Titanic: Made out of paper-maiche

All along, the shipbuilders knew the hull was weak.
"It was a matter of keeping the customer happy," says Brad Matsen, author of the new book "Titanic's Last Secrets." and leader of a team of divers and scientists who found two large sections of the ship's bottom in 2005—enough for forensic scientists to determine that the flimsy hull and skimpy rivets were, in fact, responsible for the ship's fate.

"If J. P. Morgan wanted a boat made out of papier-mâché, they would have made him a boat out of papier-mâché." ​

When Tom McCluskie, a retired Harland and Wolf archivist, got wind of Matsen's findings, he forked over details of the company's 1912 investigation, which had been hidden until then. "What we figured by doing forensic analysis on the extra pieces of hull matched exactly with what Harland and Wolff calculated based on their detailed knowledge of the ship's construction," says Matsen. "McCluskie said he had been waiting for someone to piece it together before he turned the documents over."
Who writes this stuff?
http://www.newsweek.com/id/162267

Never enuff

Much too thin, would be my guess.
But others put it more scientifically.
(me?ipreferpictures).
- Cheers!
Eric
http://www.writing.eng.vt.edu/uer/bassett.html
http://armando.colimodio.com/The Failure of the Titanic.htm
Who thinks they could have done better:
http://www.nomadicpreservationsociety.co.uk/technical.asp?p=1

"Big Piece"

The "Big Piece" came from the starboard side of C-Deck, most likely covering First-Class cabin C-83 and cabin C-85.

Heck, you can even buy a "Lucky Watch" made out of the stuff:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Watches_Made_from_Titanics_Hull_Sell_for_150_000

Note:
A metallurgical analysis of steel taken from the hull of the Titanic's wreckage reveals that it had a high ductile-brittle transition temperature, making it unsuitable for service at low temperatures; at the time of the collision, the temperature of the sea water was -2�C.
The analysis also shows, however, that the steel used was probably the best plain carbon ship plate available at the time of the ship's construction.