Three conditions were examined. It was determined that the stresses in the hull were at a sufficient level to have caused the ship to commence breaking apart at the surface. The analysis also showed that there were very high stresses in the region of the main deck and superstructure, as well as in the keel. They were displayed in the Discovery Channel production. Stresses are shown using a color scale.
Blue areas represent relatively low stresses, while red represents the most highly stressed areas.
The first image represents the ship as it sits intact in still water. As her designers intended, the water supports the ship's weight evenly along the length. The second image represents the condition the ship would have been at when the first three compartments flooded. Stresses in the bow are generally higher than they were in the still condition. The last image shows the condition of the ship just before it sank.