[Raticon]

On the other hand, those ships like the oceal liners and aquitania were not made to withstand mines or torpedoes. Witnesses from torpedoed liners tell stories about supposedly "waterproof" sealed doors and compartments flooded in no time, with sub-par bolts and welding being a main culprit to this fact.

Ocean-liner companies also tried to limit costs by using sub-par steel-qualities and cheat with thinner beams and a weaker keel for example. Of course, not all cheated like this but some did. Hence some ships could survive several direct hits by being extensively protected and reinforced while some sunk like rocks after single hits with either mines or torpedoes.

WW1-era ships still in service in WW2 mimic this really well i believe. Those ships are by now almost 30 years old (in-game terms) and built to, at least at some degree, survive WW1-style ordnance and explosions. A modernized explosive could easily tear a WW1-vessel to bits as it wasn't built to withstand such forces in the first place.

As a reference, Using GWX 3.0 i managed to sing the HMS Royal Oak with 1 (one!) standard torpedo in 1939 with a Type II-D Submarine. Hit right in the fore of the ship. I have tried firing at modern ships of the time with little or no success. The Royal Oak was a WW1-era Battleship built in 1914 and a serious hit from a ww2-era torpedo would easily smash that thin plating (She was widely critizised for havin too weak hull even by WW1 standards to iprove speed)

I find all these happenings plausible. The Passenger/Cargo may resemble a modern-type wartime cargoship built with the expressive thought of being able to withstand severe punsihment. Who knows?