My question is this: what if Titanic had hit the iceberg head on and the shock had been transferred all throughout the ship? The consensus among engineers is that this would have popped rivets and pipes (the Titanic had a high sulfur content in its metal and it didn't due to well in the cold) and flooded the whole ship very quickly. Let's say every compartment below the waterline quickly floods, knocking out power before the Titanic can get a wireless message off. The ship sinks in 10-15 minutes (this seems to have been very possible in this scenario based on the limited research I've done), but since the leaks are throughout the ship and power is out it goes straight down, catching everyone on board by surprise. It goes down with all hands; there are no survivors.
By itself, this is a mass death scenario, and I don't want to be tasteless, but I think it is plausible and I'm curious about the effects of this event. What happens when the ship doesn't arrive in New York for several days and people realize she's gone? How could she be searched for? What are the effects on safety regulations given that the lifeboat deficiency won't become known? Would anyone ever be able to find it?
My main question though is how it would be perceived in popular culture. The Titanic would probably be even more iconic IATL, but in a Bermuda Triangle kind of way.