Roger Long wrote:
"cavelamb himself" wrote
Since you have studied this incident so long, has anyone ever considered
the effect of the temperature of the water on the fracture strength of
the steel uesd to build the hull?
Yes, and it certainly had a bearing on the details of the event but not the
big picture. She might have broken at 15 - 16 degrees instead of 10 - 12 if
it had been on a summer day.
AH, yeah.

Thos balmy summer days in the Norht Atlantic..
I think he probably meant considerably warmer waters.
In his book "Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down", J.E. Gordon
analizes the changes in physical properties that the near freezing water
would have had on the steels of teh day.
Great book. I have read it although quite some time ago.
Why does that no surprise me?
--
Roger Long