LAST EDITED ON Apr-14-08 AT 06:51 PM (EDT)
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/science/15titanic.html?ex=1365912000&en=56cd673d51f43234&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

This may get moved, but since the Great Ship features so heavily in NXE, I thought people'd enjoy reading the article.

It looks like Harland and Wolff seriously skimped on the rivets used in the construction of Titanic and her sisters - going with 3 bar iron (instead of 4 bar or steel) in the bow and stern, and only using the higher quality rivets at the heavier stress points because of shortages.

The NY Times article goes into more depth, but I thought it was pretty fascinating, especially the explanation that they found the seams where the hull was breached -stopped dead- right where the riveters switched from 3-bar iron to steel. It does seem likely that better rivets would have either kept her afloat, or at least made her sink much, much slower...