@godfoca
Hi, scuba diver here. One thing you sort of glazed over when talking about hydrostatic pressure is that humans are normally buoyant at the surface, but once you go down ~10m, most people become negatively buoyant under the water column, so if you get pulled in "a little", you might get to a point where you no longer float, leading credence to the idea of people being sucked in by the ship. (Also, black water—aka open ocean at night—is a little disorienting in itself. It's very easy to lose the sense of what is up and down if you don't have clear references. You could be trying to actively swim "up" while you were swimming down all along.)
@applejacks971
We were taught in the Army that once in the water, go limp and you will float to the surface. The more you fight and struggle the more you sink. Also being disoriented you can actually be swimming down and not up. Its hard not to panic when you hit the water, but gotta stay calm.
@George-h3q6h
John Thayer's book about his survival was printed in 1940. He and a friend were sitting along the railing when they decided they would leave the ship. His friend slid down the side of the ship and was never seen again. Thayer jumped out as far as he could and that made a lifesaving difference. On the other hand the ship's baker, Charles Joughin, was at the the very back of the ship and was the very last person to leave the ship as he literally went down standing atop the stern . He said there was no suction at all; he barely got his hair wet according to his testimony.
@solandri69
Ted Briggs, one of the 3 survivors of the HMS Hood, says he was sucked down with the ship, then suddenly blown upwards to the surface (probably by an escaping air bubble disrupting the water circulation). I suggest watching his interview. From a fluid flow standpoint, certain shapes can create a recirculation zone, where even though the fluid is flowing past the object, a part of that fluid recirculates and stays "stuck" behind the object. A person trapped in that zone would indeed be sucked down with the ship.
@pop5678eye
Here is another debunk: despite the fame of how the Titanic went down most ships sink by capsizing and they do so much quicker. If anything the Titanic survivors can be much thankful how long Titanic held up and that the ocean was calm that night. Lifeboats at the time weren't meant for long survival in rough seas. They are only meant to transfer passengers to rescue vessels. To this day lifeboats have limited use under rough conditions which is why captains are reluctant to order 'abandon ship.'
@masudashizue777
I once saved myself from drowning by assuming the dead man's float position. It's a lifesaver.
@dusty3913
Haha….they could just post signs that say “Poo water” and no one would go near it.
@abrahamedelstein4806
There are some hydrodynamic effects that weren't accounted for but however you slice and dice it, the effect of ships pulling men under is real.
@d3hnc
Okay great points, however, can we now hear the testimonies of people who were sucked down and never resurfaced?
@saltyroe3179
My 99 year old dad who was an engineering officer on Liberty Ships in WW2 observed many ships sink. Some of his comments were: - he was to shut the engines, this was to stop the props from spinning. - on steam Ships the boilers might explode
@theshifty46
When a submerged object moves down in the water, water has to move in to fill the space where that object was. That movement of water is due to a reduced pressure behind the sinking object, i.e. a "suction". The same thing can be observed by a car driving behind a truck on the freeway or a cyclist drafting behind another cyclist. They experience both reduced drag and a pulling force from the fluid air moving in to fill the space behind the moving object. In the case of the water, lower pressure does not equate to lower fluid density. So the reduced drag effects wouldn't happen behind a sinking ship, but the suction still would.
@mikesarno7973
They interviewed survivors and found no evidence of suction. What's wrong with this methodology?
@randomized4368
4:19 & 8:48 in both cases water won't fill completely, you forgot about air cavities. 12:40 It's not a suction so to speak but a strong rush of current as the result of water displacement and turbulence that will pull you down. Also remember it was only the survivors that said there was no suction which means if there was, they wouldn't live to talk about it.
@seldonplanB-24
Let's not forget the most frightening sinking of them all, the HMS Victoria. Her screws were spinning vigorously as she went down so the cavitation (bubbles) actually drew sailors INTO THEM as she plowed vertically into the seafloor. Proper nightmare fuel
@mal2ksc
As someone who once received a lifeboat pilot certification from the U.S. Coast Guard, they very clearly instructed us to get away from the sinking ship even if there were survivors in the water who could use our assistance, lest we all get dragged under by the suction. Also, even a still-floating lifeboat can be deadly if it's swamped. The occupants are still susceptible to hypothermia from the water. The relatively mild waters off the west coast of California and Mexico (where I trained) are still cold enough to kill in less than 24 hours -- often in less than 12 hours. And if you die in a lifeboat, they're going to chuck you in the sea as you provide a hazard to the survivors not just due to being a corpse, but you're also literal dead weight that makes the boat sit lower in the water, making it more likely to swamp.
@albertomunoyerro5562
Video really starts in 12:34 everything before that are wrong theoires that they say and then prove wrong.
@davidb4192
Wearing a flotation aid such as a life jacket would make all the difference in this situation. I imagine that a weak swimmer could easily perish in water which is aereated and/or unstable. It would only take one mouthful of water going into the lungs to cause outright panic and thrashing around which wouldn't help the situation. If I was on a sinking ship, the best bet would be to jump overboard as soon as possible and try and swim away before it sinks properly, but there again, if it's a big drop it might knock you out if you hit the water wrong. It must have been absolutely terrifying for those trapped inside the Titanic when it went under.
@KSd9394j4h
Astounding that the air bubbles change density of water only so little, considering the stories of huge ships sinking after a methane outburst underneath them...
@philiphumphrey1548
Charles Lightoller, Titanic's second officer was sucked down in the area next to the bridge when that went under, a few minutes before the Titanic actually sank. Two of the three survivors of the battleship HMS Hood reported severe suction and being dragged down a long way as she went down. Possibly not helped by the fact the ship was doing 28 knots when she exploded and sank within about 3 minutes. The forward rush through the water probably created severe turbulence around the hull.
@DebunkedOfficial