Sinking of the RMS Titanic the hull plates. This suggests that the iron rivets along the plate seams snapped off or popped open to create narrow gaps through which water flooded. An engineer from "Titanic"s builders, Harland and Wolff, suggested this scenario at the British Wreck Commissioner's inquiry following the disaster but his view was discounted. "Titanic"s discoverer Robert Ballard has commented that the assumption that the ship had suffered a major breach was "a by-product of the mystique of the "Titanic". No one could believe that the great ship was sunk by a little sliver." Faults in the ship's hull may have been a
Sinking of the RMS Titanic reduced the rudder's effectiveness, therefore impairing the turning ability of the ship. Had Murdoch turned the ship while maintaining her forward speed, "Titanic" might have missed the iceberg with feet to spare. In 2010, Louise Patten asserted that her grandfather Charles Lightoller claimed that the helmsman Robert Hichens initially panicked and turned the rudder in the wrong direction and that subsequently Bruce Ismay ordered the boat to continue "Slow Ahead" in the belief that "Titanic" was unsinkable. This, allegedly, had never been revealed because of the insurance implications. In the event, "Titanic"s heading changed just in time to avoid a