except on
the theory that it was caused by a second torpedo. Whether the number of
torpedoes was one or two is relevant, in this case, only upon the
question of what effect, if any, open ports had in accelerating the
sinking of the ship.

While there was much testimony and some variance as to the places where
the torpedoes struck, judged by the sound or shock of the explosions,
certain physical effects, especially as to smoke and blown-up debris,
tend to locate the areas of impact with some approach of accuracy.

From all the testimony it may be reasonably concluded that one torpedo
struck on the starboard side somewhere abreast of No. 2 boiler room and
the other, on the same side, either abreast of No. 3 boiler room or
between No. 3 and No. 4. From knowledge of the torpedoes then used by
the German submarines, it is thought that they would effect a rupture of
the outer hull thirty to forty feet long and ten to fifteen feet
vertically.

[Sidenote: Flooding of boiler rooms and coal bunkers.]

Cockburn, senior Second Engineer, was of opinion that the explosion had
done a great deal of internal damage. Although the lights were out,
Cockburn could hear the water coming into the engine room. Water at once
entered No. 1 and No. 2 boiler rooms, a result necessarily attributable
to the fact that one or both of the coal bunkers were also blown open.
Thus, one torpedo flooded some or all of the coal bunkers on the
starboard side of Nos. 1 and 2 boiler rooms, and apparently flooded both
boiler rooms.

The effect of the other torpedo is not entirely clear. If it struck
midway between two bulkheads, it is quite likely to have done serious
bulkhead injury. The _Lusitania_ was built so as to float with two
compartments open to the sea, and with more compartments open she could
not stay afloat. As the side coal bunkers are regarded as compartments,
the ship could not float with two boiler rooms flooded and also an
adjacent bunker, and, therefore, the damage done by one torpedo was
enough to sink the ship.

To add to the difficulties, all the steam had gone as the result of the
explosions, and the ship could not be controlled by her engines.

Little, senior Third Engineer, testified that in a few seconds after the
explosion the steam pressure fell from 190 to 50 pounds, his explanation
being that the main steam pipes or boilers had been carried away.

[Sidenote: Engines disabled.]

The loss of control of and by the engines r