But pictures from the explorations suggest that there had been an explosion in one of the coal bunkers, as that particular part of the hull is not caving in, but bursting out.
This old Norfolk boy is a bit dim on technical bits and pieces. But as the Titanic was at full steam ahead, so the boilers were at full pressure.
Surely this pressure had to escape somewhere?
Coal can be a real problem when stored in bulk.
http://www.hss.energy.gov/publications/esh_bulletins/BULL0094.html
Which bunker was it?
If it was an empty or half empty bunker then when the ship went down and the boiler fire doors split open then an explosion of coal dust could have happened.
It is known that bunker no 6 was already on fire.
A Lesson Learned from the Titanic
Deep-seated coal fires are not a new problem. J. Dilley, survivor of the
sinking of the TITANIC, reported to following:
The TITANIC sailed from Southhampton on Wednesday, April 10, 1912,
at noon. I was assigned to the TITANIC from the OCEANIC, where I
served as a fireman. From the day we sailed the TITANIC was on
fire, and my sole duty, together with eleven other men, had been to
fight that fire. We had made no headway against it.
The fire started in bunker No. 6. There were hundreds of tons of
coal stored there. The coal on top of the bunker was wet, as all
the coal should have been, but down at the bottom of the bunker, the
coal had been permitted to get dry.
Two men from each watch of stokers were told off, sir, to fight that
fire. The stokers, you know, sir, work four hours at a time, so
twelve of us was fighting flames from the day we put out of
Southhampton until we hit the iceberg.
No sir, we didn’t get that fire out, and among the stokers there was
talk, sir, that we’d have to empty the big coal bunkers after we’d
put our passengers off in New York and then call on the fireboats
there to help us put out the fire. But we didn’t need such help.
It was right under bunker No. 6 that the iceberg tore the biggest
hole in the TITANIC, and the floor of water that came through, sir,
put out the fire that our tons and tons of water had not been able
to get rid of.
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