Will it sink, or not? That is the question . . .

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

The Titanic for example had numerous compartments but the lack of closing the bulkhead doors after the iceberg gashed a hole in the side allowed for flooding of unaffected compartments.

Actually the reason the Titanic flooded to sinking wasn't the failure to close the bulkhead doors. It was because the bulkheads didn't fully extend all the way up. The first five compartments were opened to water from the impact (not a gash, actually; the freezing cold temperature of the water made the sulfer-rich steel extremely brittle, and the hull more or less fractured rather then being torn and gashed). With those five compartments flooded, it made the Titanic so bow-heavy that the interior water level crested compartment five, flowing over the top of the bulkhead into compartment six which, in turn, overflowed into seven, etc. etc. etc.

Had just four of the five compartments flooded the Titanic would have remained afloat. And had it rammed the iceberg bow-on instead of bumping along the side, it would have remained seaworthy and made port under its own steam.