The tear in the ship

The tear in the bow takes a cross section of the key interior elements of the ship. Though the decks collapsed, the roof of the 1st class lounge is still 50 feet (16 meters) above the mud. That's 5 stories up and the slope climbs to 10 stories!

In the break-up, the keel buckled under the aft edge of #2 boiler room (lower portion of the picture) and the bulkhead and coal bunkers disappeared into the debris field.

The imprint of the 3rd funnel uptake in the broken decks appears clearly in the WHOI photos and video. The walls inside the uptake were pulled out. The rest of the decks broke relatively even along the forward part of the uptake.

Deck by deck

Simply talking about the areas on the ship caught in the tear provides a rich description of the machinery and lavish accommodations that made Titanic special. For more details and schematics:

An overview of the tear area shows how the decks collapsed.

The boiler room with surrounding G-deck was the mechanical heart of the ship. The boilers remain in place.

F-deck was the center of life for the 3rd class in the dining saloon.

E-deck was a mix of crews quarters on the port side, and first class cabins on the starboard side.

D-deck was the 1st class dining saloon. No suit, no tie, no service!

B and C decks contained the finest suites afloat. Suites caught in the collapsed decks are destroyed but perhaps the belongings of the passengers quartered there hold secrets in the debris field.

A-deck poses an odd mystery. It had the promenades on the sides and the 1st class lounge in the middle. Note in the photo that A-deck has a wide 'swoop' up to the shell plate on both sides but collapses in the middle with the other decks. It's the only deck still attached to the sides and is key to the ship appearing as it does.

This area is not well explored due to the danger. The current apparently drifts toward the wreckage and poor visibility from a sub means you have to get close to see anything. A loss of power by a submersible or a little disorientation by the pilot could land you in the tangle!