THE TITANIC AND LUSITANIA - A FINAL FORENSIC ANALYSIS

This paper represents the final forensic analyses concerning the losse s of the passenger liners RMS Titanic and Lusitania based on photograp hic and other evidence taken front their wreck sites. It will detail t he role of brittle fracture and notch sensitivity in the Titanic's ste el plates that contributed to her loss on 14-15 April 1912 and the pos sibility of a similar occurrence in the Lusitania The conclusions reac hed here are based upon six expeditions to the Titanic wreck site over a period of nine years, commencing with the Ballard-Michel Expedition in 1985 cmd ending with the 1994 IFREMER Expedition. The Lusitania an alysis will reveal what brought about her loss on 7 May 1915, based up on the Ballard Expedition of 1993 and our own research into her loss, propulsion plant, and hull design.