Three-fourths of the iceberg lay unseen beneath the calm ocean surface. When the Titanic swerved, it brushed the iceberg's underside on the starboard side of the bow, slitting a quarter of an inch wide opening more than 300 feet down the side of the vessel. Like a titanic can opener, the iceberg knifed open the side of the iron hull. The damage was just enough to cause the metal plates to buckle so that six watertight compartments began taking in sea water.
So scientifically had this great sailing ship been constructed, with 16 watertight compartments in a 1/6 mile long hull, that the captain had made a pre-voyage boast, "Not even God himself could sink her". The builders had calculated that even if four of the compartments should burst, the ship would still float! But on that starry night, six of them exploded and began to suck in the frigid water of the North Atlantic! Mathematically, the "unsinkable ship" was mortally wounded. And, in two hours she was gone. Commander Lightoller, one of the few crew members who survived the tragedy, described the moment she sank.
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