Editing HMHS Britannic (section)

==== Explosion ====
[[File:19161123 Hospital Ship Brittanic Sunk - The New York Times.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2| Some newspapers printed reports that the sinking was caused by one of two torpedoes launched by respective German submarines whose commanders would have known the ship, being northbound, did not carry combatants.<ref name=NYTimes_19161123/> The report stated that after the explosion there was "perfect order" and "not the slightest panic", and that "the women, of course, were saved first".<ref name=NYTimes_19161123>{{cite news |title=Hospital Ship Britannic Sunk; 50 Lives Lost |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:19161123_Hospital_Ship_Brittanic_Sunk_-_The_New_York_Times.jpg |work=The New York Times |date=November 23, 1916 |page=1 }}</ref>]]
At 08:12 am European Eastern Time ''Britannic'' was rocked by an explosion after hitting a mine.{{sfn|Chirnside|2011|p=260}} The mines had been planted in the Kea Channel on 21 October 1916 by {{ship|SM|U-73}} under the command of {{ill|Gustav Sieß|de}}.

The reaction in the dining room was immediate; doctors and nurses left instantly for their posts but not everybody reacted the same way, as further [[aft]], the power of the explosion was less felt, and many thought the ship had hit a smaller boat. Captain Bartlett and Chief Officer Hume were on the [[Bridge (nautical)|bridge]] at the time and the gravity of the situation was soon evident.{{sfn|Chirnside|2011|p=259}} The explosion was on the [[starboard]]{{sfn|Chirnside|2011|p=259}} side, between holds two and three. The force of the explosion damaged the watertight [[Bulkhead (partition)|bulkhead]] between hold one and the [[forecastle|forepeak]].{{sfn|Chirnside|2011|p=260}} The first four watertight compartments were filling rapidly with water,{{sfn|Chirnside|2011|p=260}} the [[boiler-man]]'s tunnel connecting the firemen's quarters in the bow with boiler room six was seriously damaged, and water was flowing into that boiler room.{{sfn|Chirnside|2011|p=260}}

Bartlett ordered the watertight doors closed, sent a [[distress signal]], and ordered the crew to prepare the lifeboats.{{sfn|Chirnside|2011|p=260}} An SOS signal was immediately sent out and was received by several other ships in the area, among them {{HMS|Scourge|1910|6}} and {{HMS|Heroic}}, but ''Britannic'' heard nothing in reply. Unknown to either Bartlett or the ship's wireless operator, the force of the first explosion had caused the antenna wires slung between the ship's masts to snap. This meant that although the ship could still send out transmissions by radio, she could no longer receive them.<ref name=MC256>{{harvnb|Chirnside|2011|p=256}}.</ref>

Along with the damaged watertight door of the firemen's tunnel, the watertight door between boiler rooms six and five failed to close properly.{{sfn|Chirnside|2011|p=260}} Water was flowing further aft into boiler room five. ''Britannic'' had reached her flooding limit. She could stay afloat (motionless) with her first six watertight compartments flooded. There were five watertight bulkheads rising all the way up to B Deck.{{sfn|Chirnside|2011|p=261}} Those measures had been taken after the ''Titanic'' disaster (''Titanic'' could float with only her first four compartments flooded).<ref name=hublots>{{harvnb|Chirnside|2011|p=258}}.</ref>

The next crucial bulkhead between boiler rooms five and four and its door were undamaged and should have guaranteed the ship's survival. However, there were open [[porthole]]s along the front lower decks, which tilted underwater within minutes of the explosion. The nurses had opened most of those portholes to ventilate the wards, against standing orders. As the ship's [[angle of list]] increased, water reached this level and began entering aft from the bulkhead between boiler rooms five and four. With more than six compartments flooded, ''Britannic'' could not stay afloat.<ref name=hublots/>