10,582 passengers?
Is that possible?
It wasn’t a luxury liner. It was packed with women, children, and naval personnel. Consider that a person takes up 6 square feet. 684 feet x 77 ft/ 6 ft = 8778 for one deck. It had 8 decks, so yes, it was full, but it is possible.
Yup, 10,000+ is definitely possible.
The Cunard Queens (Mary and Elizabeth) were converted into troopships that could carry an entire Division of 15,000 men.
They also operated unescorted. They were fast enough (close to 30kts) to outrun any threat from u boats.