been obsessed since a child and i regularly go through my phase of obsession with this tragedy.

The crew keeping the lights on also saved lives. It helped passengers find there way through the ship to a lifeboat. Also kept power on to the wireless room so Harold Bride could continue to send distress calls out and kept the pumps running.

Boiler room 5 was the battleground of the sinking. All the efforts to save the ship were focused there. The crew knew that if they lost it, the battle was over and all they could do then was delay the inevitable. Ultimately, her sinking on a more or less even keel saved more lives. The incredible run of bad luck leading to the sinking was counter balanced by a run of good luck during the sinking. I agree with your sentiment, Titanic was built strong and that workmanship paid dividends that terrible evening.

To be fair, Titanic WAS a very safe ship. It held together for as long as it did with a fatal structural damage. Even though it isn’t “unsinkable” like some say it was claimed to be, it genuinely was built well and staffed with professionals. Any other staff or ship wouldn’t have lasted

One last thing, I find it amazing how close Thomas Andrews calculations for a time frame in the inevitable sinking of the ship when compared with the computer simulation and calculations. That really shows how well he knew that ship and also is a testament to the accuracy of calculations figured by computer models. Then how after more accurately estimating the data of the effects of all the weight from the coal transfer shifted the time estimates very close to the actual sink time. Just incredible.

Its was a silver lining that there was enough time for enough people to be evacuated. At least the bulkheads worked for a bit before the inevitable.

When I started going down this maritime history rabbit-hole, I was shocked to learn how fast it took for some ships to sink - Lusitania, Empress of Ireland, etc. Those ships hardly had time for the crew to get the lifeboats ready, for all they had enough lifeboats for all aboard. It seems like a longer sinking like the Titanic is more rare.

The part of the video I found most interesting was the part where you mentioned most ships capsize instead of spiking up towards the sky like the titanic did. Fitting that the most famous shipwreck in history, sunk in the most dramatic way possible.

You deserve more subs, Sam. Knowledge, honesty, and integrity.

Historically speaking, if I had a nickel for every preventable disaster that has occurred due to the thinking of "the chances of that happening are nearly impossible," then I'd have like all these nickels.

You are benefiting so much from this totally random barley related submarine tragedy. I've spent all day watching Titanic / Ocean Liner content.

The Titanic was said to have 3 anchors, one near the bow, one amidships, and one for the stern. The combination of each anchor and its chain was said to weigh about 1,000 metric tons. They say that the crew released the bow anchor and its chain into the ocean depths almost immediately. That makes sense. Otherwise, the extra weight near the bow of the ship would made the water overtop the watertight compartments near the bow faster. They say that the rear anchor and its chain was never let go. That made sense initially, since the principle of leverage meant that sagging in the stern from the weight of the stern anchor and its anchor chain would provide a little bit of lift to the bow. Toward the end, however, the extra "moment", the extra bending effect, was severe enough to help cause the stern to break off, severely degrading watertight integrity. They say that the middle anchor and its anchor chain was never let go. Not letting go of that extra 1,000 tons of weight could have been a mistake. With essentially no stern versus bow leverage effect like the leverage effect from retaining the stern anchor, that middle anchor and its chain was mostly a 1,000 ton load of metal making the whole length of the ship settle deeper into the water, including engine room number 5 with its vital pumping equipment. It is possible that engine room number 5, and the length of the ship as a whole, if sitting a just a little bit less deeply in the water, could have survived much longer, perhaps long enough for other ships to arrive to help with the pumping of water, and to help with the throwing of unnecessary weight into the sea, and with the rescue of passengers. Short version: The 3 anchors and their chains each had a considerable amount of weight. Whether or not to let go each individual anchor and its anchor chain had a considerable bearing on the story of how long Titanic lasted after colliding with the iceberg, as well as on the rupture at the stern just before Titanic sank. Perhaps someone should do a computer study someday on the effect of the decision making regarding releasing versus not releasing each of the ship's anchors after the collision with the iceberg.

I find it absolutely amazing that it just happened to play out the way it did with the repositioning of the coal to the port side and that she hit the berg on the starboard side. If she has hit the berg on the port side, she would have capsized no doubt. I also find it amazing that with that repositioning of the coal that the Titanic never rolled over. Even on her way to the bottom, she is still sitting upright on the bottom, both the bow and stern sections both upright. She went down in a very unusual way. I agree, ships don't usually sink the way the Titanic did. Most ships do capsize when they sink. Very unusual, but it's fascinating to me that she's still upright.

My heart goes out to the crew because they KNEW they were going to die while trying to save the ships passengers and they pressed on anyway. The mail crew died while trying to save all the mail for the passengers. HEROIC!!!! But the captain was warned in advance about the approaching ice berg field ahead but he refused to take evasive measures because he was so confident in the ships design and ability. Wow, just an epic but tragic experience.

Andrews said the ship would sink in about 1.5 hours after his inspection, and not after the impact. It probably took him 30-60 minutes to complete the inspection, so his calculation was correct.

Andrews did not say ship would sink in "an hour to an hour and a half" from the time of collision, but from time he'd finished his inspection and calculations, which was about 12:20am - making his total estimated time of sinking about two and a quarter hours.

Sam's passion for the Titanic is awesome. I love each and every one of his uploads. But at the end of them all I always have the same thoughts. Just staring at the floor blankly wondering why such a well built and beautifully crafted ship rests at the bottom of the Atlantic on it's first voyage. A labor of love gone with too many souls lost...

This is why I hate when people say "Titanic didn't have enough lifeboats". The crew barely had enough time to launch all the lifeboats with almost three hours of time! Even if Titanic had the full complement of lifeboats (48) 28 lifeboats would of been pulled down with the ship. I don't think people realize just how quickly most ships sink (Which makes Titanic even more fascinating)!

I used all of my strength, keeping her afloat, but alas the weight became too much even for the amazing fourth funnel

Thanks for the video...I've been fascinated by the Titanic since I was 8 years old...I'm 50 now!

Another great and informative video. Very well done. Keep them coming!

Thanks for going through the safety features of Titanic. They give better context to the assertions of the builders that the ship was "unsinkable". Too bad the confidence in these safety measures lead to hubris and a disaster that was thought impossible.

Some say the engineers were trimming the ship too. Maybe they were, maybe they weren’t. What is certain, though is they made the sea fight for every inch of the ship. A losing battle, for sure, and they knew it, but they didn’t go down without one hell of a fight. None of them survived, but they died buying time to get all but two of the boats away.

That was excellent. The list also slowed the sinking because damage was in shallower water. That same 3 degree list to port meant a list on the other side. Shallower water means less pressure, so perhaps it doesn't rush in with the same velocity had it been 10 feet deeper.

If you pull on that string, it opens a secret compartment on the Titanic which will reveal an embarrassing picture of Spongebob at the Christmas party! In all seriousness, excellent video man, I always enjoy your Titanic deep dives and I love the time and research you put into things. Edit: If the Titanic sank because she was badly built than Olympic would have sunk after her collision with the HMS Hawke and she would have sank after that torpedo struck her hull and left that huge gaping hole that no one noticed until she was in dry dock. These ships were well built, but they weren't designed to take that amount of stress. The fact that Titanic lasted as long as she did is a miracle, as you've stated, and people should acknowledge that as well.

There's a documentary, can't remember what it's called, but part of it focuses on what was happening down in Boiler Room #5. Part of the reason that the crew was able to hold the water back was because the iceberg didn't puncture the boiler room, but rather, the coal bunker in front of it. You could go as far as to call it "Titanic's Achilles heel". The thing with the coal bunker was that while it was containing the water, it wasn't built to be watertight. Eventually, the amount of water pressure in the bunker continued to build and build and build, until the bunker could no longer stand the amount of water pressure within. The coal bunker, in question, happened to be the same one that was on fire throughout the voyage. Whether or not the fire helped weaken the bunker is a question that can't really be answered. When it collapsed, I think it was around the same time, that as survivors described, Titanic took a very sudden dip deeper into the water. That was where the battle to save Titanic was eventually lost.

Hey Sam! Could you do a video commenting on clips from Titanic survivors? There are so many super cool videos of Titanic survivors talking about their experiences and I’d love to hear your commentary on their telling of the story. Great videos!! Keep ‘em coming!

Another well done video. You cover the facts accurately and comprehensibly once again.

Chappling renalds- A SHIP THIS BIG WOULD TAKE HOURS TO SINK

If you are USS Texas, you use you ballast pumps to give yourself a list in order to reach out further with your guns

Wow I haven’t checked back on this channel in a few months!!! When I was first here you had only like 2K subs… looks like you are blowing up! Glad you are still doing what you a passionate about!

They did a discovery channel or something special in 2012 and they basically came to the conclusion that Titanic itself didn't kill 1500 people, it in fact saved the 700+

And since then No one has ever called a ship Unsinkable.

Interesting that you mention that ships normally capsize. it made me think of lego ship parts that i had as a kid with air tanks the bottom that helped them float upright but they also hindered me when trying to replicate the titanic in the bathtub as the ship I built would always want to capsize.

Awesome videos, mate 👏 I’ve learned a lot by watching them 😊

Wow! For years when watching all these different documentaries on the Titanic , I often wondered myself why the ship did not capsize when the starboard compartments were breached so badly. I never knew about the situation with the coal being transferred to the port side of the ship, and now it all makes sense! You’re the first person I heard this from. Thank you very much for this wonderful explanation! It saddens me though to think that if they just put pumps in every single compartment what the possibility of keeping the ship afloat much longer would’ve been. May God have mercy on all the souls involved.

Damage control works very well if practiced regularly. There was a carrier in the Pacific during WW2 that was hit not once but three separate times. Because the crew was able to reduce the sustained damage, it helped turn the tide of the war in that theater.

hey! love you videos and streams been coming around for a long time now! i have learned so much and want to say thank you! also someday i would love to see historic travels tackle other kinda of travel from aviation like plane's and zeplin's to trains and everything in between!

I love your passion and insight. Thank you very much for this video! 😁

Excellent explanation as always!

I’m blaming you for completely switching all my RU-vid recommended videos to titanic stuff, lol. This channel is so addictive it should come with a warning label.

Imagine what would have happened if the ship did actually sink in an hour. A lot more lives would have been lost

‘You can’t change the laws of Physics, I *need* 30 minutes…..’ LCDR Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott

The Titanic's designers figured that the worst case scenario would be having a collision at the bulkhead itself, thus flooding two compartments. Also, kudos to those who kept the ship balanced so both sides could lower lifeboats. In other situations (Costa Concordia) the ship tilts to one side, rendering one side's lifeboats useless.

This man is the most knowledgeable Titanic historian I've ever come across.

It was the best-case scenario given the circumstances that were at play. The crew did a phenomenal job at keeping the power going and fight the flooding at the same time. Not often do those kinds of heroics happen in every sinking. These men were made of sterner stuff. They gave their own lives to combat the sinking so more people could get off safely. I don't think Titanic could've had for a better crew. Though that coal fire could've been a little bit of divine intervention. I've heard through numerous documentaries of SOME of the heroics done on Titanic, but not on the level of this. This was far more informative than any documentary I've seen. It gives you that spark of hope in the bleakest moments of a historical disaster. Great video, man.

Great video i learned so much. This show how much that grand lady fought back her dearh. She didn't want to die. But like you said she was put in a no win situation.

Jack could have floated on the door if Rose had stayed on the lifeboat.

I knew a guy that won his tickets for a ride on the Titanic in a poker game.

Easy listening and explained well.

It’s shows you the skills of the entire crew and all efforts the firemen and engineers did below deck and when you gonna do a video on warships that sunk ✌️

Superbly explained video. Thank you.

I've heard had Smith hit the iceberg dead on, instead of turning, it would have saved the ship, but ruined his reputation. Sure, the bow would be crumpled and she would not longer have been able to sail, but it wouldn't have gone down, right? This action would have ruined his reputation of course. He would be the man who "hit an iceberg" but he and everyone else would have lived..

You explained this very well!

I cannot remember if Sam had ever done a hypothetical video on this; if he did I forgot...but I just cannot help but wonder how different that night would have been, had the bridge crew *not* tried steering around the berg? Five years earlier, a German ocean liner (S.S. Kronprinz Wilhelm) had its own Titanic-esque incident, colliding with an iceberg. But the crew of that ship did not try steering around it; they took it head-on. Sure, front-ending the berg wrecked the bow and shook up everybody on board; but the ship did not sink. In fact, it completed its voyage to New York under its own power. Had Titanic's bridge crew done the same, only slowing the ship's roll but not altering its trajectory, how different would that voyage have been? I'm not quite so involved in maritime history as Sam is, but I strongly suspect that things would have been very different. Even if Titanic were so damaged that moving it would be risky without tug assistance, she might have still stayed afloat long enough for Olympic to to get there and take on Titanic's whole complement. On the other hand, had that night been different, then everything we learned about maritime safety likely would never have manifested...or if they did, it would have taken many more years.

Outstanding video and presentation.

Sam, could you do a video on the S. S. Vestris (1912)???

Excellent presentation! 👍👍👍👍

I always thought that 2 & 1/2 hours was a very long time for Titanic to sink. Imagine what you could actually do in that amount of time. Maybe watch a movie, take a small nap, and then hop on a life boat and paddle away, lol!

3:27 There's been a lot of big talk about those watertight doors that could be closed by just hitting a switch on the bridge. Only a few at the bottom of the ship could be closed that way; the rest had to be closed by hand

what if Birtanic or Olympic hit the ice berg exactly like Titanic? Would they have sunk - or would their updates have kept them afloat?

Thank you for your videos. I'm into this because I was in the Navy on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower CVN-69 in Norfolk, VA. Based on the new 3D images of the Titanic that were made up of 700,000 images, it shows the Titanic sitting on the floor of the ocean, but there is no damage from the iceberg strike. One expert believes the damage was on the bottom of the hull when the Titanic ran over the top of the submerged iceberg.

Another great and informative video. As a Long, long time Titanic buff I learned something new. I didn't know about the side closing doors. (watertight doors) As for Titanic's strength; she was still better built than most newer ships. Think " Costa Concordia" with that Captain....what was his name, Sam???

Go Sam go!!! Love the Titanic videos. You know what I would love to see? You totally geek out with another Titanic historian and just have a podcast like discussion . Now that would be cool. Talking about myths and questions still unanswered!!!!

The water tight compartments helped to slow the sinking, otherwise Titanic would have sank faster

Whenever i see anything about the titanic, i can't help but think about how mad or disappointed the people tgat worked like crazy to build it. All that blood and sweat, and it didn't make one trip.

Out of curiosity, what would've happened if the ship hit the berg head-on? Would she have sunk at all? Would she have stayed afloat for hours more? Or would it have not made a difference?

Great video. I do agree that the Olympic class is probably the most misunderstood class of vessel to ever sail very much because of the misfortune of Titanic, but Titanic was the reason as many people survived the disaster as they did. No...what sank Titanic was the hubris of her commanding officer prior to the collision.

Sam, another theoretical question for you. how much more time do you think they could have bought themselves if the combined tonnage from the 3 anchors and chains had been cut loose and dumped off the bow as soon as they realized she would sink? Surely this would have taken significant pressure off the bow and helped to slow the ingress of water. Also, was there any canvas on board that they could have attempted to patch a portion of the hull? I am always thinking about the various ways in which they could have possibly kept Titanic alive even just a little longer. These actions, in combination with the use of the pumps (which you stated already saved them about 15 minutes) and also the closing of the gangway door… even if it only saved them an additional 15 more minutes it could have potentially translated into more lives saved in the end. Also, when they realized Californian wasn’t responding, and Carpathia was 4 hours away, what if they had designated one lifeboat with a crew of recruited strong men and attempted to row halfway to the Californian and sent up flares from the boat.

Wonderful information - thank you.

Given the choice between an Olympic class ship and a modern cruise ship, I would take the Olympic class ship any time.

This is great information, even for me who has read a lot of books about titanic. Thank you.

Thomas Andrews did not help design Titanic, though he understood the ship well. He replaced an engineer named Carlisle who designed it leaving it to Andrews to complete and work out the bugs once completed.

funny how the coal fire somewhat saved the Titanic. while yellow journalism wants to picture the coalfire as a killing blow to Titanic and in some cases even as the cause of the sinking, not the iceberg....

If only the 5th not the 6th watertight compartment had been breached, how much more time would that have given the ship? Another 20 minutes perhaps? I’m also curious how much more time could have been savaged if all the portholes had been closed.

Another informative video and thank you. I plan to heed your advice and check out the link to the video you recommended. I love historical information documentation on just about every topic and there seems to be a never ending amount of material out there. 👍👍 and I will be checking out that video in roughly 3 minutes and 54 seconds.

Could the listing of the ship have contributed to the sinking by making the starboard side of the ship more exposed and closer to the iceberg?

It must've been a very thin breach in the hull. Actually, they could've gathered thick blankets from the ship, tied them tightly to ropes and lowered them down from the deck to below the waterline where the breach was to obstruct the incoming flow of water. That might have further delayed the sinking.

With that extra time if only the Californian had come to the rescue.

I like the Captain Picard-style 'Engage!' gesture you make!

The real question is how long would it have taken to flood if port hole windows were all closed

Thank you sooo much for this video! I understood a lot and it's exactly what you said at the end, a combination of things that made the sinking last for so long. Keep going!

Yes but what role did the string play in the sinking? Was string on the propellers the true culprit in Titanic's demise?? Discuss! Also you have an incredible opening animation, I love it so much

While watching I couldn’t help but think of that D deck door,really negligent leaving that open what with all that open space behind it and Scotland road directly under. I wonder if you could do a short clip on the D deck door and maybe speculate on the outcome if it was in fact closed? I bet it would’ve made a massive difference as it submerged before the bow I’m sure?? Great video Sam 👍👍

I have thought would more people have been saved if the Titanic went at full speed toward the closest ship after the collision? Of course it would have sunk faster but would it have made it close enough to the rescue ship so they could have saved more lives. Maybe you can make a video of this

Just love this Channel, from Ireland living about 60 Miles from Queens town as you would know it... thanks Sam🎉

Great content as always Sam! Would love some more Great Lakes ship wreck stories Ps: great haircut

i always did wonder why Titanic sank so evenly. Than you for giving a possible explanation of how/why she did so.

Great video 🎉 : & also it gave the dance band on the Titanic ,1 more chance to attempt to calm the passengers. But there is more research that suggests that the Titanic Just kissed the Starboard side against the iceberg ,yes opening a little but : bottomed out on an underwater shelf of the burg Causing water to enter from directly below. In such circumstances a vessel can settle & remain above for many hour's,In fact an officer of great experience judged that she had settled. This also explains the vertical drag on Titanic ,rather than a real pronounced tip over.Just a slight tip pressing down of the bow ,but essentially the ship 🚢, got lower & lower in the water ,without losing much shape.This contributed to the reluctance of the passengers to leave ,the bars & restaurants 😢

Imagine fighting a fire the whole time and finally putting it out, only for the ship to hit an iceberg....😐

Great video Sam but there’s one thing that most people don’t realize is that there was not six compartments damaged but there were actually seven compartments that was damaged by the iceberg. Let me explain as you know when an iceberg is floating on the ocean surface it is usually rotating due to the wind and current conditions at the time therefore it is absorbing radiation from the sun which makes some parts of the berg weaker than other parts due to melting of areas exposed to the sun’s heat longer than other areas of the berg and when enough ice is melted this shifts the center of gravity and the berg capsizes exposing the underwater portion called a blue or black berg to daylight. When the Titanic struck the iceberg it sent vibrations down the bergs side loosening those portions of the berg that was weakened by the sunlight, those portions broke away and while floating up to the surface impacted the Titanic’s double bottom hull plates in the area of the No. 4 boiler room causing the rivets to pop and allowing water to enter the No. 4 boiler room which made the No.4 boiler room the seventh compartment damaged by the iceberg. During both the British Board of Trade and the American inquires it was briefly mentioned by one of the firemen ( I can’t recall the eyewitness name right now ) who told the inquiry that he had seen water “coming up” from the deck plates which means water was entering the ship from below and not from the side!! Unfortunately the area in question is now buried in the silt and will never be visible even with sonar imaging technology but I do remember reading this somewhere about this fireman’s testimony and I believe this accounts for what happened in boiler room No. 4 If anyone has any other information about this I would really appreciate it. Thanks Sam and keep up the good work!!!! 👍👍

its amazing how in the titanic movie, what he just said was explained in a couple mins by andrews and watching the bridge close the water tight doors. Naturally they never said anything about shifting coal around or there being a fire.

Normally a breach on the hull of most ships usually on the holed side is where the ships leans into in the water and eventually rolls over and capsizes. The Empress of Ireland was holed on her starboard side where she rolled that side. Some say that the Titanic was holed more to the bottom of the ship to the keel than the side, hence her sinking upright. The inflowing water was balanced out by a number of factors as you mention with pumps etc. The Lusitania sank in a upright position but the ship was still moving after she was torpedoed, so i assume the in flow of water at speed balanced her out so she sank up right. Most probably quite a bit of science to ships sinking and the position they go down.

A true testament to titanic's excellent engineering

Historic Travels in my Opinion your the best Historic youtber ever😊🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Best explanation I've heard about the safety features.....thank you.

Great video Sam; I definitely didn't know all the information that was in the video. Especially with Thomas Andrews’s theory on how he thought that the Titanic was going list while sinking. It's very similar to the way Britannic sank. I always learn something new on your channel. Well done 🙂

New drinking game: Take a shot every time he says, "Titanic"