Large Liner sank with one torpedo?

[Krauter]

Originally Posted by cardiff

The most likely cause was coal dust, the ark royal was sunk with 1 torpedo, the tahio (japanese aircraft carrier) was sunk with 1 torpedo, ww1 dreadnaughts were sunk with 1 torpedo, etc etc.

The only problem I see with this statement is that there is a reason behind taiho's sinking due to one torpedo. Yes one torpedo did indeed hit it (and it subsequently sank from the actions that followed thereafter), but it was not from the damage inflicted by only this torpedo that sank it. Rather a combination of poor damage control (venting fumes from the breached fuel tanks throughout the ship which in effect created a time bomb) and bad timing (one spark = kaboom) that resulted in the sinking of Taiho.

Also, you cannot compare the sinking of a WWONE dreadnought/battleship to the sinking of a WWTWO battleship/battlecruiser, etc because the armor schemes, torpedo warheads, damage control techniques, all of it, was different in the two wars.

If you're going to tell a story, tell the whole story or not at all.

[cardiff]

Well the story is that large ships can be sunk with 1 torpedo whether ww1, ww2 or any other war. The lusitanias sinking was aided by open port holes, Tahio by poor damage control and similarly the Ark Royal. If the situation is right (or wrong if you are a sailor) then all ships can sink with semingly low damage. Britanic also sank under conditions it was meant to survive, a single mine or torpedo would not have been enough to founder the ship yet it did. Lusitania was built as a ship that could be converted to a armed cruiser, with money loaned from the goverment to cunard, so that in times of war the ships could be requisitioned.

[Tigershark624]

Wasn't the Shinano sunk with one torpedo, seventeen hours after being struck? I'm referring to the sister of the Yamato and Musashi that was converted to an aircraft carrier (in case I got the name wrong). Of course, she left port unfinished, with open holes in the watertight bulkheads where conduit was supposed to be.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Tigershark624

Wasn't the Shinano sunk with one torpedo, seventeen hours after being struck? I'm referring to the sister of the Yamato and Musashi that was converted to an aircraft carrier (in case I got the name wrong). Of course, she left port unfinished, with open holes in the watertight bulkheads where conduit was supposed to be.

Nope, four torpedoes, of six fired. And because she was unfinished she was running shallow, which caused all four to hit right on the seam between the anti-torpedo bulges and the hull, which made it worse.

[Tigershark624]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Nope, four torpedoes, of six fired. And because she was unfinished she was running shallow, which caused all four to hit right on the seam between the anti-torpedo bulges and the hull, which made it worse.

Ah, thanks for clearing that up.