Break-up of the Titanic

Break-up of the Titanic
The Titanic breaking apart (By Ken Marschall)
Time	2:18 A.M.
Duration	2–60 seconds for the stern to smash into the water and 1-8 minutes for it to sink
Date	April 15th, 1912
Location	41° 43′ 32″ N, 49° 56′ 49″ W (North Atlantic Ocean)
Cause	Stress causing structural failure of the ship
Preceded by	The forward funnels falling, The Blackout
Followed by	Final plunge

“	I was 50 to 100 yards away, I would say, when she went down. I could not be exact, but about that. She broke in two. All at once she seemed to go up on end, you know, and come down about half way, and then the afterpart righted itself again and the forepart had disappeared.	”
—Quartermaster Arthur John Bright.

RMS Titanic breaking in half was an event during its sinking. It occurred just after the final plunge, when the ship suddenly broke into three individual sections, the stern settled down into the water, and the bow section sank beneath the surface.

Some survivors, such as Charles Lightoller, didn't see the break-up, as the lights suddenly went out, plunging the ship into darkness. However, others saw the huge silhouette of the stern come down to the water and saw the bow disappear.

The breakup was unknown to the common people before the wreck was discovered in 1985. Many questions were asked about the break-up. "Did the break-up occur in front of the third funnel or behind it?" "Did the bow raise itself up?" The wreck itself can confirm that it did happen, and it was caused by the excessive weight of the Titanic's stern coming out of the water. In the movie, the split happened behind the third funnel. In actuality, the ship parted both in front of and behind the third funnel, as The breakup of the RMS Titanic is one of the most infamous attributes of its sinking, and has been depicted and referenced in many ways in pop culture.

Break-up explanation

The breakup took place after 2:15 A.M. It started with the ship's plunging forward. Rumbling and metallic breaking then shook the ship. Soon the lights went out and the ship broke into two (possibly 3 or 4) pieces around the 3^rd funnel region. Since 1985, it's been debated how the break-up occurred.

Theory 1 — One-Piece Theory (1912–1985)

A Night to Remember (1958)'s depiction of the Plunge.

The ship reached an angle of 38-45 degrees when her lights went out at 2:18 A.M. She then quickly began her final plunge. After 3 minutes, at 2:20 A.M, the whole ship gently slid into the ocean, with mostly air bubbles causing any sort of dramatic effect; this was shown in all the movies. Despite plenty of survivors seeing that she broke in two, their stories were strangely enough not believed as truth in the inquiries, so it was perceived as sinking intact throughout history until Robert Ballard found the wrecks of the two sections of Titanic separated, in 1985.

Theory 2 — False Break and Top-Cant Break-Up Theory

Credit: Wolfric Rogers

After the collapse of the forward funnels, the final plunge sped up until water got into boiler room 2 with a roar. The amidship lights snapped out, creating a 'false break' illusion. Seconds later, the aft lights faded out, leaving only the dim emergency lights on, and the stern suddenly bucked high into the air as the bow plunged down, almost half-submerging the third funnel and knocking it back. There were two loud booms as the strain of the stern rising became too much and the Titanic began to tear apart both at the top and the bottom of the hull. The stern tried to settle back as the bow continued to rapidly swing down, the two halves connected to each other by the galley section - making it appear as if the after part stood up stationary for a few moments and a rumble sounded from within her. The galley section then parted from bow section, allowing the broken end of the stern section to resurface as the forward tower section tore away, floated momentarily, then sank. The stern section quietly righted itself and remained near horizontal for almost a minute.

Theory 3 — Low-Angle Sinking Theory

Credit: ShinGoji

The ship was at an angle of 14–18 degrees when her lights went out at 2:18. The ship suddenly snapped in two pieces, sending the sinking stern falling slowly into the water. Water surged into the bow and stern of the ship through the huge cracks, causing the bow to sink below the waves. The double bottom, still attached to both parts, pulled the stern to an angle of 6 degrees. Once at 6 degrees and the double bottom detached, the stern went vertical near 90 degrees and plunged.

Theory 4 — Cameron's 1995 Documentary and Movie Theory

Titanic Breaks Scene

Titanic breaking in half in the 1997 movie.

The ship was at an angle of 45 degrees when her lights went out at 2:17AM. The ship suddenly snapped in two pieces, sending the sinking stern crashing down into the water, creating a huge wave, killing people on the decks, and crushing people in the water that were under the stern when it broke in half. Water surged into the bow and stern of the ship through the huge cracks, causing the bow section to sink beneath the waves. The double bottom, still attached to the almost afloat stern, pulled the stern to a 90-degree angle, where it sat momentarily for a minute. Once the double bottom separated and the bow went down, the stern rose up, sat idle for a few seconds and then dove straight down beneath the waves.

Theory 5 — V-Split Theory

An accurate version of the V-break, next to the impossible and inaccurate V-break theory from Aaron1912.

The ship was at an angle of 11 degrees at 2:17AM. The ship then began to crack in front of the third funnel and break apart slowly. The stern fell back slowly five degrees into the water, and water poured through the crack. With this new flooding area, it increased weight in between the two sections, bending the two broken parts together. When the double bottom failed, it allowed water to pour in, pulling the ship into shape somewhat resembling a V, though the bow stayed fully submerged. The two parts tangled together and sank underwater together, until they separated underwater.

Another V-Break theory states that the bow had risen out of the water after the break. This has been alleged to be physically impossible due to the bow's mass. This theory was mainly promoted by YouTuber Aaron1912, a former Titanic enthusiast. His channel disappeared from YouTube, speculated to be for spreading false information. However, he's now back on YouTube under several different channel names including “Logan Dublin University” and "Aaron1912 Records & Research".

Theory 6 — No-Fall Theory

The ship was at an angle of 30 degrees when her lights went out at 2:18AM. The ship suddenly cracked to the double bottom but stayed in the upright position. The whole ship then sank underwater at 50 degrees in a straightforward direction, and the stern implodes, causing the two parts to separate underwater.

Credit: ShinGoji

Theory 7 — Fire / Boiler Explosion Theory

With any of the six previous theories, many survivors claimed to see a small explosion or a small fire occurring in the hull of the ship when she split in two. If this is true, the explosion was most likely caused by boilers exploding due to the breakup. If it was a small fire, it may have been caused by broken electrical wires snapped during the breakup, which showered sparks on flammable interiors. Sparks were reported to have flown upward.

Theory 8 — Roy Mengot Theory (a former engineer)

Picture from Titanic Animations "Roy Mengot Theory" Video.

The ship was at an angle of 20–23 degrees when her lights went out at 2:17AM. The ship suddenly snapped in two pieces, just around the third funnel, causing the stern to slowly settle into the water. The keel fails first, and the draft and lower hull is crushed and breaks apart. The only thing holding the ship together now is B deck. Water surged into the bow and stern of the ship through the huge cracks, causing the bow section to sink beneath the waves. B deck breaks and the superstructure beneath the 3rd funnel crumbles. The stern rises to the high angle of 70–90 degrees, where it then sinks and disappears beneath the waves. You can find more information at this video made by Titanic Animations.

Theory 9 — Titanic Honor and Glory Theory (2020)

The stern capsizing to port.

The ship was at an angle of around 26 degrees and when her lights went out at 2:19AM. The ship suffered a massive structural failure and the whole ship broke into 2 pieces. When the ship broke in half, all the funnels fell on to the port side, mainly because of the massive port list, The double keel is still connected, and the bow dragged the stern down, and eventually disconnected, the stern capsized to port. and the ship sunk in 2:20AM. Survivors like Charles Joughin (Baker) Also mentioned that he was walking on the hull of the ship.

Theory 10 — On A Sea of Glass Sinking

2021's On A Sea of Glass Sinking was the closest thing to what the survivors saw during the sinking (a self-proclaimed statement), with Tom Lynskey and The Historians working together, they revised and create a new theory which also included a new Break-Up Theory of the Titanic.

On A Sea of Glass, is a Book Written By Bill Wormstedt, J. Kent Layton and Tad Fitch ([1]Link To Book) it portrays and shows numerous survivor accounts and tells the story of how the Titanic went under.

The final plunge occurs at 2:16AM, the Titanic keeps rising and stress builds up on both keel and the structures above near the 3rd funnel base and the aft grand staircase. Bending and rumbling noises are heard at around 2:17AM. The ship begins to rise higher, as high as 23 degrees. As it reaches that angle, tension and compression stresses work on the ship bending it further; the cracks on the top run around the ship splitting it into sections; the keel pushes the engines up a bit making the ship split into 4 major sections (the Aft Tower, the Forward Tower, and the stern and bow halves). As the cracks finally meet the stern slowly settles back into the water, the ship initially breaks just in front of the 3^rd funnel.

The ship settles back.

(Referring to the picture or GIF on the right) Titanic, the stern sections with 2 other main sections (Aft and Forward Tower) settle back slowly on the water creating small splashes and waves. The emergency lights kick in, a massive cloud of sparks come rushing out near the break-up area (a fan-shaped eruption of sparks) as the stern settles back, massive groaning and straining noises do not stop. as heard and reported by survivors as well.

2:17AM The Break Up Events. THE FALL OF THE FORWARD TOWER

The ship emits a dark red flame-like glow as the emergency lights kick in; the remaining funnels fall at this point. As the stern settles back, additional strain around the aft expansion joint causes it to fail and the Forward Tower to break off and crash into the ocean causing people near the area to falling to their deaths; some may have mistaken it for being the engines falling out of the ship. The forward tower section falls to the ocean, crushing survivors down below, The aft tower remains only just attached to the stern section.

The stern settles back for about a minute before 2:18AM, at which it begins to rise again, being pulled by the keel, to a(n) 85–90 degree angle before vanishing at 2:20AM.

VIDEOS OF THE SINKING:

[2]ON A SEA OF GLASS - Titanic REAL TIME SINKING *HISTORIAN EDITION*

Theory 11 — Tower Destruction Theory

The stern falling into the water. You can see the two tower sections becoming unstable.

The ship reached an 18-degree angle with the water halfway up the Compass Tower. At 2:18AM, the ship's lights completely fail, and the ship's upper deck begins to form cracks. The hull in the split area begins bending and breaking apart. As the cracks grow larger, the upper 6 decks break apart. Now, only F Deck, G Deck, and the keel are holding the ship together. As Decks F and G break, the Forward Tower including a 1st class corridor, the 3rd funnel area, and the aft end of the lounge start collapsing to the port side. As the stern softly settled down while still being at a 10-degree angle, the cable wiring connecting the masts started snapping, it tugged on both the forward and aft masts making them collapse, the forward mast falling onto the port bridge wing and the aft one collapsing to the port side while still being connected because its base dug down to C Deck, causing it to hang from the port side of the stern. As the bow sinks, the third funnel crushes the Compass Tower and the 4th funnel falls and rolls off the side of the ship. As the bow starts pulling the stern down with it, the aft tower breaks from the stern due to the bow pulling on it. As the stern starts getting pulled up, the aft tower starts breaking apart, destroying the Aft Grand Staircase. As the stern rises up to a 75-degree angle, the bow finally breaks free from the stern. As the bow begins its descent, the stern stays above the water and starts going under while slowly going completely vertical. And at 2:20AM, the stern went completely underwater.

Theory 12 — Titanic Honor and Glory Theory (2016)

The ship reached 23 degrees when the lights went out and the ship breaks down to the keel. It splits in front of the third funnel and behind the already collapsed second funnel, sending the stern crashing down into the water. After that, the remaining funnels fall in opposite directions, with the third falling to starboard and the fourth landing on the boat deck. The bow sinks, pulling the stern with it, and then the double bottom fails, separating the already sunken bow from the partially sunken stern. The stern capsizes to port and begins to sink, becoming vertical just as it begins to slide under completely.

Theory 13 — Banana Peel/Park Stephenson Theory

The ship during the break-up. Notice that the ship is still listing to port at that point.

The ship reached a 23-degree angle as it starts to fractures down to the keel. The stern comes down while the double bottom acts as a hinge. The bow goes down to a 90-degree angle underwater when the double bottom fails, separating the bow and stern. The stern lists to port and begins to go under, becoming vertical just as it begins to slide under completely.

Theory 14 — Oceanliner Designs' theory

On April 15, 1912, Titanic's bow sinks below the ocean's surface, leaving passengers and crew in lifeboats and in the stern of the ship in distress. Baker Charles Joughin, who was in his cabin, hears a strange noise and assumes it is the steel members of the hull beginning to fail. The hull, like a giant lever, was beginning to hog badly under the strain, and only minutes were left before it snapped. The U.S. Department of Commerce report reveals that stress concentrations were not removed from the ship's architecture, such as hatch corners and engine room casings. As the decks flex and bend, stresses build up in these areas, leading to cracks and possibly the shell plating itself failing due to freezing cold water and air temperatures. The Titanic's lights go out, possibly due to severed steam lines serving the electric dynamos. The double bottom and keel are jack-knifed and bent upward, similar to the Schenectady 30 years later. The hull fails at the keel, causing the two sections of double bottom to compress together, breaking the forward engine cylinders' bed plates. The cracks radiating from the casings above focus on a section beneath the third funnel, causing the fractures to join as one. Titanic breaks violently and cleanly, with the double bottom clinging on for dear life. The Titanic's superstructure collapses due to the lack of support for its massive heavy structures. The forward tower, beneath the third funnel, breaks free and falls into the water, bringing pieces of the galley and the engine room casing with it. The stern tips up due to being open to the ocean. The double bottom finally separates, causing the ship to split into two major pieces. The exposed forward engine cylinders and their supports are severed by the jack-knifing double bottom. The aft tower and deck houses beneath the fourth funnel are also torn apart. The ship's heavy iron objects, including boilers and engine cylinders, land on the bottom, clumping below the ship. The double bottom sections flap down and separate, leaving the ship on the sea floor. The full video about it can be found here.

Theory 15 - An account based on 180 testimonies of what the eyewitnesses saw and heard:  3 stern rises with 2 breakings separating them.  First introduced by Bill Vanek in 2019.

At about 2:15 a.m., the ship is at 10 degrees down by the head, with a port list.  The ship suddenly plunges forward, causing it to simultaneously roll to an even keel and have the calm sea flood over the bridge railing on the starboard side, the flood appearing like a breaking wave going up the deck.  The ship's angle increases to about 13 degrees, which finally overloads the keel in compression, so that it fails in Euler buckling mode, where 2 pieces suddenly fold outward (downward) from the bottom, causing a tremble to run through the whole ship.   The ocean rushes in through the 75-foot-by-90-foot opening, blasting the air of those boiler rooms up through the ship, including blowing the smallest burning embers from the #2 boilers all the way up the third funnel before the boilers quenched.   With the keel pieces gone, the sides of the hull cannot carry the weight of the stern, so the hull and frames below deck C crush and break in compression for many seconds, sounding like a train on a steel bridge, a pressed-steel factory, and china breaking.   The superstructure, which had been under high tensile strain, snaps open within seconds--first the lounge ceiling and boat deck, then the lounge bulkheads, then the A deck, then the B deck bulkheads, sounding like a quick series of loud gunshots and making it look as if the ship has broken in two as if cut with a knife.   The stern is still attached to the bow at decks B and C, but the stern is bending down and doing crushing work on the back end of the bow, which slightly lifts the bow, causing the boat deck at Collapsible 'A' to come up out of the water for a moment--enough time to allow the people there to cut the ropes that held the boat to the falls. The bow immediately begins its second plunge (it’s basically the continuation of the first plunge which had gotten interrupted by the first breaking), but this time it continues to a high angle--more than 45 degrees--as the plunging bow pulls the buoyant stern down behind it, which puts the 4th funnel nearly on the water as the ship sticks 250 feet upward at a steep angle.  All lights go out during this lengthy plunge because of the loss of the boilers about half a minute before.   Once enough buoyant materials (air, wood, stores) have been forced below the surface by momentum, the resulting buoyancy halts this Big Plunge, and the damaged ship cannot hold together now that the pulling action has stopped. In the region of the 3rd funnel, all of the remaining decks and hull shatter in a 15- to 20-second-long cracking, smashing, rumbling noise that is mistaken for equipment falling or boilers exploding inside.   So the stern pivots down to almost horizontal again, while the rear end of the bow (actually the so-called “forward tower” piece at the 3rd funnel) is seen again when it tears away and plunges down.   The 320-foot-long stern piece slowly floods through its broken-open end for a couple of minutes, finally causing it to tilt up 100 to 150 feet in the air, almost perpendicular to the water, and causing it to rotate 180 degrees as it stands there for half a minute. Then it takes its third plunge.

Notable Quotes

Although it was denied that the Titanic broke by several survivors and both 1912 inquiries, quite a number of survivors were certain that the ship broke up as it sank.

“After the crash came, the Titanic reared and half stood on end. She settled back again and filled rapidly and pitched on end again. Just before she sank, the big ship stood upright for four or five minutes. The lights flashed out, then came on again as the vessel partly righted herself.” – Anonymous woman, unknown class

“We were aware of the foundering of the ship when we saw the lights extinguished. The Titanic lurched heavily in the air and seemed to collapse.” – Multiple anonymous survivors, unknown class

“Just after the lights were out on the ship, there was a deadly silence for a minute. Then there were groans and cries as the ship parted in two just aft of the third funnel, counting from the bow.” – Anonymous man, steward

“I saw the Titanic crack in half and sink, grinding several hundred people to death as it jack-knifed and plunged down.” – Thomas McCormack, steerage passenger

“Just before she [the Titanic] disappeared, there was a rumbling inside the ship like an earthquake. Then the stern settled back a bit, and she went down so slowly and quietly that there was no suction or commotion in the water at all. I think the noise we heard was that of the boilers and engines breaking away from their seatings and falling down through the forward bulkheads. At the time it occurred, the ship was standing nearly upright in the water, with her stern in the air and the forward part as far as the after-funnel underwater.” – Samuel Rule, steward

“As the slope of the decks became even greater, there was an increasing amount of noise, from the people still onboard, from loose articles sliding along the decks, and from the boilers as they eventually tore loose from the ship’s body and fell through the length of the hull. Then, for a short time, she seemed to hang almost vertically as if suspended from the sky with her stern clearly above the water. We all seemed to hold our breaths for what we knew would be the end of that fabulous liner that had been our home for just a few days. It appeared to me then that she broke in half before the stern slid slowly, steadily, even gracefully, to follow the bow below the surface of the calm Atlantic Ocean.” – Eva Hart, second-class passenger

“After you left her [the Titanic], her bow continued to go under? Settled down; yes, sir. She went down as far as the after-funnel, and then there was a little roar, as though the engines had rushed forward, and she snapped in two, and the bow part went down, and the after-part came up and staid up five minutes before it went down. Was that perpendicular? It was horizontal at first, and then went down. What do you mean by saying she snapped in two? She parted in two. How do you know that? Because we could see the after-part afloat, and there was no forepart to it. I think she must have parted where the bunkers were. She parted at the last, because the after-part of her settled out of the water horizontally after the other part went down. First of all, you could see her propellers and everything. Her rudder was clear out of the water. You could hear the rush of the machinery, and she parted in two, and the after-part settled down again, and we thought the after-part would float altogether.” – Edward Buley, able-bodied seaman

“Everybody rushed to the stern of the ship. You could see them climbing and clinging to the higher places. Suddenly, the Titanic gave a frightful lurch. Hundreds of those on the stern were pitched into the air. They looked like a swarm of bees; little and black. Then the Titanic broke, snapped in the middle and the boilers blew up and the engines dropped out with a frightful noise. She sank practically in two pieces, broken directly in half.” – ‘Albert Smith’, steward

“There was some sort of an explosion just about 2 o’clock, or shortly after I had gone overboard. It was not until this explosion, the nature of which I do not know, that the lights went out. They had been fed by steam from oil boilers. The explosion caused a break in the ship just aft of the third funnel. The forward section went down bow-first. The after-part then seemed almost to right itself and we thought she might keep afloat.” – Alfred White, greaser

“I was ordered into a boat, and we rowed off a little way from the ship, and watched her go down. She had been struck forward, and started to fill up forward, so that the stern rose out of the water. Then when she had sunk to the bridge, she broke in halves. The forward end sank immediately, but the after-part righted itself, and for a moment we hoped that she would still float.” – William Nutbean, fireman

“As we drifted about the ocean, the Titanic slowly settled in the water. The bow settled first, and the forward boilers blew up. I do not believe the after boilers exploded. As the bow went down, the stern raised up until at last the rudder was more than 40 feet above the surface of the sea. Then the ship broke in two between the middle funnels and the bow disappeared.” – Frederick Hoyt, first-class passenger

“We were about a mile away when the Titanic went down. The bow went into the water first. There was a terrible explosion as the water reached the boilers, and then she blew up and sank slowly.” – William Carter, first-class passenger

“When the machinery dropped, the Titanic’s stern stood straight up, 200 feet or more into the air. I was clinging to the rail, about seventy feet above the water. Then the stern dropped back to a horizontal position.” – Edward Dorking, steerage passenger

“While I lay floating on the bundle of chairs, there came another terrific explosion, and the ship seemed to split in two. There was a rain of wreckage, and a big piece of timber fell on me, striking my lifebelt.” – Augustus Weikman, barber

Gallery

One of the first depictions of the breakup, featured in the Chicago Daily Tribune, April 19th 1912.

One of the first depictions of the breakup, featured in the Providence Evening Bulletin, April 19th 1912.

One of the first depictions of the breakup, featured in the Kansas City Post, April 19th 1912.

An illustration by Henry Reuterdahl for the Illustrated London News, May 4th 1912. It is apparently based on an account of Frederick Hoyt.

Break-up of the Titanic' in the 1996 Miniseries Titanic

Break-up of the Titanic in Titanic (1997)

Break-up of the Titanic in The Legend of the Titanic (1999). Tentacles holds the Titanic together.

Break-up of the Titanic in Titanic: The Legend Goes On (2000)

Break-up of the Titanic in the 2012 Miniseries Titanic

Exploding and breaking of the Titanic

Lewis Skidmore's sketch of the Titanic sinking. It is based on the testimony of Jack Thayer, though he claimed that Archibald Gracie inspired it.

Fall of The Forward Tower (ON A SEA OF GLASS)

Stern Settling Back (ON A SEA OF GLASS)

On A Sea Of Glass break-up diagram (from book)

Full version of thee Kollected, National Geographic

The Banana Peel theory if the ship was even itself.

Titanic breaking in Titanic: Honor and Glory in 2023

"The Big Plunge" diorama, showing the ship at the moment the second breaking began.

Robertha Watt's sketch of the break on her 1963 letter to Walter Lord. It's a basic and exaggerated timeline of the Titanic breaking and the stern coming down.

Trivia

• The breakup was first seen in media in the 1996 Miniseries Titanic, as the discovery of the wreck had confirmed it by the release of any prior material.
• It was originally thought that the Titanic sank in one piece until 1985 when the wreck was found.
• Theories 10 and 12 may have been the most likely ways the ship split and sank.
• A 2009 video game titled Hidden Mysteries Titanic erroneously states that the ship broke in half at 1:30.
• It was thought that the Titanic have broken either right behind the third funnel, right in front of it, or right under it.
• Both theory 2 and theory 5 are the only ones to explain the "top-cant" that survivors said the stern took during the breakup.
• Titanic may have had a few lights on after the break-up (via emergency dynamos). However, this is hotly debated and likely isn't true.
• The ship broke into 4 main sections - the bow section, stern section, forward tower, and aft tower.
• Titanic had a slight port list after the break-up, likely due to the loss of the forward cylinder of the starboard engine.
• The most specific accounts of the break-up come from aft-port and forward perspectives, despite there being more accounts from other points of view, but these severely lack detail in comparison.

Sources

1. _{https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/the-titanic-break-up.html}