I was wondering if the designs of Lusitania and Titanic would have allowed each to survive the ghastly fate of their opposite number? Would Titanic have survived a single torpedo hit from U-20? Could Lusitania have stayed afloat after the collision with the iceberg?
IIRC, Titanic's design would have limited the flooding caused by a single torpedo hit to one or two compartments; she could stay afloat with up to four of those compartments flooded. This does leave aside the question of what exactly the hell Lusitania was carrying as war cargo across the Atlantic. Titanic's main cargo holds were in the bow of the ship, forward of where the torpedo would have struck, so even if she were carrying volatile stores, these may not have detonated. Even if she does sink, she seems more likely to sink relatively evenly, probably allowing for greater preservation of life.
Lusitania, on the other hand had a longitudinal bulkhead system which would have possibly limited flooding to a few starboard compartments, allowing her to stay afloat, albeit with the mother of all lists. She was also constructed of high tensile steel instead of Titanic's mild steel, which may have limited the damage caused by the iceberg to a certain extent in the first place. Overall the consensus is that Lusitania was rather better built and designed than the Titanic. On the other hand, there's the argument that Lusitania would have rolled over and sank even more quickly than Titanic given the same circumstances.
IIRC, Titanic's design would have limited the flooding caused by a single torpedo hit to one or two compartments; she could stay afloat with up to four of those compartments flooded. This does leave aside the question of what exactly the hell Lusitania was carrying as war cargo across the Atlantic. Titanic's main cargo holds were in the bow of the ship, forward of where the torpedo would have struck, so even if she were carrying volatile stores, these may not have detonated. Even if she does sink, she seems more likely to sink relatively evenly, probably allowing for greater preservation of life.
Lusitania, on the other hand had a longitudinal bulkhead system which would have possibly limited flooding to a few starboard compartments, allowing her to stay afloat, albeit with the mother of all lists. She was also constructed of high tensile steel instead of Titanic's mild steel, which may have limited the damage caused by the iceberg to a certain extent in the first place. Overall the consensus is that Lusitania was rather better built and designed than the Titanic. On the other hand, there's the argument that Lusitania would have rolled over and sank even more quickly than Titanic given the same circumstances.