Why did the Titanic creak and groan during the sinking?

Question

In the film, I noticed that the more the ship sank.. the louder the groaning..

Answer 1

Well, as mentioned it was a movie...simply a cinematic PORTRAYAL.

This was not archival footage of the actual sinking.

Now as for witnesses and what they reportedly heard...as mentioned by others, there were incredible stresses on the damaged hull as it went down.

Sections that had not yet filled with water, and eventually did...would have wanted to float initially. These sections retaining some buoyancy were combating the flooding sections and their weight pulling the hull down.

As the Titanic and her three Sister Ships were riveted hulls, there were thousands of small spots of flex and shear movement and slip that all added up to a grotesque symphony of moaning and groans as things came apart or moved. Were they welded hulls, there would have been considerably less noise...more Bangs and such as metal tore from its welds.

Answer 2

If your were slit down your side and back broken you would creak and groan > It was metal stretching and breaking as athe ship tore it self apart>

Answer 3

the ship is thousands od steel plates riveted together. once the ship starts to twist from the weight of the water forward. the stern begins to rise out of the water all those plates and rivets have hold that weight. that is the groaning. ordinarily the weight of the ship is distributed evenly from bow to stern but as the ship sinks all the weight moves to the sinking end of the ship placing many thousands of tons of pressure on the section of ship that is bending.

Answer 4

Because that's the way James Cameron wanted to portray it.  Apparently, some eyewitnesses were quoted as saying the Titanic did that as it sank and JC ran with it.

Don't forget, the movie isn't a documentary, it's a historical drama designed to elicit emotions from the audience.  While JC based a lot of the movie on actual accounts of the sinking, there's always a bit of 'artistic license' taken with a movie.

As to the groaning that witnesses heard, it was probably because of the twisting metal and the extreme forces of the weight of the Atlantic water in the bow wearing and tearing on the middle of the ship that couldn't support the weight of the stern rising high in the air.

Answer 5

probably because all the metal was pushing down on that one part of the ship and making the noises. all of it was pushing together and that is a lot of weight