Someone wrote on Twitter; the hull of Titanic was 25mm hardened steel, the hull of an icebreaker is 25-75mm hardened steel. Did you know that steel actually is harder than ice?
So is the damage to the Titanic inwards from ice or outwards from an explosion? I guess tourists taking trips to see the wreckage is a thing of the past now.
Just an add on, Hardened steel can also be very brittle unless it undergoes a normalization process. "Hardening" doesn't always yield a stronger material. Now there has been discussions in regards to a fire in a coal storage bunker that went unchecked that could have weakened the structure by effecting the steels composition, done nefariously for the future sinking of the ship? Yes, maybe
One of the documentaries about the titanic did have the same info about the steel of that period in time was definitely not as hard as todays US steel. I’m sure your info is correct!
Yes definitely, The alloys of today and heat treating processes is a science in itself. I think the information I had read in regards to the coal fire that broke out while the ship was being transferred to the port of departure. Specifically looked at the rivets that held the sheet steel of the hall together, it speculated they had been inadvertently annealed in the fire leading to them becoming softer and more ductile. This lead to their ultimate failure during the main sinking event. In saying all that, I still believe the sinking to be intentional.